A tower fit for a king

Dusk was settling across the metro when I took this photo of Ayala Tower One, the office of captains of industry here in the Philippines. Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Chairman Emeritus of Ayala Corporation, one of the biggest conglomerates here in the Philippines, and his two sons, Ayala Corporation CEO and Chairman Jaime Augusto and Ayala Corporation COO and President, Fernando, hold their office here. They, in fact, own the whole building. The Elder Jaime was recently named one of the richest men in the Philippines by Forbes Magazine, with an estimated net worth of about US$1.4 billion. I have met him in person, as I work for the corporate foundation, and he is a lovely, charming fellow. He's Spanish descent, as most old-rich Families here in the Philippines are, but he speaks the local dialect fluently. More fluently than his sons, may I just add.

The little town that could

Forbes Town Center is a burgeoning community for residents of high-rise condominiums. Restaurants, specialty shops and parks fill this little "town within a town."

Blue and red

Here we are at Glorietta 5, the latest in the Glorietta chain of malls in Makati, the Central Business District. By day the facade is pretty ordinary, but at night it's a pretty blue and red display.

Double take

...well sort of. I just did a double take when I saw this building in the Central Business District, where I work. I didn't know which side was the front.

Overcast afternoon

While my friend and I were walking around here, in Eastwood, a shopping center/residential area/ business district all rolled into one, we thought how nice it would be to just sit or walk around, if it weren't so hot. But since it was so hot then, more people just choose to be inside the malls or in the buildings, to bask in the air conditioning.

Red, white and blue

I'm able to blog, email and surf the world wide web thanks to this company right here. The Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company is the largest telecommunications company in the Philippines. Subsequently, it's one of, if not, the biggest Internet provider in the country. The Americans were actually the first owners of PLDT. Back in the 1940's, during the American Occupation and the Japanese invasion, the US Armed Forces destroyed its facilities to prevent the Japanese from using them to communicate overseas. Today it's a wholly Filipino-owned company, and its headquarters can be found in the Ramon Cojuangco Building, right in the heart of the Central Business District in Makati.

Skyline

A view of the Roxas Boulevard skyline. Happy Sunday folks!

A room with a view

On the 20th floor of the building where I work is a room with a view of Paseo de Roxas, one of the main thorougfares in Makati City. Located along Paseo (corner Ayala Avenue) is the Insular Life Building, which was the former headquarters of Insular Life, the first and largest insurance company in the Philippines.