It's all in the name

One thing that strikes me when looking at the street maps of Manila are the names of the streets...the older parts of Manila have street names with historical significance – named after people and places which have had a strong influence over the Philippines – such as in the bay area we have Roxas Boulevard and Taft Avenue - although quite who Singalong is I don't know yet, could be a reference to the average Filipino’s genetic programming to, um, sing-a-long!

However, the fun street names start in the newly built up areas...such as Makati and Ortigas. I first noticed this grouping of names before I arrived here and I used to study the maps of Manila in the vain hope that when I arrived I would have slightly more idea of where I was going than if I arrived without once looking a the map...trust me, it was a vain hope!!

So, onto the grouping of names...around Valle Verde we have vegetables – Celery Drive, Mustard, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumber, Asparagus, Radish and Spinach, possibly someone's shopping list the day they were asked to name the streets. Up in Greenhills we move onto American presidents names – Wilson, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Grant, Washington – couldn't find a Clinton though (surprised given his antics with Philippine cigars) and if they do…I suggest that give it a few initials first for when Hilary moves into the big white house in D.C.

Back to the street names – Paranaque City has used all the country names interspersed with school subjects so Poland rubs shoulders with Engineering, Russia with Physics and Chemistry – the countries seem to be in some vague alphabetical order until you see Lesotho next to France. Also in Paranaque City I see that they have 'Better Living' subdivisions – the street names in one of these subdivisions could be counted as better living – Faith , Hope, Love, Grace – then I see the other 'Better Living' Subdivisions include Swaziland, Kuwait, Jordan, (two streets with the same name there!!) Iran and France. Who ever was naming these streets after places definitely has not been paying attention to world affairs – in one small area, all connected – we have Mecca, Israel, Teheran, Bethlehem, Iraq, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem – just next to them to keep the peace we have Geneva.

Then for our soap opera fans we have Dallas and Brookside, still looking for Eastenders

Also very common are the planets (who wants to have Uranus as part of their address), precious stones, not precious stones, precious metals, not precious metals, star signs, the saints, inventors, bugs, birds, zoo animals, types of sheep and cows, mountains, colours, the twelve Apostles, flowers, composers, girls names, boys names – the latter two look as if some town planner took the names of his children and friends children.

I haven't decided which my favourite collection of names is but there is one group I particularly like – Bulletin, Pictorial, Highlight, Ads, Crossword, Horoscope, Action, Editorial, Headline, Banner, Lead, Scoop, Society, Font and Masthead – a journalists dream village!!

I could go on for ever...the collections of names are highly entertaining but the one thing that amazes me is that so many of the street names are repeated through the city – often not once or twice, but three, four or five times – a postman's nightmare.

If they need any new subjects I have a few suggestions – start with the words in the dictionary, British Prime Ministers, British Kings and Queens (remember the Brits were colonial invaders for a very short space of time here as well!), spirits, wine chateau, authors, the contents of my fridge, TV shows, sports personalities,

I knew I should have chosen my address more carefully – Wack Wack Road just doesn't cut it...I think I will move to somewhere like Mt. Everest or Asteroid...but I will definitely be avoiding Mt Etna, Brixton, Uranus and Golden Shower