As a resident of Quezon City for more than 10 yeas, I've witnessed the transformation of The Quezon Memorial Circle (the city's major landmark and monument, and also where the former President Manuel L. Quezon's remains are buried) from a place where you can jog, exercise, ride and rent bikes, go picnic with the family, and eat, to a veritable theme park.

Today, the Circle sports more than just clean and spacious picnic grounds, but also a huge space made up of more than 10 separate outdoor plastic playground sets. Entrance is free and there are plenty of places to sit and watch the kids play. Walk a few meters and you'll find a lane of food stalls and restaurants where you can get your fill of Pinoy street food, junk food, local delicacies, and fast food.

Near the playgorund is what makes The Quezon Memorial Circle such a great family weekend escape - Circle of Fun. The first time I went there there were only a few rides and most of it were for kids. Entrance was at Php30 and rides were at Php30 also. My sister and I rode what we thought was the scariest ride there (and the only one fit for adults and kids), the Frog Leap, which goes up and down about 2 stories high. It turned out to be a worthy ride because it made my palms sweat. But I think that the operator had fun with the controls too much.

My next visit was just a few days ago and Circle of Fun was transformed to an even bigger fun with new adult rides like the Wild Wind, a roller coaster ride with a twisty loop that made me dizzy and shook my brain silly, the Sea Dragon, kind of like the Viking Boat of Enchanted Kingdom only less scarier, The Pharaoh, a haunted house ride, the Octopus Ride, Go Kart, and there's also this Astro Jet ride (I think it's a virtual reality ride). There's the usual bump cars and carousel rides for the kids. But the star of the show was really the Wild Wind ride. Entrance has gone up to Php40 and the rides were at Php50 to 70 each.

And since it was the holidays, the crowds were at an all time high. The single street was filled with walking people, crawling vehicles, parked cars, and vendors. It was chaotic. It was festive. It was sooo damn fun. It's like being a kid again on Christmas day. But then, after a while, you go back to being a whiny adult. Haha.

Wish I'd taken pictures while I was there. Maybe next time.

*photo of Circle of Fun entrance borrowed from http://metatraveller.blogspot.com/