A second look at Trinoma

The MRT connection is now open. From the northbound side of the North Avenue station, you can actually walk straight into the first floor of the Triangle North of Manila (Trinoma).

After a few trips there, I realized that the mall's design is not really as mind-boggling as I thought it was. ]It is actually a straight walk, more or less, from the MRT station to the main entrance of the mall which is fronting West Avenue corner Mindanao Avenue. Very convenient for us who have to take the Proj. 6 jeep in going home.

At the middle, there is an activity center where they do various exhibits and sales. There is also a kiddie area where my son Roan has been visiting for the slides and all. At the main entrance, they have this grand flowing water design which my son also likes. After a few minutes watching, not surprisingly, my boy actually asked if he can "take a bath please". :)

The concierge says there is still no available map of the mall. I assume it will available once they will formally open. For now, I know it is a four-floors-plus-basement thing with the kiddie rides at the fourth floor. The areas I described before as hot are actually semi-open areas designed to give us a different malling experience. And different it is.

Trying TriNoma

My wife and our two kids had our first look at Triangle North of Manila (TriNoma), that new 3.5 billion mall by Ayala Corporation which soft-opened only last May 16, 2007. It is located at the corner of EDSA and North Avenue, just across SM City.

Although the mall obviously is far from being finished, it already looks huge at least from the outside, as it seems to occupy that area from EDSA to that part fronting Mindanao Avenue. This Wikipedia entry says its going to occupy 20 hectares and will offer 195,000 gross leasable area, clearly a direct challenge to SM City and the Block. It will also have an 8,000 slot parking lot.

What seems to differentiate TriNoma with SM City and the Block, at least for now, is that it has a some waterworks up front, meaning fountains, and a park on their top floors. Going there is quite a departure from SM malls' "block" image. The mall also promises to improve rail travel experience in the Philippines as it will be directly connected to the North Avenue station of the MRT. Perhaps we are really learning a thing or two from Hongkong.

But for now, comfort and convenience is clearly not yet at the optimum. The forward area, right near the entrance was quite hot. That park upstairs, was dark and hot too. There were also no observable floor maps that we still had to ask the guard where Jollibee and Mcdonalds were. My wife also had to walk a long way to go to a comfort room. I also know of an incident wherein some of the early mall customers suffered minor injuries due to a freak accident in the mall.

Still, am quite hopeful that TriNoma will give us a nice mall experience in a year or so. My kids did love the rides at the mall's Timezone, said to be the flagship and going to be the largest in the Philippines. I am also happy that Landmark will soon be closer to home. I always felt that their department store offered you real good buys. One big reason why I await the formal opening of TriNoma. Until then.