Fun things to do in Makati

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Sunday, January 9, 2012
VT Friend I_S_A offered to take us on a tour to the Island of Corregidor. We were thrilled with the idea, so we made plans to visit this historical island. VT Friend planxty - Fergy - also came along with us. Isa picked us up at our Hotel at 6:00 a.m. by taxi and we went to the Ferry Terminal. Fergy joined us with us there.
We signed up for the CONQUER CORREGIDOR TOUR. Sun Cruises provide 2 fast ferries to cater to the daily round trip transfer to and from Coregidor Island -- Baycruiser II is a 145-seater fast ferry: Suncruiser II, the one we went on, can accomodate as many as 285 passengers and has bathroom facilities and snack bar. Both are docked at the CCP Bay Terminal A, inside the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex.
Schedule:
Check In - 7:00 a.m. - Tickets purchased and ID tag with seat number handed out
Boarding: 7:30 a.m.
Departure: 8:00 a.m.
Arrival on the island: 9:15 a.m.
Guided Tour
Departure: 2:30 p.m.
Arrival to Terminal: 3:45 p.m.

Cost of tour -- 1999 Pesos (I_S_A got us a price of 1900 Pesos each)
Tour includes round trip ferry - guided island tour on a trolly - buffet lunch at La Playa

For more information see my Corrigidor page.
Also I want to take this opportunity to thank I_S_A for arranging this wonderful day.

In the old section of Makati called Poblacion, there is a 17th century church called St Peter and Paul Church. Many tourists cannot believe that Makati, which is known for skyscrapers and modern malls, has a Spanish colonial- era church. Inside, the altar and the "retablo" is gilded with gold leaf.

It is the start and finish for many religious processions in Makati.

Walk down Ayala Avenue and experience the financial buzz of the Manila's Central Business District. You'll see guys in barong (which is the formal wear in Manila) or even the occasional dark suits rushing from one building to another. Office women in smart attire everywhere. The Makati Stock Exchange is located here and at the end of the Avenue is the commercial centre of Makati. It will give you a different perspective of Metro-Manila, because of it's more organised and clean.

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The NAIA airport is not Manila's first/oldest commercial airport. That distinction belongs to the Nielson Tower, a 2-storey edifice made obscure by the surrounding buildings of Makati's commercial & business district (CBD) . Before WWII, the area of the present day CBD was open field for miles around, so was deemed suitable to put up an airport for civilian use. The airport took six months to build. The principal runways were laid out on what are now Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Avenue. The passenger depot was constructed on what is now Pasay Road. Between the two runways was the airport tower and passenger station, designed in the shape of an airplane. It was named after its builder and principal investor, Laurie Neilson, a businessman from New Zealand.

It was here that Asia's first airline, Philippine Airlines, launched its maiden flight on March 1941 with a daily service between Manila and Baguio City. After the end of WWII, the heavily damaged airport was rebuilt and operated for 3 years until airport operations were transferred to the NAIA. Since then, the tower has been used as a police station while the CBD slowly evolved around it as years passed. The tower was later converted into a restaurant and today it houses the Filipinas Heritage Library.

(Photos courtesy of various websites)

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Another memorial for World War II soldiers is the Manila American Cemetery, located just a few minutes away from Makati. With the manicured lawns, tall trees, vast plateau and numerous headstones, I momentarily forgot all my worries away.

Amidst the 17,206 crosses, stands the tallest structure in the cemetery which serves as the chapel. There are large mosaic maps about the achievements of soldiers assigned in the Pacific, India, Burma during World War II. Names of 36,282 missing soldiers were inscribed in limestone piers that form two large terrace of hemicycles.

Cemetery is open from 9am-5pm.

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Do you know you can have a Baby Shower at any of the food outlets in Glorietta? I had the opportunity to attend a Baby Shower in a McDo outlet. It was my first time to attend such activity in the commercial center. (Other Baby Showers are usually held at hotels/function rooms if not at the mother's house.)

I've always associated McDo & Jollibee with children's birthday parties. Perhaps other people were like me, who are not used to seeing such an event at McDo. I noticed a lot of folks passing by were peeping through the glass wall, perhaps curious about the presence of adults playing games instead of children.

Games for the Baby Showers were arranged by the hosting party with the staff, and relatives/personal friends of the mother acted as co-emcees of the program. Freebies (non-McDo stuff) were brought and distributed to guests by the hosting party instead of instore loot bags. McDo Mascots later joined the party for some dancing and picture taking. It was amusing to see how the presence of said mascots unleashed the "little child" in each of the adult guests as they had their own pictures taken with them.

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every red blooded meat loving male should come to this once yearly deal at the powerplant mall in makati city to savor assorted cuts of steak at discounted prices of only 200 pesos per 100 grams brought by the top steakhouses of manila like Elbert's Steak Room, Myron's Place, Bistecca, Mamou's, 22 Prime and other independent players (an average USDA Prime or Black Angus steaks costs about 300 pesos per 100 grams in these parts). So As a tribute to father's everywhere who long for imported, succulent, fork tender steaks for just 1 day on father's day and you should see my pictures to drool and seek the wonderful steaks!

The Filipinas Heritage Library is a one-stop electronic research center on the Philippines. It is a division of the Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI).

Starting with donated materials from Ayala Corporation and the Zobel de Ayala family, the Filipinas Heritage Library was initially a part of the Ayala Museum. Then, the collection was transferred to the historical Nielsen Tower in 1996. The transfer heralded the library’s mission to become a knowledge network in the Philippines, serving as a "catalyst for culture".

Today, the library contains a good inventory of resources on Filipino history, art and culture, and is also the repository of thousands of images/references related to the Philippines. Interesting artistic and historical photos are on display, and there is now also a bookstore.