Yesterday, Vince and I took Vito house hunting. After all, we really don't need to look for a new home since we already live in a fabulous apartment with west-east-south views and fantastic location. The only problem with our place is it's in a high-rise and a little boy needs big wide spaces to run around in and conquer. So since this is for Vito, it's actually Vito's house we were looking for!
The first place we went to was Kapitolyo, which is our home's backyard. We liked that it has the same conveniences of our place (in the middle of everything!) but we didn't like the security. Or the feeling of lack thereof. So that leaves us with the two other choices:
NEAR BUT FEELS CROWDED
Mahogany Place 3 is a DMCI project about 5 minutes from Bonifacio Global City. The benefit of living there is that it's near BGC, near St. Luke's Global (I'm a bit of a hypochondriac), near Makati CBD, near good schools.
Even though it's near everything, it doesn't feel like it's in the city. DMCI acquired the vast Acacia Estates and turned it into a residential development that has a resort-like feel. And I'm not quoting a press kit here. That's how we really felt! Security is tight. There's even an electric perimeter fence surrounding the entire development! The amenities are superb, the roads are wide and beautifully paved, there are clubhouses,
commercial playgrounds, swimming pools and more.
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| Little boxes on the hillside |
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| Tiny kitchen and dining area |
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| And that's all there is to the living room! |
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| Three bedrooms, one of which is decorated like a boudoir |
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| A walk-in closet makes up for the teensy-weensy bathroom. |
So here's the catch: Mahogany Place 3 is lined with townhouses and duplexes, narrow buildings that stretch upwards. The land may be wide open but the houses feel, I dunno, I feel hemmed in. Vince says they remind him of London. He spent a few of his growing up years there and he said it was fine. We'll see.
FAR BUT FEELS SPACIOUS
Ametta is a community development by Ayala Land or Alveo. It's gorgeous there! The townhouses are designed so that they feel open and airy. There's plenty of light pouring in through big windows into spacious rooms. There are parks and pools, pocket gardens and playgrounds, and wide streets perfect for a little boy with a bicycle!
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| Blessed space! |
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| Construction is done well. |
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| Side view of the house we really liked |
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| Big kitchen with lots of counter space |
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| Spacious master's bedroom with walk-in closet and own bath |
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| Two bedrooms, one for the princess... |
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| ... one for the prince! |
The problem with Ametta is its location. It almost feels like there's no rhyme and reason for its location. It's like someone built a beautiful village and dropped it in the middle of nowhere. The nearest schools, malls, shopping centers, hospitals are a good half hour away. Plus, it's in Pasig and during Ondoy, that area was flooded for a week. To combat this, Alveo built the community on land raised a full storey high and is currently improving the drainage system of the entire area--the streets around the village are all dug up right now. That's reassuring. And yet... scary still!
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| Vince and Vito and I had fun! |
So we're still thinking about Mahogany Place. If only the houses were built like Ametta and had a location like Mahogany's! That would've been perfect. Oh well! The search continues!
