A PHILLIPPINE FAIRYTALE - 'Mall'ing in Manila - 6 December 2022

As Alex had suggested that I go Mall hopping or Mall-ing this day he also suggested SM Mall of Asia and Ayala Mall, for starters. The offer of his vehicle with chauffeur to take me around the whole day was an added attraction. Gael and Alex suggested that it would be a day well spent on the modern side of Manila. Thus far I had been mostly on the Old Manila side appreciating the historical development of the country, like Intramuros and Binondo. What I heard of the SM Mall of Asia from Gael and Alex astounded me and I accepted the offer from Alex.

SM stands for ShoeMart, which was the first business launched by Henry Sy, the founder, in 1958 - a shoe store. His business acumen and aggression helped expand the business to a departmental store specialising in sale of shoes. In time ShoeMart became SM and stepped into the realm of mall development in 1985. Today it operates 79 malls and over 2300 stores nationwide.

The SM Mall of Asia, opened in 2006, is the largest mall in Philippines and the third largest in the world with a land area of 170 acres and developed floor area of 5.25 million square feet. The MoA is estimated to have over 200,000 footfalls a day! The Mall of Asia consists of four buildings namely, Main Mall, Entertainment Mall, and the North and South Wing Parking Buildings. They are interconnected by walkways and elevated pathways. One of the features of the MoA is the humongous IKEA store. On most days the 5000 parking slots in the parking buildings fall short of the requirements. A large steel framed globe welcomes visitors at a prominent roundabout which turns into an LED display by night.

My first visit was to the giant IKEA store, which opened in 2021. It covers two full floors and is the largest IKEA store in the world with 700,000 square feet of awesome shopping experience. The sheer range of products is astounding. Prices are quite reasonable and a few discounts were in offer too. Space saving ideas for bedrooms, kitchens and study rooms were on display. What amazed me was their quality checks and returns policy. Even though I wanted to buy many things I refrained from doing so for two reasons. For me travel is not for shopping; it is for seeing. Secondly, I prefer to travel light, except when I am on a driving tour.

The only thing I spent on in the IKEA store was in the Swedish cafe. The superbly organised dining area was a marvellous experience. Initially I was a bit doubtful if I should go in because there was a warning at the entrance that one could be delayed for half an hour or more. To fetch food, that seemed excessive to me. But then, I wanted to experience the process. Generous screen displays showed the items of food available and their prices so that one could more or less decide on what to pick up. I joined a fairly long queue after picking up a trolley cart, a tray to be placed on it and a glass for a beverage.

As the queue moved the food came into view. The initial displays were cold items such as cakes, cold cuts and pies. A combo of two apple crumble pies and unlimited Nordic drink was my first pick. The next few items were the hot meals like fried chicken, spaghetti, soups, salmon and Swedish meatballs. I took a portion of 12 Swedish meatballs with broccoli and mashed potatoes as well as two pieces of fried chicken. As I reached the billing counter the lady looked at the items on my tray and confirmed my order. Once the payment was done I picked some cutlery and tissue paper and proceed to locate a table to sit in that extremely busy dining area. There was no jostling or shouting or rude behaviour. Despite the dining area having over 500 people, one could almost hear a pin drop.

The food was excellent, to say the least. The fried chicken was crispy and deliciously spicy. The meatballs were superbly marinated and juicy. The extra creamy sauce made it all the more tasty. The mashed potatoes were so cheesy and yummy that I yearned for a bit more. But, when I looked at the twin apple crumble pies that were still intact I knew I would court trouble with more mashed potatoes. The pies could have been a bit more moist and the Nordic drink, a cola, was not that great.

I resumed my tour of the Mall on a full stomach. Leaving the IKEA store I went around the SM supermarket. The Mall has been decked up for the Yuletide and the massive Christmas Tree was the centre of attraction. Despite the huge quantity of food I had ingested a while ago I was tempted by a small store that advertised the best Suman Latik in the world! What's best in the world must surely be tried. The Tita Paring Suman Latik claims to be a secret recipe developed from the pre-war era and continued. It is a distinct triangular shaped rice cake wrapped in banana leaves and glazed with signature tick and rich Latik sauce, which is caramelized coconut milk. My desire to try one overwhelmed any protestations from the middle segment of my body. The rice cake was so soft and smoothly textured that it didn't feel like rice at all. The Latik sauce was incredibly tasty and the combo, in one word, heavenly - a food for the Gods.

My pledge not to eat anything more for the next two hours soon vaporized as I ambled along the Mall. I came across a crowded kiosk in a passage of the Mall and went closer to discover the attraction. The kiosk was doing very brisk business selling Hopia, which I soon learnt is a bean filled moon cake pastry, popular with Filipinos. There were many different filings and they were flying off the racks. It is a widely available inexpensive treat and a favoured gift for families, friends and relatives. I picked up a packet of the premium variety to taste and found it too bland.

Tired with walking around in air-conditioning for over four hours I stepped outside just a bit. Almost at the very exit there was a cart vending hot chestnuts. My mind harked back to the holiday in Turkey when I used to feast on them. I bought a quarter kilo of mid-sized chestnuts to have over tea. The poor chestnuts did not survive the next half hour. By then it became clear that any further stay in that Mall or a visit to any other Mall would be greatly injurious to my health, financially and physically. I called it a day and got back to my accommodation.

As the sun was going down I watched the sunset from my room. I decided to walk down to the Dolomite beach, which was less than a kilometre away from my accommodation, to catch the dying embers of the sun. The views were astounding, but I got very little time there as all on the 500 meter man-made beach were asked to leave at the stroke of 6 pm. The Dolomite beach has been a controversial project, but I decided to get back there to view the sunset the next day, weather permitting.