The Mall, My Third Place

A trip down memory lane of (possibly and arguably) my favorite mall.

It has come to this. I have now reached the age when I shop not for myself or any of my friends but for my friends’ children. 

I’m attending a birthday party, a kid’s birthday party, which, in my opinion, is the best kind of party, anyway. The programs are short, the games are fun,  the decorations are colorful, and if you’re the organizer, there are often ready-made packages for kiddie parties, everything from food to decorations to mascots to magic acts. Of course, to attend such an exciting event, I need to get the celebrator a gift, hence the trip to the mall.

I’ve been shopping at the same mall, Robinsons Place Manila (or Rob, as we fondly call it), for about twenty years. I remember when the Midtown wing used to be the Manila Midtown Hotel, when National Bookstore was way bigger than it stands now, and when there used to be a fountain near the elevators (which has now transformed into a Starbucks). I’ve seen all the recycled mall decorations. I’ve seen the same big teddy bear as a centerpiece for Christmas, Valentine’s, and Easter. I’ve seen shops and restaurants come and go (and I am still grieving the loss of Cafe Breton, Cyma, and Recipes). I’ve also seen some establishments endure. Italianni’s has been there for as long as I can remember, and Max’s has probably been there for much longer. It doesn’t help that all my schools from high school to medical school have all been a walking distance away from Robinsons. 

I often associate the mall with the end of the day. Of course, I’ve spent many weekends watching movies, shopping, or coffee shop-hopping, but for the most part, I usually go to the mall after a workday. It’s either I drop by on the way home or I head over when I have errands to run, and I usually do that after the workday is done, as I did today. Thank God it’s a Saturday, which meant the mall would close at 10 pm instead of its weekday schedule at 9 pm—much more time to get a present. 

Aside from shopping for gifts, I let myself window-shop at a random store or two, stopping when something new and shiny caught my eye. I like walking, and I find browsing the mall, no matter how aimless or unproductive, quite relaxing to walk around in. Even without a kiddie party to attend, I still frequent the mall’s Toys R Us, for no other reason than to check out the new toys. I rarely buy anything, but there’s something invigorating about seeing what options kids have these days. 

National Bookstore is also a mall favorite. Again, it used to be much bigger, and its contents more complete, with every variety of pens, notebooks, and books. I used to go there for necessity, but I also loved going there for the sheer wonder of the place. These days, it’s not so magical. It’s been relocated to the middle of the mall, with a giant H&M claiming its previous home. But even if it’s less magical than it used to be, when I pass by, I somehow feel compelled to go inside. I mostly look at the new pens (often dismal) and the fiction books (also dismal, albeit with a better collection these days). Maybe it’s the nostalgia pulling me in. What I do miss however is the Powerbooks that used to be on the 4th floor (currently replaced by a Yakimix). I spent many a free period there, browsing the shelves to no end. I must have finished several comic books and novels by just going there daily. Imagine my devastation when, a few chapters away from finishing this Young Adult novel about Harvard (the title and author escape me now), the bookstore suddenly decided to close, and I never found out how that book ended. 

Since I practically grew up in Robinsons, it houses some of my fondest memories and milestones. I celebrated many quiz bee wins (and mourned many losses) in the ever-relocating Jollibee and the non-movable Max’s restaurant. I went on my first dates at the mall’s Timezone, Tom’s World, and G-box (it no longer exists, but G-box used to have an arcade, a karaoke, and a basketball court). My dates would get me stuffed toys from Blue Magic (1st floor) and jewelry from UniSilver (4th floor). And don’t even get me started on the movies. I watched the first Avengers movie all alone at Cinema 3, and I watched Piolo Pascual’s Starting All Over Again seated on the floor because the cinema was at full capacity on Valentines’ Day. 

 My now-boyfriend of seven years and I started dating here too. I had this habit of dropping by the mall after class to cap off the day. Back then, my then-classmate-and-friend used to join me, even if the mall was not on his usual route going home. We’ve walked into a lot of shops and eaten at a lot of restaurants since then.  As friends, we had this agreement then that we would try a new restaurant every 2-4 weeks, eventually finding our favorites. At one point, we were at Recipes so often that as soon as we stepped in, the waiters already knew what we were ordering. Recipes, unfortunately, closed down, and we were both heartbroken about it, but it was nice to have that for a time–a place you went to have a good time, where people got to know you as much as you got to know them. 

Now there are newer stores to visit. There are at least four yogurt joints now (Llao-llao arguably the most famous, but Red Mango still being my favorite). Timezone and Nike, among other stores, have gotten even bigger. Zark’s Burgers found its way to the third floor. Plus there is no shortage of Filipino, Western, Japanese, and Chinese restaurants, not even counting the omnipresent fast food establishments. 

You’d think I’d be pretty bored of going to the same mall all these years, but oddly I’m more comforted with the familiarity. I’m grateful that I can mindlessly walk in and still know where to go or where to browse, never feeling lost. Ray Oldenburg, an American sociologist, talks of the importance of a Third Place, or a place outside of home or work where you can hang out. It’s ideally a place where community is formed, like a park, a library, or a coffee shop. You see that a lot in sitcoms and comics, like Luke’s from Gilmore Girls, Central Perk coffee shop from Friends, Shaw’s Bar from Brooklyn 99, and Pop Tate’s Chock’lit Shoppe from Archie Comics. I realize that maybe Rob Manila is the closest I’ll ever have to a Third Place. It’s not perfect, and it’s far from a real community, but it’s familiar, it’s safe, and it feels like home.