Jernie's Hub: Going around Metro Manila

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Going around Metro Manila

Having cold weather for quite some time in Canada and in Germany, 30 degrees in Manila was for me, heaven! It was fantastic! I was so excited to go out with my sandals. On top of it, being November, I was so excited to see the Christmas decorations all around Metro Manila. Here are some of our shots around and about Manila.

Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang

This is our favorite place to go around. We dont have to go far, everything is in this place, shopping malls, restaurants, supermarkets, banks, home furnishings departments stores, open air coffee and restaurant areas, nice hotels, etc. This place is very nice, surrounded by greens, nice landscape, not crowded, not much traffic, very clean, and most of all , it is safe. Since we live in the south, it saves us a whole lot of time to do our things, instead of driving to Makati City.

There are 2 very nice hotels in this area, the Vivere and Bellevue. We have been to both and it is certainly a beautiful place to cool off and to have some peace after shopping. Bellevue's coffee shop at the lobby is so cozy, one of our favorite place. Check out for more details, http://wikimapia.org/62854/Filinvest-Corporate-City-Alabang

Alabang Town Center

Around Alabang

At Bellevue hotel, Alabang

At the Mall of Asia :

SM Mall of Asia (MOA) is a shopping mall owned and developed by SM Prime Holdings, the largest mall developer and owner in the Philippines. SM Mall of Asia is the second largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the 4th largest shopping mall in the world[citation needed] . It has a land area of 42 hectares and has a gross floor area of an approximate 390,193 m² (4.2 million square feet)[1] and 407,101 m² of total area. The mall is located at Bay City, Pasay City, Philippines just near the SM Central Business Park, the Manila Bay and the southern end of EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue). The mall attracts a daily foot traffic of 200,000 people. (source: wikipedia)
Visit the official MOA website http://www.smmallofasia.com/

This place is enormous! You can be lost inside. If dont know how to spend your day, this is the place for you. You can find everthing in here. Since, we dont have that luxury of time to spend, each time we come to this place, we plan what exactly we want to do and where we want to go. One thing I would stress out is that, during the weekend - Saturday and Sunday,this place is packed as in packed with people. I dont really like it, so crowded, so noisy.....very stressful. Go there during weekdays so you will enjoy it.

Manila Bay view

Lunch at Via Mare

Herbert with his favorite San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen and I have my fav buko juice as well

St. Paul Sisters convent in Pasay City

Sister Lourdes, a childhood friend, best friend and my constant partner in the church back home had just celebrated her professional vow with close friends and family. Since we are seldom in the Philippines, each time we are there we try to visit her. Fortunately, she is currently assigned in Pasay City, so we had a very good chance to visit her.

Sister Lourdes' professional vow.

Congratulations, you've made it!

children's playground inside

The Power Plant Mall

Malls are widely popular in the Philippines, must be hundreds of them are spread all over the country. In Metro Manila, there are a few 'posh' or high-end shopping malls and the Power Plant Mall is one of them. It is located at the Rockwell Center in Makati City. It is a four-level complex which carries specialty brands, signature boutiques local and international, a wide range of themed restaurants, supermarket, cinema and bars. Moreso, at the parking level, there is a driver lounge, so if the driver wuoldn't wish to go with you, they won't be bored at all because the lounge is equipped with a television set. It was quite a relief for us so at least we dont have to worry if the driver is bored or not and if we ask him to join us, we know exactly where to find him.

When we were there, the place is adorned with beautiful Christmas decorations. It is such a beautiful place to hang-out and have fun. I would highly recommend to give this place a visit when you are in Manila.