Thoughts at 5 a.m.

I have lived in Quezon City since the late '80s, save for brief forays in Makati and Cainta. I stayed for almost a decade in UP Village, as a tenant of a room, then a shared apartment that eventually became all mine to rent. At the start of the millenium, I moved to Zabarte Road in Novaliches, in a prototypical condo-type, tenement-type low-cost dwelling. Bought it through mortgage. That gave me my first taste of contracting people to fix up my unit. Lasted eight years till I moved to my present cozy hole in Mindanao Avenue. More experiences in dealing with decorators, caroenters, and contractors.

I've seen this city struggle to transform itself to a better urban jungle, more successfully under Mayor Belmonte, it would seem. What's good now: better quality roads, more obvious street vendor regulation, garbage situation under control. Outside of these, pick your usual plaints.