Jeepneys

Jeepney Terminal at Ayala Market Market

Fully Booked

Wall art in Mitsukoshi Mall next to the Fully Booked bookshop

Materialist Urbanism in BGC

My Lutheran Evangelical upbringing made me deeply skeptical about materialism. And even if I reject most of the teachings today, it still remains a part of me. Affluent cities-inside-cities bubbles like Bonifacio Global City trigger the Lutheran in me. I had a similar impression of Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.

Sadly, the execution is mindlessly copied from the worst examples of car centric American urbanism. Of course, it’s better to have sidewalks than having no sidewalk at all. But I wonder why some of these sidewalks are so wide?

Traffic lights for pedestrians! In the Philippines!

My small 25sqm Airbnb studio apartment has 2(two!) aircons. One for the bedroom section of the room and one for living room section. Both of them unable to handle the scorching heat of the Philippine summer. People will say to me: „of course, it’s summer“. As if that would explain the two underpowered air conditioner in my room. My cheap room for €16 a night with one unit was way cooler than this. Ahh, but you are paying for the location, I guess.

I’m standing on a sidewalk in front of One Uptown Residences vis-à-vis the expensive Hyatt hotel. A liquid is dropping on me from above. I look up, but I only see endless rows of windows. Some cables hang from the side of the building. From the window cleaner, I guess.

There is a Denny’s restaurant near my apartment. The slogan on the back of their uniforms is: „a diner is the world’s smallest neighborhood“. They of course allude to being a third place . Is this just a slogan, or are they actually trying to create a humane place for social interactions? This questions can be extended for the whole of BGC. Just like Denny’s: it’s more of a veil (a simulation, a self proclamation) of a humanistic neighborhood to give you warm fuzzy feels. It’s a capitalists dream of a functioning city. Ready to satisfy your material cravings(those that you saw on TV, YouTube or Netflix) given you bring enough Pesos. Oops, that’s me being a skeptic, I guess.

Bike and scooter parking spots

“It is a bubble” - but not really. It’s thinly veiled urbanism over reckless car centric culture. Not integrated into, but very much like the rest of Manila. The famously horrible traffic in Manila might be slightly better here, but it’s still here. Try crossing a street during rush hour.

An unsustainable bubble, for sure. Not built to last and without proper maintenance, you see the cracks already forming everywhere. Will this be left to the urban blight, only to be replaced by the next new and shiny city? Never mind the cost to nature. Flying into Manila over south-west Luzon, I saw a ton of green jungly areas. Will those still be here in 30 years?

Only in the Philippines: A church on top of a mall next to a Starbucks.

Enjoy the splendors while you can! Drink overpriced chain coffee in American coffee shops. Eat at expensive but average quality restaurants. Take your selfies in front of giant advertisement LED screens here now! The people here thirst for some(any, all!) kind of luxury. I don’t blame them.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being here. I am a materialist when it comes to all these comforts and amenities. But it feels extremely wasteful and in no way sustainable. The contrast of simple barangay life and the hedonistic excess of these big city bubbles in the Philippines is fascinating. But I’m just a guest here, and I won’t have to face the consequences or hardships of either.

Bonifacio High Street is expensive and walkable.

Last sunset in Boracay

The sun is hot, water is wet and yours truly figured out he is not a beachboy

Maybe it’s not as bad as my last post made it out to be. But it certainly isn’t as good everyone hyped it up. And my north germanic genes are not made for sitting on the beach all day. So this is good bye Boracay! Did I enjoy it? No. Will I come back? Also no.

The Boracay Problem

Paradise. Or is it?

I really tried to come here with an open mind. Boracay is being sold as this peak of tropical beach experience but in reality it’s an overcrowded, expensive and somewhat smelly destination. The white sandy beaches might look nice on pictures but during summer season (right now) the amount of stinky algae from the polluted water and the oily fried food here is pretty disgusting.

Maybe this is the part of my travel where I begin to realize that I am not a beach person.

The very crowded Station 2 in Boracay

As a super white skinned dude I need to hide from the sun and especially in the afternoon there is not enough shade. The little amount of shadow is crowded by tourists. Talking about crowds: beaches here in Asia are similar to walking streets: all the oily fried food and bars become crowded and ugly as soon as the night hits. People trying to sell you a massage, boat activity or beaded hair becomes real old real fast.

Algae in Boracay

Hmm more nice smells from the Algae

This place is being sold as paradise, but in reality it’s just a messy money grab built on the photogenic nature of white sand and palm trees. But I get the feeling that may be true for most tourist destinations here in Southeast Asia. They build the restaurants and stalls right up to the sand. Nature? Not here, for sure. You’ll need to hop on one of those overcrowded island hopping tours.

It gets even more crowded in the night

Travel to Boracay

A short 45 minute hop with Cebu Pacific from Cebu City to Caticlan

Night in IT Park

The skyline of the BPO offices in IT Park Cebu City

Christian Philippines

Santo Niño

Music Store

Mural on a Music store in Cebu City

Ukay-Ukay

I went to a ukay-ukay pop up second hand market here in Cebu city. Apart from second hand clothes the sold a lot of hand made jewelry, food and other small knick-knacks. Since my bags are full and I try to travel as light as possible I bought stickers for my laptop.