Roaming Around SM Mall of Asia

Hello everyone!

This post was originally intended for Wednesday Walk last week, but you know me. It became too late, so I thought it would be good to post in WEEKEND EXPERIENCES. And then here we are, back to Wednesday Walk and still a little bit late after a week of procrastination. Since when did I become on time with my posting? 😂

I'm just wondering, how long will it usually take you to upload a post? From sorting the photos, editing, drafting the post, and then proofreading, does it take days for you to do them? It's usually just hours for me, but I'm often distracted so it could take days to weeks.

Anyway, in this post, I would like to share about one of our excursions when we visited Metro Manila last August. It was part of my birthday celebration and one that made me realize that I'm not as young as I fooled myself to be. It's not the same anymore. Before, when it comes to travel, we just incorporate time management into the itinerary. Now, we need to add energy management during travel planning. It's not the same as when I was 23 years old when I could go on moving the whole day.

We visited the largest mall in the Philippines on a Monday but it was on a holiday, so there were still a lot of people in the mall. Now I'm not sure if this qualifies in this community, but I have to post this somehow. Anyway, we rode a bus from Makati (where we stayed) to SM Mall of Asia and arrived at around 10:00 AM. Our first agenda was to have brunch at the Swedish restaurant in IKEA.

We knew that it would be a long day of walking and window shopping, so it would be best to eat something first. Social media has been hyped by the opening of the very first IKEA here in the Philippines and we read a lot of rave reviews about the Swedish restaurant, so we wanted to try that out. Sadly, when we reached the fourth floor where the restaurant is located, there were a lot of people queueing for the same reason. We weighed our options. If we fall in line, we would be waiting for at least an hour. We didn't have the luxury of time as we planned to transfer to BGC (Bonifacio Global City) in the afternoon. We decided not to queue and look for food somewhere else in the mall.

I didn't know the design of IKEA. I was shocked that you can't just go out anywhere. It was so funny that all I wanted was to go out and find something to eat, but we had to pass by the bedsheets and shower curtains. It felt like a kilometer of walking. The check-out is located on the second floor, so we were already exhausted by the time we were out at IKEA.

We decided to eat at Wendy's since we don't have that fast-food restaurant here in Cebu. After eating, we stayed for a while because we were so exhausted. That's why I'm talking about energy management. It was not just me who felt that exhaustion, so I guess it comes with age. 😂

After a much-needed rest, we went outside to have some photos to update the followers that we were in MOA. Zaniel told me that the spot near the restaurants is where most people would have their photo taken and everyone would immediately know you're in MOA. It's especially lively at night, but only a few braved the heat that time when we had our photos. We didn't stay for long though since we still had a lot of places to visit and we didn't have much time.

We decided to go to the boulevard facing Manila Bay. It's an open space where most people would like to stay in the afternoon to watch the famed sunset at Manila Bay. But since we visited at noon, only a few people stayed there. Most stayed at the airconditioned mall to avoid the heat. I honestly don't like malls because their interiors almost looked the same, so I can't take photos. It's more interesting to be outside.

We had difficulty finding the exit towards the boulevard because of the construction and renovations in the mall. When I searched about it, it started in 2021 when they started to open up more spaces to regain the status of the largest mall in the Philippines.

It was a fine day, but we didn't stay outside for long because it was so hot and humid. It's the usual weather here in the Philippines, but Metro Manila is too much for me. It was draining all my energy.

It was a fun day, but it's one I'll probably be skipping for a while.

I guess that's all for this post. See you at the next one!

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines). He's also a trying hard photographer so stay tuned as he shares his photos and his thought process while creating them.}

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