Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Lazy Sunday in Bonifacio High Street



Have you been to the latest Chill-out Destination in the metro? It's called Bonifacio High Street, a long-strip of chic stories and restos. Its been here for a year or two. I didn't get a chance to visit it, until recently. I don't drive, so I'm usually slave to where my husband's mood take us on weekends.



I had the perfect chance last saturday. Nickelodeon had a weekend carnival behind NBC Tent. I cajoled my husband to go, promising that Diego and Dora will be there. Unfortunately, as soon as we entered the small venue, we were assailed by the heat and the number of people. There were very few attractions. There were lots of freebies though, but I am not the type to endure long-lines and heat, just for a Ceelin or Chocolait sample.



After a few photo-ops in the booths, we left the carnival. As luck would have it, we were just a few meters away from Bonifacio High Street!



It's a beautiful oasis in the middle of The Fort. The Fort is a former military community which was sold to big real estate companies. The Fort is also called Global City. There's a frenzy of building-constructions at the Fort, mostly office high-rises, and residential condominiums. The latest of these new concepts in residential enclaves is called Serendra. It's a community of medium-rise condominium units. An agent may approach you while you're in the vicinity, it costs about 4M for a studio unit! How about that! Serendra saddles the Bonifacio High Street, it's the playground of the residents of the high-end communities at The Fort.

There are tall palm trees, wide expanse of green grass, beautifully-designed installations, fountains, among others. The stores are really high-end. I don't dare go into any of them. I swear there's nothing in there that I can afford! There are new and unique restaurants, most of them unfamiliar to me, except the usual itallianis, Friday's, Seattle's Best.



My kids love the installations in the middle of the expanse of grass. There was a huge fountain (is it called fountain?) It looks like some of the Robot monsters that invaded Earth on the movie End of Days. There were ice cravings of the word REMEMBER. Hans and Ivan loved it! Would like to lick the whole thing, if I didn't intervene!



My niece Jeremie from the province had a blast having her photos taken in the nice spots that are all begging for a shoot. Hans, I noticed is so like me! He knows where the best angles are, to pose for a photograph!





At the other end of Bonifacio High Street, just across is the mall called Market! Market! We often used visit market, market. The kids love the colorful playground, although its usually crowded. We had to trick Hans that Market! Market! has closed. Everytime you asked him, "where do you want to go this saturday?" "Market! Market! Mom!" We didn't know that right across is a beautiful haven called High Street, away from it all the crowd.





But I'm glad that mere mortals like us can enjoy this beautiful spot in the metro. This is especially great when you need to show visiting friends or relatives something about Manila. We've had our fill of Eastwood, Tiendesitas, Trinoma, Mall of Asia. I'm not so familiar with Makati, so we haven't ventured in the new Greenbelt Area. BFS is a wonderful addition to the must-see places here in the Metro.



As Hans would say, "balik tayo dito, Mommy!"

No comments: