The two “home” malls of my childhood were Virra Mall and Shoppesville at Greenhills Shopping Center, a short walk from my house, where I would go for school supplies, video arcade games, computer repairs, art classes, Taekwondo lessons, cheap clothes, haircuts, Chinese noodles, 10 and 20-sided dice for AD&D and Robotech, and of course, “discount” PC software. Virra Mall and Shoppesville have withstood the years mostly untouched by the rapid development sweeping through that part of San Juan. (Just a couple of days after arriving, I went to Iggy’s Barber Shop in Shoppesville, and got my hair cut by Mang Dado, ang barberong kalbo, who has cut my hair since I was a boy. Nothing about the place had changed.)
Sad news, though: the years have caught up with Virra Mall, and I’m hearing that the structure will be demolished renovated to make way for a new SM-Greenhills SM-type mall, starting early next year. (Update: Renovation plans detailed somewhat here.) So I went over there yesterday morning and took a bunch of photos, to document the last days of this old Greenhills establishment. Just for posterity’s sake.
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Recharging
After an entire year of working twenty four hour shifts on very little sleep and meager pay, I decided to take as much time off on the holidays, to recharge and to catch up on some non-medical reading. I just…