quezon city is huge and kinda chaotic but also kinda cool

so i just spent a few days in quezon city and it's massive. like really massive. it's the biggest city in metro manila by land area, which is something like 161 square kilometers. i kept getting lost because everything looks the same after a while - just buildings and more buildings. but there are some green patches too, which is nice.

i just checked and it's 30.37°C there right now, feels like 32.14°C. hope you like that kind of thing. humidity's at 53% which isn't terrible but you'll definitely sweat.

what's interesting is that this place used to be the capital of the philippines from 1948 to 1976. before that, manila was the capital, and now it is again. quezon city was founded in 1939 by president manuel l. quezon - yep, the city's named after him. there's this big memorial circle thing with his tomb in it, which i guess is a must-see.

it's on this guadalupe plateau and the terrain is all undulating, whatever that means. apparently there are hills and the la mesa watershed area goes up to like 250 meters. also, there's this west valley fault running through it, so earthquakes are a thing. someone told me that the last big one was pretty scary and that you should always have an emergency bag ready.

if you get bored, rodriguez and san jose del monte are just a short drive away to the north. marikina and san mateo are to the east if you want a change of scenery. but honestly, there's enough going on in quezon city itself.

it's got universities everywhere - university of the philippines, ateneo de manila university, and a bunch of others. so there's a lot of students around, which means cheap food and coffee shops. the araneta coliseum in cubao is apparently a big deal for concerts and sports, though i didn't catch anything while i was there.

traffic is insane, especially along edsa. someone told me that it can take hours to go just a few kilometers during rush hour. and flooding happens a lot because of all the rivers - marikina, pasig, san juan, tullahan, meycauayan. nearly 200 kilometers of waterways, apparently.

population is around 2.96 million people as of 2020, so it's super crowded. but it's also got about 23% green space, which is more than i expected. there are parks like la mesa watershed and the national park and wildlife grounds.

food-wise, i didn't find anything super unique to quezon city specifically. it's mostly general filipino cuisine, but there are tons of restaurants and shopping centers. the food scene is diverse because of all the universities and the mix of people living there.

overall, quezon city is a bit overwhelming but also fascinating. it's got history, education, green spaces, and a whole lot of people. just be prepared for traffic, possible earthquakes, and the heat.

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