点评:I'm not a mall person but I love this charming, walkable Makati mall with all its lush green spaces and water features; familiar brands and chain stores, as well as local retail places, and European stores; its fairly sizable selection of eateries and coffee places; and its overall chill vibe.
Americans and Europeans, don't expect to pay lower prices here for brands you know back home. This is definitely a go-to place for affluent locals as many of the stores are high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Balenciaga, and a slew of others. There are more affordable options as well such as Zara, Mango, Adidas, Puma, and a number of other retailers. Prices for clothing, shoes, and accessories are pretty much the same as you'd pay in the west. (If you're looking for Filipino souvenirs, though, I recommend heading the Kultura in the Glorietta Mall instead.)
There are several really good restaurants, too. We had a memorable al fresco ribeye dinner at a wonderful steak house called Ember; prices were slightly less than what we'd pay for a comparable meal where we live in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area. We also had a fabulous Italian lunch at a spot called Tartufo across the way from Ember. We had Japanese food at Nikkei Robata, which was really affordable, and served one of the best mango slushies I've had in the Philippines.
Oh! And if you have a sweet tooth and need a sugar fix, we went to the British department store Marks & Spencer's snack shop multiple times for chocolates, gummies, and other treats. We still crave these delicious little gummy pigs we kept buying there but can't get back home.
But one of the most fun things to do at Greenbelt is to people watch. Grab something cool to drink, find a nice shady spot to chill out, then sit back and watch the locals strolling and conversing, rushing to their next destination, or have a nice chat with one of them. There's such a mellow, relaxed vibe there.
One thing that was initially off putting for my companion was that there's an open air church and they have mass a few times a day. It's standing room only sometimes and it can get loud, especially when there's singing. I had to remind my travel partner that the Philippines is majority Catholic and Filipinos take their religion seriously. He got used to it and didn't bat an eye when church hymns were being sung as we dined at Ember.
If you're planning a trip to a remote part of the Philippines and need a place to decompress from the rustic living before you head back home, a visit or two to Greenbelt might be a nice coda to your Philippine travel. I'm Filipino American and I usually hang out in Makati and Greenbelt for a couple of days before I fly to my family's province to visit relatives and a couple of days before I head back home to the US. It's a nice place to decompress.
翻译:我不喜欢逛商场,但我喜欢这个迷人的、适合步行的马卡蒂商场,这里有郁郁葱葱的绿地和水景;有熟悉的品牌和连锁店,还有当地的零售店和欧洲商店;这里有相当多的餐馆和咖啡馆;以及整体的休闲氛围。
美国人和欧洲人,不要指望在这里以更低的价格买到你在家乡熟悉的品牌。这里绝对是富裕当地人的首选之地,因为这里的许多商店都是高端品牌,如路易威登、爱马仕、巴黎世家等。这里也有更实惠的选择,如 Zara、Mango、阿迪达斯、彪马和许多其他零售商。服装、鞋子和配饰的价格与西方的价格基本相同。(不过,如果你想买菲律宾纪念品,我建议你去格洛丽塔购物中心的 Kultura。)
这里还有几家非常好的餐厅。我们在一家很棒的牛排馆 Ember 吃了一顿难忘的露天肋眼牛排晚餐;价格比我们住在旧金山湾区时支付的类似餐费略低。我们还在 Ember 对面的一家名为 Tartufo 的餐厅吃了一顿美味的意大利午餐。我们在 Nikkei Robata 吃了日本料理,价格非常实惠,而且芒果冰沙是我在菲律宾吃过的最好的芒果冰沙之一。
哦!如果你喜欢吃甜食,需要补充糖分,我们多次去英国百货公司 Marks & Spencer 的零食店买巧克力、软糖和其他零食。我们仍然渴望吃那些美味的小猪软糖,我们一直在那里买,但回家买不到。
但在格林贝尔特最有趣的事情之一就是观察人们。拿点凉饮,找个阴凉的地方放松一下,然后坐下来,看着当地人漫步交谈,匆匆赶往下一个目的地,或者和他们中的一个人好好聊聊天。那里的氛围如此悠闲、轻松。
一开始让我的同伴感到不舒服的一件事是,那里有一座露天教堂,他们每天做几次弥撒。有时那里只有站立的空间,而且会很吵,尤其是唱歌的时候。我不得不提醒我的旅行伙伴,菲律宾大部分人信奉天主教,菲律宾人对他们的宗教很认真。他习惯了,我们在 Ember 吃饭时,教堂里唱赞美诗时他连眼睛都没眨一下。
如果您计划前往菲律宾偏远地区旅行,并且在回家之前需要一个地方来缓解乡村生活的压力,那么去格林贝尔特一两次可能是您菲律宾之旅的一个不错的收尾。我是菲律宾裔美国人,我通常会在马卡蒂和格林贝尔特逗留几天,然后飞往我家乡的省份探望亲戚,然后再回美国老家几天。这是放松的好地方。