Thursday, May 20, 2010

Hello Global City. Goodbye Makati

I've worked in Makati all my professional life. Technically I have but one year of work experience in Cubao due to a brief project relocation yet the only facts I know about Cubao are Shopwise aisles and Gateway mall stores. But with Makati, I am quite familiar with the streets in the heart of the business district. That goes to say I'm familiar with the malls and I am well equipped with the demands of the environment. I also have to hand it to Makati for being accessible to commuters.

There is only one thing I hate about Makati, which I'm sure Mitch, my sister and everyone else would agree, and that is THE Makati TRAFFIC.

I'm putting THE before Traffic because it deserves a special distinction for its undying efforts to have drivers kill each other or passengers curse while their drivers go nuts. It is the main cause of late dinner and lunch meetings, fights with boyfriends with their girlfriends, tardiness in your employee record and occasional jaded outlook in life. I know blaming the traffic is not valid, but come on, all Makati residents and professionals know the kind of TRAFFIC that I'm talking about.

That's why I hate driving in Makati on weekdays. I usually just take the shuttle in SM straight to my village via Skyway. But most of the times, I delegate Mitch or Karla the grueling task of picking me up. I always give them an hour allowance. But it never fails that when I finally meet them up, they would curse, occasionally throw nasty looks at me and wouldn't talk to me for a couple of minutes.

That's why I had targeted to work in Fort where streets are relatively wider, buildings are still scarce and green patches are still evident. Working there, I will make a great favor to myself and my would-be drivers.

Benefits of working at FORT against Makati.

1. No heavy traffic means less gas consumption which equals to less gastos for me
2. No more waiting in vain for roughly 30 minutes just to make that turn to the next street.
3. No more late dinners in restaurants just to let the traffic fade away, which means no gastos and early to bed
4. No more fights with Mitch :)
5. No more bitching by Karla
6. Accurate time check and pick up.
7. Less frustration and road rage mean less wrinkles and jadedness
8. Me = happy driver = happy disposition
9. Now has a reason to drive to the gym harhar (so much for gym)
10. Much much nearer to my home. Yehey

Of course, I would have to be objective. Here are the things that give Fort a minus point.

1. Slightly inconvenient for commuters.
2. More opportunities to WALK.

...and nothing follows ladies and gentlemen.

Fort may be a good distance from Makati, but I can always make time especially if I'm meeting some friends. I just have to take that Buendia flyover anyways and it's not that I would do it everyday.

Food? Nah, maybe it's about time I'll stick to dieting and packed lunch for a change. My weight is getting out of control.

Truth is, Global City Taguig has a chance to correct whatever faulty infrastructures or unappealing landscape Makati has. I hope the city engineers and the city architects uphold the breezy, posh and stress-free image it brings. Whenever I'm in Fort, I feel I'm in a different country, except when you encounter nasty drivers that are so Filipino.

The scales have tipped to Fort glaringly. I might even consider living here, but that's another goal I would have to accomplish in three years time. Now, it's time to get that car for Fort.

I'm so excited to work in this very new environment. I'll master this place very soon. Give it a month and I can finally call myself home.

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