Philippines, June 15, 2006
The Mall of Asia? Yawn.
Malls are boring, worldwide
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It's a slow Thursday afternoon in Manila. You wanna do something exciting and cool. What may that be? How about you go local and do what everyone in Manila said they'd do - go to the mall.
The mall, like your typical suburban mall. Not the National Mall, or even the Mall of America, we're talking the Mall of Asia. Reputed to be one of the larger malls in Asia, and definitely the largest mall in the Philippines, this is apparently the destination of choice for everyone in Manila. Unfortunately, its no different, and no more exciting than your standard suburban Americana mall. I do have to say the food court is much better though. Unlike the typical crap fast food, this mall had tasty fare with spices and seafood never found stateside. I also did manage to talk my way into the mall's manager's office and have a long talk with him about the mall's layout. The mall owners have a grand vision for the mall and the surrounding area. One day they hope it will be the center of a new mini-city, complete with foreign companies (there is already a Dell call center there), hotels, and of course, the requisite Catholic church. Oh wait, they already built the church, it was holding service before the mall even opened, saving souls and collecting donations before the first cash register rang. Hmm.. maybe that would've been more local and exciting than the Mall of Asia. |
