The dental clinic is located in thriving Makati City which is the business and commercial hub of the Philippines and home to some of the largest corporations in the world.
 Makati City is one of the most important cities in the Philippines in terms of finance and commerce. Situated east of the capital, Manila, Makati is one of the cities and municipalities that comprise Metro Manila —the National Capital Region. Makati is often referred to as the Financial Capital of the Philippines since many companies have their offices and headquarters in the city. Makati is also home to the influential Makati Business Club and the Philippine Stock Exchange. Ayala Avenue , running through the heart of the Central Business District is often called the Wall Street of the Philippines .
Makati is noted for its highly cosmopolitan culture. Many expatriates live and work in the city. Makati is also home to many first-class shopping malls such as Ayala Center and Rockwell Centre. The city also has many of the country's 5-star hotels like The Peninsula Manila, the Mandarin Oriental, the Shangri-la Makati Hotel, New World Rennaisance Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel Manila and Dusit Hotel Nikko.
 Makati came from the Tagalog word kati , which means tide. This primarily refers to the rise and ebb of the tide of the Pasig River on the city's northern border. The river drains into Manila Bay to the west. It was also known as San Pedro Macati during the Spanish era.
Today the city is one of the most modern cities in the country. However, it faces challenges due to the disparate gap between the new city in the west, which contains the Central Business District, and the old city in the east, which is largely poor and where most of the city's slums are located.
Ayala Center, along EDSA and Ayala Avenue is the most known commercial center in the city. Developed by the Ayala Corporation, it contains two shopping malls, Glorietta and Greenbelt, five hotels and an office building. The larger of the two shopping malls is Glorietta, which itself is a cluster of malls. Rising from Glorietta 4 is the Oakwood Premier, a luxurious hotel-apartment residence at the heart of the center. Along the periphery of Glorietta are three department stores: SM Department Store Makati, Rustan's, and the Landmark. Across Makati Avenue from Glorietta is Greenbelt. This is one of the most  sophisticated, modern, and expensive malls in the country. Greenbelt features dozens of coffee stores and restaurants, all overlooking a well-landscaped green park at the center where a domed Catholic chapel dominates the skyline. Other hotels in the vicinity of Ayala Center are the Makati Shangri-la Hotel, the Manila Peninsula, the Dusit Hotel Nikko Manila Garden, the Hotel Intercontinental Manila, and the New World Renaissance Hotel.
Rockwell Center is the other first-class shopping center in Makati. Rockwell features the large Power Plant Mall popular with expatriates. At the periphery of the center are many high-class residential condominium towers, the Asian Eye Institute, and the Ateneo Professional Schools main campus, which houses the Ateneo School of Law, the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, and the Ateneo School of Government.
 Jeepneys are a popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are well known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating. They have also become a symbol of Philippine culture.
When American troops began to leave the Philippines at the end of World War II, hundreds of surplus jeeps were sold or given to local Filipinos. Locals stripped down the jeeps to accommodate several passengers, added metal roofs for shade, and decorated the vehicles with vibrant colors and bright chrome hood ornaments.
The jeepney rapidly emerged as a popular and creative way to reestablish inexpensive public transportation, which had been virtually destroyed during World War II. Recognizing the widespread use of these vehicles, the Philippine government began to place restrictions on their use. Drivers now must have specialized licenses, regular routes, and reasonably fixed fares. Due to recent fuel price increases the Metro Manila fixed fare has increased from 5 pesos to 7.5 pesos, or around 20c. s |
