SM Mall of Asia

SM Mall of Asia (locally often just called MOA) is the name of a shopping center in Pasay City ( Metro Manila ). The mall, which opened on May 21, 2006, was the largest in the Philippines at the time and, according to a 2007 survey by Forbes Magazine, the third largest in the world at that time. However, the Mall of Asia had to give up its status as the largest mall in the Philippines at the end of 2008 to SM City North EDSA after this shopping center, which originally opened in 1985, was expanded and expanded.

Panoramic view of the Mall of Asia at the southern end of the EDSA

The SM Mall of Asia is located at the southern end of the EDSA in Pasay City, on a 20 hectare site directly on Manila Bay . It has a floor space of 386,224 square meters. The building was originally scheduled to open around Christmas 2005, but due to delivery problems with building materials, completion was delayed by five months. In addition to more than 500 retail stores, the shopping center also houses medical practices, branches of all major banks, a large ice rink , an IMAX cinema , as well as a church and a science museum . Around 200,000 people visit the Mall of Asia every day, on weekends there are sometimes between half a million and a million visitors.

The Mall of Asia is connected to the local public transport network by bus and jeepney lines.

Shopping malls are very popular in the Philippines. They are often a meeting point or excursion destination for whole families, not least because of the pleasant, air-conditioned coolness in the tropical climate of the Philippines. Since there is no entrance fee to enter, shopping centers like the Mall of Asia offer a welcome change even for low-income people, even if only for "window shopping".

At the back of the Mall of Asia, facing Manila Bay, is the "SM By the Bay" amusement park. This is a number of rides that are lined up along the waterfront. The most striking attraction of these is the "MOA Eye", which went into operation in 2011 and is the largest Ferris wheel in the Philippines with a diameter of 55 meters.