It’s hard to believe that a very famous athlete came to the
Philippines offering massive exposure and a major distraction to the social
turmoil happening to our country and in the process, building a mall in his
honor. Who knew that he had such a huge influence?
I’m not talking about Manny Pacquiao (although “PacMall” does have a certain ring to it) or Michael
Jordan (“JordanMall”, “Jumpman Mall”?)
but 3-Time World Heavyweight champion and International Boxing Hall of Fame
Muhammad “The Greatest” Ali. For
those who don’t know the boxing legend, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) is an American professional
boxer, philanthropist and a social activist (his most famous was his opposition to the Vietnam War). He fought
with boxing legends George Foreman, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Joe
Frazier.
His heated bouts to greatness would take him to one of his
greatest fights ever, his second rematch with the late “Smokin’ Joe” Joe Frazier that took place in Araneta Coliseum in the
Philippines in October 1, 1975, thanks to the offering of former President
Ferdinand Marcos. Dubbed “Thrilla in
Manila”, the fight was well-received by many, citing as one of the greatest
fights in the 20th century. Heck, the “Thrilla In Manila” title was famous in pop culture itself that
Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams wore a t-shirt with the title on her group’s
concert. Ludacris mentioned the title on his rap on singer John Legend’s recent
music video “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)”
and just recently, comic book scribe Mark
Millar’s visit to the Philippines was dubbed “Milla in Manila”, an obvious nod to the “Thrilla…” title.
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| old look of the mall |
After the fight a mall was built in his honor of his victory
against Frazier. Named “Ali Mall”, it is located in Cubao, near the place where
the fight took place, has 4-floors and has a 62,000 sqm area. It was one of the
first malls in the country. Today there are several malls built in every
available place, from the famous SM Malls to the obscure Isetann Mall,
one would think if Ali Mall can still go toe-to-toe with other malls.
This is what I tried to find out recently. Acting on impulse
and to a recent recollection of the mall, I sought to find out if Ali Mall
lived up to its namesake. And also to
try something new besides going to Trinoma or SM North Edsa. With pictures, of course. (Click on any picture to enlarge.)
I have visited Ali Mall 3-4 years ago with my ex, since she
lives close to the area. It was pretty beat-up and not a lot of stores are
worth visiting. Most of them offer surplus products and second-hand items. Ii
remember only looking at the whole mall itself and getting a massage from a
blind masseuse (and not getting my
money’s worth since he looked tired from the numerous customers and just used
his elbow the whole time) And there are numerous malls in the area that
offer more options for your shopping needs, like an SM outlet store, Farmer’s
Plaza and Gateway Mall. So it appears that Ali Mall has already met its due.
Fast forward to today and I re-visited the mall with my
current girlfriend. I was delighted that she accompanied me despite her usual
hissy fits and objections. But I guess she just wants to go on a date since it
has been a while. And also, to go window-shopping.
We met on MRT Cubao station and proceeded to walk to Ali
Mall. We almost got lost since we don’t know much of the place. Luckily my
girlfriend has a slight memory of the landmarks leading to the mall so we were
able to find it. I never realize until now that Ali Mall is pretty far from the
common transportation, of which is the MRT. When you already get there you might
have already visited the other malls and gotten what you want, so you won’t
bother to go there anymore. I quickly thought of that disadvantageous scenario.
Another thing that I realize when we already got there is
Ali Mall has recently gone a huge renovation. The mall had new lights installed
and added some floor spaces, as well as a new foodcourt and cinemas. At one of
the entrances there is a large stand showing the vision of the new Ali Mall as
well as what is new there. Our visit was timely as the mall is already 70%
finished. So you could say that it looks like the admin behind Ali Mall or even
Araneta Center company subliminally suggested in my lucid thinking that we
visit the place to urge people to go there.
Looking at the place, I was impressed at the new look of the
mall. My girlfriend suggested that it looks like one of the malls in Singapore
since it’s clean and a few people are there. Ali Mall also put up a covered
bridge connecting to SM Cubao, so that people can also take a visit there as well.
It was a good idea.
Now it seems that booths selling used celfones or electronic
gadgets and what-have-yous were replaced by franchised shops selling signature
products. There were a lot to offer for the average consumer, from clothing (Primadonna, Mint, Plains and Prints, Solo,
Penshoppe, Bench, Celine, Mossimo) Sportswear/Footwear (Royal Sporting House, Adidas, Bananapeel)
Pampering services (Posh Nails, Beauty
Haven, Hairliners Salon) and specialty stores (Audiophile, Hahn, Cutting Edge, Silverworks, Japan Home Center, Music
Source, Blue Magic, Girl Shoppe, CD-R King). Needless to say, there’s a
handful that I haven’t mentioned here. There were other small-time stores that
sell bootleg toys, budget clothing, furnitures and accessories and Class-A perfumes,
but they are mostly few in the new mall. There is a department store as well in
the form of “Shoe Center”, but they’re only selling a few items, has a small
floor space and the toys are knock-offs.
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| they have, however, a very cool chair in "Shoe Center" |
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| cd-r king is everywhere... |
And there’s a lot to choose from when you’re hungry. Most of
the small-time food kiosks are located at the top floor, at the new foodcourt.
At the lower floors there are mostly restaurants and fast-food chains like
Savory Chicken, Jollibee, McDonald’s, Max’s and Sbarro. There are some
restaurants that cater to the “drinking” crowd all lined up in one spot, like
Gerry’s Grill. And there are specialty food stores as well, like Dairy Queen and
Starbucks.
There are even forms of entertainment in the form of a
carousel located at the basement level and some kid’s rides and a large playpen
at the top floor. There is a spot for older people to play as well in the form
of an Arcade, but they are mostly decades-old videogames. But they are pretty
cheap ( tokens at 5php). Of course it
wouldn’t be mall if there are no cinemas and Ali Mall has 4 newly-renovated
cinemas. We weren’t able to try them because we don’t have much time left to
burn and we already watched The Avengers. But the overall look of the cinema
spot looks a lot like Gateway cinemas. Not sure if there are reservations for tickets
as well. Maybe next time we could check. Of course there are comfort rooms as
well on every floor but you have to tread carefully because you might be
entering a pay lounge. Okay, there is a receptionist so you’d know you’re going
to pay, and it’s 10php per visit. We weren’t able to try it but I’m sure that
it is in pristine condition. We just tried the unpaid comfort rooms and
everything is still working and clean (no
vandals of a celfone number asking for a “good time”).
Despite the new look, there are a lot of spaces that are
still vacant, especially on the top 2 floors. They are covered with tarps
showing 2010 Ms. Universe Fourth-Runner-Up Venus Raj as a sponsor of the mall. Not
really sure if there are already shops being placed there or they are still for
lease. But at the current condition of the mall, the unoccupied spaces does not
hinder your mall experience (unless you
hate seeing Venus Raj’s face)
I wasn’t able to find out when the renovation of the mall
was finished, I asked a saleslady at Girl Shoppe while my girlfriend was trying
out a dress, but she doesn’t know (heck,
I could count on one hand a saleslady was of any use) so I just used my
observation skills to look at the condition of the floor tiles and the comfort
room to make a guess of how new it is. I arrived at the conclusion that the new
Ali Mall was just 2-3 months old.
So how was our experience there? I love the new look, there
are a lot of choices, plus I wasn’t really finding or buying anything. My girlfriend,
on the other hand, found most of what she is looking for in Ali Mall. She had a
field day that I was pretty surprised when I was just looking at the other
direction one second, and the next she already has a paper bag in tow. Not that
quick, but you get the idea. After we’ve looked at the mall we ate at a place
called Uncle Cheffy’s. The menu consists of steaks, pan pizzas lamb chops and
fish fillet. A little expensive, but they’re good.
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| medium rare steak |
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| paraffin rice |
Some of the things that didn’t sit well with me are the legacy
of the mall. There are almost no hints that the mall was built in honor of the
boxing legend, other than a tarp covering a vacant spot. Some people wouldn’t
know why they call it Ali Mall. There should be a statue of Muhammad Ali in any
spot of the floor to honor him. Heck, Ali Mall admins should have flown Ali to
cut the ribbon and give him a tour of the newly-renovated mall. I’m sure that
they can shell out 2-3 million pesos worth of expenses just to give it some
public exposure. I may be a guy who values the past too much, but I feel like
it’s appropriate.
Another thing is exposure: most of the city folks take the
MRT, and when they wanted to shop they’ve already bought what they need on the
other malls so they wouldn’t bother to look at Ali Mall anymore. I guess that
Ali Mall is in a bad spot in the evolved metropolis. But seeing and being in the
mall, it is a great place for buying music instruments (the 2 shops that I saw look credible and had a lot of choices),
food trips and looking for affordable signature clothes.
Looking back, I’m glad Ali Mall was given a new lease; it certainly deserves it for being the first mall in the country. It can be enjoyed by people of all walks of life for another 30+ years. Maybe when Ali would finally go to that great place in the sky, he can be buried there. Hey, maybe…
