Strolling Around SM Mall of Asia, Seaside Blvd., Pasay City this Holiday Season 2022!

Shopping malls are one of the primary reasons why it’s more fun in the Philippines come Christmastime. And there’s one that’s not just a mall but a tourist destination favored by many especially our balikbayans. This is also our favorite place to spend the New Year with the GMA-7 network’s countdown to New Year culminated by the country’s grandest fireworks display off Manila Bay & the yearly World PyroMusical contests come February – until the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The SM Mall of Asia was marketed to be the world’s biggest upon completion in mid-2000s. When its your 1st time visiting Manila, who would not aspire checking on this enchanting mall by scenic Manila Bay & its iconic sunset, one of the world’s best. When we were visiting Brunei back in 2014, our tour guide, an enthusiastic young Bruneian girl shared us her dreams of visiting the Philippines one day just to see this much-ballyhooed Mall of Asia as she showed us the tiny state’s lone big mall which was more of a tiangge in Manila.

Rewinding “Tatang” Henry Sy, Sr.’s ambitious project in the early 90s against all odds (with many skeptics & environmentalists opposing the project), the great visionary & his SM Investments Corporation joined a consortium to reclaim 100 hectares of land in Manila Bay area in Pasay City. He had in mind building one of the largest malls in Asia that’s more than just a shopping complex but a tourist spot that you could showcase to the whole world. He wanted it to be a premiere integrated leisure destination in Asia Pacific.

Thus, all aspects of planning & development were carefully crafted & monitored from the design (like a ship to signify its affinity to a body of water – the Manila Bay) to amenities, e.g. 1st Olympic-sized skating rink & 1st IMAX theater, even details as wall color. In May 2006, Mr. Sy’s vision turned to reality with the grand opening of the SM Mall of Asia. Soon after, the MOA Arena, SMX Convention Center, MOA Seaside Boulevard & the SM Bay Amusement Park were built to integrate with the MOA.

Overall, that’s 67 hectares of land area developed by SM Prime Holdings with 4 hectares of commercial floor space that attracts daily average foot traffic of 200,000 people; 8,000 parking slots with 100 slots for tourist buses; almost 1 kilometer in length & a perimeter of almost 2 kilometers; approximately 2 million bags of cement used to build it & 44,000 gallons of paint consumed with 1.9 million floor tiles installed.

Mall culture in Asia is about business, that’s why many of the biggest malls are found in this continent. SM MOA is currently the 11th largest mall in the world topped by the Iran Mall (not Dubai Mall). When it opened in 2006, it was the country’s biggest mall but now relegated to 4th after redevelopment of the SM City North EDSA in 2008, expansion of SM Megamall in 2011 & opening of SM Seaside City Cebu in 2015.

Highlight of the complex is the iconic globe called Globamaze that has come to symbolize the mall & forever change the landscape of outdoor media & entertainment. Located at the rotunda of EDSA, the steel framed globe welcomes customers & is one of the most spectacular LED display in the region. In January 2020, Globamaze was lighted purple & gold with No. 24 on it as a tribute to late basketball icon Kobe Bryant who died in a chopper crash along with his daughter in California.

When the Taal volcano erupted in January 2020, a false claim circulated in social media that the SM Mall of Asia could collapse because the foundation broke down causing water from Manila Bay to seep through it. This claim has recirculated in November 2020 & has since been debunked twice by authorities. SM MOA says their foundation is built on concrete piles that reached the bedrock & can withstand extreme situations caused by natural hazards.

Protecting the complex are a 3-kilometer seawall built to stand against liquefaction, a meter-high inverted wave return to serve as defense against high waves & a drainage channel to prevent floods during storm surges. So whether you are watching a UAAP basketball game at the MOA Arena, attending a business or travel expo at the SMX Convention Center, on top of the MOA Eye, or watching Hollywood movies at the IMAX theater or just dining in – just sit back, relax & enjoy.