Exploring Shopping Malls in Manila Day 5 2019/8/21【63】

The morning of day 5 started with rain for the first time.

Even going to the cafe, the roads were flooded, and I got soaked. This is when sandals come in handy.

I entered my favorite Starbucks, ordered an Americano and mango yogurt, and was contemplating the day's plan on the 2F seats.

Overseas Starbucks have a good amount of food, which is satisfying. By the time I left the cafe, the rain had stopped. The water on the streets had receded, and the dirt seemed to have been washed away, feeling a bit refreshing.

I had been washing my clothes myself, but I was short on T-shirts for my return trip, so I decided to look for T-shirts while going around shopping malls.

First, I headed to Century City Mall, which is about a 5-minute walk from the guesthouse. I didn't know there was a mall so close. Although it's a bit small, it was a clean mall.

I am looking for a white T-shirt, simple design, and cheap. I will take pictures of good products and keep them on hold.

While walking in the mall, I was caught by two women soliciting customers in front of a store. I had plenty of time, so I entered the store out of curiosity, and it was an American cosmetic brand. Initially, I was receiving product explanations, but gradually the conversation turned casual.

Where are you from? Why Manila? What do you do for work in Japan? Do you have a girlfriend? And so on.

It seemed rare to see a young Japanese man, and we just enjoyed the conversation. While thinking "they are supposed to be working," the conversation shifted back to business when one of them, who was the area manager and was in this store for the day, mentioned she could offer a special discount with her authority.

Still, I wasn't interested in cosmetics, and as I was declining, the manager pointed to the other woman and started explaining, with a burst of laughter, that I could take her back to Japan now if I wanted.

In the end, I treated both of them to coffee at Starbucks, took a commemorative photo together, and left the shopping mall.

It took about 20 minutes on foot to get to the next shopping mall.

I arrived at Power Plant Mall, located in a serene and calm area.

It's a sophisticated mall, and I felt that there were many Westerners among the customers.

I was hungry, so I decided to have lunch at SaladStop! for a change.

I had been having oily and heavy meals, so this healthy choice was a relief. However, I thought the dressing could have been a bit lighter.

After finishing lunch, I caught a taxi and went to a massage shop called "body&sole."

It's a local massage shop, and the price was about 1000 yen for an hour of oil massage. The facilities were old, but I was satisfied with the quality of the massage.

Feeling relaxed after the massage, I took a taxi to the "Little Tokyo" area.

I got off in front of Fuji Spa, refreshed myself in the bath and sauna, and got rid of the oil from the massage.

I walked from Little Tokyo to Greenbelt, went around Glorietta Mall and other shopping malls looking for T-shirts, but didn't find anything I liked.

I decided to have dinner at Max's, which I had visited and liked the previous day.

Again, I ordered the Kare-Kare rice bowl that I had enjoyed a few days ago.

It's really delicious. The sweet roux and tender beef go perfectly with the rice.

For dessert, I had Halo-Halo. It was really delicious with a lot of ingredients.

It was raining on the way back, so I took a taxi back to the guesthouse.