Biking at Quezon City Memorial Circle

Each of our kids have their own bicycle since 2009 but since they fell during one morning exercise, they didn't used it since then.  My husband and I tried to set a picnic in a park but because of unpredictable weather patterns, we were not able to pull it off.  There has been an instance that it's raining everyday here in Manila.

Until last Sunday, we have beautiful skies and the sun is out, eventhough the 3 of them still have cough and colds, we decided to push through with our long planned picnic.  Since it's already lunch time that we decided to have a picnic, we opted to go to the park that is nearest to us, that is, Quezon Memorial Circle.  Others call it as Quezon City Circle, or simply, Circle.

Quezon Memorial Circle is a national park and shrine located in Quezon City which is the former capital of the Philippines.  The park is an ellipse bounded by the Elliptical Road.  Its easily recognized by the monument that consist of three vertical pylons (representing the 3 major group of islands of the Philippines -- Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) surmounted by 3 mourning angels holding sampaguita (Philippines' national flower).  Underneath this monument lies the remains of Manuel L. Quezon, the 2nd President of the Philippines, and his wife, Aurora Quezon.  The National Historical Institute manages, and has authority, over the monument itself, while the Quezon City government administers the park.

When I was in High School, we usually go to Circle to do our practice in our classroom presentations.  But that was during the 90s.  It has changed a lot since then! I was in awe to see different activities for kids and adults as well.  Below are some of the pictures:

Boys playing at the football field

This really looks fun! I was asking my kids to ride with me here but they are all busy with their bicycles.. maybe next time, we're gonna try this one.. 100 pesos for 1 way ride and 150 pesos for a 2 way ride.. not bad..

Going to and fro on a zipline!

This is a big field but no one was playing last Sunday.

Circle of Fun -- lots of carnival rides! Too bad that it was under renovation when we were there.  It says that it is going to be open this September.. can't wait to go back to QC Circle and try the rides.. and look at the entrance fee.. good enough for our budget.. :)

Boating! We are about to go home when we saw this.. My son is eager to go back this weekend just to try this out.

entrance to the boat!

some people put up hammocks to relax

but there are lots of benches around the park where families can gather around, talk and eat...

the park has lots of different playgrounds

biking! this is where we spend most of our time last Sunday.. when we went there, my son doesn't know how to balance his bike yet.. when we were going to the parking lot, we couldn't catch up with him.. :)

So, here's what we have spent last Sunday:

• Parking - 15 pesos
• Hotdogs, hamburger and iced tea - 200 pesos
• Bike rental (for hubby) - 80 pesos

That's a total of 295 pesos! Yet, the kids had lots of fun, appreciated nature and everybody can't wait for next week to go back.. why? because we have seen only half of the park!  Half day in this park is really not enough.. See you next week!


:))

I Love Sundays!

Weekends, specially Sundays, are very important for us Filipinos.  It is that important that the government passed a law called the "Holiday Economics" (Republic Act 9492) that whenever a holiday falls in Tuesday-Thursday or Sunday, it will be moved to Monday so there will be a long weekend..  This was meant to benefit the economy, as people are expected to travel and spend more in vacations during the long weekends. :-)

A country known for close family ties and extended families, this is the time when we get together or simply go out as one family.  Yes, we do it almost every weekend!  Maybe this is also the reason why we are not that affected with recession because when it comes to being with our family, we don't mind how much would it cost us every week...

It is a known fact that during weekends, if you don't want to be in a terrible traffic of car or people, stay out of the malls.  Being in a tropical country, Filipino families tend to spend weekends in the mall since airconditioning is free and different activities like cinemas, play areas, skating, bowling, arcades, food (we love to eat!) and of course, shopping are readily available as long as you have the money.  Our family - me, my husband, our 2 kids, grandma and househelp (we call her Ate Leah) -  usually spend 3 to 5,000 pesos in one weekend.

Looking at the finances, my husband and I realized that we are spending so much in our weekend at the mall.  This is the reason why I thought of creating this blog so you can travel with me in our weekend escapades wherein we ought to spend a little but still have lots of fun and spend quality time with our family.  Hop on! ^_^