Makati never sleeps!
By Joy Arbis

They call this place the “city that never sleeps”. It's a glib cliché' so to speak. Ever wondered why?

Some months ago I came here full of anticipation and curiousity… who wouldn't be anyway? I grew up in a nice and quiet place in Iloilo … a decent suburban community. It was one of those respected community built and founded for government employees in my province. I lived there for 26 long years. Nobody would have guessed I would take a chance of making this turn in my life. But , I wanted to, and I did!

I had always thought of my life as mundane. Forgive me for using the word. But whenever I look back to the things that I come across, I couldn't imagine feeling contented about it. Sometimes I feel guilty whenever I have this euphoric feeling of living a happy life. I don't know why, but I think it is due to the fact that I had already gotten accustomed to a miserable life loaded with woes and blues. Ironic, isn't it?

Putting it in a nutshell , I am here now. I have lived here for the past months, living each day with a new outlook, a new dimension. Such a strong contrast between my life way back in my hometown and the lifestyle of people here at first bothered me.   Asians, Europeans, Caucasians, Arabs, Irish. You name it , Makati has it .

And come to think of it… Prostitution is a recognized livelihood here, and the funny thing is, the courtesans (good substitute for sluts) here are flaunting it without   even feeling a whiff of shame about this age-old profession, I'm   not saying I kowtow to their choice of lifestyle, but their guts never fail to impress me.

You walk down P. Burgos Street and you will experience a peculiar sense of “unfamiliar zone”, an “out-of-the-way” feeling that Alice in wonderland must have felt when she got herself into fantasyland, this street gave me a connotation that foreigners find this place a good place to live…Its convenience and accessibility with regards to everything somehow makes it a “comfort zone” for them.

It also has an array of street bars and nightclubs to entertain its male populace…Bandido bar, Flamingo, Go-Go banana rings a bell for lusty, lonely men looking for some loving feeling   for the night. The Matrix is a crowd drawer for Gig lovers who want to drink and dine at night and indulges in steaming aroma of coffee during the day.   If you want to stay here for a couple of weeks or so, P.Burgos has a lot to offer for lodgers and transient guests. Makati Palace Hotel, Oxford suites, Travellers Inn, Makati Prime towers, Millenium City garden hotel and a whole lot more. Prices also vary.

If you want to survive here without spending so much for room service, you can eat well and live well with the food stuff the convenient stores are selling. There are two convenient stores mushrooming all over Kalayaan and Bel-Air streets… Seven eleven and Mini Stop are two by words for 24-hour service… You name it they have it all here. There is also a wet market a few blocks down P. Burgos area; you have to get on a motorcycle in order to get there. There you can buy fresh meats and vegetables at standard prices.

I had my own share of waggish encounters with the locals here. The scheming taxi drivers make me feel ashamed of being a Filipino. It's unthinkable that they would refuse to take in Filipino passengers, but would be more than willing to open the doors to Americans I would like to describe them as heartless! You would be flabbergasted to see “dollar-taxis” here. Your only defense here would be to call the rescue team of traffic policemen . But you would have second thoughts of doing so… I don't want to bother myself anyway. Nowadays I think the best way to avoid being cheated is to pay them the estimated amount… Fortunately, a few rides would teach one an idea how much it would cost one from here to there.

But you'll still get ripped-off occasionally… One can't be that smart and guarded all the time… There will always be times when one's defenses are down, and makes us vulnerable and at times dumbfounded.

The cost of university education is really at sky-high hereabouts. If you enroll at the top schools here you have to at least purchase your own car, or else you will end up going home drenched under the rain. That's not a pretty picture to see right? They also have good private schools that are accessible to public transportation…

On the other hand, there are also schools that are subsidized by the government and are not so pricey.

Malls are all packed in one place… they call it The Ayala center. If you want to get good quality for a lower price you can try Landmark and SM… For gizmos and gadget freaks you had better opt for Park Square 1 and 2… They have it all here, of course at a lower price. Brand conscious aficionados should try Glorrieta… From Terra Nova, Mark and Spencer, Guess, and a whole lot more.

For Signature brands at Sky high prices they have Greenbelt mall here… Here you can buy your original Louise Vitton bags, Escada, Burberry, etc.

For upscale shoppers who would like to shop in style, you will really love this… The Rockwell Shopping center located in Rockwell drive is one of the hottest pick in town. The Power Plant Mall is the poshiest of it all…

When I look at my window at night I feel like I'm in Manhattan … All those bling lights that glow in the dark… It reminds me of Christmas in the skyline of Makati …

I often tell myself that some people are not born with an understanding of how the big city life works…

But then again you get to remind yourself that this is where the action is!

I'd like to share with you an incident that inspired me to write this article. As I was getting a ride in the taxi … I guess it was almost 8 pm …

I saw this giant billboard in the vicinity of Makati that says “ Makati are you sleepy now?” I came up with an inkling that this city is asleep, but awake…

What the heck… The big city never sleeps…