A ‘forum of friendship’

It is hardly ever that one finds a brooding face in a mall. Almost always people, young and old, are smiling with the look of anticipation on their faces. Cardinal Rosales could not have been more accurate when he referred to the SM Mall of Asia (and other such malls) as a "Forum of Friendship." True enough, it is often in a mall that bonding happens, among family and friends. Some even find new acquaintances.

It rose slowly, the massive and sprawling 400,000 square meter SM Mall of Asia, that sits on a 19-hectare property in the reclaimed area by the bay. People anxiously waited for its opening and when it did a fortnight ago, nobody was disappointed. Shoppers found another haven where everything can be found: the department store, the individual boutiques, bread shops, dining outlets, a skating rink, an entertainment area where an awesome screen is supposed to be installed. Most of all there’s the Hypermart, which is always our favorite stop.

From one end to the other, we scoured the Mall and after nearly two hours of walking the place, we needed to satiate our hunger pangs and looked for a place to have a light lunch, considering we have been hankering for a good sandwich for days. Some of the outlets were not ready to serve, but we noticed Dots and More, done in a cool combination of orange and green, located very near the entrance to the Hypermart and therefore convenient. Immediately we were attracted to go in. The lady of the chain, the gracious Vends Chua, was silently seated at the rear. She struck up a conversation with us, and we found we had a lot in common, particularly food-wise. The Dots are the donuts, classic and gourmet, which start from P16 each. There are more than a dozen variants including Banana Split, dipped in caramel glaze and topped with light custard cream, banana chips and small vanilla stick. The More consists of sandwiches (they make their own light buns), breakfast combo, pasta, cakes, coffee and other beverages. It’s a very pleasant place to while away time, enjoy a donut, sip a cup of coffee and bond.

Now, the Hypermart. It is huge and has practically everything that any SM Hypermart has. There are two entrances and exits. The one facing the South brings shoppers directly to the supermarket section while the one along the main road brings one through the dry goods section. We headed directly to the food section. At the neatly bordered fruit and vegetable section, the Dizon Farms staff were most accommodating. Mangoes were at a low of P48 a kilo, honey dew at P55 , pomelo at P140 and saba for P26 a kilo. Dizon now sells kangkong, Baguio beans. Must buys are the giant salad tomatoes at P130 a kilo.

Among the seafood on sale, we could not resist the truly pink salmon heads which we always cook into savory sinigang with jumbo prawns, so reasonably tagged at P470 a kilo. There are live seafood tanks where shells called spider (the first time we encounter them) sell for P280 a kilo. The young attendant told us this could be steamed, but we need more encouragement than that. Anyway, sea bass and pampano cost P550 a kilo, tilapia P90.

From Choice Cuts we got some Farm Fresh products–country-style spare ribs for grilling at P155 a kilo, lechon kawali liempo at P160 and beef tenderloin at P525.

Other outlets you can check out are Bread Talk on the second floor, left of the escalator from the main entrance, and Kopi Roti on the ground level. The special offering at the latter are Coffee Buns which have their origin in Singapore. The chain, in fact, is based in the Lion City. The buns are small brown mounds made of soft bread covered with a layer of coffee-flavored dough. They also have toasted bread with kaya sauce, made of coco-jam.

After shopping, either at the Hypermart, the department store and/or the many shops that dot the mall, families and friends can rest their tired feet and have a meal at any of the street dining outlets called collectively Taste Asia. The Thai outlet has the most flavorful, if spicy, Tom Yang soup (the prawns are medium sized). The Indian tandoori chicken and the red curry chicken are definitely recommended, and the pork barbeque sticks are seasoned well. Prices start from P35 per serving and go up to about P200.

SM Mall of Asia can’t be done, so to speak, in a day. Return visits are predicted and in each time, discoveries will surely be made.

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