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twatkcox · 2 months

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[The Keihancarl Diaries: February 10, 2024]

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Gong Xi Fa Cai! It’s me, Keihancarl, and today I’m going on yet another mall-hopping trip. To be honest, I’m both excited and nervous at the same time.

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For my second mall-hopping trip this year, I’m heading to Makati (Ayala Center) and Manila (Binondo), with a last-minute visit to Cubao (Araneta City). I’ve got lots to do, but my main goal is to visit the newly-opened One Ayala Mall (plus Gateway 2), and later, witness the scenes along Ongpin and the dragon dance. Hey, it’s the Year Of The Dragon, right?

I wear mostly black clothing, and I feel like wearing the Naruto shirt I bought at Uniqlo during my previous mall-hopping trip to the North. Actually, most of my outfit consists of the stuff I bought from Uniqlo in the past few months, plus some awesome accessories I bought online.

I left home at exactly 10:00 AM, and managed to get to MRT North Avenue a quarter past 11:00. Traffic is incredibly light along the way. It didn't take me long to get on the train as well.

Arriving at MRT Ayala Station, I noticed a Valentine’s Day set up right in front of the turnstiles. Once I got off the paid area, I loaded up my Beep card first since I'd be taking the LRT-1 going to Carriedo later, as well as the LRT-2 on the way back. After loading my card, I visited One Ayala Mall first.

The mall had a direct connection to the MRT, as well as a passenger terminal on the ground floor. There’s a supermarket and some food stalls at the basement level.

I visited a couple of bookstores, Fully Booked (which I almost missed due to its somewhat hidden location) and Biblio (relocated from Ayala Malls Cloverleaf). The latter had an impressive selection of books, including vintage ones.

Of course, the vintage ones are more pricey, but they’re more aesthetic-looking.

I also checked the MN+LA branch right beside it but couldn't find the drape jacket (the kimono-style jacket) like the one I saw at the SM North EDSA branch.

There's a dragon dance inside the mall, visiting every shop on each floor.

The mall centerpiece, an art installation called “The Course Of The Sun”, looks magnificent. There’s an awesome explanation about it in the railing.

The uppermost level (probably the mall's fifth floor) has not opened yet. Could that be the cinema area?

I then head to my next stop, SM Makati, via the bridgeway from One Ayala. I only checked Uniqlo, Crate And Barrel, and a couple of shops at the Cyberzone.

The entrance to Cyberzone feels kind of similar to the ones at The Block (SM North EDSA) bridgeway going to the City Center, but the LED screen is on the floor instead of the ceiling.

Next stop, Glorietta. I checked a few shops inside the mall, as well as the event at the Activity Center.

I decided to have lunch at MOS Burger. I ordered a Beef Yakiniku Rice Burger and a regular Salted Caramel Sumiyaki (iced). The yakiniku rice burger is great. It’s kind of weird that they also provided utensils considering that the rice burger is meant to be eaten like an actual burger, but I suppose not all people can eat it like that.

There's a standee featuring One Piece characters (the straw hat crew) right by the entrance. They also have some merch inside.

I then checked the Top Of The Glo (rooftop park), with K-Town on the left, and Japan Town on the right. I visited the latter first.

There were Japanese and Korean restaurants in the area. The Japan Town area had some (artificial) sakura (cherry blossom) trees, I think, along with the white lanterns. I wonder how it looked at night, I'll probably need to check it out on my next visit.

I then decided to head to Glorietta 5 and check out Uniqlo's flagship store. There's Uniqlo Cafe on the second level and an area where you can make your customized shirts.

I then proceed to my next stop, Greenbelt. I visited a few shops, including Muji and Fully Booked.

I managed to check Greenbelt 1 before they closed that area down for redevelopment. Unfortunately, Booksale had vacated their space. And so are a handful of shops, including National Book Store (they already closed that branch a long time ago). Most of the shops and restaurants are still open, but they’re expected to move out within a couple of months due to the redevelopment of the area (along with Greenbelt 2). Guess this will be the last time I get to see GB1 in its original form and design.

I stopped by Waltermart Makati on the way to the LRT-1 Libertad station. I only checked the National Book Store branch there.

I took the LRT-1 to Carriedo Station (from Libertad Station) and decided to walk from there to my next stop, Lucky Chinatown Mall.

Getting off the LRT station, I noticed that BPI had already moved out of the Art Deco Don Roman Santos building, hence the lack of signage. Moving on, I took a moment to check some interesting scenes near Ongpin.

Going there, I also noticed some dragon lamp posts along the way, and they looked awesome.

There were a lot of people in the area where a parade was being held. There were some giveaways too, from candies to red envelopes (containing money), bottled water to tikoy (rice cake).

I also get to see Tugue Zombie in one of the floats, and later, Samantha Bernardo in the Mestiza Beauty Soap float.

I was quite exhausted from dehydration and the crowd so I decided to take an alternate route leading to Soler. I reached the mall a few minutes later.

There's a dragon centerpiece at the atrium. And a luxury car (not pictured, unfortunately).

At the annex, I passed by Chapters And Pages. Like the other bookstores I visited earlier, I didn't find anything interesting.

I head to 999 Mall to have an early dinner at Chowking (food court). I was about to order my meal when the sound of the drums and the gong blared from the dragon and lion dance, making it harder for the cashier to understand what I was saying. It took me about 5 minutes before I could finally start choosing my order. I even had to repeat my order to make sure she got it right. I ate my food as soon as I got my order, not wanting to waste any more time.

I also passed by the stall where I used to buy my anime shirts, but it appears that they were closed for the Chinese New Year. I could hardly see any anime shirts on that stall, though, at least the ones that I used to buy.

Come to think of it, 999 Mall isn’t as crowded as before. It was the same situation during my last visit to the mall last year. I’m pretty sure it was the same thing with 168 Mall, but I could be wrong since I didn’t actually visit that mall during this trip. I didn’t bother to check some of the fashion stalls, as I don’t feel like shopping at the moment.

I went back to Lucky Chinatown Mall to take more selfies. The one by the bridgeway to the main mall was crowded with people who were also taking selfies. I tried taking a few selfies using my selfie stick, but it didn't turn out well. I simply gave up and went to the cinema area, but no luck taking selfies there either. The Prosperity Wing could be my last chance, and I somehow came up with a bunch of good selfies plus a 360 view of the area.

I passed by Metro Supermarket to buy a bottle of Pocari Sweat. The supermarket’s space was reduced, with the (former) second level now being occupied by Planet Sports and Abenson.

And it's time to go home. I decided to take the LRT-2 to Araneta Center-Cubao since I hadn't ridden that train for a very long time (still amused at the condom ads, though). Also, I feel like checking the Gateway Mall 2, which is actually a brand new extension to the original Gateway Mall. The extension also had access to the Araneta Coliseum as well.

While there, I passed by the Fully Booked branch and bought the book "No Longer Human" by Osamu Dazai–both the novel and the manga, which were both published by Tuttle. I’ve been eyeing these books since the MIBF 2023, those could’ve been awesome souvenirs from the event. Anyway, the cashier suggested the one with the other cover from a different publisher (the one with the pink cover), but upon checking the price, I just decided on the one I had in hand instead.

I checked some parts of Gateway Mall 2 for a while and later headed to the terminal and took the minibus to SM Fairview. Traffic was light along the way, not to mention that it was Chinese New Year. The trip only took less than an hour, just like earlier. I got home at exactly 10:00 PM.

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This is the first time I didn't encounter such an inconvenience on a mall-hopping trip. I managed to enjoy every single place I visited throughout the day, especially in Binondo. Despite getting only four hours of sleep last night, I somehow managed to make it through the entire day. It was pretty exhausting, but I really enjoyed it. And I get to ride all three rail lines on the same day for the first time since the pandemic. Not to mention that I get to visit two new malls, one of them is actually the extension of the original mall.

So, where to next? As always, I’m living in an uncertain time so there’s no telling when will the next mall-hopping trip happen. Hopefully, by April or May, depending on the situation. Will it be BGC next? Who knows?

Well then, time to conclude this one. Again, love, peace, and prosperity for the Year Of The Dragon! Xià cì jiàn! Until next time!

Most of the pics are from my Instagram account, @kcox_105. The selfie pics are exclusively uploaded to my private Instagram account, @kcox105.

#going places #mall-hopping #Chinese New Year #Ayala Center #Binondo #Araneta City #MRT-3 #LRT-1 #LRT-2 #city travel

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