All Roads lead to Pasay Rotunda
I found this song from Flunk named Blind My Mind from a random reel that shows the how a road and its nearby buildings evolved. Just by listening by the music, from its beat to the voice, the song brings be back to my childhood. It makes me feel that I’m riding the MRT, seeing those Red Mobile and Sun Cellular posters, using those old but very playful phones with low-quality cameras, jamming with a variety of ringtones, buying a 20-pesos toy in Metropoint Mall, walking scared in a footbridge, and eating at a Jollibee chain before riding a tricycle home.
An image of Pasay Rotunda. Patrick Roque, 2015.
At the center of those memories is Pasay Rotunda, found at the intersection of Taft Avenue and Epifanio delos Santos Avenue or EDSA. It’s like the centerpoint of my life. There will always be any transportation going there, then I will ride a tricycle home. From both the LRT and MRT systems, jeepneys, tricycles, taxis, and of course, buses. Buses are way different in EDSA before, especially with the current semi-BRT system. Buses are scattered all across the avenue with different people riding different buses in different parts of Pasay Rotunda. The thing that I realized lately is, there’s something missing when I’m in that place. And that is the horns coming out of buses.
Now, I cannot avoid the fact that one of the places I call home changed after one and a half decade. That old Jollibee became a hotel, with a small space for the fastfood chain. The LRT uses a different model of trains and the MRT goes with four-car trains. That old 20-peso shop in Metropoint Mall is now closed. All buses are lined up in a dedicated busway. There are too many. But I realized, I also changed. Of course, I grew up. I’m not scared of footbridges anymore. My world became bigger. My viewpoints became clearer.
Nonetheless, there are things that never change. Like how I will always go to Pasay Rotunda first before going home.