After his first ever trip to BGC, Akira, our son, kept bugging us to return there so he can ride his scooter. I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind and thought it can maybe done on a weekend staycation of sorts. And so it finally happened one weekend; we stayed at Seda BGC for three days and everything he wished for was achieved.
It was in 2006 when I first set foot at Taguig’s now famous Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila. It was during the opening period of the world-famous US-based donut shop, Krispy Kreme. I could still remember the long queue of people wanting to get a hold of the donut based on Homer’s favorite—only The Simpson’s kids like us would understand. BGC High Street wasn’t like what it is now, but I saw its potential as the next big thing in the metro.
My husband, Christian, and I were both raised on the northern parts of Metro Manila and life here is far more laidback as compared to its southern counterpart. Well, laidback in a sense that there are no high-rise buildings and people are more relaxed as compared to people who were rushing on the south. My point is, we are not as comfortable to go to the south as compared to others ‘coz it takes too much of our time. I was living in Quezon City before and now in Malabon City with my husband and our definition of “south” is any place beyond Cubao. Unfair to some, I know.
So, to say that it is too tasking to go to BGC is an understatement, ‘coz really, we need three hours, one-way, to go there through public transport. And before, I had this notion that everything about BGC was synthetic, man-made, and lifeless. But everything’s changed when we had Akira.
It was in 2022, during the pandemic lockdowns in Metro Manila, when my brother suggested that we go to BGC so our kids could play on the open spaces there. The outdoor restrictions had been eased that time and so it was an easy “yes” for us.
Akira couldn’t be happier with so many things—like the fact that kids could use their scooters while strolling with their parents, and the fact that there were car-free streets during weekends. Plus, the endless running on grass.
His second visit to BGC was when Christian had an event and I suggested that we go to The Mind Museum while waiting for his thing to finish. We were so glad that our friend, Darwin, was working there so he accompanied us to our “Museum Day” as dubbed by Akira.
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He was so thrilled with our field trip that he kept telling his tatay that it’s his happiest day ever. Our friends, all of which were Akira’s godparents, were also there to share that moment with us. We had dinner and drinks al fresco while Akira ran all around.
Akira’s third time was when the Malabon fambam went to BGC to look at the Christmas goings-on. We had a quick stop at the Venice Grand Canal Mall and then proceeded to BGC High Street. It was a totally different experience for Akira as everything was lit up and everybody seemed so happy and excited.
Those three first visits made us grant Akira’s wish to spend a day in BGC just to ride his scooter.
So we made Seda BGC our camp on a three-day staycation as we explored the kid-friendly areas and green spaces around BGC. Christian also found some jogging trails and enjoyed roaming around sans the weekday morning rush. He’d wake up at five in the morning and would go around the sleepy streets to achieve his 10K steps goal per day. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the quiet mornings and the freedom from house chores and cooking our food for three days. Simple joys and small wins.
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It took Akira for me to realize that there’s more to BGC than the concrete jungle I had in my mind. Actually, there are so many free things to do there especially on weekends that all you have to do is show up. We had so much fun that we wished we had something like this in the north.
➤ SEE: WHAT TO DO IN BGC
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