Just minutes away from the main entrance is the picturesque 1.5-hectare Jamboree Lake, reputedly the smallest body of water in the country. Jamboree Lake, reputedly the smallest body of water in the country. The 587-hectare New Bilibid Prison Reservation is an intriguing enclave which seems to transport you to the olden days when it was still a suburban town of Rizal province. Outside the CBD is Muntinlupa proper which has retained its Old World charm despite its rapid gentrification. The central business district itself has bike-friendly roads which they integrated into the master-planned “city within a city” to promote a healthy and earth-friendly mobility and community. Of late, the area has become a haven for cyclists with its 9-km mountain bike trail in Filinvest’s grasslands. If you feel like hitting the fairways, there’s the 18-hole Alabang Golf and Country Club, and the 285-yard Southpoint Driving Range with 28 covered bases if you just want to work on your swing or be initiated to the sport. Synonymous to Alabang, a posh district which is a merry mix of business, residence, and recreation, Muntinlupa takes pride in Filinvest City, a pioneer township which has lots of open spaces, landscaped walkways, and tree parks with freestanding sculptures. Lest we be confused by its name which roughly means “small land” is among the biggest cities in the metro at 47 sq.km with a population which isn’t as dense as the other urban centers. One location which evokes an out-of-town ambiance is Muntinlupa, NCR’s southernmost city and doorstep to the Calabarzon Region which has seen lots of tourist influx from lockdown-weary urbanites. Could it be that the Britons are seeing some things that we don’t, or are we overlooking charming spots because our eyes have been set on other destinations far, far away. It may also interest you that Metro Manila was featured a few years back at a 48-hour travelogue by London-based Independent newspaper, and was named as among the world’s 10 Fastest-Emerging Global Cities by The World Post.
The Department of Tourism and the Automobile Association of the Philippines even positioned the NCR into rebuilding into a global brand being the gateway to the archipelago.
With the varying interpretations of the Bubble Plus by the so-called “bubble gangs” manning the checkpoints, going to the Plus provinces is like passing through a gauntlet.Īnd with most of the leisure destinations in the Plus areas closed, the practical alternative is to rediscover the not-so hidden hideaways in the megacity we took for granted for so long. Most of our summer road trip plans screeched to a halt with the whirlwind slide of Metro Manila from the general community quarantine (GCQ) to becoming NCR Bubble Plus under ECQ, and then later MECQ in a span of one month.
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