at first look at the coconut trees you might have thought this is in Boracay but I am referring to Manila's baywalk. i'll personally call it coco bay. maybe no one else calls this place as coco bay because it is more known as Manila's baywalk.
years back, this place was transformed into a stretch of bars, restaurants and other park features like big dinosaur statues. at night hundreds and even thousands of people visit and walk along this boulevard on weekends. live bands here and there, crowds walking on every side and cars parked on one side. 
after a new mayor was elected in Manila last year, baywalk was revived into its original scenic view of coconuts lined up along its stretch. 
i spent three hours along this boulevard talking to people. Manila's baywalk extends from the Manila Yacht club until the U.S. embassy that leads to Rizal park.
on the other side is Roxas boulevard, a wide road that connects Pasay City and Manila City.
here you can take a calesa for a romantic view of this part of Manila. but by merely sitting on one of the coconut tree's shade, you'll have a nice afternoon. i was even tempted to lie down on one of the benches. it was relaxing for me.
thanks to the new mayor for reviving Manila's baywalk into a park of coconut trees and cleaner shores.
28 comments:
yeah... all hail mayor! hehehe... I love it there specially at night... woOt!
Nice pics of Manila. I love places with blue skies, trees and beaches..
Beautiful pictures! I liked them very much.
Thanks for visiting my blog!
thanks horny ang gabriel.
dave, yes. it's beautiful at night as well.
Lovely shots of Manila.
i like Manila Bay this way; it looks breathing and alive. before it appeared trying hard to be hip, only to look suffocating and filthy. Good job by Mayor Lim; shame on Atienza. :P
btw, like the sunset shots; they look haunting, but in a good way :)
wow, you live in a beautiful area!
I don't think I could ever get used to the palm trees, though.
They're surreal
di pa ata ako naka punta dyan... he he. puro probinsya lang ako e
Damn. That place looks perfect right about now. So pretty, palm trees <3
thanks carver and barry.
kitty, thanks. i hope you get to visit the Philippines soon.
abou, welcome ka dito.
againstthegrain, those are coconut trees. they somewhat look like palm trees.
really beautiful... good that they put coconuts in there.
How wise of your mayor. That is a beautiful place. Your serene prose complements the photos beautifully.
I guess anyone would love to have such a Mayor ... but he should pay you some ammount because of the first class publicity you made with your marvellous photos.
i like how you posted about the coconut trees of baywalk. really, its a fresh take on this very public and oft blogged place. kakaiba ka pre :-)
thanks Sandy. Yes the mayor really stood on his action to revive the bayside area.
quintarantino, thanks. awareness of the improvements done in this area is my own way of supporting the developments of this city.
estan, maraming salamat!
Give me back the "old Atienza Baywalk" anytime...
Don't we have enough coconut trees already ? ;-)
nice, mag iisang taon na din po akong nag aaral sa manila pero hanggang ngayon di pa ko nakakapunta sa manila bay. hehehe
Beautiful... the rows of coconut trees remind me of my homeland..!
:)
sana maging coco beach uli yan pagdating ng araw :P
I can hear the palm fronds rustling now! Very restful & tropical.
Miss kona tong place nato kahit ma pollution ang Manila...
sidney, nice but having coconut trees in this bay is as important as having coconuts in other places.
joanne, you have to visit this place and it would be best if you try to spend some time just hanging around eating ice cream specially this summer. the tree's shade helps a lot.
shades, that's great!
tutubi, that would be nice.
will, real tropical sea breeze.
lutch, need to see this place now. although renovations are not yet completely done but it's a nice place to hang around with our kababayans.
Ganda!
coconuts in the city? doesn't that sound a bit odd? but then again, coconuts have always been the only salvation to every beautification project in the city. you have the sea and the traffic standing on both grounds. what else can we ask for? ;-)
i think there are two sides to the story, bro.
we can't totally put down the former mayor's efforts to revive interest in the baywalk area. from a seemingly forgotten strip, it turned into a teeming, vibrant hangout. imho, it was just done haphazardly and without much planning - creating bottlenecks, there are no public toilets in place, etc.
on the other hand, mayor lim's efforts to clean up the strip is commendable. my mom & siblings live in manila and i used to dread driving along roxas boulevard on friday and saturday evenings because traffic is simply horrible. 4 lanes turn into a 2 or even 1 lane road especially on the southbound/pasay-bound lane.
anyway, i'm happy that you wrote about this place. it is one of the remaining free-of-charge places in the metropolis. believe me, some sundays i just find myself watching the waters, the skies, and the people picnicking along roxas.
earvin, thanks.
gulch, and it's for free. one of the best place to just sit and relax.
oggie, you're right. the former mayor wasn't that old bad. in fact it was his idea of reviving Manila. the sad thing is it didn't consider some of the important things like good maintenance.
if people are still looking for that night life along the bay, San Miguel and SM now has it. which has good security and high maintenance procedures.
Ang galing mo Dong! You made Manila Bay look really beautiful! Yes, Coco Bay is a perfect name for it. When I go back to Manila, my office will be very near so I hope that I could take walks there sometime.
thanks toe! hope to meet you when youu'll be here in Manila.
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