#valenzuela

I feel like wearing something more comfortable, but still in line with my typical layered outfits. And that’s how I decided on my olive yellow shirt and black baseball shirt combo, the one I’ve worn on the third day of POF 2023: Shizen.

I really wanted to leave the house as early as possible, and I don’t want the heavy traffic along the way to ruin my mood. Well, I ended up leaving the house a little later than usual, and I have to deal with heavy traffic towards my first destination.

I decided to take an alternate route, this time, passing through General Luis St. and MacArthur Highway, instead of Quirino Highway and Mindanao Avenue. It took me two hours to reach my first stop, SM City Valenzuela.

A lot has changed since my last visit to the mall, almost 8 years ago. The mall itself had a makeover, the wavy hallway was converted into a straight one. The former bowling center became the Wellness Zone. Cyberzone opened at the third level, with the cinemas at the end of the hall. There was a tenant reshuffling, resulting in some shops transferring to other areas or floors.

The SM Store on the second floor, opened in 2018, is quite smaller in terms of space, but still managed to fit almost everything in there. I also checked National Book Store and I saw an interesting comic, though I bought it at another branch in SM City Grand Central, which was my next stop.

I reached the mall around 2:00 in the afternoon, and I couldn’t wait to check the entire mall area. The mall appeared to be quite massive though some areas are occupied by major anchors. Anyway, I visited both bookstores in the area, Fully Booked and National Book Store (where I bought the comic), as well as the Surplus shop. National Book Store’s space was incredibly small with fewer books and more office, school, and art supplies. I might be wrong about that, though, as it occupies around 4 tenant spaces (the enclosed space currently serves as the bookstore’s store room).

The fifth level was well adorned with fake greenery, making it look like a faux garden area. The wooden elements throughout the mall gives it an even more premier feel, given the mix of tenants there.

One can see the view of the Caloocan City skyline, along with LRT Monumento station. Too bad, there’s no overpass going to the other side of the station, but they’re probably working on it.

I then proceed to my next stop, SM City San Lazaro (making it the third SM mall visited in a row). As always, face masks are required to board the LRT and MRT trains, with guards reminding the passengers to wear one before entering the station. Reaching the platform, I decided to buy a stored value ticket, and add a little more load to it. I took the LRT to Tayuman station.

Reaching my next stop, I can see that SM City San Lazaro’s signage was updated, though it retained its green façade. I went inside the mall and checked a few shops, as well as taking a late lunch at Tokyo Tokyo, which is a gyoza donburi bowl. I then checked the rest of the mall afterward.

Next stop, the Binondo malls (999 Mall, 168 Mall, and Lucky Chinatown Mall). As soon as I got there, I immediately head to the stall where I previously bought all of my Attack On Titan and Tokyo Ghoul shirts. I managed to buy not one, but two shirts: a black Jujutsu Kaisen shirt (featuring Yuji Itadori) and a beige Naruto shirt (featuring the main trio Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura). After that, I checked a few more stalls and then moved on to the nearby 168 Mall.

At 168 Mall, I decided to check the stall where I bought my anime posters. It looks like a lot of K-pop merch have dominated the stall, with only a handful of anime merch (mostly posters) on display. At this point, I decided that I’ve already bought enough stuff (and spent a lot of money on the items I’ve bought so far) so I head to Lucky Chinatown Mall.

Inside, the LCM West Wing (Cityplace Square), a milk tea shop, a yogurt shop, and a bakery opened at the ground floor. There’s a display at the West Wing’s atrium. At the bridgeway to the main mall (North Wing), there were colorful lanterns with drawings and messages in them. I decided to take a break at the cinema level, and sat down on one of the armchairs, which replaced the upholstered ones (like the ones on my previous visits).

There was the Summer Cravings Market at the Prosperity Wing, with food stalls set up along the walkway.

It was starting to get dark as I made my way to my next stop, SM City Manila. I took an e-trike to the renovated underpass near the Manila City Hall.

Along the way, I saw the newly opened bridge on the eastern side of Jones Bridge (west if coming from Lawton) and the recently fire gutted Manila Central Post Office building. I wasn’t able to take photos, unfortunately, as I was seated next to the driver.

The Lagusnilad underpass was closed for repair so there’s a slight traffic in the area. It looks like the top dome and the clock of the Manila City Hall was painted in gold.

The pedestrian underpass had a makeover, as there are historical-themed murals on it. The Books From The Underground had already reopened as well. Also I noticed the Baybayin writing on the directional signage, which was really nice. I then proceeded to SM City Manila.

Arriving at my next stop, I only checked the book shops inside the mall. It looks like there were some faux greenery on the stairs. Uniqlo has opened at the former NBS space, and the bookstore transferred on the lower ground floor, at the former Surplus’ space (the Surplus store had since moved to the upper floor, not sure if its the second or third floor).

It was already dark when I decided to board the LRT to UN Avenue Station. Getting off, I took some pictures of the controversial Torre De Manila (with the lights on) and checked Times Square’s retail area. Booksale had already closed, replaced by a printing shop (I think).

I decided to check Rizal Park first, stopping for a moment to take photos of the dancing fountain, and head towards Roxas Boulevard.

Of course, I decided to take photos of the Rizal monument, and I manage to take at least one photo where the monument itself covered the hideous residential tower behind it. I’ve already done this once, about eight years ago, using my very first smartphone.

Walking towards the Baywalk, I managed to take a glimpse of the area, and later, the Dolomite beach, which is only seen from the footbridge, as it is already closed at the moment.

I took some photos of the Dolomite beach and then proceed to my final stop, Robinsons Place Manila.

I didn’t check any of the shops at the mall, though I noticed some improvements. The escalator area at the former fountain is closed for renovations, and in some parts, the tiles have been replaced with new ones. I decided to have a fried mandu meal at Bonchon Chicken before heading home.

I immediately took the UV Express to SM Fairview, and the traffic situation is light in most parts of Taft Avenue, España Boulevard, Quezon Avenue, and Commonwealth Avenue. Of course, I have to deal with traffic at North Fairview and Regalado Avenue (near SM Fairview). And that’s how my day went.

So far, it’s been quite an experience, having visited four SM malls in one day (including SM City Grand Central), and 8 malls total. I manage to squeeze all of the destinations in a twelve-hour trip, though I lost more than a hour getting stuck in traffic. Will I experience the same thing if I took the usual route? Anyway, at least everything went well, thanks to my lucky charm.

I suppose this concludes the #FourWeekendPlan, as I managed to proceed with the last minute plans for a mall-hopping trip. Well then, I should plan my next mall-hopping trip, preferably somewhere that’s reachable by MRT Line 3.

That’s all for now. Keihancarl out.