For the first time in all our decades of living in Quezon City, we decided to check out the Christmas lights and decorations on the grounds of Quezon City Hall. There were lots of people enjoying the evening—friends and families just hanging out, people working out and getting their steps in, kids playing badminton, people checking out the ongoing “Paskong KumuQCkutitap.” There’s also an animatronic Christmas show on the City Hall grounds; we were thoroughly invested in the palosebo portion of the show, staying for a few minutes to see who’ll win the competition. (Spoiler: Neither animatronic figure won; they both slid down the pole at the end.) There’s such a lovely time to be had when you visit the place and plenty of cute photo opportunities too. What surprised us was that there’s now a fountain at the Quezon City Hall Lagoon; it’s a modest but colorful display, and definitely a nice new attraction.
We then headed down the underpass to go to Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC). There are a lot more Christmas decorations here, plus some of the plant shops are open even during the evening and the QC Food Park is also serving up a lot of treats. If you’ll be paying QMC a visit, make sure to bring your own picnic blanket or camping chairs so you’re comfortable once you’ve picked out the perfect spot. Feel free to bring a cooler and food; just make sure you clean up after yourselves. That’s gonna be easy; there are plenty of segregated waste bins throughout the park. Make sure to bring your own water bottle because none of the food stalls are selling bottled water in a bid to avoid plastic waste. And you won’t have to worry about running out of water because there are water refilling stations throughout QMC.
All in all, it was a pretty nice evening, and it’s good to see so many people enjoying the outdoors and the attractions—proof that the public really does yearn for open spaces.
