mall tours

nope, not talking bout nina, nyoy, sarah or jed promoting an album, touring the malls in the metro amidst a sea of fans screaming for a handshake or a smile.

i'm talking bout mall tours i do when i feel the itch to stare and salivate over lotsa things.

back in college, mall tours comprised a good portion of my student life. hehehe. movie scheds change on wednesdays so expect me among the throng of people lining up to see the latest wonders hollywood cooked up.

When things got a little shaky in the grade department i turned to strolling alot in the malls, just to turn my attention to sunnier things. it wasnt much for buying stuff, i just want to update myself with what is the latest offering in a bookstore, or to hear a mariah single launched just weeks into the charts. i could spend hours in a bookstore browsing titles and reading blurbs ; or in listening stations in music stores.

upon graduation i took to appreciating the finer things malls here in the philippines have to offer. its not much of the merchandise (hypocrite! my gentle conscience screams), but the architecture and the ambience that i dig. hehehe. mall tours have become all about relaxation, lounging in cafes, drinking all the madness a crazee stressed out life has to offer. :) in my tours i have come to love 3 malls and i will proceed to describe them each in as much details my gentle little brain can muster to call to mind. :)

topping my list is the shangrila mall in mandaluyong. what do i love about this mall? the escalators! it has one covering a good three floors. now that is a lengthy travel, hehehe. i also love this mall come christmas time because it suddenly becomes a venue to showcasing artistry as the escalator-well-cum-atrium suddenly transforms into whatever its resident artist imagines it to be--last year it was an under-the-sea kingdom, with mermaids swishing their fins in midair. i also like this mall for its relatively few shoppers, making my strolls stress-free and very much like a walk in the park except that its airconditioned.

the glorieta-greenbelt malls in makati come in second. being adjoining malls, i like the contrast they provide each other. they also suit my mood effortlessly; if i'm on the hunt for something that fits the budget, glorieta have sections that are tiangge-like and would surely satisfy the tiangge shopper in you. a mid level shopper would also find that all the requisite mall amenities are here: cinemas, convergence zones like the atrium/ activity center where families with multiple yayas in tow for their babies mix and mingle with street rats like me to watch events like fashion shows or meet and greet with famous personalities like neil gaiman. hehehe. and oh yes, the food court, of course. in the end, its always about the food, ya know. :) beside it just a few strides away is greenbelt, a high-end shopping establishment that is nestled in a park-like environment. i really like the concept but the idea of buying your basic necessities there hurts like a thousand knives hurled at you all at once.

the third mall to make it in my tour list is megamall in mandaluyong. upon its construction in the early 90s and before the rise of mall of asia (which is too big for my taste) megamall ranks as the biggest in asia. like what its tagline says "we've got it all for you", one goes to megamall if one is in a hurry to buy something and is not sure if one can find it in either glorieta or shangrila mall. it is a catch-all business establishment, and being "catch-all" expect a large crowd anytime and everytime you go there. still i love it for its layout, a no-nonsense rectangular building with stores lining up each side of the aisle. its a refreshing contrast to the web of escalators of shangrila or the maze of corridors glorieta offers its tourists.

whew! tiring isnt it? :) that concludes our mall tours.

note : shangrila mall picture taken from http://www.shangrila-plaza.com/