Night Stroll at A Newly Renovated Mandaue Plaza

Avisala!

While December is for reunions and festivities, January is for farewells and new beginnings. It became our tradition with my friends from college that we would have our mini reunion whenever Queenie came home from New Zealand. As for how fast December came, it's that fast it also went. It's time again to say our goodbyes and see you soon. As Queenie's returning to New Zealand, we decided to visit the newly renovated Mandaue Plaza. It became an internal source of amusement for us friends to visit the plaza because of what happened back in college. As they say, the new plaza is inspired by Singapore and Hong Kong.

I'm a fan of enhancing public spaces to make them more appealing and functional. In a country dominated by malls and private infrastructures, there's always been a call to revive those neglected public spaces. Mandaue Plaza was one of those neglected spaces. There was a fountain and a cascade before that were collecting dust and algae as they were not working for years. Now, the space has become available for the public to enjoy again.

However, I'm not really a fan of drawing inspiration from other countries, like the Super Trees of Singapore and the Clock Tower of Hong Kong. I'm not against drawing inspiration per se, but there are a lot of local designs to choose from. I'm not proud of us Filipinos being so fixated on copying other countries. It feels like we are always seeking validation. Again, there are a lot of brilliant local architects and urban planners who can conjure fresh designs for public spaces.

I might be too critical and pessimistic, but that's just me. On the other hand, I might not be the target audience of the design. It's for the locals to enjoy the space rather than flock to malls.

Take a look at the next photo below. It looks like a cheap imitation of a supertree in Singapore.

Regardless of its cheapness, it doesn't stop me from manifesting that I'll be able to see the real supertree this year. Well, that's kind of cheating because I already booked a ticket to Singapore. It's just a matter of making it happen.

The renovation is still incomplete as there are moulds of benches at the side. It's good that they put a lot of benches for the people to rest. There are actually a lot of people enjoying the newly renovated plaza. That's why I can say that it's a matter of providing appropriate infrastructures for the public to enjoy, and behavioural change will definitely follow.

Here are more photos of us enjoying what little time we had left with Queenie before we would all be back to our own lives.

What was a fun night and just enjoying each other's company became a social commentary. Well, you can't take that away from me. It's good that Hive became my platform to express myself, including how I view the social dynamics happening in the country.

That's all for this post. Happy New Year from me and my friends! May we all have a prosperous year ahead.

Some of the photos are from GB and Queenie, posted without their permission. 😆

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits remote destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying-hard photographer, so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.}

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