Remembering the Beauty of Old Manila from Illustrado
By Loraine Balita
The decade was young, the Manileños were just starting to get used to the ways of their new guests – the Americans. And there I was trailing a few steps behind a man seemingly dressed to the nines in his carefully pressed white suit with a matching white natty hat sitting atop his balding head. I followed him as he traversed the length of the former Puente de Espana or what is now known as the new Jones Bridge – a neo-classical structure built on the site of the old bridge of Spain.
I could hear the hurried clacking thuds of the horse-drawn calesas passing by and the whistling sound of a small tranvia, the country’s modern means of transportation with networks that navigate Escolta.
And then I looked up to see a majestic structure by the river banks – overlooking the crystal clear water. This is the neoclassical Post Office Building, its stunning architecture marked by towering columns.
And while I was admiring the intricate details of this grandiose structure, I heard the noise grew louder and louder as the horse slowly dissolved into a small metal ornament poised atop the hood of a jeepney. Confused I turned to look for the post office as everything else slowly dissolved into a busy hurried street, right above it: a speeding LRT. And alas! I was instantly brought back to year 2010 along Taft Avenue.
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