Memorable Makati

Last month was the 10th anniversary of our college graduation. Our batch valedictorian Ronald greeted us “Hi Guys! Happy 10th year!” in our long-silent Facebook group. There was a flurry of responses to this, in the midst of which this conversation got inserted:

Chu: On a related topic – for the housemates of Bahay ni Ate Chona, I just realised that we only spent 3 years together in that house, but it felt a lot longer. One of the best times of my life, as in I just can’t believe I’ve lived in Bangkok for about the same amount of time, and I’m also going on my third year here in Australia, but what we went through there was really different.

Dee: I agree, Chu, I also made the same comment about living here. I’ve been in Singapore for 4 years too but I feel like I spent more time in Makita even though it’s actually the same amount of time. But maybe this also includes denial about signs of aging? LOL.

Zenie: Same here Chu… it’s like more things happened in my life there than in my 5 years here in Jersey. Those 3 years in Makati were also the best days of my life… The small budgets, the floods, the barbeque and tapsilogan in Washington, the cake breaks in Star Mart.

This conversation made me think of Makati. My beloved Makati.

It was love at first sight for me.

The year was 2003. I was reviewing for my board exams when my cousin fetched me from my dorm in Sampaloc so we could have dinner with his then-girlfriend (and now wife) and another cousin of ours at Greenbelt in Makati City, the financial center of the Philippines. When we passed by Ayala Avenue, my jaw dropped as I stared at the magnificent buildings. When I got back to our dorm that night, I was giddy with delight as I told my friend Pams, who happened to be the first person I ran into, “I am in love with Makati! I promise I’ll work there someday!”

I know it seems silly to want to work somewhere for the buildings, but I was an easily impressed country mouse whose sole requirement for a job back then was internet connection.

A year later, I kept my promise. After spending a few months trying different jobs in my hometown Zamboanga, I felt so miserable that despite the huge risk, when the opportunity presented itself (through the form of a text invite from my friend Chu), I took it and flew to Makati with enough money to only last me a month, bringing my friends Zenie and Gay with me. The three of us found jobs within the same week we arrived. It was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life, to date.

My first job was in KPMG, an auditing firm, and my wish came true in that I worked in a spiffy building. 😀

Philamlife Tower, where our office was located Image credit: my friend Chu

The pay was so small, though, that for the first few months I subsisted on instant noodles, canned sardines and half meals. We couldn’t even afford fastfood and I remember how Zenie and I would look longingly at KFC and promise each other that we’d treat ourselves to a meal there when we got our next paycheck. Chu and I, who were colleagues in the same team by then, turned down invites from colleagues to lunch at our own building’s cafeteria because it was expensive there and pretended that we were lunching with another friend when in reality we just needed to go to building across the street for cheaper food.

At first we rented boarding house bed space, but we really hated it there that we decided to look for a house that we could all rent together. There were enough of us college classmates in Makati to do so. So one fine day while we were walking down Santuico Street, we saw a small two-bedroom, two-floor apartment for rent at the right rate, and we moved in. The place was owned by a lady named Chona and at that time, the reality TV series Pinoy Big Brother: Bahay ni Kuya was popular so we named ourselves “Bahay ni Ate Chona” (House of Chona. Ate is a term of respect for older women).

Bahay ni Ate Chona housemates Regie, Maya, Gay, Dee, Nald, Zenie, Junjun, Chu

Later on when Junjun moved to Indonesia, Jefrey took his place

As I mentioned, it was a two-bedroom apartment but due to financial constraints, we had to fit eight people into it. There was an equal number of people per gender, so the room division was easy enough.  The house came unfurnished, so we bought cheap furniture from Paco, Manila, buying double beds and living room and dining room sets on borrowed money because we really were that poor.

Our humble little home

But we loved our little home – it was our very own! And being with our friends from back home made us feel like we weren’t far away from our families at all – we became each other’s family and watched each other grow – and I guess this is the reason why we value our time here so much. Life was simpler back then, when the littlest things made us happy and we weren’t too materialistic yet.

Aside from my Makati family, I also had Makati friends, thanks to my colleagues from KPMG and later P&G, both the offices of which were located in Makati. So I spent most of my days within the confines of Makati and I didn’t mind at all. Makati was a lot cleaner and safer than other parts of Metro Manila anyway.

Here are some of the more memorable moments from those Makati days.

Bonding over TV

Before wifi took over the world, people had no choice but to watch the same thing on TV together. These forced them to actually be with and talk to each other, and since they had no laptops or smart phones to attend to, they actually paid attention to what the others had to say.

Santuico Street corner

Our street was right next to Washington, which was the busiest street in that area. We loved to go there to buy barbequed chicken or grilled milkfish from an open stall or to the tapsilogan that sold the most delicious tapsilog I have ever tasted, for only 30 pesos. Tapsilog = tapa + sinangag + itlog (beef + fried rice + egg). It’s a popular Filipino breakfast dish.

Flooded Santuico Street

Though I loved our place’s location for its convenient nearness to my office, the market, and the malls, I hated it when it rained because it got flooded. Above picture happened during Typhoon Milenyo back in 2006, which I blogged about in detail here. The typhoon had such strong winds that uprooted trees and cut off electricity for days. Trapped in the house with no TV for entertainment (this was before smart phones were a thing), Zenie and I decided to sing the entire Phantom of the Opera script. I sang the guy parts.

Videoke nights

Speaking of singing, videoke (known to the rest of the world as karaoke) was one of my favorite pastimes, a hobby which I luckily shared with all my groups of friends. Sometimes we’d rent a room in one of the many videoke joints in Makati, sometimes someone would have a magic sing and we’d have a go at their house. Filipinos really love to sing, and we don’t care if we have a good singing voice or not. 😛

Star Mart sessions. Yes, we were always very mature about it.

One of the perks of being a P&G employee was that you got a “star card” which gave you a monthly allowance of 5000 pesos (if I remember correctly) which you could use for gas at any Caltex (Chevron) outlet. Well I didn’t have a car, so I chose to spend my star card allowance on their convenience store – Star Mart. They were open for 24 hours so it was extremely convenient, so I often went there with colleagues or my housemates for rice meals, fruit smoothies, Lapids chicharon, chocolate fudge cake, or groceries. There was one store just a few blocks away from our house, so whenever we got a craving for chocolate fudge cake in the middle of the night, we’d go there and have our fix.

Timezone time out

I loved to watch movies (usually in Greenbelt cinema) but the thing I miss is what we used to do after – shoot hoops in Timezone! We usually got free swipers from every movie ticket we booked, so it became a tradition. Sometimes we’d also get discounts or freebies to other shops like Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and we’d hang out there before heading home.

Sleepover sardines

Sometimes we’d go on an overnight and rent a condotel for the night. We usually didn’t want to spend too much, so we’d rent just one room with just one bed and after playing our favorite card games (1-2-3 pass and memory game) and eating and drinking junk food, we’d all pile into bed and sleep like sardines in a pile. Don’t ask me how we managed to get any sleep. I guess we were just that tired. Haha.

Bonding over food

I miss all the restaurants in Makati, all those food I used to eat and take for granted, from the simple KFC where my best friend Gelle (whom I met in P&G) and I used to hang out till way after midnight, even on a work night, to the new finds that I liked to try out with my different sets of friends, usually in Glorietta or Greenbelt, my favorite malls. I didn’t even realize that Filipino food was my favorite cuisine until I left and moved to Singapore. It wasn’t the food that mattered as much as the bonding, though. We could go to Jollibee or even just a cheap carinderia and be happy as long as we were with each other. Cheesy, but true.

And now every time I fly to my country for a visit, I always feel a warmth spread through me whenever I find myself in Makati. It will always hold a special place in my heart; it will always be my second home.

—;<@
This post is part of the A to Z Challenge, a blog hop that goes through the alphabet for all the days of April except Sundays. I have decided to go with the theme of Alliterations.