The playground Ayala (Photo grabbed from google.com)
It used to be a wide grassy lawn where the Reading Ruffolos — an advocacy blog that I started in 2013 to spread the love of reading and storytelling — hosted a book share session of Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book.”
There were five people in the group and as we went about the night’s affair of discussing details and interpretations of the book’s plot and characters, we marveled at the green space called The Terraces Garden (located at the back of Cebu City Marriott Hotel) and played on the idea of how the space can be transformed into a fun park for both adults and children.
We didn’t know the plans that the Ayala Center Cebu management had in store for the green space but “whatever it is, let’s hope it does not involve concrete and cement,” we told each other.
Four years after that night, my three mutants — twins Nicholas and Antoinette and our resident cutie pie Jeff Junior — trooped to the same area, took off their shoes and played for close to two hours.
They swung on monkey bars, figured out how the see-saw works, and reached the top of the “mountain” with climbing nets.
The area was transformed into a play destination aptly called The Playground, a collaborative endeavor of flip-flop brand Havaianas and Ayala Center Cebu.
The two entities, which pride themselves as “believers of outdoor fun”, have come together to encourage parents to bring their children out in the open and experience fun times sans high-tech gadgets and online games.
Designed by multi-awarded industrial and furniture designer Vito Selma, The Playground embraces Cebu’s highlands, beaches and metropolis with its three distinct play areas.
In the WAVES section, the sea is immortalized in colorful monkey bars and see-saw providing hours of endless fun for children. My four-year-old twins played in this area with bare feet and giggled their way the entire afternoon.
I was content to watch them a few meters away with the eye ofa mother lion looking after her cubs.
At the PEAKS section, Jeff Jr. (who just turned two years old a few days ago) found joy in the tire swing, climbing nets and climbing bars.
Our trusted Ate Joy was present to make sure that he’s safe.
He did fall a couple of times, cried and looked for Nanay (that’s me!) to give him a comforting hug.
But kids are made of rubber and as long as those falls are minor and only bruised their feelings more than their physical selves, it is
perfectly fine to tell them to stand up, brush it off and move on.
Cebu’s SKYLINE is reflected in The Playground’s location, at the very spot where the hotel and the mall converges.
I remember the day when Cebu Holdings, Inc. (Ayala Center Cebu’s developer and subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc.) announced the seamless connection between these two properties seven or eight years ago when I was covering CDN’s business beat.
Over the years, I appreciated the seamlessness from the hotel side where it is easier to get out of the hotel room and access the mall through the covered pathway from the hotel.
This time, with a playground in its midst, a vibrant environment has been reestablished in that area, which somehow brings me back to my college where projects and plays were conceptualized and rehearsed in the gazebo.
How wonderful it is to hear the sound of the children’s giggles and watch them run, climb and slide.
Cebu needs green spaces and the commitment of Havaianas, Ayala Center Cebu coupled with the talent and passion of Vito Selma gave Cebuano families the opportunity to experience a green space which truly brings fun and happiness to parents and children.
Vito is a doting uncle too so conceptualizing and executing The Playground was a project born out of love for children. His works can also be seen in the mall’s new expansion wing.
His love for children is evident in a growing kids line headlined by Cara-boo, Vito’s local take on the rocking horse designed and adapted
for the Filipino sensibility.
In a generation where the digital revolution has somehow imprisoned the youth in gadgets and online games, The Playground is a refreshing comeback to traditional ways of having fun.
Anne Gonzales, managing director of Terry SA (Havaianas Philippines), said they hope the playground will be a “source of endless joy and fond memories for Filipino families.”
“At its very core, Havaianas is all about fun and happiness, and what better way to bring those out than imaginative, active play,” she said.
For Leanne Florendo, managing director of A.L. Amizade Marketing Inc., the exclusive sub-distributor of Havaianas in Central and
Eastern Visayas, The Playground is their commitment to serve the community with a venue that provides fun experience to both parents and children.
“Some of our best childhood moments consist of playing outdoors, running around and feeling the air and sun on our faces. We want this Playground to create similar, long-lasting memories for this generation of kids,” she said.
At 5 p.m., it was time to whisk away the mutants from The Playground and head back home for a meal of homemade fried chicken and pasta (sauce made from scratch) by their Dad. It was truly a well-spent Saturday with outdoor fun made more accessible at The Playground.
