5 less popular malls in Manila

Posted by Ian Galliguez in Out and About | 15 comments

We live in the fast paced world of consumerism. My kids know malls and that’s pretty much where all the people go to on weekends – after all, most of the malls have almost everything in it so it’s pretty convenient. But back in my day (Yes, I’m old – shut it) we didn’t have as much malls as we had today. So, today’s post is dedicated to all those malls that we loved when I was younger and are still existing until now.

Photo from manila.com.hk

1. HARRISON PLAZA – When I was in college (Kulasas, you know this!) we had two malls that we frequented after (or maybe even during) class. The first was the very tiny UM or University Mall, where we would get our bootleg cassette tapes of the latest Pearl Jam album and the second was HP or Harrison Plaza. There are two  major department stores there – SM and Rustan’s.

Granted that HP now has a reputation for having less than respectable men who are ubiquitous in the mall offering their “services”, it’s still a great place to shop at.

Harrison Plaza is located at A. Mabini Corner M. Adriatico Streets , Manila. operating hours are from 9AM to 9PM.

Photo from flickr.com

2. STA. LUCIA EAST GRAND MALL – Well, maybe it’s not that obscure or less popular, after all it is very popular in the Pasig/Cainta/Rizal population. It has a great interior, with high ceilings and a pretty skylight. It’s been compared to some malls in California – minus the congested traffic though. It used to have an ice skating rink but probably due to costs in maintaining it, they’ve decided to close it down.

The crowd’s mostly C & D though and they may not be as accommodating as the other bigger malls when it comes to customer service but you get good bargains at a good price.

Sta Lucia East grand mall is located at Marcos highway, corner Felix avenue at San Isidro, Cainta, Rizal. Mall hours are from 10 am to 9 pm.

photo from chrisvillarin.com

3. ISETANN RECTO – One of the favorite hang outs of the students from the nearby University Belt, Isetann  is more famous for its all year round sales on casual wear and t-shirts. It has independent shops as well as brand name shops but mostly, it has small stalls that sell everything from cellphone load to shirts, to accessories and of course, food.

Isetann is also famous for a non-shopping thing – Typhoon Ondoy. The tunnel was totally flooded when Ondoy ravaged the country, thus creating a deep pool of dirty water right in front of it.

Isetann can be found at C.M. Recto Avenue corner Quezon Boulevard, Manila, 1011. Operating hours are from 9AM to 9PM.

photo from mayniladailyphoto.blogspot.com

4. PLAZA FAIR/FAIR MART - Located right across Little Tokyo in Makati, Plaza Fair is known for the mecca of pirated CDs and DVDs. When I was younger, I loved shopping for socks and accessories there because they were so dirt cheap. It evolved after that into being a haven for computers, computer parts and gaming consoles – that is, B.G. or Before Gilmore.

It’s a pretty decent shopping center during the day – with people from nearby offices and establishments shopping there and eating at their restaurants. At night though, it’s quite seedy and a little unsafe.

Plaza Fair is located at Chino Roces Avenue, Makati. Operating hours are from 10AM to 9PM.

5. KETCH - My personal favorite is Ketch. It has become some sort of an inside joke between me and my friends. It’s such a nondescript place tucked neatly between a motel and another old building along EDSA in Cubao but it’s actually thriving.

Ketch is so obscure that the internet only has about a couple of mentions on it, one of which was a police report! But they sell excellent sporting goods at cheap prices.

Ketch department store is located at Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA), San Martin De Porres, Quezon City.