Street but Sweet

THOUGHTS, TALES, AND TRIVIAL THINGS

Monday, May 22, 2006

Got home from work past 3am Saturday, then had to get up early (early means it was still morning!) to get ready for a couple of events that day. At 11am, we headed to Mall of Asia in Manila for the soft opening. I couldn't understand why people were so rude, practically pushing us off of the red carpet. Then we heard, "Clear the area! The President's here!" So Madam President graced the event (no speeches, thank goodness), along with some artistas and a bunch of people looking all formal in their barongs and debut-worthy outfits. And here I was in faded jeans and a cute new top. Haha.

Since we couldn't stay for the 2pm shopping preview, our beloved SM contact, AC, gave us a short tour: Kultura Filipino, Our Home, Toy Kingdom (pictures with mascots to follow--how very turista!), and--everyone's favorite--SM department store. Jill was snap-snap-snapping away at everything; apparently it was for the femalenetwork forum, where all these people wanted to know what the mall looked like.

The atmosphere was pretty festive, what with a bunch of establishments holding their own store blessings. Some vital stats: The mall is supposedly as big as 40 football fields and has about 700 stores. It's massive, and even if there are only two floors, a day wouldn't be enough to go around the whole place. The walkways in the middle are just expansive. Ran into a friend who said, "We tried going around, but one-fourth of the way pa lang, we were tired na."

We wolfed down some bland carbonara and some yummy lasagna, and I got a sampling of what the chocolate fountain had to offer before we had to hightail our way outta there. Jill managed to take a few shots of the PBA players who had just arrived and of former Manila mayor Lim (she missed Lucy Torres and her daughter).

Got stuck in traffic, having taken the long route to ATC (sigh. If you knew the driver, you would understand!). We arrived just in time for Issa to catch her intro. It was an exhibit of lanai concepts done by four young designers, two from the mag, and two whom we've worked with. Food provided by Good Earth. Yum!

Later, I checked out a room I'm supposed to make over for Seventeen (eep!) before heading home to rest. H picked me up past midnight to go to Guilly's Island, where our lawyer-friends were celebrating their passing the bar. "You look like a celebrity!" he said (something he's been saying since that TV thing!), but later, his friend looked at my folded-up jeans and said, "Pare, binabaha ata sa kanila." Harhar. Aside from the new lawyers, we had another reason to celebrate that night: Sheila's pregnant!

Spent the rest of the weekend getting way too much sleep and eating much more than I was supposed to. Heard that traffic was horrendous going to Mall of Asia yesterday and that parking was packed, and here we were wondering who would actually travel all the way there for a mall. I think I'll let the crowds get over their excitement first before I venture to go back.

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