Still the pet-friendliest destination in the metro
A Korean café serving wine for dogs, pet hotels, and a photo studio just for fur babies? Eastwood City, which the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) awarded as the very first pet-friendly mall in 2004, cements its position as the metro’s most pet-friendly destination with new and existing tenants dedicated to you and your beloved fur babies.
Eastwood is so pet-friendly, in fact, that a celebrity couple bought a unit there just to keep their pets in air-conditioned comfort.
As the very first township concept established in 1997, Eastwood City is a self-sustaining community with its own church, fire station, police station, and medical clinic.
Megaworld head of public relations Harold Geronimo explains what sets Eastwood City apart from other townships: “Eastwood was the first, but it’s still the same vibe that we’ve wanted to apply to all our townships. We’re happy that this is the benchmark of a lot of township and mixed-use developments as well, and how we interconnected all the components so that it becomes walkable.”
Inspired in look and feel by the West Coast of the United States, a TikTok-er posted about Eastwood looking like San Francisco, even if he was actually in Quezon City. Geronimo says much of Eastwood is actually modeled after Hollywood, with its Walk of Fame honoring over 300 Filipino luminaries.
Built around the then-emerging call center/BPO population, Eastwood has 10 office buildings housing BPO companies, and 85,000 workers in total, making the township as busy as a beehive, according to Ritchie Pascual, deputy general manager of Eastwood City.
To accommodate Eastwood’s burgeoning community, 16 residential towers were built, she says — 14 of which are fully occupied with 30,000 residents — and two new towers have been added: One Eastwood Avenue and Eastwood Global Plaza Luxury Residences.
Airo Arana, marketing and business development manager of Megaworld Regional RFO adds that One Eastwood has 52 floors, with 20 units per floor, and offers everything from studios to three-bedroom and loft-type units. Their “rent to own” plan includes zero interest for four years, and for as low as P200,000 you can move in. They also offer fully furnished units.
For its residents and workers to get around, Eastwood City offers free shuttle services every hour with a tram (very San Francisco) and two buses.
“It’s actually a vibrant, exciting, fun township to live in,” says Cid Santillan, director of public relations.
We had to agree, since we live just minutes away from Eastwood and it’s our go-to place for movies, malling and restaurants. It was fun to rediscover it from a completely different perspective in our Eastwood Experience.
Mos burger
We had breakfast at this Japanese franchise, which is open 24 hours and specializes in wagyu burgers. Since “rice is life” in the Philippines, by popular demand they now offer seven types of rice burgers, including the new wagyu rice burger, according to manager PJ.
Therese was pleased to see items like the Grilled Shrimp Protein wrap and Plant-based Katsu, and Mos also serves Sumiyaki coffee from sister company UCC, along with must-try desserts like the strawberry-and-whipped cream-topped French toast.
While we ate, Belle Montesines, sales manager for Megaworld Regional RFO, told us she’s been an Eastwood resident for 10 years, and as a pet owner with four dogs, she appreciates the way they cater to all her pet needs. “There’s a vet inside Dogs in the City, with a pet hotel, grooming and training,” she said.
Pascual noted that Eastwood held the very first pet blessing in 2020, even despite the pandemic. “People went crazy,” she says. “Over 200 pets were blessed, and the very first pet wedding was held at the Open Park” with the doggie “bride” and “groom” coming from the same family.
According to Michelle Odell, sales director of Megaworld Regional RFO, Eastwood is very active with the LGUs, offering offices and caravans for cedulas, driver’s license renewal, national IDs, PWD IDs, even quarantine services. “We bring to the residents what they actually need.”
The Eastwood City tram
We boarded the tram, which can actually be rented for weddings. It makes 20 circuits a day with seven stops, and rings a bell at each stop just like the trams do in San Francisco. First stop was One Eastwood, a residential condo turned over in 2021, with restaurants on its ground floor like Barcino and Ebi 10. The township also boats the first IT park, banks, a Madz Music Studio, an auditorium for recitals that seats 100-200, two supermarkets (Robinsons and Marketplace), the recently opened Michelin-star Tiong Bahru, and exits to the cities of Marikina, Antipolo and Cainta.
We walked to Central Plaza, the biggest open space where they hold concerts, and saw two sculptures by Seb Chua: “Modern Heroes,” dedicated to workers, and “Silent Companion,” showing a man and his dog, which is dedicated to pets.
Crossing over from Citywalk to the Eastwood Mall courtyard, there’s an elaborate, Vegas-style dancing fountain that activates from 5 p.m. onwards with coordinated lights and sound synchronized to one song — Shut Up and Dance — that plays every 30 minutes, and we’re told this is the best place to watch Eastwood fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Even the business buildings surrounding the courtyard are splashed with a light show created each year by a different local artist.
Puppy’s Kitchen
Opened just last month, Puppy’s Kitchen is a café owned by Koreans Henry, Kai, and their giant poodle Lulu. Kai holds a Korean Pet Food Nutrition certification, so he came up with the menu for pets, while Henry, we’re assuming, took charge of the menu for humans.
“All of our treats are healthy and tasty,” says Kai about their pet food. “We make sure that every treat is made and served on the same day, and it’s safe for dogs. We don’t use artificial ingredients or preservatives, but nutritious ingredients that promote the wellbeing of our furry companions. Our products are carefully crafted with your pets’ health in mind and all our ingredients are from Korea.”
They even have sugar-free wine for dogs and all sorts of Korean merchandise, like adorable pet outfits. Pet owner KC got her three Pure Yorkies dresses and a vest, as they snacked on Duck Gizzard Jerky, Chicken Pizza and Jerry cheesecake. Meanwhile, we humans had club sandwiches and Jolly Pong frappes with cereal on top — so yummy.
Barkhaus
Among the pet-oriented outlets in Eastwood, Barkhaus is possibly the most complete, offering a café, pet self-shoot studio, pet grooming, a dog hotel, cat boarding, and doggie day care.
We played with the little dogs in the indoor playground while KC had two of her Yorkies groomed, and saw the dog hotel, which seems fairly luxe with its tiled floor and air-conditioned enclosures. The cat hotel even has individual scratching posts and multi-level shelves for cats to climb on.
Eastwood Richmonde Hotel
We did an overnight stay at Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, which has undergone an extensive renovation over the past years of lockdown — everything from rooms, service, and food at the lobby’s Eastwood Café-Bar upgraded or improved.
Our suite on the 37th floor was luxe and ultra-comfortable with a breathtaking view of the Marikina River and surrounding environs. Welcome gifts include plushies of the hotel mascot, Richie the teddy bear, and Richmonde’s special polvoron.
All Megaworld hotels now offer Sampaguita Service — a very Filipino rebranding that involves the five senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and heart. Our national flower pops up in the welcome drink, on the staff’s sampaguita pins, even in restaurant dishes like the Café’s dessert, Mango Sampaguita Cheesecake. OPM music plays over the hotel speakers, including, of course, the music of Sampaguita.
Jun Justo, cluster general manager NCR+ of Megaworld Hotels and Resorts, says Richmonde has climbed back from lockdown surprisingly fast, doing well with banquets and corporate events. With mostly business guests and travelers, the hotel is almost fully booked, supported by the convenience of the surrounding township.
A pet lover himself, Justo says they feed the stray cats passing through at the basement level of the hotel, and that pet-friendly rooms are coming soon.
Mystery Manila
We headed next to Citywalk, where Mystery Manila — the popular “escape room” challenge — is on our itinerary. Opened five years ago, it closed for the pandemic, but even during lockdown — a time when people literally wanted to flee their rooms — they still offered online Zoom sessions, a feature that’s still popular.
With four room challenges — Dark Dimension, School of Sorcery, Tragedy on the Train, and Witch of the Woods — Mystery Manila is a fun, hour-long activity that involves collaboration more than competition. Up to six people per room seek to solve a mystery, locating clues in a fairly dark environment. (Flashlights come in handy.) Expect a few jump scares, at least in Witch of the Woods.
More group fun is set to open soon in Eastwood Mall: Megaworld is bringing in SuperPark, the massive indoor playground from Finland that has interactive activity areas for the whole family to enjoy.
Greyhound Cafe
Next we headed to nearby Greyhound Café for dinner, a popular Thai restaurant that opened here last May. With its unique black-and-white subway tile décor and “Bangkok Café” concept, it’s popular enough to have six locations in the Philippines so far. Started in 1980 by a Thai fashion label, it quickly spread to lifestyle and, eventually, food with the first Greyhound Café opening in Bangkok in 1998.
Brought in by Viva International Food and Restaurants Inc., the big sellers are (naturally) Pad Thai, with its fresh shrimps and fried rice; the famous Greyhound Chicken Wings, marinated in That fish sauce; new menu items include Weeping Hunters, which are cuts of steak served on cucumbers; and exclusive to Eastwood and Rockwell branches is the Party At Night menu, offering DIY Crab Sandwich (a delectable spread of crab on melba toast; yes, please), Chubby Wontons, Pandan Chicken, Sizzling Sour Pork and others.
We also enjoyed the Super Beef Lovers Hotpot, the black spaghetti Chacha with shrimp and salmon roe, and the ever-popular Tom Yum Soup. For cocktails Scott enjoyed the Bangkok Fizz, while Therese had the Passion Fashion from the “Healthy Cocktails” menu. And the Mango Sticky Rice dessert is perfecto.
Night Caps
To cap off the day in Eastwood City, some of us opt for a movie at Ultra 7, while some opt for a body massage at Foot Zone, so we’re totally refreshed for the next day, after a relaxing stay at a Richmonde Hotel Suite.
In the morning, they bring us to the open park where a kickboxing class is in session: a tie-up between UFC and Gold’s Gym.
Before the pandemic, Pascual said they began holding Weekend Workouts — yoga, Zumba and others for free — even workers would take off their uniforms, kick off their shoes and take part. After a spate of rainy days, the class is enjoying being under the sun — just another day in this community- and pet-friendly township.
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You can follow the authors @scottgarceau and @theresejamoragarceau on Facebook and Instagram.
