My First Visit to the Mall of Asia

After lunch today, I checked out the Mall of Asia. Since I'd be doing a lot of walking, I made sure that I put on my comfy Adidas shoes.

I took the MRT to the nearest station (Taft). There's a jeepney barker right at the base of the MRT shouting "Mall of Asia". How convenient! Paid the 7.50 peso fare and enjoyed the short ride. After a few minoots, I saw a big globe and a huge mall. Got excited!

First reaction? F*%#! Filipinos really love malls, especially SM malls. The place is packed! Remind me not to come here with a headache.

There's a band entertaining the people outside. I entered the right wing and was greeted right away with the mall directory. Found out that there are only two floors. That is great for my feet. My goal today is to try the IMAX so I quickly searched for it in the directory. It's on the second floor near the cinemas so I went upstairs.

Found the movie ticket booth, MovieTime, and waited in line (having second thoughts now because of the long lines). After some time, a guy approached the person in front of me and asked what he wanted to watch. I guess with the throng of people, management decided to hire some helpers. I asked him if I could buy my IMAX ticket here. He told me that they have an exclusive ticket booth downstairs. Kill me now!

While looking for the IMAX ticket booth, I saw Chris, Jhie's boyfriend. Asked him where I could find IMAX. Following his advice, I finally found it. I asked the counterlady what's being shown. She gave me two choices: "Everest" and "NASCAR". Already saw "Everest" years ago so I bought a 200-peso ticket to the car racing movie. It's freaking 3D too! Screening time is at 6:30 and the last is at 9:30. Chose the earlier schedule. Upcoming movies are "T-Rex", "Deep Sea 3D", and "Superman Returns". TTOW!

Otay, it's time to check out the mall. In Minneapolis' "Mall of America", I wasn't able to check out the entire mall. This looks easy to me. Some shops like Kenneth Cole and CK Jeans will be open by next month. I saw the ever familiar fastfood chains, Jollibee, Wendys, KFC, ChowKing, Greenwich, and Pizza Hut on the ground floor. I haven't tried the Bistro menu of Pizza Hut yet so I made a mental note to have dinner there later. I found the Food Court on the second floor and when I looked down below, there's an ice skating rink.

For the bookworms out there, this is the only place where you can find all three book shops: National Bookstore, Fully Booked, and Powerbooks.

In MegaMall, if nature is calling, y'have to go to either end to relieve yourself. It ain't a problem here anymore, restrooms are available in just about every corner.

There's also a section where they didn't install airconditioning system. Instead, you'll get fresh sea breeze from the nearby bay.

Around 5, I decided to have my din-dins. There's a lot of people waiting so I put myself in the reservation list. When they found out that I'm eating alone, they offered a special section... at the bar. I told 'em I need a table.

After 15 minoots of waiting, I noticed that tables of 2 were being given out. Hmmm... I couldn't let this happen in front of me so I talked to the guy at the door and complained. Obviously, they didn't want irked customers so one lady helped and found me a table. She also got my orders. If the food here ain't great, I would walk out.

And so my food arrived. The verdict: Yummy. I ordered Sausage Rigatoni and BBQ Ribs. Highly recommended. I also got a free coupon for a minimum food purchase of 350++ ;oP

At 6, I paid my bill. I first used plastic to pay but they only accept cash. Bummer! I only have 500 bucks left. Good thing, I already bought my movie ticket.

Let's talk about the IMAX experience. Since the movie is shown in 3D, we were given glasses. I was expecting the old school red-and-blue-lens type but they handed out a better looking one. When I went inside the theatre, I was guided to my almost-center seat (24H). A lot of activities happened right away: people trying out the glasses and taking souvenir pictures.

Before the movie started, they showed a teaser of the animated film, "Happy Feet". The dancing penguin was adorable. "T-Rex" and "Deep Sea 3D" teasers were shown too. The in-your-face T-Rex was enuff to make you go see it. I could hear the oohs and aahs. The old guy to my right showed his amazement by his multiple "Wows". The guy to my left was trying to reach out and touch the image. Creepies.

The reason why I enjoyed this movie is that I learned a lotta new things. The engineering involved in designing the race cars. The cockpit view was amazing. Roaring engines. The fans! The blood, sweat and tears involved in every race. As a bonus, a familiar voice narrated the film: Kiefer Sutherland. My friend, Sherwin, will love this film.

After almost an hour, the movie ended. I wanna scream, "mooooore!" but typically IMAX movies are short. I would have continued my mall investigation but the sky was flashing. Didn't bring any jacket with me.

There's a jeepney line taking people to MRT. I took it again. At the MRT, management decided not to let people in because of technical difficulties. I pay the government and this is what I get. Crap!