Irresistible

The fountain at the water plaza and amphitheater of Bonifacio High Street (BHS) Central.

High street

"Unlike a fountain that circulates the same water in an enclosed, perpetually recycling system, a human being circulates thoughts in an unlimited reservoir of self. Don't limit yourself to being a mere fountain when you contain an ocean."

~Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

The stores of the shopping and dining arcade that is Bonifacio High Street all open up into a park that runs the entire length of this unique mall. The park has fountains, playgrounds and sculptures, and is also pet-friendly. The Old Navy store at the corner is the first in the Philippines and only opened in March.

Luxury

A small portion of the lovely shopping and dining promenade that is Bonifacio High Street, looking towards the exclusive condominiums of Serendra, in the fast-developing Bonifacio Global City. BGC is located in the city of Taguig and used to be the home of the Philippine Army, known then as Fort Bonifacio, named after Andres Bonifacio, one of the leaders of the Philippine revolution against Spanish colonial rule in the late 19th century.

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I just discovered today that My Manila was listed as one of 20 Awesome Photography Blogs - Manila, Philippines in ILovePhotoblogs. How cool is that? Of course, when I saw the fantastic photography in the other sites, I felt like a poor relation. So far, there are lists for 15 cities from all over the world. If you look at them, I'm sure you'll recognize some of our CDP blogger friends! And if you have favorite photoblogs, you can tell Rick about them by leaving a comment.

Play

"Men do not quit playing because they grow old;
they grow old because they quit playing."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841–1935)

Part of Arts BGC 2014, this mosaic mural and sculpture installation is in Bonifacio High Street, a high-end retail center in Bonifacio Global City in the City of Taguig. Created by the Mighty Bhutens, a group of artists based in Baguio City, the artwork is titled "Araw + Ulap + Laro = Saya" (Sun + Clouds + Play = Happiness).

In case you were thinking of asking, I have no idea what the group's name means.

See murals from around the world in Monday Mural.

Green strip

I've already posted a picture of Bonifacio High Street before, and here's another, this time taken from the roofdeck of Fully Booked. If you enlarge the photo, you can see that large spider of a rock (Reg Yuson's "Specific Gravity") and some of the shopping and dining promenade's other water features. Unlike the other side, this side of Bonifacio Global City is more densely built up. I really hope it doesn't get much worse than this.

Book art

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."

~Cicero

The mural inside Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street is painted on a stack of books two stories high.

See murals from around the world in Monday Mural.

Tug-of-war

Bonifacio High Street has many fantastic restaurants and is, therefore, very popular as an evening destination. Because of this, even the shops stay open late—until midnight, at least.

All these years of blogging, whenever I posted something about Bonifacio Global City (BGC), I identified it as part of Taguig City. Just this August 5, however, the Court of Appeals declared that BGC is part of Makati City. Of course, Taguig can still raise the case to the Supreme Court, and they probably will, with six billion pesos (US$ 137.7 M) in annual revenue at stake. My problem is, will I now tag this post as Makati or Taguig?

Choo-choo

"People used to play with toys.
Now the toys play with them."

~Idries Shah (1924–1996), Reflections

A colorful train that doesn't need tracks and which goes round and round a small plaza keeps young children entertained while their parents eat or shop at Bonifacio High Street.

That warm and fuzzy feeling

The bar of the restaurant Kabisera ng Dencio's in Bonifacio High Street is the friendliest I've seen in years. Warm wooden panels and lighting, wicker bar stools and baskets, solitaire puzzle games on the counter and a colorful mural of what drinking means to most Filipinos all add up to a great-looking place for having a drink or two.

Lighthouse

I've already posted a photo of Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street during the day. At night, it is a veritable beacon for book lovers like me.

Heaven

Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City has five floors of books, from the basement (science fiction, fantasy and graphic novels) to the fourth floor (music CDs and audio books of different genres). Starbucks has a coffee shop on the third floor, where the lower balcony with umbrellas is. The top floor, which also has a balcony but with plants, is a large events space perfect for book launches, writing workshops and poetry readings. Bring your own caterer.

Funky boxes

The low buildings of Bonifacio High Street, with upscale shops on the first floor and offices on the second floor, remind me of modern, artsy gift boxes. I really like them.

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A message for City Daily Photo bloggers:
Firstly, the simpler announcement—our December 1 theme is Waiting. Secondly, there's a poll of sorts and a discussion going on in the blog authors' forum about what our January 1, 2010 theme will be. Traditionally, the theme for the first day of the year has been the Best of the Past Year but there are now suggestions to move the date for the Best theme and have a different theme for January 1. Please vote and/or join the discussion and help spread the word. Demosthenes and others would like to hear our views about it.

Franchised Italian

Italianni's, a member of the same group of restaurants that owns T.G.I. Friday's, styles itself as a family-style restaurant, which basically means that their servings are huge! This is the interior of their Bonifacio High Street branch. The last time I ate there was with my sister and we had the Spinach & Artichoke Formaggio and the Grilled Squid Salad. Yummm!

The Tent

Here is another view of the still mostly empty lands of Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City, including part of the parking lot of the posh dining and shopping center that is Bonifacio High Street. Except for the first few buildings constructed in the area soon after much of the army's land was sold to the highest private bidder, almost all the buildings in BGC are high-rises. One of the most notable exceptions is the NBC Tent, which you can see a bit to the right and two blocks away. It's an events venue that can be rented and it really is just a tent, though a large and air-conditioned one. It is most notable for hosting the (more than) monthly Shop@The Fort bazaar organized by Karl Edwards International. I've only gone once but that one trip helped me understand why the bazaar has been around for years. Export over-runs, original, unique and locally-designed clothes and accessories, home-made spreads and baked goods—let's just say that that one trip left a pretty big hole in my purse, and I am both dreading and looking forward to my next Karl Edwards bazaar experience.

Two towers

Looking out the roof deck of Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street, which has a skylight at the lower level, towards a pair of condominium towers, one done and one still being constructed, in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City.

Across two cities

Looking north from the fifth floor of Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City, I saw this cloud touched by the late afternoon sun rising high over the tallest buildings of the Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our beautiful world.

Across two cities redux

The same view of the Ortigas Center skyline from the top floor of Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street as the photo I posted two weeks ago, but at night. The huge cloud looming over the city had dispersed by then.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our beautiful world.

Leg godt

"As long as Lego bricks have been in existence,
the soles of fathers' feet have been in danger."

~Jonathan Bender, author of LEGO: A Love Story

Darth Vader welcomes customers to the Lego® store in Bonifacio High Street. Unfortunately, it was difficult taking his photo because everything was reflecting off his dark suit. I didn't realize he got photobombed by the lady beside me until I downloaded the photo.

And just a random thought: It must be awesome to be able to write down one's job as "Lego Master Model Builder."

Woven light

Kabisera ni Dencio's, a restaurant at Bonifacio High Street, is a showcase not just of Filipino food but also of Filipino furniture and handicrafts. Even the lanterns on the walls, made largely out of textured resin, have a touch of Philippine handicraft with its freeform natural wicker weave.

AAA 2009: Precious junk

I've already shown you all three winners of the 2009 Ateneo Art Awards in the three previous posts. Now let me show you my favorite out of the twelve short-listed artists. Michelline Syjuco's "Armadillon" was originally exhibited at the gallery of Mag:net Bonifacio High Street from August 8 to October 8, 2008 and the entire piece is currently on display at the Ateneo Art Gallery although in a more compact version. The two winged figures are made out of wood and beaten rusty scrap metal. In the display case are mannequin's hands carrying various kinds of handcrafted jewelry made not only out of precious metals and semiprecious stones, but also ordinary metals and rocks, and even hardware. Michelline caught many of my favorite things in her piece: science fiction and fantasy, earth tones, chunky jewelry, wood, stone, metal and texture—so it's little wonder why I immediately fell in love with it. I've again written the gallery's notes of the artwork below but this was one piece where I didn't need to read the notes to know that I like it.


The problem with modern art pieces like this (and those of the three winners, actually) is, I can't imagine them outside a gallery or museum. If the artist is willing to break up the parts though, I wouldn't mind having this spiky, rusty winged warrior in our living room. My dear Dogberry just might protest though. 2009 ATENEO ART AWARDS SERIES #4 OF 4



Design and merchandise are part of the language of function, and they figure prominently in this installation of hand-crafted objects. All pieces are molded or else made for the functions of the body. Or so it seems. Syjuco proceeds to subvert our ideas about functionality foremost by addressing the divide between precious and 'worthless' materials. These are exquisite pieces of jewelry rendered from gold, silver, coral and amethyst, but also common metals, stones, flawed pearls and even hardware materials. What she achieves is design informed by conversation, where the quality of each element is brought out in contrasts and combines of intricate yet hard-edged details. Even rust is employed here, its color adding depth to embossed and beaten metal plates.

Syjuco promotes "Armadillon" as her own imaginary world. It is sheer baroque extravagance recalling the grandeur of churches and church ornaments, but clearly she is most inspired by the production design of epical fantasies, drawing on themes of magic and warriorhood.

What Syjuco attempts in her ornamentation are translations of beauty and danger; avid introspections on material and spiritual flight.