It can be overwhelming to explore Quezon City — not only is it the biggest city in Metro Manila (in terms of population), but it’s also notorious for not having a central area where points of interest are concentrated.
That’s a shame, though, because the best things about the city are usually hidden in plain sight. Someone who frequents restaurants on Tomas Morato Ave., for example, wouldn’t necessarily know that there are trendy bars on Katipunan Ave. as well.
Its historic monuments, fine-dining restaurants, hole-in-the-wall eateries, and shopping destinations could rival those in the capital Manila or the business district of Makati, and they’re all just waiting to be discovered.
That’s what the new book QC: A Guide to the Quezon City Experience aims to round up for its readers. A project by the Quezon City government, the guidebook dives deep into everything that’s cool about the area. It also happens to be beautifully designed and can hold its own beside design books and lifestyle magazines on any coffee table.
“One of the main directives from them (Quezon City government) was that they wanted the book to appeal to a younger audience. We wanted the book to be easy to use and visual. Part-branding catalog, part-history book, part-sticky listicle,” Patrick Jamora of Do Good Studio told Coconuts Manila.
Jamora is a partner in Do Good Studio and worked as the art director for QC: A Guide to the Quezon City Experience. He said it took them about half a year to come up with the concept but only had 60 days to create the content and publish it.
“We’ve worked with the people we collaborated with for a while now so that definitely helped a lot in making everything easier for us given the timeline.”
This resulted in a book with striking contemporary design and typography. Inside, readers can find a map of the city and its districts, infographics, neighborhood guides, and food and lifestyle recommendations.
This includes spots to find Filipino food, like where to go for QC’s best silog (traditional meal with egg and rice) and pares (braised beef stew with garlic fried rice and soup), as well as recommended places for foreign and vegetarian cuisines.
Shopping spots are highlighted too, covering bargain haunts, department stores, and sprawling malls. There are also lists for cultural activities, profiles on tastemakers who frequent the city, and photo essays.
The book was launched on March 28 at the QCX Museum, and copies of it are available for free. Jamora said the Quezon City government also plans to distribute the book in boutique hotels and airports.
According the Jamora, a second edition of the guidebook is forthcoming, and will be available in the Quezon City Public Library, QCX Museum, and perhaps, even stocked at bookstores.
Reader Interactions