The soft opening of the Robinson's Magnolia mall along Aurora Boulevard in New Manila easily attracted the school gang of Monique, and they went there on the first Friday night that it was open. Not to be outdone, I just had to schedule a trip to visit the place with Kong Kong and Gwammy on Sunday after their visit. One new element, however--this was the first time we used Kong's wheelchair! He has been having a hard time traveling around the malls, and this seems like the logical solution--he uses the wheelchair to cover long distances, and walks on his own the minute we step into a store or restaurant that he likes to visit.
The mall is pretty spacious, and has a wide variety of attractions--movie houses, hardware store, fast food stalls and popular priced restaurants, a few tech shops and a lot of fashion apparel. Although around 40% of the shops were still undergoing fit-out works, I would think that the soft opening was a success since it took us some 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot. I was particularly impressed with the wide lobby (shown above) and the spacious corridors (perfect for the wheelchair ride). We brought the wheelchair inside the men's room for the disabled, and it was quite easy to maneuver. The back portion of the mall faces a courtyard and fittingly enough, a Magnolia ice-cream kiosk is located right at the garden area. The mall will probably be in full steam in a few months, and I bet it will be hard to get parking spaces!
