Makati Local at Heart
By Glenice Grace Cosue
There really isn’t a fixed way to enjoy Makati.
For some people, the city is best paired with long walks and deep reflections. For others, it’s a place to hang out with friends, try new restaurants, browse thrift stores, or sift somewhere and “people watch.” Makati’s appeal doesn’t come from one landmark, neighborhood, or lifestyle. Rather, it’s a personal rendition of people’s personal interest, preferences and sense of enjoyment.
Conversations with different Makati-goers highlight this variety. Although their routines carry similarities such as walking, eating, exploring, or café hopping, we found that each created their own unique “things” while in the city.
The One Who Comes to Slow Down
One Makati-goer finds simply walking without pressure, observing the surroundings, eating good food and using their phone less.
At times, she prefers exploring alone, where she notices the details of the city more carefully. On other occasions, she enjoys being with a friend and letting conversation shape the day. Regardless of the company, her ideal experience usually includes comfortable clothing, enjoyable food and a peaceful setting.
Her relationship with Makati isn’t defined by the number of places she can hit in one day. Rather, she values finding spaces where she can just relax and be present.
She doesn’t necessarily consider Makati one enormous third space. Rather, she sees it as a city containing many smaller third spaces — cafés, parks, restaurants, and streets that become personally significant through repeated experiences. A place gains meaning when she and her friends can stay for hours, talk freely and eventually associate it with happy memories.
For her, the most important question is whether a place has the right “vibe.”
This perspective makes her hesitant to define “Makati maxxing” in a rigid way. Her experience may center on walking, food, peaceful surroundings and friendship, but another person may connect with Makati through nightlife, professional life, or luxury. She considers Alabang one of the closest comparisons because of its walkable areas, food options and more relaxed atmosphere. Makati, however, remains distinctive because it allows different experiences to exist close to one another.
For her, loving Makati means discovering a personal space within the city.
The One Who Wants to Explore Everything
Another Makati-goer views the city as an ongoing process of discovery.For him, “Makati maxxing” means appreciating Makati while continually finding new parts of it. He already has familiar destinations, including Salcedo, Odd Café, Kind Cookie, Wildflour, Greenbelt and Ayala Triangle. Sometimes, all he wants to do is sit in Salcedo and observe the people around him.
What sustains his interest is how easy one version of Makati can shift into another. One day may involve cafés and parks, while another may consist of exploring ukay-ukay stores in Makati Cinema Square. Power Plant Mall offers yet another experience — one he jokingly describes as possibly beyond his budget, although he still enjoys visiting it. This contrast forms part of the city’s appeal. Makati can feel luxurious without making every experience expensive. A person can indulge in Makati’s more upscale spaces and, within the same day, move to a more affordable area. Its parks and walkable streets also make it possible to enjoy the city without needing to spend money at every stop.
He compares this with BGC, where lingering in many spaces often seems connected to the expectation of purchasing something. In Makati, he feels more comfortable simply wandering. This freedom makes Makati itself function as a third space. Parks, sidewalks, restaurants, malls, cafés, ukay-ukay stores and nightlife venues do not exist merely as separate attractions. Together, they form an environment where people can move around without anything planned.
To him, the city’s diversity in the food scene is magnetizing. For him, a guide to Makati should not only provide recommendations; it should also show the range of experiences available within the same urban area.
There is always another side of Makati waiting to be found.
The One Who Makes Every Visit Matter
For another Makati-goer, the city’s appeal comes from how different it can feel each time she visits.
Because Makati contains numerous neighborhoods, establishments, communities, and environments, no two trips necessarily produce the same experience. Her idea of “Makati maxxing” is therefore connected to making the most of every visit. Whenever she goes to Makati, she wants to feel that it’s “sulit.” That may involve planning what she’ll be wearing, wandering through unexplored places, or aimlessly walking around and taking pictures. She finds that Makati is filled with people who follow their own routines. It’s through this that she’s able to temporarily become part of the city and be invisible in a good way.
This makes exploration feel easier. Makati just allows people to exist without any pressure.
Her perspective also shows how Makati can offer a different experience with every visit. It’s one that stays with you, depending on where you go, when you go and what you choose to do. This makes each trip feel like an opportunity to discover a brand new side of the city and of yourself.
Hence, to appreciate Makati is therefore to accept that there will always be something new to encounter.
One City, Many Makatis
These experiences demonstrate why it is difficult to establish one definition of a “Makati local at heart.”
One person finds belonging through peaceful walks and meaningful conversations. Another treats the city as a place to continually explore, moving among parks, cafés, ukay-ukay stores, malls, and nightlife spots. A third values the unpredictability of each visit and the possibility that every trip will reveal something different.
Although their preferences vary, several themes connect their experiences. Walkability matters. Food matters. The opportunity to stay in a place without constantly spending money matters. Above all, people value having enough variety to form their own relationship with the city.This may be what sets Makati apart from places built around a single kind of experience. The city does not require everyone to enjoy it in the same manner.
One person can spend an afternoon observing people around Salcedo. Another can walk without a destination in mind, soon finding a thrift shop or café. A visitor may come for a scenery change — bump up the night and search through bars in Poblacion.
Makati is therefore less a fixed identity than a collection of possibilities.
Perhaps that is what makes someone a Makati local at heart. It is not necessarily knowing every street or having a Makati address. It is reaching the point where, among the city’s streets, cafés, parks, restaurants and people, you have discovered a version of Makati that feels yours.
