For those who have worked a lot of years in Makati, the term 'Commercial' refers to the commercial establishments in the area at the time. As in : "Let's go to Commercial!" or "I went shopping at Commercial." If I am not mistaken, the prominent places then were Rustan's, Shoemart, Makati Supermarket and the like.
For people like me, who have worked several years in Makati, Rustan's and Shoemart (more commonly known as SM by now) are still familiar and popular but were not referred to generically and collectively as "Commercial" anymore. We were introduced to new shopping arenas -- Greenbelt, Glorietta, Landmark, Gold Crest and Park Square. And all these places were big enough (and/or had enough stores inside them) to be called by name. (Anson's used to be along Pasay Road, by the way.)
We went to the malls. Ü
We got to these places either by walking or by taking public transportation along Ayala, depending on where we wanted to go. At that time, pedestrians could cross practically anywhere.
Then several years ago, my friend at General Services Division told me that they were going to build an elevated and covered walkway that would connect the commercial center to the office buildings along Ayala Avenue. He told me that there would be entrances at various buildings to enable people to access the walkway.
I was thrilled. I liked to go around the malls during lunch breaks. Places were generally walking distance if there was no time constraint. From my place of work then, the farthest point would be Kenny Rogers at Pasay Road (almost corner EDSA) .
They built the bulk of the walkway during the time I was not working. That would have been some time between 1999 and 2001.
When I returned to work, the walkway was available from Ayala to Landmark but there was no entrance at the 2nd floor of Landmark yet. One had to take the stairs and go through the ground floor entrances of Landmark to enter. Greenbelt 3 was built after the walkways were started, so when it opened to the public, the walkways were to follow.
I enjoy going through the walkways because of its convenience however there are usually so MANY people coming and going, to-ing and fro-ing.
I have been wanting to take pictures of the walkway but didn't want the pictures to have so many people. (I hate crowded walkways and slow pokes!)
It is very, very rare to find the walkways empty.
This morning I was unusually early and took the opportunity to take some shots to share.
For people like me, who have worked several years in Makati, Rustan's and Shoemart (more commonly known as SM by now) are still familiar and popular but were not referred to generically and collectively as "Commercial" anymore. We were introduced to new shopping arenas -- Greenbelt, Glorietta, Landmark, Gold Crest and Park Square. And all these places were big enough (and/or had enough stores inside them) to be called by name. (Anson's used to be along Pasay Road, by the way.)
We went to the malls. Ü
We got to these places either by walking or by taking public transportation along Ayala, depending on where we wanted to go. At that time, pedestrians could cross practically anywhere.
Then several years ago, my friend at General Services Division told me that they were going to build an elevated and covered walkway that would connect the commercial center to the office buildings along Ayala Avenue. He told me that there would be entrances at various buildings to enable people to access the walkway.
I was thrilled. I liked to go around the malls during lunch breaks. Places were generally walking distance if there was no time constraint. From my place of work then, the farthest point would be Kenny Rogers at Pasay Road (almost corner EDSA) .
They built the bulk of the walkway during the time I was not working. That would have been some time between 1999 and 2001.
When I returned to work, the walkway was available from Ayala to Landmark but there was no entrance at the 2nd floor of Landmark yet. One had to take the stairs and go through the ground floor entrances of Landmark to enter. Greenbelt 3 was built after the walkways were started, so when it opened to the public, the walkways were to follow.
I enjoy going through the walkways because of its convenience however there are usually so MANY people coming and going, to-ing and fro-ing.
I have been wanting to take pictures of the walkway but didn't want the pictures to have so many people. (I hate crowded walkways and slow pokes!)
It is very, very rare to find the walkways empty.
This morning I was unusually early and took the opportunity to take some shots to share.
(I was on my way to Greenbelt Chapel when I decided to take pictures. I was already at the entrance of the carpark when I realized I was all alone. I turned around towards Enterprise and took this first picture.)
(The Shang is on the right. I have good memories of that place. The one and only time I entered there, I was mistaken for MyGirl's older sister.)
(The Post Office is under this portion of the walkway as one exits the carpark. I used to walk to the carpark to mail my letters. Post Office opened at 8am. That was a long time ago.)
(PLDT would be on the left as you go down the stairs while the walkway to Landmark would be after the BPI and Metrobank ATMs.)
(This is the portion of the walkway crossing Dela Rosa.)
(These are the sides of the Ayala Museum.)
(Ninoy Aquino was assassinated on 21 August 1983. Twenty-five years have passed. The Benigno Aquino Jr. Foundation launched the 'iamninoy' project last month during the anniversary. These pictures can be found on the windows of the Museum shop along the walkway.)Had to dash off so I wasn't able to take any more pictures. Besides, there were more people as I approached The Body Shop and Powerbooks.
No comments:
Post a Comment