Can someone please tell me why Manila has so many nice shopping areas to go to?…read more U.P. Town Center is one of those shopping areas that have shops and restaurants inside the mall and outside the mall. I personally enjoyed my trip over here to this shopping center. I remember it having H/M; H/M Home (we do not have this in Los Angeles), The Body Shop and many filipino brands. They do have my favorite Filipino Brand, Apartment 8, located on the second floor I believe. My cousin and I so happened to stumble by this store and I was so excited when I saw it. They have a grocery store as well, inside the mall. Restaurant- 1 restaurant i did try but I don't think i found on Yelp is a restaurant called RECIPE. I thought this restaurant deserved to be mentioned. I heard it is a chain. This place serves traditional filipino food and it was do delicious. We ordered 1) Crispy Tilapia- Surprisingly super delish. Nice and crispy with a nice dipping sauce. I don't really like tilapia but this was pretty good. Has a clean flavor and again an awesome dipping sauce. 2) General Tsao Chicken- This was the first time i actually enjoyed this dish. I've ordered it several time here in Los Angeles in different Chinese restaurants, however it is to my surprise that this establishment in Manila got it right. Nice and crispy in the outside and moist in the inside. Not too sweet and not to spicy. 3) Chicken soup with Sotanghon noodles- This simple dish was done so right by Recipe. Its simple flavors of chicken soup with the combination of sotanghon noodles (mung bean noodles) was spot on. Just like how my grandma's makes it. 4) the last dish we ordered was the Bistek. This was super yummy as well. The beef was prepared thinly sliced and was really tender. The sauce as well was really good not too salty. 5) Green Mango Shake- When in the Philippines, I always order mango shakes because they are made with fresh mangos.... and you can tell... They ran out of ripe mangos so i decided to try the green mango... Boy was it sour... but what do you expect, non the less it was refreshing on a hot evening... I did see a lot of students walking around the area, and my cousin said because there are colleges and schools around the area. When I go back to the Philippines I will surely be back! Enjoy!!

UP Town Center has been open perhaps about two years. It is the mall that us university students…read morefrom the Katipunan-Diliman area used to wish were there, with lots of restaurants, cafes, and shops where we could relax and entertain ourselves. The mix of stores today woos this target demographic, with lots of casual, athleisure clothing and accessories stories and trendy restaurants, some of which are open till late. It also caters to the neighborhood community, having added another supermarket and department store to the mix, and will in May 2016 onwards (am not sure when, though) be opening a row of cinemas, a gym, and some more popular brands of clothing that you usually get in the bigger malls, like Mango and H&M. This mall has been bumped up to the big leagues. Restaurant wise, it has lots of good choices, some of which you may miss because they're sort of spread far apart. Some are branches of successful restos, like Silantro, Mad Mark, Recovery Food (open 24 hours), Ramen Nagi, and Kyochon. Some are distinctly Pinoy, like Crisostomo, Max's, Pinac, and the one I want to try soon, Alab. Then there are a few which are my favorites, like The Breadery, Kos Greek Ouzeri, Shrimp Bucket, Dulcelin, and Torch, because my parents love the pizza there. Needless to say, you won't run out of choices for coffee, or tea. There are two things which I don't like about UP Town Center. First, it is full of stairs and with no seats anywhere to sit for free. This is an old-fashioned trend that I see changing in non-Ayala malls, like different SMs, Robinsons, Eastwood, and Century City. More than that, there are no senior citizen-PWD-friendly ramps on the rear side, coming from the parking area. Since I have aging parents, I find that unacceptable. Also, parking is dreadfully limited, most of it far from the mall entrance - the one that exists now, at least. There is a five-level parking building on the far, far end of the complex, but that's it. In total, I heard, UP Town Center has only 720 parking slots. Not only does this limit the number of visitors by car, it causes horrendous traffic around the neighborhood because of the queues to the parking lot. That said, it is a nice mall. It causes traffic, but that's what malls do. For those of us who live nearby, it's a good destination. The folks are already looking forward to the cinema's opening.

This, as the rest of the malls in BGC are all overhyped. Just filled with people acting as main…read morecharacters holding zero shopping bags in their arms, and rather blocking the walkways spamming photos for their social media to "look rich." Not a fan of this area.

This place is like a 5 drive from my home!! The Taco Bell here is amazing, but the Halal Guys has a…read morebit of a metallic, smoky after taste though, but still not a bad restaurant

Great stores, including my favorites, Uni Qlo and the Brickyard. Location is great. Selection is…read moregreat. A great mall by Ayala.

Nice selection of shops and variety of restaurants. We enjoyed excellent food and service at…read moreKatherine's.

There's a lot of kids that ditch school and go here. You'll see them everywhere in uniforms, midday…read moreon a school day. It's not one of the prettier, nicer malls. It seems old because it looks run down and unaesthetically pleasing. It reminded me of the LA mall in terms of aesthetics, with that 90's decor look. I wouldn't go shopping for clothes here, I went here to eat and go grocery shopping when I did. If it wasn't home to the largest shoe in the world I would've given it 2 stars but that large shoe is in the Guinness book of world records, which is cool.

As far as shopping is concerned, the Riverbanks Center is a place you go to get a few things here…read moreand there, and it's certainly anything but fancy. But, if I did live in Marikina, I would always go here solely for hanging out by the riverbanks. I was able to go to this place at night, on a weekend, and it was such a beautiful sight seeing everyone sitting on the grass, hanging out by the river. It truly shows how badly scarce our community spaces and parks are. Don't you think it's would be so amazing if we had more spaces to just sit, interact, and enjoy a bit of the outdoors? If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the shops in their shopping center, get yourself a snack and head here. Also, Marikina is known as a place that makes excellent shoes, so if you're looking to buy cheap but durable footwear, this place has a lot in store for you.

This is the #1 mall in Philippines. It's always packed with families on the weekends with so many…read morefood places to choose from. The best spot for weekend hangouts with family and friends.

Like all malls in Manila, this is a multi-level mall. However, it doesn't have a big department…read more store such as SM. It's connected to City Walk, another shopping complex via a sky bridge. There you will find Robinsons, a grocery store. This also has a theatre. It has multiple screens, some are in the mall itself, others are in City Walk, kinda confusing. Overall, an average mall. Nothing special.

This place is huge! Lots of restaurants to dine in should you get hungry shopping. I haven't been…read moreback here in ages. So it is nice to see. There is always a big crowd here, either browsing or plain window shopping.

SM City Marikina is your typical Metro Manila mall. It is a decent sized mall with every amenities…read morein it: grocery, movie theater, restaurants, etc. We like SM City Marikina because of its close proximity to the village we stay when we visit Philippines. Traffic has gotten so much worse that all the basic necessities we need can be found at SM City Marikina: grocery, money exchange, some cel phone gadgets, and small 'pasalubongs' back to the US. On top of that, SM City Marikina's architecture and location is aesthetically pleasing. Its cool to see S.C.M. from FVR road, heck even at Katipunan Ave.

S&R is probably my favourite place for grocery shopping. They offer only the best products from…read moreimported goods, fresh fruits, quality meat, bulk chocolates, yummy pastries and huge household products. Membership Shopping usually means buying in bulk, so if you're not careful, you'd find yourself spending way more than usual. While my family usually spends triple our usual shopping budget, we still find ourselves back nearly every month. The place is just addictive like that. But aside from grocery shopping, their food selection is just as good! There was really never a time when I left an S&R branch and did not get a slice of pizza, a piece of chicken or even a scoop of ice cream for myself. My favourites would have to be their New York Style Pizza, Roasted Chicken, Clam Chowder and Blue Bunny Ice Cream. Although pricey, paying the Annual Membership fee is worth it, not only for the savings in bulk but also for the varied imported items you can only get at S&R. Shopping and eating at S&R go hand in hand so make sure to stop by for these mentioned goodies.

Just the rudeness. Checked when entering parking g. Checked at door. Check buying from concession…read more Checked while leaving. Not just checked. Meticulously. Annoying and slow. Then show your receipt before leaving parking structure. Worse part is the security is armed with guns as if they could shoot you if needed. Even cops in airports are not this aggressive. Pizza was good.

We love Podium and it's our family's first choice for social events; whether it's a day of…read moreshopping, trying out new foodie spots or just catching up with friends, the Podium mall is always a great place for lunch, dinner and everything in between. Not too crowded and a decent crowd at that.....you'll feel safe and comfortable walking around and making good memories with your favorite people. Great selection of retail shops (though a little on the pricey side), with decent customer service. What more can you ask for? ;) See you soon Podium!

Everything you need in one roof. But I came here for the exhibit at Art Lounge Manila.read more

In QC, Centris Walk to me is the place that gives the closest experience of Greenbelt (with its…read morepark and restaurants), and some of BGC, like Burgos Circle and Bonifacio High Street, because Centris has patches of green amid the many restaurants and establishments. Plus, it has these really nice-looking towering white structures that stretch up to the sky and spread out like umbrellas. I guess these structures are also for shade, but I heard from a guard there that these also function as solar panels. Perhaps they are, as I saw a similar, though smaller, structure meant for solar energy at BGC. But I haven't really verified this, though I read later that in general Centris is solar-powered, which is a nice bit of information especially if you're concerned about the environment. There are quite a number of restaurants to choose from - Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and more. There are also places nice for dessert and coffee. When my college friends and I were here, we had dinner, dessert, then went outdoors and just chilled out on the grass. Events like concerts and other performances are also held here at Centris Walk, particularly in the area of the umbrella-like structures. A friend who lives in QC also said that they have a weekend market here which he goes to occasionally for vegetables and other healthy food items.

While Sta. Lucia of Cyracuse (from which I believe Sta. Lucia gets "her" name) is the patron saint…read moreof the blind, you can imagine that it would be poetic to completely overlook this otherwise hidden gem in favor of the nearby Robinson's Metro East. However, you would be at a loss. Although this particular mall is not as well-lit or up-to-date as it's nearby counterpart, or, indeed, like other malls of better caliber in the other areas of Manila, Sta. Lucia caters to clients from all walks of life who are looking for items of all kinds as well. Here you will find a hodgepodge of items that can be good deals of higher-end products sold at bargain prices, or you may even find older items that are no longer sold at conventional stores anymore, and for a reasonable price. Food stalls are abundantly distributed along the mall and between the stores, and it is surprisingly bigger than it looks from the outside. So don't let appearances or first impressions fool you; being blind sometimes leads to a leap of faith.

I am alway at fond of this mall... There are a lot of variety and range in their store offerings…read more From "tiange" types to local and emerging brands, to popular brands... from inexpensive clothes to designer handbags (such as Pierre Cardin), if you just look and shop meticulously you will find them!