It looks and feels like you could be anywhere in the world. Although I feared it might be too sterile, we really like the central location next to Makati, its walkability and the many stores and restaurants. Many of the brands everyone knows in the US are a short walk away. In their desire to be a global city, they even make a reasonable effort to enforce things like traffic regulations. Cars mostly (sometimes?) stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, virtually unheard in most of the Philippines, and people queue up for buses. Wow!
In 2012, Tony and I decided to move to the Philippines. For me, it was about seeking new adventure and stirring up the pot (though I think I put it into a boil). For Tony, it was about returning to home and family. So on December 4th, I said goodbye to work and two days later we boarded the plane to Manila. This is an effort to chronicle our travels and some observations along our journey.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Our Neighborhood
As we explored metro Manila, a sprawling metropolis of about 12 million, for a couple months trying to figure out where to live, the search kept leading us back to Fort Bonifacio Global City, often just referred to as "The Fort" or "Global City". A couple of decades ago, it was home to an infamous army base that housed Marcos' political detainees. Bulldozed for development, it now houses dozens of commercial and residential high-rises with a central retail outdoor mall. And the place continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
It looks and feels like you could be anywhere in the world. Although I feared it might be too sterile, we really like the central location next to Makati, its walkability and the many stores and restaurants. Many of the brands everyone knows in the US are a short walk away. In their desire to be a global city, they even make a reasonable effort to enforce things like traffic regulations. Cars mostly (sometimes?) stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, virtually unheard in most of the Philippines, and people queue up for buses. Wow!
It looks and feels like you could be anywhere in the world. Although I feared it might be too sterile, we really like the central location next to Makati, its walkability and the many stores and restaurants. Many of the brands everyone knows in the US are a short walk away. In their desire to be a global city, they even make a reasonable effort to enforce things like traffic regulations. Cars mostly (sometimes?) stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, virtually unheard in most of the Philippines, and people queue up for buses. Wow!
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