Neighborhood watch
The YS ’Hood hop
MANILA, Philippines - You never know who or what’s gonna hop into your ‘hood next, as we’ll witness with the rise of The Collective. The emergence of such creative enterprise is proof that even a street like Malugay, once an area for automotive concerns in Makati, can become the all-ternative hangout: an all-out, one-stop-park-shop-and-rock venue for the mall-and-club-weary.
Of course, if you build it, people will come. And with every evolution an area undergoes is a corresponding character constructed from it, as you’ll see from the ones we’ve taken the time to track — with the help of Share Location with Ovi Maps — like the sociological safari operators we are. Who knows, one of these subcultural movements might make you want to move to where it’s happening. Then you can feel as territorial as we do.
MAKATI: “The Power Scenester”
Street life: Streets that have been getting a lot of heat — the good kind, at least — are Jupiter and Malugay, home of The Collective.
Occupations: There’s a lot of passion for slashing — DJ-slash-somethings, model-slash-somethings, and just your well-rounded yuppie that likes to get sloshed after work.
Preoccupations: Gallery- and bar-hopping; making sure you sweat it out — getting your daily run in or practicing your kickflip — at Bonifacio High Street; catching international indie bands that may have peaked in novelty a couple of years ago; attending symposiums on mystical teachings; believing that at least one part of your area is “very (name a cosmopolitan city).”
Hipster hybrid: The I-used-to-do-drugs-and-think-I’m-so-done-with-all-that Hipster meets the Quite-worldly-due-to-blogs-read-and-places-traveled Hipster.
Local specialty du jour: Apart from art galleries and tattoo parlors, this area’s burning up for chocolate what with new choc spots like The Chocolatier (Jupiter St.) and Chocolate Fire, a deli of decadence in Salcedo Village.
Minority report: You’ll find the hos in Burgos but a stone’s throw away, on Don Pedro Street, are where the Ohs are. Real good Korean barbecue, we mean.
Style stimulus: Trying hard not to look like you tried too hard; statement piece savants.
Area code: You live by the rule of recommendation. If you haven’t been there, you’ve tried it elsewhere or read about it somewhere.
ORTIGAS: “The Daily Weekender”
Street life: J. Vargas, from the Meralco Avenue Bridge to Silver City. That sweep that includes a whole new nocturnal world at the Ortigas Home Depot Complex, City Golf’s tavern The Reserve and Tijuana Bar & Grill, and Café Mondial near Tiendesitas.
Occupations: A good mix of radio DJs, call-center employees, small-business owners, kids who “work for the family business,” and career limbo bums.
Preoccupations: Mall-hopping to quell boredom or because you know exactly where to buy things; al fresco lounging and idle conversation; savoring your beer; being an early entertainment adopter, first to give movie reviews and your sentiments on new shows (thanks to Metrowalk); contemplating how to spend your leisurely time.
Hipster hybrid: The Consumerist Preppy Hipster meets the Philosophical Hipster
Local Specialty du jour: Fast Middle Eastern food care of the Uncle Moe’s-Jacob’s-Behrouz triumvirate in the area.
Minority report: A sprinkling of diversity with the Asian Development Bank nearby but still heavily K-populated, packs of teenage Korean boys spilling out of condos not an unusual sight.
Style stimulus: Looking like you were dead-set on enjoying a lazy night at home but decided, at the last minute, to make an exception for your friends; keeping it casual with the unofficial uniform that is a T-shirt or polo shirt with emblem, shorts or jeans, and shoes without socks.
Area Code: Inter-village interdependence means, “Why don’t we just take one car? Can you pass for me?” especially when you’ve decided to head to a far-off place like Makati.
PARAÑAQUE: “The Speedy Slasher”
Street life: Aguirre St. in BF Homes and Luzon Drive in Filinvest, Alabang
Occupations: Call-center folk, car-shop owners, bikers
Preoccupations: Tinkering with cars; making the most of happy hour; keeping it organic; populating open fields playing Frisbee or soccer; going on surfing trips during the weekend
Hipster hybrid: Coño Hipster meets Athletic Hipster
Local specialty du jour: Great gambas and spinach pastries at Sophia’s at Westgate in Alabang
Minority Report: The last few years has seen the Korean migration into BF Homes. Restaurants, Korean spas and boutiques selling lots of prairie skirts and ruffled blouses abound.
Style stimulus: Mixing designer labels with surfwear
Area code: “Makati is too far. Let’s just stay here and drink P20 beer.”
QUEZON CITY: “The Pavement Partier”
Street life: The biggest city in the Philippines Cubao is like a schizo octopus. One arm reaches out to the Tomas Morato area, another to E. Rodriguez, Jr. where Eastwood is located. But the main wraparound centers on Gen. Romulo St., where the Cubao Expo compound is located.
Occupations: Artists, both low-key and outspoken, professors, actors, entertainers and showbiz hangers-on.
Preoccupations: Rehashing vintage clothing; doing really artsy things; trying to look like you’re doing really artsy things; turning garbage into wall decor; promoting vegetarianism; hanging around the network stations in hopes of spotting the ASAP posse or queueing up in front of Manor so as to bump elbows with the odd celebrity hoping to escape the Taguig curfew
Hipster hybrid: The Ultra Hipster meets the “What-is-a-hipster?” Hipster
Local specialty du jour: QC was the first to host organic and vegetarian-friendly restaurants, essentially hippie haunts. Van Gogh is Bipolar on Maginhawa St. has a menu that includes organic meats with mountain rice, as well as vegetarian risotto with edible flowers.
Minority report: Foreign students taking advantage of the English educational system.
Style stimulus: Keeping it real with Chuck Taylors, statement shirts and “clothing made with love.”
Area code: It’s just too darn big. You’re on your own, buddy. Get a GPS.
