Dreamy, rousing and outright Instagram-worthy – these are often how I describe a captured sunset experience. Most of us rave about the setting sun’s beauty along the beach. I, personally, consider it as one of the most spectacular moments. But since I work in the metro, a sunset view by the beach is a rare sighting. After working for more than a year now in the Greater Manila Area, I have come to scout places where I can draw out inspiration.

One particular place I find really inspiring is the Quezon City Memorial Circle (QCMC). The “Circle” as locals would call it, has to be one of the prominent landmarks in Quezon City. Through the years, with the endless efforts of the local government, it has been undergoing a lot of changes so as to attract more tourists.

The Quezon Memorial Circle is a national park and a national shrine located in the Philippines City of Stars, Quezon City. The park is located inside a large traffic circle that is elliptical in shape. Its main feature is a tall mausoleum containing the remains of the second official President of the Republic of the Philipppines, Manuel L. Quezon together with his better half, Lady Aurora Quezon.

I have been to QCMC on 3 different occasions. The most recent one happened when I was fortunately invited to a blogventure as part of the city’s 75^th Anniversary celebration.

QCMC is pretty big in terms of area. My favorite spot though is the Circle’s centerpiece — The Quezon Memorial Shrine. This is an art deco-themed monument built during the 1950s. This 66-meter shrine houses an observation deck that can be accessed via spiral staircase. The monument also consists of three vertical pylons (representing the three main geographic divisions of the country: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao) with three grieving angels holding sampaguita (the Philippines national flower) wreaths.

In front of the monument is a dancing fountain that is lit up during sundown and further makes the area jovial and colorful at night. Many people start to flock this area as the day ends and as darkness starts to creep in. I love the sight of people (family, friends, visitors/tourists) enjoying the beauty of “The Circle”. As for me, the sunset view at this park is such a visual spectacle that makes me feel relaxed and inspired.

***My visit to Quezon City Memorial Circle is not originally part of the 3 destinations we were assigned to visit during Quezon City’s 75th anniversary celebration. Since the Ninoy Aquino Wildlife Park was already closed when we arrived, I opted to come back the following day and go to QCMC.

Don’t be a wasted soul, be ‘juan’derlust. Take it easy ebri’juan’…