VisitPinas.com

Discussing shopping malls here in VisitPinas.com doesn’t sound right at first glance. We have this impression that travel destinations consist of beaches, resorts and other vacation spots. The growth of huge malls, however, makes us rethink our concept of a destination.

Trinoma. One of the “big” names in Philippine malls is Ayala and one of their bigger malls is the Trinoma, which stands for “Triangle North of Manila”. It’s a huge complex and it’s parking system is just as complex, although I’m already familiar with it. Just like any Ayala Mall, it has plenty of designer and high-end outlets, but it also houses the Landmark department store, with reasonably-priced items. How to get there? It’s at the juncture of EDSA and North Avenue, Quezon City. It’s a block or two from the Quezon City Circle (connected by North Avenue, so take the UP-Philcoa-SM jeep). From Baclaran, just take the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) at its Taft station, then the train snakes through the cities of Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong and Quezon, with Trinoma at the end of the line (for now, at least, because works are under way to connect the MRT to the north end of the LRT, which is in Monumento-Caloocan).

SM North EDSA. Just because it’s discussed second doesn’t mean that it’s the lesser mall. With the addition of The Block (catering to the high-end market, connected by a walkway to the Trinoma) and the newly-opened The Annex (yes, it’s where the old Annex stood, only more awesome), it’s now claimed to be the largest in the Philippines and the third largest in the world (and you thought SM Mall of Asia and SM Megamall are the bigger malls).  SM North EDSA also holds the distinction as the flagship and pioneer of all SM malls (and all Philippine malls of its kind). How to get there? It’s also found in Quezon City, just beside Trinoma.

Those who visited either SM North EDSA or Trinoma most probably went to the other mall. That would be perfect for our question — which, in your opinion, is the better mall? And as usual with this type of questions: Why? Thank you.