Day 29 - Park Under Maintenance

I had some things to do in Makati today and as I was walking around the city, I came across this park, which is usually very picturesque, and I guess still is but in a totally different way.

The trees here used to look so pretty and perfect. I honestly don't know what happened, why they cut down some branches and things, but anyway, this is how it looks today. I'm assuming they're just going to fix it. To improve things. And hopefully things do improve.

Day 22 - Music and Friendship

I know it looks like one of them is singing to the other, but really, sleepersecond's just asking Paincake Patrol a question and both of them are "kind of" drunk.

Also, they are two of the most determined musicians I know. I would say that they are talented, but I know they don't like that term and prefer to be known as determined and industrious instead. So there. Insert more positive adjectives here. Their music is awesome.

Listen to Paincake Patrol here. Listen to sleepersecond here.

Day 8 - At Your Local

For lunch today, my former officemates and I decided to eat at Your Local, a hipster-y restaurant in Makati. I ordered their salmon dish and I must say I enjoyed it very much. :) A bit pricey, but that's Makati for you.

Afterwards, we went to Glorietta and bought ice cream from Manila Creamery, which makes artisinal gelato, which made for a very hipster day, culinarily speaking. ;) After having ice cream, I bought another dessert item--Sweet Surrender, a variant of the frozen brazo de mercedes from the outlet of The Suite Life by Ange, also in Makati. And then I got a ride from Uber to get home in time to prepare for a farewell party for one of my work acquaintances. Not a bad Saturday indeed.

Day 355 - So Many Starbucks

For a scavenger hunt event in the office, I needed a photo of myself in front of at least 10 different Starbucks branches. So today, when I met up with my friends A and K at Glorietta, I decided to take advantage of the fact that that small area has 4 different Starbucks branches -- Marks&Spencer, Glorietta 4 Cinemas, 6750 and Glorietta 5. Actually, there are more branches in Greenbelt, and I probably could've completed all 10 branches if I'd walked a bit along Ayala Avenue. But it was late, and there are more branches in more parts of Metro Manila anyway, so.

Thanks much to K for taking these pictures and understanding my cause! Hahaha!

On another note, 10 days to go!

Day 346 - Four = Four

For some reason, it didn't occur to us to just hand the camera to someone else so that we could get one picture with all four of us in it. No, the idea we came up with was to pass the camera around so that we'd have four photos, which are basically the same, except that they are taken by each of the four of us. Is that strange? I can't really tell because my best friends and I have always been this way. Hehehe!

Day 269 - Ayala Center

I went to Makati for a dentist appointment today and walked to Ayala Center before going home. I passed by this sign on Ayala Avenue. It's pretty cute and I guess it helps the foreigners (who we all know are Ayala's target market) find the mall, not that that's difficult, considering it's the biggest mall there is in Makati.

The background is the too crowded with cars Ayala Avenue and one of the oldest (but still posh) hotels in the country, The Manila Peninsula.

Day 264 - View from the Top

I got to visit my mom's office in Makati today. They have a view of the Ayala Triangle from their meeting room. Amazing.

Day 260 - Hot Chocolate is Better than Coffee

My sister Z is happy with her decision to order hot chocolate. Her fiance E... not so much with his decision to order coffee. Obviously. :P

First in their itinerary in the Philippines is to go shopping. But not before having a hearty breakfast, so we ate at BFast in Ayala Triangle. We walked to Glorietta, Greenbelt and Landmark afterwards.

Breakfast was good, and not as expensive as I thought it was going to be. The hot chocolate was delicious, but too much for me. I didn't finish drinking mine. :(

Day 254 - Blue Building

I don't even know what building this is. But it looks great from the window of the Power Books store in Greenbelt 3. Lovely shade of blue that is.

Day 238 - How to Wait at the Train Station

There are no benches at the train station to prevent homeless people from staying in it (I'm assuming). Hence, when people wait for trains, they find a post to lean on and sit on the floor. They look kind of funny.

I took this photo as my dad and I were waiting for the train we were going to take to get back home after attending to some matters in Makati. We didn't sit on the floor, because we weren't really that tired, and all the posts on our side of the tracks were already taken anyway.

Day 232 - Shoe Chandelier

It felt like a different experience to go to the mall today because I was looking for something quirky that could be my Photo of the Day. I took pictures of a bunch of stuff but this one takes the cake. It's a shoe chandelier! I don't even know if there are actual lights in that fixture or if it's purely decorative. Oh well.

I saw this at Landmark in Makati.

Day 227 - Ginger and Teriyaki

I met with E after work today, and because my work now ends at 9PM, we were famished by the time we actually saw each other. He was craving for noodles so we went to Teriyaki Boy in Glorietta 3 to have ramen. Lucky they're open until 10PM. Anyway, that explains the Teriyaki Boy placemat in the background of this photo.

As for the candy, E gave me this after our meal, which I think he did as a joke because it did not taste good. I like spicy food, but the kind of spicy that ginger is, I really don't agree with. I took a picture of it so you all will know to stay away.

Day 216 - Sunday Night Lights

Second day of training for my new job in Makati. On a Sunday. And at 9PM. (IKR?!) Hence, CBD's streets are semi-deserted and you have time to take in the scenery.

I only used my cellphone camera for this one so the lights are just bright spots. Can you tell which spot is the moon?

Day 123 - Rainy View

INTERSECTION - between SM Makati and Glorietta, Intercontinental Hotel at the background

I went to my former office to tie some loose ends today *wink* and went to Glorietta afterwards to pass the time before going to dinner with my friends. Since it was the middle of the work day that I was there (around 3PM), I was able to get a seat by the window at the mall's food court. This was my view.

It was raining at the time and I actually fell asleep for a couple of minutes. You know what they say about how rain makes you want to sleep. :P Luckily, I didn't sleep that long, or I might've lost my phone or worse. Who accidentally sleeps at a public place, really!? And I was alone, too. So, nobody was there to wake me up or anything.

Day 117 - Formerly Dead Center

GLORIETTA GROUND FLOOR during an electronics expo

Have you ever seen a busier photo (at least, in this blog)?

I don't know why, but I remember that this area of Glorietta (a mall in Makati), used to be called the Dead Center. Maybe because it was at the center of the parts of Glorietta (Glorietta 1 - 4)? Anyway, whatever the reason, it's certainly not dead now, and it's actually no longer the center either.

Eversince the explosion on Glorietta 2 last 2007, half of the mall has been closed for renovation. So now, only Glorietta 3 and 4 are left. I'm assuming that when the newly renovated areas are up and running, then these "old" wings will be renovated, too. But who knows when that'll be? As of now, it seems that the formerly Glorietta 1 and 2 areas will be under construction for a while. From what I've seen of it from the window of the mall earlier, they haven't finished putting the frame of the new building yet.

Day 50 - After Hours

My officemates and I went to watch Inception today. But because we went after office hours, we could only catch the last full show, which ended at around 11:45PM. The mall was closed and the only way to get to the bus "station"* was to walk along Ayala Ave.

It's not everyday that you get to walk around the city at such a late hour so I took a picture of what it looked like. The building behind the bus here is The Peninsula Manila, a 5-star hotel that's pretty much a landmark of Ayala Ave., Makati.

* "station" is in quotation marks since it's not actually a station, but just one of the common stops of the bus.