In our neighborhood

This is a typical section of our village's main road and shows well the wide mix of residents in our barangay. On the left is a big house, probably with no garden at all because the house takes up the entire lot; the house isn't new but it is very well maintained. Next is a smaller house almost hidden by the repair shop on one side and a profusion of plants on the other; the owner of the house either owns the repair shop or leases out the space for extra income. On the right is a bakery, which also sells softdrinks and other snacks; no fancy pastries and cakes here—just soft buns of different kinds: plain, buttered and sugared, or flavored with ube or chocolate. Our main road is supposed to have four lanes but as you can see, the businesses have staked out parking spaces from the outer lanes.