Many of this blog’s visitors are outside the Philippines, accessing the blog perhaps as a way to touch base with a place they perhaps used to visit or call home. This blog entry is dedicated to their — and our — early memories of this place.

People living in this part of Quezon City up to the mid-1980s will remember Commonwealth — then Don Mariano Marcos Avenue — very differently from what it is like now. Then, it was a dusty, two-lane asphalt road that seemed to have been carved straight out of the earth, what with the rich, red of clay showing in unpaved sections of the road. Traffic was still very manageable — so there were no pedestrian overpasses and no Tandang Sora flyover. Cars and jeeps still drove in straight lines, and pedestrians could count on crossing the street without fear of being run over.

At the time, anything farther north from UP Diliman was no man’s land. That’s how that old joke about Fairview actually being “Far-view” must have come about. In fact, I’ve met a number of people for whom driving or commuting by jeep to this area back then was a experience they described as “nakakatakot” (scary) because of how far from “civilization” and from all things familiar this place was. With very few buildings and commercial establishments in the area, there were hardly any landmarks to guide visitors. The upside to this, of course, were unobstructed views of the mountains during the day, and clear, starry skies at night. And plenty of fresh, clean air to go around.

The stretch of road from Commonwealth to Ever alone has changed so noticeably since those days. For one thing, the highway — for that’s what Commonwealth has become — is about 6 lanes in either direction, and road widening seems to take place every year. In place of stop lights, there are U-turn slots to ease the traffic. Pedestrian overpasses (footbridges, as the Metro Manila Development Authority, or MMDA, call them) keep pedestrians safe while keeping vehicular traffic flowing smoothly.

Buildings, gasoline stations, restaurants, and stores now line the highway. Perhaps because of such signs of progress, this part of Quezon City now seems not too far from anything. The only thing that might be “scary” about coming here is the speeding, swerving cars, jeeps, and buses.

(We hope to soon post a few photos to show how the area has changed. Unfortunately, I personally have no photos of the area from earlier years, so contributions are most welcome. If you have any photos of this part of Quezon City from 20 years ago or even more, please consider sharing them on this blog.)

by Isabel

I’d like to share part of an email I received from a member of the community about using the Internet:

I belong to an egroup of college classmates, which we started four years or so ago with only a handful, but which has expanded now to more than half of the class. The medium led us to reconnect with one another. Many have settled in different parts of the world but mostly in the USA. We are closer now than when we were in college. Actually, it is a case of rediscovering the true person in each one or the person that has evolved since graduation….

I’m sharing this because as you said in one of your blog posts, some parents are asking their kids to do this for them….

…let’s hope that the membership (of the mailing list) grows and the adult members of the community try not to be intimidated by the computer or that their children not be intimidating when they teach the tricks to their seniors.

This email illustrates two things. One is the Internet’s potential and capacity to bring people together. And the other is the the unfortunate but predominant assumption that seniors cannot or will not use the Internet.

Senior moments
We have all heard of seniors refusing to get a mobile phone or unable to operate a computer on their own — and sometimes even get a good laugh out of such stories. It seems that the older one gets, the more intimidated by technology s/he tends to be. But why should seniors be deprived of the ease and convenience that come with using the Internet? Why should anyone, for that matter?

People who think that the Internet is only for the young — i.e. just another toy — are perhaps thinking of such uses as online gaming, online auctions, instant messaging (IM), chatting, and yes, maybe even blogging. This technology would surely spoil the young if all it does is make things easy and convenient. It would teach them only to value the virtual over the real, to take the fastest and easiest way, and to forego human interaction by hiding behind their busy-ness (i.e. being busy).

Here is something to think about. When I sent out welcome emails to the members of the mailing list, I got two separate unsolicited replies (that is, emails that I did not ask for or expect). From whom? Not the Internet-savvy teens. Not even the 21-30 age set who were the majority of survey respondents. Surprisingly — or not surprisingly, to me — these emails were sent by senior members of the community. No “tricks,” no high-tech gadgets. They were simply using the Internet at its simplest, as it is most widely used, and perhaps even as it was originally intended: to connect with another human being.

by Isabel

Who would have thought Holy Spirit Drive would become as busy as it is now?

In the 1980s, it was a quiet — almost sleepy — street lined with trees and homes. One could cross it on foot or on a bicycle without even having to look out for cars or tricycles approaching from either side. I wish I had a picture to show what it was like back then.

Now it is a bustling thoroughfare with banks, coffee shops, restaurants, and stores. As the access road for Don Antonio Heights, Don Enrique Heights, and nearby subdivisions Isidora Hills, BF Homes, and Mapayapa Village, it has become a prime location for commercial establishments.

I didn’t give much thought to these developments until a major fastfood chain opened in December last year in Isadora Hills, not far from the DEH gate. It caused a major traffic jam in the area on its opening night, as cars lined up at the drive-thru!

Nevertheless, this fastfood chain soon blended into the landscape of the wider community where DEH is located. Residents now have a place to go for a quick snack or a full meal — or as this photo shows, to just do some people watching!