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THE THEATRE MALL in Greenhills
I have lived in San Juan all my life when I was in Manila. Now that I’m in New York, the place I keep coming back to is Erap Country. Greenhills has evolved before my very eyes — I used to pass it every day for the first 13 years of my life as I went to school in St. Paul College of Pasig. Even when I transferred to St. Paul College of Quezon City for High School (they started high school in Pasig after my batch), I would stop by and get supplies for school projects, just have merienda or gallivant with my friend Donna in tow.
I was there when The Music Museum burned down. As it was a mere 5 minutes’ drive away, I remember my siblings and I drove to watch the fire from the parking lot.
When I returned to Manila this year, I was there on my second day shopping for groceries in Unimart. I had my chicken feet and congee at Luk Yuen, and lo and behold, Virra Mall was totally unrecognizable.
Seeing how Greenhills has evolved makes me feel old. Yet I still remember the feeling of security being there used to evoke. It used to be that you could roam without having to worry about crowds. (Those were the pre-tiangge days of old!) Celebrities and personalities milled about without fear of being mobbed or being stared at.
The good old reliables are still there.. Choc full O’nuts (and yes, I did have the siopao and the yema as planned).. Regina’s (and I did take a peek..).. Unimart.. but the place is now overcrowded and has a different air about it. It was also the last place I visited before settling down to pack my bags and return to New York.
It sure has evolved into a colorful and livelier place — the tiangge is part of its magic. What I like most is the fact that they now have a real chapel in the area where there used to be a bigger fishpond. While they used to hold mass in one corner of the shopping center, now they hold it in a rightful place of worship, where people can stop a while and say a prayer.
