Manila II Day 2-3: SM Mall of Asia & SM by the Bay

DAY 2

We had our breakfast at the Horizon Club Lounge even though we could also dine at the Level 1 main restaurant (see next post for our experience).

Wide range of pastries! 😋

Small bites

Besides the buffet line, we could also choose made-to-order items from the menu. We asked the staff to serve cut mangoes as well because you really cannot go wrong with mangoes in the Philippines! 😁😋🥭

Horizon Lounge menu

Classic buttermilk pancake (left), special dim sum of the day (top right),
Freshly cut mangoes and mangosteen - super sweet! (bottom right). 

Brioche royal (French toast with peanut butter) (left), 
Philly cheese steak (top right),
Croque monsieur, with egg of choice (bottom right). 

After breakfast, we took a 6-seater Grab (cost ₱355) to SM Mall of Asia (MOA), the largest mall in Philippines and 6th largest in the world at that time.

Photo opportunity at the main entrance

Main entrance to SM Mall of Asia

Very cool LED screen

Various decor

Super colourful

The mall was huge so we spent most of our time exploring the various shops.

Of course we had to check out their KKV

Our feet were tired, after only exploring maybe 20% of the mall! 😅 We decided to take a break at Venchi, one of my favourite chocolate stores!

Venchi was super pretty

Super yummy ice cream!

We decided that it was time for lunch and took a Grab (₱353) to Harbor View Restaurant, the same kelong (traditional platform above the sea) restaurant that we had visited previously.

Interesting dining experience that reminded me of Batam

Mum-in-law loves a good fresh coconut! (left);
We ordered fish and large prawn (right)

Other dishes we ordered

We loved the BBQ squid so much that we cleared the plate in 10 minutes 😆

Philippine version of the mango sticky rice, which I love! 😋
So glad that I was able to share this with my Eldest 😊

With our stomachs super full, we took a Grab (₱455) back to our hotel for swimming and evening canapes. The kids shared that the swimming pool was the biggest highlights of our trip!

Super excited for their swim!

Warm water 💦

Evening canapes at the Horizon Club Lounge

We headed out to the malls for more shopping before we ended our day.

The Mum-in-law wanted to eat something Chinese and so we tried Luk Yuen.
It was super crowded but the food was too salty for our taste.

DAY 3

We had breakfast again at the Horizon Club Lounge as we had enjoyed it the day before.

Various pastries and food from the buffet line (left),
Noodles of the day (right)

Salmon omelette

After breakfast, we took a Grab (₱324) back to the MOA because it was so big that we could not finish exploring it the day before! 

The kids and I dressed up in similar Singapore-themed Sanrio t-shirts!
I love pompompurin and kaya toast so my t-shirt was perfect!

Family photo at our hotel lobby

At the Disney Store but did not buy anything because it was pricey!

Shopped at the SM Departmental Store

We walked past the Grand Carousel and decided to ride it with the younger kids!

Dual-level carousel 🎠

It was a bit too slow for my liking!

When it came time for lunch, we stopped at Mary Grace, which was very famous and has many outlets in the Philippines.

Cafe Mary Grace at SM Mall of Asia

Mary Grace was famous for their cheese roll and hot chocolate so of course we had to order them!

The Mum-in-law loved her cream cake but disliked the hot chocolate as she found it to be too thick (left);
Love the fruit and prawn salad and their famous cheese roll! (right)

The Eldest loved their mango cake! She ranks it as her top 3 favourite cakes! (left);
The Boy's favourite cream of mushroom (top right) and cheese pizza (bottom right)

Mary Grace's signature dish: beef tapa with rice and egg

Creamy pasta

When we were done with shopping, we took a Grab (₱360.50) back to our hotel.

The Archdiocesan Shrine of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and The Life, which was located right next to Mall of Asia

We returned to the hotel for our usual evening canapes and swimming!

My favourite desserts at the evening canapes

An evening swim because the kids loved the deep end of the pool! Great for diving!

After we had worked up an appetite from swimming, we took a Grab (₱331) back to the MOA to have dinner at Mak's Noodle.

Mak's Noodle

Serving Hong Kong style food that was good but on the saltier side!
The ice milk tea was terrible though! I took one sip and left the rest of the drink on the table! Not worth the calories!

After dinner, we headed to SM by the Bay Amusement Park just outside of the MOA to have some fun (of course we didn't return to the MOA just for dinner)!

Bought our tickets to the carnival

Did not ride the outdoor carousel since we've already done the indoor one

We took the Bumblebee at ₱60 (~S$1.30) per person

The Littlest and Boy went on it twice since it was so cheap 😆

I'm a mega fan of ferris wheels so of course we had to ride the MOA Wheel, which cost us ₱200 (~S$4) per person.

People scooting around in these unique rental rides that I've only seen in Manila

Inside the old, squeaky, super run down ferris wheel cabin that had us concerned that it might crack under the pressure of all 6 of us! 😮😖

We were pretty high up!

It's too bad that the windows were scratched up and we could hardly see through them! 😖😮‍💨

It was getting late so we hailed a Grab (₱544) from nearby Conrad hotel and headed back.

S Maison mall, located directly beneath Conrad

Even though we spent 2 days at MOA, we couldn't cover the whole mall. If you're in the area, you can visiting these attractions in the area:

• IKEA
• Space and Time Cube Museum (located at S Maison)
• DreamPlay
• Mind Museum
• Star City and Snow World (Closed on Mondays, opened 2pm to 10pm on other days)

Continue to >> Manila II Day 4-5: Eating, Massage & Flight Home
<< Back to Manila II Day 1: Makati Shangri-La Hotel & Ayala Malls

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