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Seems fitting that I came across this article just as I’m getting ready to leave for the Philippines on Sunday.
The Ad Age article describes how the Philippines has just built the world’s 3rd largest mall and also houses 4 of the top 12 biggest malls in the world.
Why does this matter? With the world going through a recession, it seems as though there might be something good happening in this tropical country… Read the rest below.
I definitely had my fair share of mall time the last time I went there. We spent one day in Manila visiting over 4 or 5 malls, each seeming to be bigger than the last – one even had an Olympic sized skating rink. I’m convinced everyone goes to the mall to escape the everday heat and humidity; I know I would if I lived there!
The Philippines: ‘One Big Mall’
The nation’s retail scene is expanding, even as tough times hit Asia
Published: December 18, 2008
Roger Pe
When SM City North Edsa’s expanded annex merged with the existing one, the world’s third biggest mall was born. The gates of the 425,000- square-meter behemoth officially opened last Friday, December 12, thus becoming the 4th Philippine mall in the World’s Top 12 list. Numbers 4, 7 and 11th are also located in the Philippines.
So what’s the big deal? A vote of confidence on the country’s economic prospects amidst continuing threats of global recession that aren’t going away; adding on to the tourist appeal; an eye-opener to those who have vague knowledge about the country’s countless investment possibilities and vibrant retail industry.
The event was carried globally by different news agencies on the same breath that Thailand and India were licking their wounds caused by recent tragedies.
Last weekend, horrendous bumper-to-bumper traffic scenes happened simultaneously around metro-Manila malls. Inside, people pushed and shoved, filling every nook and cranny as if there were no tomorrow. If these are indications that Manila still needs another mall of this humongous kind, it can perhaps build the planet’s biggest single-roof mall to pack all those mall rats in.
The world’s best-known brands are here. World-quality local produce comes in abundant fashion. “Manila, or the Philippines, for that matter, is just one big mall,” says a many-time European visitor who has several stakes in the mall business in the country. “From high-end to middle affluent to mass market, it’s just simply dizzying!” she said.
The Philippines has at least $36 billion in foreign exchange reserves, according to the Central Bank of the Philippines. This is almost four times higher than the level the country had when it faced the Asian financial crisis a decade ago. Proof of its strong fundamentals and ability to parry advances of recession.
Not a bad story to be telling in bad economic times.
It’s a new year and I decided to make good on a promise to my parents to help them out and finally build a website for their reception hall / resort in the Philippines. I also think I took it a little too far and got ultra-geeky by setting up a Google Adwords and Yahoo search campaign, but that’s another story…The site is simple for now, but I’ll be slowly making improvements. For certain, it’ll definitely get better after May when I’m able to go back there to take more (and better) pictures. Right now, I’m quite happy with the google map widget on the Contact page. I wasn’t able to get down to the street level, but I got down to the city and that’s good enough for me. Outside of Manila, it’s all simple 2 lane roads anyway – hard to get lost.In case you don’t want to click on any hyperlinks, here’s the url: www.urdanetagardenresort.com
They’ve already shown that they can dance and now Filipinos are showing they can sing too.
Apparently, Journey parted ways with their lead singer Jeff Soto and when it was time to find a new lead singer, where did they look but to the Philippines. Journey scoured YouTube and found this guy, Arnel Pineda. Hailing from Quezon City, he’s been signing Journey songs with his band The Zoo for years and now he’s the lead singer of Journey. Crazy! He’s even got his own Wikipedia page – go Filipinos!
I think it’s always interesting when you learn about how colonized people are still able to hold onto their beliefs even when they’re oppressed. Like the slaves in Brazil who hid their fighting techniques in their dance-like capoeira movements, Filipinos also had secret ways of defying their oppressors. One of the more beautiful ways was through kundiman – a genre of traditional love songs. While the Spanish thought they were listening to a man pine for a beautiful woman, what they didn’t realize was that the man was really signing about his love for his country and his desire for freedom. Hearing this famous kundiman again, Dahil Sa ‘Yo, I was reminded of my grandpa – playing his harmonica and singing this song to himself. The song is so loved even Nat King Cole did a rendition.
The day before we left, we knew we had to get one more day of beach action in! My parents wanted to go to this beach that was 8 hours away because it was known for its white sand, but Jeff and I were having none of that, especially since we had to get up super early the next day to get to Manila for our 9am flight. We all agreed to instead go to Hundred Islands Park where there are literally 100 islands. Again, my cousin said it was only an hour and a half away and we all know what that means…
About 3 or 4 hours later, we arrived in Hundred Islands. At least the drive there was scenic; no matter what all the negative things there are about the Philippines – poverty, crime, litter, there’s no denying that the countryside is absolutely beautiful.
When we got there, the rains had already started and my dad said we’d probably just eat at a restaurant and head back home. If you know me, you’ll know that I’m always super optimistic so I was already sure that it would be nice and sunny as soon as we were done eating and luckily I wasn’t wrong!
We ended up eating at a restaurant called Maxine’s where the tables jut out into the water and look out at the Hundred Islands. From these pictures, you’d never even know it was just raining really hard minutes ago.
All the seafood was really fresh and we got to pick out what crabs we got to eat.
After you eat, you can get right on a boat to take you to the islands. My little cousin, Ian, made a friend and waited patiently for the boat to arrive. On a side note, as soon as he met me Ian was calling me Ate Joy (ate literally meaning “older sister”, a term of respect used by the young for older people) and we told him to call Jeff kuya (big brother) Jeff. Instead he would always call him Manong (“respected elder”, used for someone way older, probably over 50) Jeff. We didn’t get why he wouldn’t use kuya and finally decided that maybe Jeff’s beard was throwing him off.
Our boat arrives:
See! I knew the rain would stop.
We stopped and visited 2 islands. This first one is called Governor’s Island.
You can’t tell here, but I had to climb up a trail in what seemed like a rain forest to get to the top of a hill to see this view. The humidity that day was so heavy, sweat was just pouring down my head. I’m surprised little Ian was able to make it.
This particular island also had a cave. I wasn’t so brave and didn’t go in.
We also rode by an island that had the Big Brother Philippines house. That show is huge in the Philippines, not really sure why. I failed to take a picture of that island. I can’t remember the name of this next island, but this is the one we went swimming in. It turns out the beach is full of coral and I kept getting scratched. There were also a bunch of jellyfish that luckily didn’t have any stinging tentacles.
That was the way to the bathroom.
We left just in time to escape the rain! We then woke up around 3am to make the drive to Manila.
In the end, we were so sad to leave, but also realized how much we missed our apartment in Brooklyn. While we will miss the people and the places in the Philippines, it’s not so sad because with my parents’ resort starting up, we know that we will be visiting much more often.
As a sign of how generous and friendly the Philippines is, it was very fitting that during our drive to the airport, we were met with sign after sign of towns saying “Salamat Po” or thank you very much. We cannot wait to go back!
Missed a few parts? See the rest here:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
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