Culture
Glico’s, Boom na Boom, and all the happy places we used to love
(YouTube)
Most of our favorite childhood memories are tied to certain places. Flipping through old photo albums reminds us of birthday parties in Enchanted Kingdom, family outings to Subic, and class fieldtrips to Nayong Pilipino. How nice it would be to take a day off and revisit the places we loved as children. Not all of these places, however, have stood the test of time. Over the years, some had been shut down, while some have been converted to serve other purposes. Some have simply changed, just like us when we were growing up. What follows is a homage to the places that will always be special to us.
Glico’s Great Adventures in Glorietta 2
“Open pa din ba Glico’s sa Glorietta?” posted one unassuming Glico’s fan in a Facebook page demanding its return. (The page also clamors for the return of bubble juice). Sorry to break your heart. We also long for the amusement park’s Crazy Bus, Mini-Golf, and Dragon Coaster. Glico’s website is a true relic of the past, and it painfully reminds us of all the fun we can never have again. Oh well, we can still make up excuses and sneak into Timezone.
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Go-kart in Subic
Nothing spelled “cool” quite like driving a go-kart. Bumper cars? No, thanks. They’re too unsophisticated. But with go-karts, you could race against fellow kids who were actually serious about driving. Come to think of it, karting was the only thing you were serious about when you were 10. That, and homework. Other than it hones your driving skills, karting is a hobby you can carry into adulthood. As a respectable twenty-something man or woman, you can still zip through Le Man’s Go-Kart in Clark Freeport Zone without looking weird.
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Boom na Boom
Located near Star City along Roxas Boulevard, Boom na Boom was every kid’s dream come true. Aside from the standard Ferris wheel and merry-go-round, the carnival had fun rides with names like Vortex, Ghost Train, and Boomerang. The Boom na Boom complex has been rebranded to Boomland, which isn’t as kid-friendly as before. It includes a crocodile park, a go-kart track, a swimming pool, several restaurants, and, most uncharacteristically, a Wensha Spa.
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Splash Island
Splash Island, the biggest waterpark in the Philippines, promises “a day filled with aqua thrills and adventures.” For our younger selves, an adventurous day at Splash Island consisted of sliding down the staggering Rio Montañosa and the epic Magellan’s Drop. Though it’s still open, Splash Island isn’t as popular as before, perhaps because more parks have opened over the years. Perhaps it’s because kids’ interests are changing. Whatever the reason is, summers in Splash Island was your earliest introduction to weekend surfing in La Union. You just don’t want to admit it.
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Nayong Pilipino
The Nayong Pilipino of our bygone days was located next to the CCP in Pasay. Many grade school field trips took place in the 46-acre park that featured scaled down replicas of famous Philippine landmarks. Nayong Pilipino made it possible to visit the Chocolate Hills, the Banaue Rice Terraces, and the Mayon Volcano in a matter of minutes. In 2004, however, the Visayas and the Mindanao areas of the park shut down to to give way to a bigger airport. The Bagong Nayong Pilipino Cultural and Heritage Park was supposed to be built on reclaimed land along the Manila Bay, but the whole project turned out to be a waste of taxpayers’ money. Nayong Pilipino was eventually moved to the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. The new park features the same attractions, but it’s now less accessible to the Manileños who once enjoyed it.
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Euroland in Uniwide
Uniwide along Alabang-Zapote Road was a decent shopping mall back in the 90s. Fast-forward to today, the building is in the fringes of total decay. One of the main attractions of the old Uniwide was Euroland, an indoor amusement park best remembered for its giant treehouse. The crowned bear by Euroland’s entrance is now—metaphorically, we suppose—placed next to some children’s apparel.
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Fiesta Carnival in Cubao
Most families who have lived in Manila their whole lives have stories to tell about Cubao, and most likely, one story is about a visit to Fiesta Carnival. Like Star City, it was once an indoor amusement park loaded with carousels, Ferris wheels, and a train that goes around the park. Efforts were done to revive the carnival sometime in the early 2000’s. The developers of Araneta Center decided to move it out to an open lot across SM Cubao. But after a few years in its new location, Fiesta Carnival still shut down.
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Water Fun in Sucat
Parañaque City had a Splash Island of it’s own and it was called Water Fun, for the simple reason that doing stuff in water, be it a reunion with friends or a Saturday out with the family, was fun. But the park is now closed. The slides and the swimming pools won’t look out of place in an apocalypse film.
“Everytime I pass by there, the ruins remind me of ‘John Carpenter’s Escape from LA” and ‘Thundarr the Barbarian,’” wrote a former Water Fun regular in a blog devoted to abandoned amusement parks. It just goes to show that childhood is a race against the clock— you should have enjoyed it while it lasted.
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