text and photos by Prime Sarmiento
 
  This is how I remember Luneta – a park where my our family go to during weekends, where my siblings and I run around the park, take turns in the slide, ride bumpcars. Later, my dad will spread the blanket on the grass and eat some sandwiches and juice in tetrapacks which our mom and nanny prepared.
 
  This is also how I remember  Luneta – that as we were growing up, we also saw less and less of Luneta, turned off by the dirt, the stink of dried piss, reports of petty crime. The new air-conditioned malls also lured us in – this is where I watch movies with my friends, shop and have dinner with my parents.
 

Balloons for sale in Luneta

  I haven’t been to Luneta for the last 20 years – which is really ironic considering that a.) the park is just a five-minute walk from my office and b.) whenever I travel abroad, I make it a point to go to parks just to walk around, take photos of trees, write in my journal and just savor the only source of fresh air in an otherwise polluted city.
 
  So when the National Parks Development Committee invited Filipino bloggers to see the new Luneta – a landmark in the Philippine capital –  I jumped at the chance to return to my childhood playground.
 
  As a journalist, I’m also curious how tourism officials are preparing the park to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the national hero –Jose Rizal. Luneta, after all, is more known as Rizal Park as this is the place where the Rizal’s monument and shrine is located.
 
  I’m impressed by what I have seen so far – the playground where I used to play in the slide and the gigantic cemented structures of whale and a shoehouse have been cleaned and repainted. There were also moves to improve security, trash cans are everywhere to encourage cleanliness and licensed food stalls are on the side for the strollers who get hungry. I also heard that here’s also a café (with wi-fi, to boot) – although I’m yet to go there and taste the coffee (I’m a coffee holic)
 
  But what impressed me most is the presence of a tranvia – cable cars were the main mode of public transport in Manila back in the early part of the 20th century . There are no tranvias now in Manila. But here in Luneta, park visitors like us can get a chance to ride in a colorful tranvia.
 

 

 

 

 
  I had the chance to take a ride in a tranvia in Luneta. And while I find it slow (and a bit bumpy), I’m glad to partake of its slow pace – as for a few hours I managed to partake of the luxury of remembering.
 
So perhaps, I have more reasons to go to Luneta now. I might as well include this is my daily agenda.