Midnight Marikina River

This is Marikina River along the Riverpark around midnight.   The lights along the Riverpark pedestrian and bike path illuminate the river.

Kung Tayo'y Maglalayo Likes Marikina

courtesy of abs-cbn.com

The ongoing ABS-CBN teleserye "Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo" has had several on-location shoots, and several of them were shot in Marikina City.

Most of the action-packed car chase scenes were shot along Gil Fernando. Ave. in Barangay Sto. Nino near the Marikina Public Service Center where the Engineering Division is located.   The end of Gil Fernando Ave. is a wide road with huge empty lots filled with grass and trees on both sides.   There aren't any houses or buildings here which makes it ideal and safe to close the road temporarily for the telenovela's on-location shooting purposes.

location usually used to shoot chase and action scenes 

Other locations include Marikina Heights near St. Scholastica Marikina and the C & B Mall where scenes of the rotonda were spotted in previous episodes.   Scenes including Astrud (Jaclyn Jose) and her lawyer talking were recently shot inside Biksa Coffee in San Roque.

From Biksa Coffee

The stretch of Aquamarine St. in SSS Village is also used for the telenovela's on-location shoots.   If you're  familiar with the street, you may catch glimpes of the Concepcion Dos Barangay Hall, Marikina Convention Center, SDS Medical Center, and Water Nymph resort all along that street.

Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo is aired every weeknights around 9:00pm on ABS-CBN and online streaming via TFCNow.

Princess' MTV Shot At Pan de Amerikana

The newest music video of up and coming acoustic artist Princess Velasco was shot entirely at Pan de Amerikana, along Gen. Ordonez St. in Marikina Heights.  In the past, the Pan de Amerikana bakery & restaurant has served as background for photo shoots, model portraits and magazine features due to its unique interior design.

The video "You Still Have My Heart", taken from Princess' 2nd album entitled "Addicted To Acoustic 2"  was shot on location at the restaurant featuring some familiar backgrounds inside such as the giant black and white chess board, the pillars at the back of the elevated platform and the side of the chessboard.   The video shows Princess singing and playing the guitar in different positions using the restaurant's scenery as backdrops.

Photo: Bike Station

This is the bike station for the Marikina Sports Center.   The use of bicycles is encouraged in Marikina City.   Several bike lanes and bike paths have been scattered around the city for cyclists to get from one area to another within the city reducing vehicular accidents.

A Demolished Bay Tree

What used to be popularly known as Bay Tree at the corner of Katipunan Road and Gen. Ordonez (formerly Molave St). is no more.    Some who are not  familiar with the place (usually those asking for directions) used to mistakenly call it "Bay 3".  But for those who are familiar with this supermarket, it has been at this corner since the 1980's.   It has been there long before the Molave Wet & Dry Market was built just across it.  Bay Tree also used to be home as well to several small stores adjacent to it and also served as a tricycle terminal along the Katipunan Ave side.

Most of the time, Bay Tree served as shelter from the rains as people would stay here until rains subside.   It also served as waiting shed for commuters waiting for the SSS Village jeeps and a meeting area for Marikenos living nearby.  The building has been totally demolished and is currently just a vacant lot.

Bay Tree and Florings are 2 supermarkets surely to be remembered by Marikenos from SSS Village and Marikina Heights.

Photo: Shoe Expo At Freedom Park

Several tents have been put up at Freedom Park in front of Marikina City Hall for Marikina shoe retailers to showcase their shoes.  

McDonalds Marcos Highway Reopens

The McDonalds Marcos Highway branch has been one of the most popular fastfood branches in Marikina.   It has been a permanent fixture along Marcos Highway for years and has been home to thousands of meetups, birthday parties, family day lunch outs, friendly meetups and late night hangouts with friends.  Unfortunately, due to the wrath of Typhoon Ondoy, several businesses were submerged  including this McDonalds branch.

elevated at least 4 feet from the ground

Fast forward to 8 months after the destruction of Typhoon Ondoy,  McDonalds Marcos Highway has reopened its branch to the public last June 1, 2010.  The old place was severely flooded which is why the fastfood chain wasn't just renovated but actually rebuilt its store entirely from the ground up.   As a result, the new McDonalds is 4 feet higher above the ground including its terrace, function rooms, playground and drive thru thus making the branch flood free.  The store still has its McCafe counter inside and still operates 24 hours a day.

Everything has been upgraded: a new look, new interior design, new party rooms, cozy seats and a spacious outdoor terrace for the smoking area.   The function rooms can anywhere from 30 to 100 guests.  What's interesting is that the function rooms aren't only limited to birthday parties.  The manager of McDonalds Marcos Highway also mentioned that the function rooms can be reserved for business meetings for up to 2 hours with a minimum of P3,000. consumable.  For inquiries on reservation and booking, call 646-0665.

McDonalds Marcos Highway is located along Gunting St,. corner Marcos Highway, San Roque near Sta Lucia East Mall.

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Photo: View From Marikina Hotel

This is one of the views from the roofdeck of Marikina Hotel in SSS Village.  The buildings farther to Marikina are Eastwood City in Libis.