For context, we stayed at Bonifacio Global City (commonly called BGC). BGC is a financial business district in Taguig, Metro Manila.
BGC is a super modern city. Much more modern than Charlotte, North Carolina (the second largest financial center in the U.S.A. — next to New York City). It very walkable and more convenient than the Ballantyne Area in North Carolina. I know this for sure… my family and I live in the Ballantyne Area in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The hotel that we stayed in at BGC is called Seda BGC. We stayed in their luxury suites — we liked their luxury suites when we stayed at Seda BGC in December 2022. Their breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, evening cocktails, and dinner were delicious with wide array of foods to select from. We liked how the way their people treated us — they were very helpful and courteous. Hence the repeat stay.
The view from our room — when it is not raining
It was rainy when we arrived at MNL.
To me, the weather in the Philippines is like a perpetual summer (all year long hotness!) — with bursts of tropical rain, then it becomes cloudy, then becomes sunny… all in one day! I love it — albeit too hot (78F – 82F) for some folks.
Most of the time, traffic is heavy… especially when it is raining.
Traffic from MNL airport to Seda BGC
Back to Seda BGC for context. For their guests staying in luxury suites, Seda BGC offers sumptuous breakfast, mid-afternoon tea, and for the evening, a cocktail. All these three are already paid for by your stay (i.e., complementary in luxurious way). Bottled water is unlimited — free. delivered to your room or just get it from the 21st floor (where Breakfast, Afternoon Tea, and Evening Cocktail are happening). Cool, huh?
Afternoon Tea — lots of selections
Afternoon Tea with a great view on the 21st Floor
So, that is the context vis-a-vis where we stayed. What we do (i.e., adventures) within and outside this context is a different story and also interesting.
On a private note, for an extra context: throughout our stay in the Philippines, we visited, as often as we can, with our families living in the Philippines. On day one, we visited my wife’s mom and had dinner at her place. They cooked and served our favorite dishes… including my and my son’s favorite dish which is “adobong pusit” … and everything was sumptuous.!
That’s the context! Our adventures are coming!
Key Idea: Context matters. Let’s experiment, do this: draw a sunset. After you’ve drawn a sunset, do this: draw a sunset that you have seen recently. Question for you: are those two drawings different? Most folks will say, “yes, different”… and the reason is this: The first drawing was without context… the second drawing has a context (i.e., “you’ve seen recently”). Indeed, context matters. Keep this in mind as you create a product, service or system.
My succeeding posts are about my family’s travel to the Philippines and Australia… and we are taking SAFe and the Lean Agile Way of Working/Living with us… and see how others outside of the USA are doing with the Lean Agile Way of Working/Living. Each post will have a Key Idea for you to ponder upon if you wish.
There are many other ideas like this — short but sweet ideas — in my new book, ‘SAFe (6.0) Is like …’ . It is available on Amazon… and it has reached ‘# 1 New Release’ several times! Check it out.
