Mall Zombies

Manila Trip Day 3
(June 6, Saturday)

Like any family on an expensive vacation, we are trying to squeeze in as many activities as we can without falling down in exhaustion. Still, we have a lazy and leisurely breakfast at the Sampaloc apartment's penthouse before heading out to Robinson's Place Malate a short drive away.

Atch, "the cooker"

Waiting for "the cooker"

Too impatient to wait

Before we leave, my sister Deedee, a BPO lawyer and staunch Manila denizen, drops by from her midnight shift laden with goodies, and we haul her with us into our uncle's Revo for the day's fun.

As Atch's geographical memory of Manila thoroughfares kicks in, he drives us through practically empty streets free of the horrendous start-of-weekend traffic the night before. The sun actually manages to hail a weak "how do" from her cloudy perch in the sky.

Even the mall is quiet, but the kids, armed with a short night's sleep and the natural hyperactivity of the very young, swarm all over the electronic toys exhibit, while we adults sprawl on lounging chairs at the Wi-Fi area. All too soon I am awoken by mall security

"Ma'am, bawal pong matulog dito" *

without my realizing that I have actually fallen asleep. Ah, the signs of progress...




To get me conscious, Atch drags me to one of the gadget stores where he makes a very brave purchase of a much-coveted iPod, while I try not to clap hands to my mouth in horror at the cost. Still, the extravagance sufficiently rouses me enough to respond much more efficiently to handling frisky kids during a very loud and messy lunch at one of the mall's Filipino-themed restaurants.

My first taste of the Ilocano bagnet: deep fried pork with a spicy vinegar-garlic-pepper dip. There go my cholesterol levels.....

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* "Ma'am, you aren't allowed to sleep here."

The First Time

Manila Trip - Day 1
(June 4, Thursday)

The First Time is always one of the most fascinating things to observe. The eyes light up with wonder, and the mouth drops down to gape. A gulp or two, maybe. And sometimes a moment of introspection (is this for real?)

I am so caught up in this observation that I plumb forget to take pictures of Woog and Yaya Rose as they spider-money up the windows of the taxi, craning their necks to behold the glorious skyscrapers of Makati.


Whoah! Says Woog.

Grabe, taas-taas ba!* Says Yaya Rose.

Atch is up front, chatting with the cab driver. Eli is fussing in my lap and longing for his siesta, wondrous city sights notwithstanding. The slight drizzle fogs up the windows, and the goggle-eyed duo on either side of me climb up the windows even more.

We are headed for Eric's family's condo unit at Prince Towers for a long-needed nap. In the taxi behind us is his wife Nat, plus Inday and Sam, who are trying to restrain an equally nap-deprived Ia from throwing a tantrum.

We reach the condo in due course, despite the heavy traffic, and the kids fling themselves into the beds, Yaya Rose included. It seems riding an elevator to vertigo-inducing heights, and viewing the whole city from the umpteenth floor

Whoah! Says Woog.

Grabe, taas-taas ba!* Says Yaya Rose.

is worthy of a whole body bed slam.

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* Wow! So tall!


Atch is impatient to scratch an itch. The years of his fast-paced Makati life are hopping lively back into his head, and he is pulling me off one of the beds. C'mon, he urges the heavy-lidded Inday and Sam, let's go and take a walk.

Translation: I want to relive my glory days. Now, now!

We leave pregnant Nat in charge of the napping kids and head off to the heart of Manila's business district, Atch marching in the lead of three lethargic and siesta-deprived adults.

A few leg-achey hours later, we all meet up at Glorietta 1 where their Auntie Nat has taken the kids for a romp in the rubber-floored central playground. Woog is hanging upside-down from the monkey bars, in animated "conversation" with another boy, despite the dialect-gap. Eli is running up a slide, the wrong way. And Ia it seems, is teleporting herself everywhere.


We have poured five bottles of overpriced mineral water down their throats to prevent dehydration when the inevitable happens: Woog's head connects with some little girl's front teeth. Both youngsters run off to their respective parents in barely suppressed tears, holding on to their offended body parts.

Fiasco over, we herd the kids to the Landmark basement food court for dinner, where Eli gleefully practices his new-found artistic talent onto the floor with pieces of squashed burger steak and a good deal of gravy.

An Uneventful Sunday

When I regaled Atch about the ongoing brouhaha that was the SM craze, he shuddered and promptly shelved our much-awaited plan to bring the boys on a tour of the place after Mass on Sunday.

"Let's wait two more months," he announced, "maybe by May or June, people will get tired of crowding into SM."

Woog did his pouting stomping routine. He was so looking forward to spending some serious quality time on the kiddie train that plied the commuter route from one end of the mall's north wing to the other. After such a build-up of anticipation, this unexpected downturn of events was too much for his four-year-old self to take.

Eli merely goggled at his brother's spectacle and grinned.

But Mass ended early after a relatively short sermon by a relatively sloshed Father A. Apparently the allure of communion wine was harder to resist this Sunday. So Atch had a change of heart (a very rare occurrence) and hauled us posthaste to the city's destination of choice.

The mall opened at 10 am, and there we parked with the motor idling, the blast of car air-conditioning shielding us from the summer glare, while a humongous slice of the populace accumulated in front of each of the yet-to-be-opened doors of the mall.

"Oh God, Mommy, you were right." Woog exclaimed in horrified outrage, and Atch and I exchanged a horrified-mirthful glance of our own. Should we give in to laughter at the seemingly blase observation from the lips of our little ingenue, or should we chastise him for using such blasphemy on such a holy day?

In the end, laughter won (blast our souls to Sheoul), and to my great surprise, Atch changed his mind twice in one morning, deciding to drive to the opposite end of the city to visit the other mall. I wanted to say: 'Observe my kiddies, and take note, for this is a rare day indeed, one not to be repeated in another millenium'. But Woog had gone back to sulking, and Eli had fallen fast asleep in the backpack. Oh well.

As soon as we got out at the nearly deserted grounds of SM's rival, we made a quick stop for some groceries, then brought the kids to the resident Toys 'R' Us. Woog perked up immediately and Eli awoke from his stupor to behold the colorfully furry world of plushies.

I took out my camera phone and squeezed in a couple of shots



before store security came and warned me that it was prohibited to take pictures of the merchandise.

Eh? What merchandise? I was preserving my kids faces for posterity. What did he think we were? Secret agents from the rival store, out to take inventory their stock? But the security guy shook his head adamantly: cease and desist. Fine. Whatever does you. I stuck my tongue out at his retreating back and I felt much much better.

Woog spent some time at the Megablocks station, but as soon as Eli started yawning again, we headed for home.

And such was our uneventful Sunday.

Woog eventually did get to ride the SM train, at near closing time when the crowds were thin and the train had ceased the day's run. He was beyond ecstatic. And it humbled us to never discount the simple pleasure that kids derive from such pittances. It makes their memories of childhood all the more sweet.


Would that we could have given him more.