umaaura sa sm aura

i know - that's a terrible, terrible title! sorry, i cannot help it :) i have been much too exposed to beki speak that i cannot think of the word aura in the same way anymore.

so we went to check out sm aura last weekend.

we parked the car at the serendra area then just walked to sm aura since it was pretty near. that was a pretty good call because an explosion rocked serendra two just the night before (condolences to the families of the three people who died), and the area around it near market! market! and sm aura have been cordoned off for the investigation. there were news vans everywhere and there was a growing group of usiseros as well. as such, traffic was pretty bad and people had to reroute.

i've been hearing some negative feedback about sm aura, like how it leaked inside when it rained pretty hard or how the crowd was tacky. but i actually liked it. much as i love the bonifacio high street area, it was nice having an enclosed mall so you don't worry so much about the heat or the rain.

compared to other sm malls, this was pretty compact, which was a surprise because it looks so huge from the outside. but i like it that way, and i hope they don't end up putting loads of mini stalls in the walkways like they do in their other malls, so it doesn't feel so cramped.

apart from the usual stores like bench and astrovision, there were also other brands that you don't usually find in their other malls, like suiteblanco and nixon. and there's a paul frank store too! yay for that :)

we've been wanting to get paul frank stuff for sloan, but there were no stocks in singapore when i was there. it looks like we're gonna have to wait a bit more though because the kid stuff will come in in six months' time in this branch, according to the store crew.

look at the cute fitting room at paul frank! mike has a shirt with the exact, same design :)

and paul! i have been wanting to try this french bakery and patisserie ever since i first came across it in xintiandi in shanghai, china. from what i read, it was the bench group that brought the franchise here on what is their first ever venture in the f&b industry. part of the place is still being constructed, so only a small part is open.

there's also a nice looking food court with cute chairs, and the cinema area is right beside it.

on the fifth level is the skypark. it's still a work in progress but it looks promising. it's not as big as the one in sm north edsa, and again, i hope they don't crowd this area with restaurants and bars. we seriously need more parks in this country.

 oh and there's free wifi - the connection was pretty decent too.

some stores are still under construction, like mike's beloved nike.

overall, i have to say i like sm aura. i just really hope sm will be able maintain the place. and that there will be no more leaks when it rains :P