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Google Philippines Has a New, More Permanent Home (in a Place That Should Not Be Mentioned)

The e-mail invitation I got in my Google inbox from TeamAsia just had the subject, “Google PH special announcement for 2017.” Opening the e-mail message, it said I had to click to go to the RSVP form. Of course, clicking it brought me to the Google Docs Form that automatically saves a filled-up form to the owner/sender’s Google Drive.

In the form, it started with “Google has a big announcement on January 26…” and continued on by specifying the date (January 26th) and the two versions of the event – morning or afternoon. Further reading revealed two options:

The morning event will have the keynote and a ceremony. PERK: You’ll be among the first ones to hear the news.

The evening event will recap what happened in the morning, and we’ll enjoy the night away. 😊 PERK: Think fun trivia night!

Naturally, I chose the evening event. Who doesn’t want a fun trivia night?

But here’s the kicker – everyone who were privately invited cannot reveal where the announcement is going to take place. It’s supposed to be a secret; and you shouldn’t even dare mention it, tag it or check-in on any social networking site, or anywhere online.

Wait! Who was that guy who was the archenemy of Harry Potter? Yeah, that guy! The name-that-should-not-be-mentioned. The eerie request just sounded so familiar, right?

I arrived at the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned and was greeted by the TeamAsia associates at the lobby of the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned (Haha! I love repeating this phrase!) Since I was pre-selected to the media event, they gave me a ready-made, clip-on name tag of-sorts that bore my name, and asked me to have a seat while I wait for someone to escort me to the designated floor. Hmm… really spy stuff, huh?

I smirked when I saw the lobby seats – it was made from fiberglass or some sort of polymer material that is only just about a foot-and-a-half high without seat cushions. “Oh, boy! My mom can’t even sit on these! They’re way too low and hard,” I told myself quietly. Trendy isn’t for everyone, y’know? One of the bloggers was already there, also waiting for our escort.

When our escort arrived, there were already about 8 or 10 of us waiting in the lobby. The lobby security guy had to use his ID to open the clear-plastic barriers where you tap your ID onto the scanner. We followed our escort (can’t describe our escort – he was a guy) to the elevator and he pushed the floor number of the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned. (See? I can’t even mention the floor!)

When the elevator doors slid open, we were ushered to an all-glass entrance. Another ID tapped and the glass doors open. Tadah! The familiar Google Philippines logo with back-lighting was the first thing I noticed upon entering but before I could get my trusty camera-phone, we were rushed to a lounge area with modern seating looking like a restaurant (the first lookalike that came to mind was Single Origin in Bonifacio High Street Central). In the center was what looked like a kitchen center counter-top which is common in American households. “Hey! There are chafing dishes with food in it! Finally! Food!” ROFL!

All around one side of the wall were painted quotations in Filipino, quoting famous sayings like “Basta’t driver, sweet lover” and other funny idioms. LOL! The other side was a wall of glass windows spread one end ’til the other in an “L” shape, that gave a magnificent view of the metropolis at night. Then, I remembered we were just one floor below the penthouse of this very tall building in the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned.

I looked around and saw a coffee vending machine. Great! I went for it and stopped short of doing anything – just staring. “How do you operate this thing?” Good thing one of the kitchen staff saw me staring stupid at the dang machine too long and offered to help.

“What kind of coffee, sir?” she said in Filipino.

I answered, “Americano. Black. No milk, no sugar.” I added, “If you go black, you’ll never go back!” but she never noticed my joke. #sayang

Yay! Coffee at 8 o’clock in the evening!

After talking to people from TeamAsia and other bloggers I knew, we were ushered to the buffet-kitchen-center-countertop-lookalike (why I love using dashed words I wouldn’t even know). There was white rice and brown rice and lots of meat, including the much-loved Pork Sisig. There was salad but most of the dishes served meat cooked the Filipino way. I assumed dinner would be served at this event but guessing Google, they’ll surely go healthy like lots of greens, probably just chicken for meat, potatoes, bread and others. Haha! I was wrong! That was awesome!

And there were a variety of beers – San Miguel Light, Corona and Stella Artois. I took a Stella because I like Belgian beer; it’s got that taste of craft beer or micro-brewed beer.

Then, I joined the second batch for the tour of the Google Philippines office. Google occupied the entire floor of the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned (and the floor-that-should-not-be-mentioned too, I suppose). Google Philippines’ meeting rooms were all named after famous places like Palawan and Bohol, to name two that I remember.

The Google Philippines lobby had a vertically-shaped, framed, embossed map of the Philippines (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) with the familiar Google Maps pin which pointed out in the map where the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned was located, and with a lighted Google Philippines logo above. During the morning event, they had a ceremony of lighting this Google Philippines logo on the map, sort of saying “We officially have a permanent office.” The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez was Google Philippines’ guest of honor who ceremoniously switch on the light.

Back to the tour, we came upon “the office,” the no-barriers, curve-shaped, connected desks where the Philippine Googlers worked. I think half of them are occupied while the others were recognizably vacant (hint: still hiring?). I looked underneath and saw snake-like, rectangular metal tubings looping up and down, and all around, between workstations. “Nice structured cabling,” I told myself, then quickly realized how geeky I quietly sounded for admiring the cabling work. LMAO!

Google Philippines also has a “Lactation Room” specially created for breastfeeding moms who needs to use a breast pump in private, complete with a refrigerator to store breastmilk. “How about a room for dads?” I hollered. We all laughed.

We came back to the lounge that looked like a restaurant and bantered some more with the guys in my table and the Team Asia people until the host of the event announced that it was time for Trivia Night! Since we were already 5 or 6 guys at the table we were sitting at, we decided to form one of the groups. The host said we needed to name our group. We all looked at each other as if silently saying the same thing, and one of my group mates started writing down our group’s name on the laminated board: The Guwapings! (Okay, take a gander as to how to translate that to English! Go #GoogleTranslate)

To cut this already long story short, our group The Guwapings won! Google Philippines was never for extravagant gifts and prizes since it started holding annual media events the past three years. So, we each won a simple, generic but Google-engraved ball pen with a wooden desk accessory to hold ball pens, paper clips, notepads and stuff.

OMG! I arrived a little past 7:00PM and we ended this event at 11:30PM. But it was a fun night!

Here are the summary highlights to other Google Philippines announcements during my visit to the place-that-should-not-be-mentioned:

Google Philippines is supporting the growth of the country’s digital economy with a Google.org grant to DigiBayanihan, a nationwide digital literacy program that promotes digital inclusion among Filipinos;
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Google Philippines Country Manager Ken Lingan: “Two out of 5 Filipinos are still missing out on the huge opportunities that come with being online. We want to empower them with digital know-how so that they can make the most of the Internet”;
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DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez: “With the population getting more connected and engaged every day, it is necessary for individuals, businesses, and communities to have the right skills to thrive in today’s modern economy. That’s why we welcome Google’s (Philippines) commitment to promote digital inclusion and empower every Filipino online, and in effect, drive the country’s economy forward”;
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Google introduced the launch of the Launchpad Accelerator program in the Philippines. This is a 6-month program to help tech startups build successful companies that includes a 2-week, all-expense-paid training at Google Headquarters in Silicon Valley where they get access to Google engineers, resources, and mentors, and get credits for Google products, among other benefits;
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Google said that the Philippines’ online market value is set to reach US$19 billion by 2025, making e-commerce a major economic driver in the next 10 years;
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Google Philippines Country Manager Ken Lingan: “Our local developers and startups are instrumental in creating impactful businesses that are tackling tough local and global issues. We see the importance of their role in what will be a booming e-commerce in our country in the very near future because what they do has direct impact in people’s lives”;
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Real-estate start-up Zipmatch is the first Filipino participant in Google’s Launchpad Accelerator;
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Google Philippines released 188 new local sites on Google Street View, including key attractions and landmarks from Batanes to Palawan to Guimaras. There are now over 300 sites from across the country have been made available on Street View since the launch of the first collection in 2015;
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Google Arts and Culture is a website and app that lets users explore artworks, artifacts, and more from over 1,000 museums, archives, and organizations that have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring their collections and stories online. The app is available on desktop, mobile web, iOS and Android.