well, i wouldn't exactly call Pilar Village in las pinas an affluent neighborhood. i think it's just middle class. only ayala alabang village would qualify as affluent in my book in that area, and that's in the neighboring city. but that's just me having a bias against those municipalities south of the metro. i think it's boring and there's nothing to see or do there. just houses. doesn't matter if some are expensive. that area is not really known for having industries that generate jobs for its residents, or have people from other cities commute all the way there to work.

the manila city proper might be unsafe, too cramped and is very polluted but there's colorful culture, history and some decaying remnants of great colonial architecture in that place. i just love how street smart people who grow up there are. even the rich kids i've met who studied in that one expensive university there end up decent and down to earth. my fil-chinese ex colleagues (whose families are rich but were somehow never kidnapped) who come from that school were the ones who used to take us through dark alleys in the middle of the night in the binondo area just so we can taste that fried chicken they like in some cheap-looking restaurant that surprisingly serve great food.

i haven't worked in many places unlike most people here but there's this vibe or spirit in the makati central business district that i haven't felt in the the other business districts i've worked in. i also love it on weekends when it becomes a deserted ghost town and you have the place all to yourself