SM City Baguio
When somebody asked me what is SM Baguio looks like, I instantly says, “the only shopping mall in the Philippines that’s not airconditioned”. And I will explained that it doesn’t need to be airconditoned at all because its in Baguio already. Well, I suppose their theaters are airconditioned (I haven’t tried and don’t have plans of trying).
For travellers that passed by Baguio, feel at ease leaving your bags at SM baggage counter in the department store, I saw many bags there when I leave my backpack. No questions asked compared to SM hypermart at the ground floor. This mall was once the Pines Hotel that was caught in fire in 1982, SM Baguio opened in 2003. The good thing about having SM in Baguio is having a one stop shopping place for vacationists, my family usually rented transient house where we can cook. Every cooking things we need on the duration of our stay was bought in SM Hypermart. Unlike before that we will just bought what was available in some minimarts, no choice. Its advisable to pass by SM Baguio when you arrive and before you leave the City of Pines.
The entire complex stands on Luneta Hill at the northern tip of the city’s historic Session Road overlooking Burnham Park.SM Baguio is roofed with translucent white fiber enabling sunlight to illuminate the inside on a clear sunny day. Also, the verandas overlook the whole city, giving the best view of the city’s tourist attractions, such as the Burnham Lake, the city hall, the Athletic Bowl, as well as the Session Road. Use the telescope located in the veranda for Php 5 coin. Last image was Burnham Park from SM Baguio Veranda.
Day At Trinoma
There were many times that I’ve read in forums good things about Trinoma. At first, I’m eager to see the place. It just so happened that my mom asked me for a favor to meet someone there in her behalf. Trinoma is in Quezon City, near SM North Edsa. From my place, I took a jeepney ride to MRT. Then took a ride to MRT, from Taft station to North station. The jeepney and MRT ride is estimated to be 30 minutes. I won’t dare to ride a bus or bring a car, a 1 1/2 to 2 hours traffic would surely irritate me. Besides, MRT is the most convenient way to be there even if the long line to buy MRT ticket is such a hassle. It took me 10 minutes to buy ticket. Whew!
Anyway, Trinoma at first glance it made me feel that I’m in Glorietta, Makati and some part of Trinoma reminds me of Alabang Town Center. Please correct me if I’m wrong, here are the pictures.
Baywalk At SM Mall Of Asia
After Philippines local election last 2007, when Honorable Alfredo Lim won the mayoralty race, the famous Baywalk along Roxas Boulevard within Manila jurisdiction, all the establishments along the baywalk were gone because of the Manila City ordinance implemented again by Mayor Alfredo Lim. Many got sad including me because what was left now was the beautiful lamp posts that were installed during Mayor Lito Atienza’s term. All the establishments in Plaza Raha Sulayman were also gone, including my favorite coffee shop where my friends and I stayed after a night out ordering kapeng barako or chocolat-eh, best combined with an order of pandesal with kesong puti. Well, those were the happy days of Baywalk in Malate.
A close relative who worked as a manager in Dampa informed me that they will open a branch to the “new” baywalk. My kids and I had a chance to see how it looked.
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It is located at the back of SM Mall Of Asia where you can enjoy strolling around the baywalk, the sea air breeze and the convenience of the MOA’s security guards roving around. Take note: vendors and beggars are no where in sight.
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This is the perfect place to watch the fireworks display every Fridays, Saturdays and special occasions at 7:00pm.
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Night out with your friends or family? Many restaurants and bars are open already and there are some more establishments opening soon. Goodbye to the disposable cups, plates, spoons and forks used by mostly all establishments at the old baywalk. I supposed many couples will celebrate their Valentine’s Day here next month.
Glorietta 2, Freak Tragedy?
Speculations from Glorietta shoppers last Friday said that it could be a LPG blast. I thought, it couldn’t be caused by LPG, if it was, fire should follow after the blast. That’s why I didn’t mention that from my article, Are We Still Safe?.
If it was really “industrial failure” or mismanagement, Ayala Corporation should face the consequences. It was indeed an eye opener as I’ve said from my initial entry… for Shopping Malls Managements.
A lot of speculations and heresays to what really happened last Friday, do we have to wait for another Glorietta tragedy to make Filipinos safe? Do we need a freak incident like this to make another law?
As of this writing I’ve remembered Ozone Disco, March 18, 1996 fire incident. After that incident, strict inspections followed to all the establishments. Strict inspection should be done not in Glorietta but to all shopping malls in the Philippines.
Glorietta 2: Are We Still Safe?
It was about 1:35 pm this afternoon that I heard my neighbor receiving a phone call. He is a fire volunteer, always had early news from his colleagues. Anyway, after hearing him saying “Glorietta? Bomba?”… I urgently turned on my TV, after 10 minutes, the news proved it right. I am monitoring now from GMA 7 and ABS-CBN for the latest updates.
Usually, at Glorietta 2, Makati have many shoppers during Fridays. Parents who fetched their children from school usually spend their time here before going home. There are 8 persons confirmed dead from this bombing tragedy. There are speculations that this might be the work of terrorism. Gosh! The people might avoid going to malls now because of this incident, I sure will.
What I’m thinking now is how come did this tragedy happened? The Glorietta security is very strict, sometimes I usually find police with their sniffing dogs roaming around Glorietta. I used to work in Makati and often stopped by for client calls, its a good thing that I seldom visited Makati now. But how about our relatives… our friends… our children? Is it already a wake up call? For whom?
