The moment you step into the lobby, you half expect to hear the roar of airplanes taking off or landing, and a disembodied voice from the public address system to blare out, “Welcome to the City of Marikina! Outside it’s 28 degrees Celsius, but here inside SM Marikina we sell shoes!” Yes folks, the latest SM looks like an airport.
Or rather, it’s an airport on stilts. The mall is located just beside the temperamental Marikina River, which always overflows during typhoon season. So the parking lot is the first to go, if the waters rise beyond the banks. Still, it will take an extra heavy downpour (around a whole day’s worth) for the waters to reach the lowest level of the basement parking.
Beyond you can see the lower portion of the Marcos Highway bridge.The mall looks big on the outside, but it actually is surprisingly small—maybe just as big as Robinson’s Metro East (located in Cainta, just a few minutes away). SM supermarket and its department store occupy most of the three floors; that’s a good 65-70% of the mall. On the fourth and highest level are the cinemas and a small food court, as well as an entertainment area. And there’s no Starbucks in sight! (But a Figaro is set to open soon.)
Well, now you know where I’ll be hanging out for a couple of weeks. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve a plane to catch.
11 comments:
mala HK airport hehehehe
Actually, Starbuck's is set to open beside Bread Talk. Was in the mall today and saw their signage up already.
yep, mas maganda pa yata ang interiors ng SM compared to the new NAIA na super overpriced pero pag tiningnan mo walang ka kwenta kwenta ang architecture.
mukhang you're doing a campaign for DM! :)
@LOUDCLOUD: Uhm, "DM"? =) Wala namang campaign, hahaha!
SM! sorry hahahaha
@LOUDCLOUD: Hehehe, chika lang. =)
OMG I swear its the oversized windows. Like how huge is that lobby? And that tree is quite huge for a freaking mall.
@ANONYMOUS: Ah, no wonder! When I took that pic, there was a temporary stage set-up for the "Asero" mall tour, and it blocked the Starbucks signage.
@POYT: Korak! The view outside those huge windows is mostly the river and the buildings of Eastwood.
The trees inside aren't that huge, they don't go higher than the first floor level. For now, hahaha. Teka, matingnan nga next time kung tunay ba silang puno o peke lang, hahaha.
i have been there a couple of times, my partner just lives in san roque so it is quite near. i must say it is an impressive structure. at least now tehre is an alternative to sta lucia, robinsons and the mall beside the river.
From the outside it looks like such a big mall (and true, on stilts). On my way to Antipolo the other month I was intrigued by this SM.
Kaso balita ko, crowded daw lagi. (What's new with that. Hehe.)
At least nag-iiba na ang itsura ng mga SM Mall di tulad nung high school pa lang ako (1999ish) pare-pareho ang look. (My mall was SM Bacoor).
@GEORGE: It was crowded on its first week upon opening. But I think the crowd now has stabilized. We were there lunch time on a Saturday; there was lots of parking, and the crowd wasn't as huge as I feared.
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