“The tourist is funny. He tries to ‘do’ a foreign city in 24 hours, though he has learned little about his own city in 24 years.” - The El Paso Herald, January 31, 1928 (from Yesterday’s Print on Tumblr)
I’ve lived in San Pedro City, Laguna for about all of my 30 years (except for the two weeks or so that I spent once in my “other hometown” of Nueva Ecija).
And yet, I had to admit, there are some places here in our city that I’ve never explored or even set foot on.
For instance, the only time I ever reached the so-called “Upper Villages” of barangays Langgam and Estrella was once or twice, with my classmates back in high school.
And I never even saw Barangay Landayan, or the famed Shrine of Lolo Uweng (and the “Balon ni Lolo Uweng”) until a few months after we started OpinYon Laguna in 2018 when I went to Landayan to follow up on a story.
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Let’s face it: when you’ve lived in a place for so many years, there are many places that you’ve come to take for granted. Especially places that we’ve passed through on our way to school and work day in, and day out.
For instance, we never realized that the old house at the corner of the San Pedro City Plaza that once housed a gift shop (where I once bought a Christmas exchange gift present) was a historical ancestral house belonging to the city’s most prominent families. That is until a fast food restaurant that bought the house for its branch decided to retain the house’s antique look rather than tearing it down.
And I’m ashamed to admit that I never realized that that corner restaurant near the jeepney stop where I used to take a jeepney home in my school days was known for its unique way of serving pancit (with ketchup, they say, which might sound gross for some but was enjoyed by its long-time customers) until the business was expanded after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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One positive side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, in my view, is that it raised awareness among us about local businesses – businesses that were on the verge of closing their doors, some permanently, due to the economic impacts of the pandemic.
That’s how we became aware that there are many places worth visiting (and eating or shopping) right here in our hometown. And that’s one aspect many LGUs in our province are now promoting as part of efforts to revive our tourism industry.
We don’t have to go far out to Baguio or even Tagaytay to discover unique or exotic places. Sometimes, places of “interest” could be found right here, in our city. All we need to do is to unleash the explorer within us to find those places.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #UnCommonSense #ColumnbyJamesVeloso