SM Mall Of Asia's History

SM MALL OF ASIA'S HISTORY
-ryandgreat, mall of asia pasay city

i first heard of a huge mall construction at the reclaimed area in pasay city on 1999

at that time archdiocesan shrine of Jesus: the way, the truth and the life was also inaugurated,

it was the very first establishment and only structure in that reclaimed area and later on it was developed for a commercial and business center

henry sy of sm helped the development of the church that includes Pope John Paul II youth center and adoration chapel

we've been attending holy mass, simbang gabi at the shrine since then

and we're an active participant of the traditional annual gift giving after Christmas eve mass and also fireworks display during new year's eve mass

i remember so well, on one particular Sunday of decemmber 2000, we saw lea salonga seated behind us, 

we're such a huge fan! can’t help but look at her and then after the mass she granted us an autograph, too bad we didn't have a camera!

before it became SM Mall of Asia as we knew it today,

it was once an empty space, where you can plant a tree or practice driving, the place was ghost town! and no public transport in sight

and last may it was formally inaugurated to public, been there several times already but its only today that i get to see it closely and i am impressed

i think sm mega mall is now far, far behind sm mall of asia, literally and figuratively

Pinoy Pop Santos

PINOY POP SANTOS

-ryandgreat, araneta coliseum

santos emerged as the grand winner of pinoy pop superstar year 2 held at the araneta coliseum last night

i do not want to preempt anyone hence the primetime telecast will be aired tonight, so i'll just share some highlights of the event

my long-lost pren who happened to be a weekly contestant of that show for that season invited me to watch it,

apparently he didn’t make it to the finals and were both seated at the audience side

it's like watching a concert,

the grand opening number was led by no less than regine velasquez where she's suspended in the air while singing i believe i can fly

the rules of the competition during the finals night were the same rules that they have on regular elimination night

7 contenders competed during round 1 then only 4 contenders advanced for the next round

and from there on, 2 contenders emerged and competed for the title with same song with the same criteria

i'm expecting for aicelle and gerarld to win but more on aicelle since she can pull it off and and could follow the footsteps of rachelle ann go,

who's also a product of a talent search following the success of sarah geronimo


i'm also rooting for rosemarie, a contender from usa, but too bad she was eliminated during round 1

the first winner jonalyn viray haven't done so much after a year from her momentous victory as grand champion. we've never felt her presence at all 

i think this isn't her time and unfortunately succeeding winners from different singing contests on tv, after rachelle ann go, did not become superstars