B Hotel Alabang

The B Hotel is a 3-star hotel located in the Madrigal Business Park.  Although it is part of the Bellevue brand of hotels, it is more affordable and it targets travelers who are on a budget.  Filled with 154 rooms and 8 penthouse units, this hotel is also a great option for those who are staying for business purposes.  The hotel has a basement parking as well as outdoor parking all throughout its perimeter.

I had the chance to stay there earlier this year and I was able to experience Bellevue's 5-star kind of customer service.  The staff was very professional and courteous.  They always had a smile whenever you meet them.  They were also very attentive to their guests' needs, which I was able to experience during the buffet breakfast.

Meanwhile, the room where I stayed in was spacious enough and contained the basic necessities that you would expect from a 3-star hotel:  clean sheets, cable TV, an upholstered chair, a writing table with desk lamp, an electronic safe, toiletries, towels and complimentary water.  The bonuses would be the bathrobe, the slippers and the hairdryer.  Plus, there were plenty of electric outlets throughout the room.  There was also a digital clock but I could not figure out how to set it and it seems to reset itself every time I leave the room.  Aside from these, there was also a mini-bar with some food and a variety of drinks.  However, the prices were really expensive (like 125 Php for a Red Bull Energy Drink).  At least there was a refrigerator where I was able to keep other drinks and some of the food I bought from outside.

There were, however, a lot of low points during my stay:  the room reeked of cigarette smoke and there was no wi-fi signal inside the room.  I booked my stay on the hotel through Deal Grocer so I was really reluctant to complain and ask for a new room.  So, I just put up with cigarette smell and just used my network's 3G to access the internet.  And since there wasn't much to do in a 3-star hotel room, I just headed out and spent the day at the nearby Ayala Town Center.

Despite these last two items, I think my stay had been satisfactory.  The breakfast buffet was good so it was able to make up for everything else.  I carbo-loaded myself with pancakes and toast then feasted on the fruit platter.  The coffee was good, too!  All in all, I think this hotel deserves a second chance – but only through another Deal Grocer voucher.

St. James the Great Parish

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Located in the posh Ayala Alabang Village, St. James the Great Parish has seen the completion of its construction in 1993.  This massive church was built in the tradition of old churches in Rome, featuring twisted columns in the altar, which are similar to what can be found in St. Peter's Basilica.  The altar also glitters in gold, pleasantly complemented with blue backlighting.  The interiors of the church is made up of arched ceilings with square designs and side windows that also act as doorways.  Meanwhile, its imposing exteriors are matched with great landscaping.

I had the chance to hear mass here and I was greatly impressed by two things:  the choir and the orderliness of the attendees.  The choir was made up of singers of all ages and they blended really well.  The soloist also did a very good job and did not go all diva while singing (I have witnessed this type of behavior in other churches).  As for orderliness, the attendees were very organized when it came to communion.  People lined up row by row to take communion. And when everyone in one row has gone back to their places, that's the only time that they'd put down the kneeling bench.  There was no rushing around and the synchronicity made sure that the solemnity of the celebration was maintained.

One tip to those who are planning to visit St. James the Great Parish:  bring a jacket.  The church is fully-airconditioned and it could get a bit chilly inside.

Address:
Cuenca corner Ibaan Streets 
Ayala Alabang Village 
Muntinlupa City

Phone number: 
807-1623

Mass Schedules:
Mondays to Saturdays:  

• 06:20 AM - 07:20 AM

• 12:15 PM - 01:15 PM

• 06:30 PM - 07:30 PM

Sundays:

• 08:00 AM - 09:00 AM

• 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

• 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

• 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM

• 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM

• 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM

Acacia Hotel Manila

One of the main factors that prompted me to do a separate blog on Muntinlupa City is my staycation at the Acacia Hotel Manila.  I just loved that place!  It was my first time to stay at a 5-star hotel and I really enjoyed that one night that I spent there.  It was also my first time to try that staycation thingy and part of that activity would be experiencing the local vibe.  Not that I'm a foreigner to the land but my staycation really taught me that there are lots of things to discover in one's backyard.

The hotel is around 3.3 km away from where I live and would take me approximately 10 minutes to get there.  Its location is perfect for having a food trip because the ATC, Westgate Center and Festival Mall are just around the corner.  The West Gate also offers live entertainment during Saturday nights so it's a pretty good place to hang out.

About the hotel, well, it is five star.  The receptionists were very professional and spoke English without batting an eyelash.  The staff were also very friendly and courteous.  The deluxe king room were I stayed had the standard features of the hotels that I usually choose for my travels, like air-conditioning, toiletries, electronic safe, hot and cold water, clean pillows and linen, wi-fi access and complimentary breakfast.  BUT there are some distinctions of course!  For one, the wi-fi was super fast at 14mbps.  It was available all throughout the hotel and I think this is essential when you are having a staycation but still want connectivity.  The mattress is supposed to be customized with a memory foam pillow.  The do not disturb sign is electronic and the cable TV has loads of channels to choose from.  An iron and ironing board was available and there were plenty of hangers available, too.  The toiletry set was great, too, and all of them smelled so lovely!  Unfortunately, they did not provide bubble bath for the bath tub and there was no handheld bidet for the toilet.

Come breakfast time, well, it was overwhelming!  There were so many choices and I wanted to sample everything.  I could've had breakfast for 4 hours straight.  It was crazy.  I so regret staying up late watching all those movies and therefore waking up late too.  Had I started my day earlier, I would've also been able to take advantage of the hotel's pool and fitness center.  Aw, the disadvantages of being a night owl.  

Surely, the next time I do a staycation, I'd head back to Acacia Hotel Manila and do everything right.  I will also sample their menu for dinner just to get the whole experience.

Muntinlupa City: Emerald City of the Philippines

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Muntinlupa City is one of the 16 cities that make up the National Capital Region (NCR).  It first had the classification of "town" and only became a "Highly Urbanized City" to be called "The City of Muntinlupa" in 1995 through the Republic Act No. 7926.  As of 2010, it boasts of a population of 459,941 and has an income classification of "First Class", meaning an average annual income of P400M or more.

Being the southernmost city of NCR, it is usually referred to as "South" by other Manileños.  And because of its location, most people consider it too far, not taking into consideration that the first exit to reach its border (Sucat) is only less than 30 minutes away from the Makati Business District, or that Alabang is less than an hour away from Ortigas Center.   This is mostly thanks to the Skyway and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).  However, traffic will already be felt once you enter the smaller roads like the National Highway, Alabang-Zapote Road, etc.  But really, it’s no worse than anywhere else in Metro Manila.

I have been living in Muntinlupa since 1997 in one of its 60 subdivisions.  I have been called “Batang Munti” on occasion, both because of my size and also because munti is the shortcut for the city’s long name.  The origin of the city’s name has at least three versions.  The first is that because of the thin (munti) top soil (lupa) in the area.  The second is that the town is very hilly or mountainous so “monte” was affixed to the land or “lupa”.  The third and very likely explanation is that the Spaniards who came to ask the name of the town misunderstood the answer of the locals.  The locals were playing a card game called “monte de lupa” and they thought that the Spaniards were asking about it.  But as is the norm, there are no archives or records to prove that any of these are true.  But the truth remains that the city has been called “Muntinlupa” as far as anyone alive can remember.

Meanwhile, “Munti” has also been very much associated to the national penitentiary: the New Bilibid Prison.  Mentioning that one lives in Muntinlupa would usually elicit the question “sa loob o sa labas?” meaning inside or outside the prison.  Although home to one of the country’s richest subdivisions, Ayala Alabang Village, an average Muntinlupa resident would seldom get teased about being rich and living there.  Like it would be more likely to live inside the prison than in the posh subdivision.

Anyway, Muntinlupa City should rather be known as the first city in the Philippines to ban the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam for packaging.  More and more cities have been copying this green movement and because of it, we should propagate Muntinlupa’s official nickname:  the Emerald City of the Philippines.  Now ain’t that wicked?  ^___^

Welcome To My New Blog!

"Know thyself."

This Greek aphorism serves as the inspiration for this new venture wherein I plan to explore and share everything related to the city where I have been living in since I was a kid:  Muntinlupa City.  This blog will be a hodgepodge of restaurant reviews, hotel reviews, factoids and all things Muntinlupa.  

Should you have any suggestion about what topic I should cover or restaurant to review or just about anything, shoot me a message and I'll see how I could go about it.

See you later!

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