For the last of couple weeks, I’ve been stressing about a life-changing event that’s about to happen to me – moving. Yes, I’ll be leaving Pasig City in a month’s time. For the past twenty-three years of my life, I’ve been living along the same street, A. Rodriguez Avenue. I’ve been in three different houses in two different barangays or towns – but I’ve only been in one long, major street.

I love living in Pasig, especially here in A. Rodriguez Avenue. Being a major road, it’s highly-accessible and leads to other key areas in Metro Manila such as Marikina City – known to be the shoe capital of the Philippines, as well as Quezon City, Mandaluyong City, Taguig City and Makati City – all of which are highly-commercialized areas with a lot of malls, bars and restaurants, and other business establishments.

Going around the city and going to the neighboring cities and municipalities are made easy by jeepneys, buses and FX taxis, which serve much like as a shuttle. Apart from these, there are two Metro Railway Transit (MRT) stations within the Pasig City area. These are the Ortigas and the Shaw Boulevard stations. And of course, cabs are also available everywhere, while tricycle terminals are strategically situated in the barangays for short trips within the area.

Pasig City takes pride in its successes. From being one of the major business districts in Metro Manila, it eventually became a city in January 21, 1995. It also boasts of several improved parks and playgrounds as part of the Clean and Green Movement of Mayor Soledad C. Eusebio, when she was just the City’s First Lady. Its largest park is the Pasig City Rainforest located at Barangay Maybunga. It's perfect for both hanging-out and for outdoor fitness activities, or simply for jogging and leisure walks. It has such amenities like a social hall, a gym, a swimming pool, and a tennis court. It's also known for the Rainforest picnic grounds and the Rainforest Botanical Garden.

For shopping, there are two big malls within the city – Ever Gotesco Ortigas and Robinsons Place Metro East. And if dining out is your thing, trust me, you won't run out of places to go. In Ortigas Center alone, there are two blocks, a few miles away from each other that are jam-packed with bars and restaurants. These are El Pueblo Real de Manila and St. Francis Square. Both are along Doña Julia Vargas. And not far from these places are Metro Walk and Gold Park Center along Meralco Avenue. All these commercial areas are filled with dining places of all sorts – from fast food to casual dining and even fine dining, from American food to Thai cuisine, from pizzas and burgers, to grilled dishes and oysters. When I say there are a lot to choose from, I really mean a lot. There are bars in these areas as well, which feature bands performances for your musical enjoyment.

And lastly, if you wish to visit Pasig City and stay for a while, you would also have numerous options of hotels to stay in. There’s Astoria Plaza, Discovery Suites, Edsa Shangri-La, Holiday Inn Galleria Manila, The Richmonde Hotel and The Linden Suites. All these hotels are near the wonderful dining places I mentioned earlier and near the commercial establishments of Mandaluyong City.