The Quezon City 75th Diamond Jubilee Anniversary

The 75th Jubilee Anniversary of Quezon City

Last October 10, the municipality of Quezon City invited me as one of the bloggers to attend and write about their 75th Jubilee Anniversary celebration. As part of the program, I need to visit the different places of Quezon City for me to explore and discover the rich culture of the City.

As scheduled, I met them around 12 o’clock in a sunny afternoon at the Quezon City Hall. As we wait for the other bloggers to come, the event committee decided to divide us into a three groups with each different itinerary program. I belong to the group that will be going to La Mesa Ecopark, Erehwon Centre for the Arts and Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife Center.

At exactly 1 o’clock in the afternoon, the van departed from the Quezon City Hall and went into our first destination. It was a nice 20-minute ride coming from Quezon City Hall to La Mesa Ecopark including the traffic. Immediately as we landed at the place, the welcoming fresh air of the Ecopark greeted us. All groups have a tour guide, in our team his name is Mr. Donito, which will help us in knowing more about the place.

It was my first time to go inside La Mesa Ecopark and I am very surprised on how well they keep up the park in its good shape even though it was self-sufficient when it comes to providing its daily maintenance needs.

At the time, we visit the Ecopark there are many people inside of it, the people are very lively as some do their company team building in that location, some use the location to snap and shoot pictures for a pre-nuptial wedding and some just hang around to relax.

 As we continue to explore the place, it was clear that the park does not only provide fresh air to the people, but they also have recreational activity for the visitors to try out like zipline, bungee jumping, and a shooting range. They also have animals that are roaming around in the place, like horse, chicken, and a squirrel. After an hour, we finally arrive into the last part of the ecopark, which is an amphitheatre.

The tour in La Mesa Ecopark exhausted me a lot, as it requires a lot of walking to roam around the place. Additional helpful information when you are planning to visit the location: Do not forget to bring extra clothes and water, as you will perspire a lot on the course of your tour.

           

            We arrived in our next destination almost quarter to the four. Erehwon Centre is located at Old Balara, Quezon City. They said that the area was a former factory place of the infamous Loafman’s bread back in the 80’s. We have met with Mr. Benitez the owner of place as an introductory to begin our tour in Erehwon. According to Mr. Benitez, the primary purpose of the establishment is to serve, as the art hub location in Quezon City that made available for the all artists here in the Philippines. The place has a welcoming kind of atmosphere and it even more magnified by their being hospitable to us.

            Inside the lobby, I saw a large painting of a Datu riding a boat together with various Filipino artifacts inside of it. They said that it was a collaboration work of various Filipino artists as a way to help to promote our beloved country thru painting. After a little introduction by the host, we then go ahead in our next place. Erehwon Café is great locations to hang out if you want to see some of our talented Filipino artists perform. After we finish touring the first floor area, we then go ahead into the second floor.

 

            On the second floor of the building, I saw their dance studio and the corporate office of Erehwon. Erehwon is not limited to support one kind of Arts but it also supports all kinds of medium to further expand & create more Filipino Arts that includes dancing, music, and all kinds of visual arts.

            As we transition from second floor to the third floor, I saw this staircase beautifully painted by this black and white paint that mimics a deep sleep scenario of a normal person.

According to them, one of their artists decided to use the staircase as his canvass to create his next artwork and on the next day “viola”, it was already created.

            The third floor of the building has a rehearsal room for an orchestra rehearsal. They said that the famous artist Sir David Pomeranz once visit Erehwon to do his orchestra rehearsal in that place. The room is equipped with various orchestra instruments and the facility is a very good venue to conduct a practice for a musical performance. The third floor also has a room for the artists to rest.

 

           Finally, we reach the top floor of the building where we saw a commemoration display of the late Mr. Nick Joaquin one of our national artists. In the next room, we saw the place where they create a head sculpture of some of the prominent people in the Philippines; some of the people who I recognize are Mayor Herbert Bautista, Mr. Henry Sy and the late Sir Jesse Robredo.

 

            

              We finished the tour at exactly 5 o’clock and headed back to the City Hall. The Quezon City was very exciting to explore and it was very enjoyable meeting other bloggers, which have the same interest in knowing more about the City of Quezon.

For more information about the place :

La Mesa EcoparkAddress: La Mesa Dam Compound | Greater Lagro,Quezon City, Luzon 1118, PhilippinesPhone Number: +63 2 430-5207

Erehwon Center for the ArtsArt Center
Address: #1 Don Francisco St., Villa Beatriz,
Old Balara, Quezon City, 1119 Metro ManilaPhone:(02) 384 3507