two weeks in Makati, Philippines

just before the now famous Taal Volcano erupted in the Philippines, i went on a two week holidays to Makati. this place is around 60kms from the volcano. Most people would think of Manila when they think of the country. Makati is a part of the greater Manila but is its own city. lots of offices and high priced apartments are there. i would say it is less polluted (actually very clean), less congested, well maintained and i even suspect it is being "insulated" by the government or municipalities or what have you from the abject poverty that does exist in the surrounding areas. staying here for the whole duration, i felt quite safe, even walking around at nights. a lot of foreigners and expats around the area

high rise apartments abound and plenty being constructed. if you love city life (as i do) you will love Makati

roads here are smooth, well manicured paths and surroundings. Most cars seem to obey right of way rules

Philippines is known for their jeepneys. colourful passenger vehicles. very economical way to get around. but round here, you do not see many of them. notice the orderly line to board the jeepneys. no pushing or shoving as some may expect of asian countries

Makati is best known for the many interconnected shopping malls. just endless stores and restaurants. within two weeks though I pretty much knew all the stores and the best places to eat. if you do stay here, I'd recommend 5 days to be enough to cover most of the malls, if that's your thing.

Greenbelt, one of the main malls is quite stunning with these giant trees around. they seem to have built the mall around the natural flora that was already here. very nice!

lovely tropical flowers and plants

greenbelt glimmers at night. not sure if it's always like this or maybe only around xmas time. but the restaurants and the malls in general open till very late. maybe around 11pm, so the night life is awesome

well lit walkways

trees covered in fairy lights

i stayed in that brown building on the right. it's called KL Towers Serviced Apartments. cheaper than hotels but not nasty. I'd say 3.5 stars close to 3.8 for me. staff are very helpful. the apartment itself was small with no view to speak of, even though i was on the 26th floor, it was facing the building there on the left. but you get what you pay for. i wasn't fussed.

it had an indoor pool, sauna, gym.

the apartment had two nice parks right opposite it

the trees are also decorated with fairy lights so the whole park looks magnificent at night

big pot of nothing

nice artificial stream

goes around the park

a little lake with some koi fishies. the water looks dirty but it does get cleaned

some underwhelming art installation

here's the funny thing. on the right you see a little building. in the west, that would be a stinky ol toilet block. here, im not sure if it is, but they made it like an office for the park cleaners, who from my observations, seemed to work a full day there keeping the park clean! they even have a dedicated security guard, one for each park! one time i was reading my book and wanted to have a lie down on the park bench. the security guy comes and tells me off.. im not allowed to lie down! oh well, it's their hood so respect their rules

a nice japanese garden

serene

peaceful

i didnt get to take photos but this park is actually a sanctuary for stray cats. there were a few roaming around the park

on Sundays there is a little Sunday market

quite a good spread of stalls offering wierd and wonderful things. nothing exotic like what you see in thai markets. no insects or bugs and shit like that. pretty tame.

lastly i wanted to share some of the foods there. i avoid pork and shellfish so my options are a bit limited when it comes to food. unfortunately Filipinos love their pork and shellfish... so be prepared to be.. underwhelemed. first up, chicken insasal (yummy baste) with garlic rice and tuna sisig (sizzling plate). was happy with that order. approx cost 10USD plus tip

a light meal of beef shishkabob. not bad, but have had better. the meats were small and not juicy. had a couple of beers and cocktail which ended up costing around 20USD

beef kare kare (peanut based curry) which is a typical filipino dish. decent but i ended not enjoying the beef so much as they used osso bucco, the tail... yeah not too crazy about thd thought of it. the buffalo wings was rubbish. they fried it to a crisp

a typical filipino breakfast of rice, eggs and bangus (milk fish) and atsara (pickled papaya). i liked it, even though i don't usually eat rice for breakfast. one thing i do notice about the filipino taste is this battle of sweet, sour and salty in the same bite. it's not everyones cup of joe, but once you get a taste for it, you really get into it

rice beef and gravy. see the little bits of corn, that's the veggies on the side. that's all i got... look the taste was great but by this time my heart was palpitating from the high salt contents of food here

probably the favourite dish i had. rice with crispy pla pla (some fish) curry and veggies. fish was satisfyingly crispy and curry was spot on. i had this twice!

since it was xmas season, this guy comes out as a dessert. puto bumbong. i think it's cassava cake that's ube (taro) flavoured. you eat it with cheese, coconut shavings, heart stoppingly sweet jaggery and yes, that's a dollop of margarine

and lastly, another ubiquitous dessert, taho (soft tofu with syrup and tapioca balls). yum!

drown it all with some beers

that is all mother cluckers. well done if u lasted this long

the compulsary cock tax?! enjoy!