The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt at SM Marikina

Love yogurt? Do you travel all the way to SM North or Mall of Asia just to get your White Hat fix? Look no further, Marikenyos! The White Hat is here to serve us at our very own SM Marikina :)

White Hat fan that I am, I've been visiting this yogurt place frequently for the past few months. I honestly don't know why it only occurred to me just now to blog it :P Anyway, my husband and I (he's also a yogurt fan!) used to brave the traffic and drive all the way to SM North EDSA or Mall of Asia just to have our White Hat fix. It's really great that this yummy yogurt is now just a stone throw's away!

The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt kiosk at SM Marikina opened last December, a Yuletide treat to the Ondoy-stricken mall. It's located at the second floor right across the entrance to the Department Store. You can't miss it :) The kiosk offers all the popular White Hat toppings like fruits, candies, Kitkat (my favorite!), homemade brownies and cheesecake. They also have green tea-flavored yogurt available at this branch.

Happy healthy eating! :)

Bluewave Marquinton Reopens To The Public

Bluewave Marquinton Mall was affected by the recent floods brought about by Typhoon Ondoy. The floods along the Sumulong Highway area in front of Bluewave reached up to waist high, causing the stores and shops at the ground floors of both Bluewave Marquinton and Robinsons Supermarket to be flooded.

Bluewave Marquinton Main building has reopened to the public. Robinsons Supermarket though will reopen on October 23. Some of the stores located at ground level may resume at a later date depending on their respective management's orders.

SM City Marikina WIFI Stress Test Event

Last Feb. 28, 2009, SM City Marikina soft launched their new service, mall-wide free WIFI.   

Being the newest SM Mall having opened its doors to the public last September 2008, 

SM City Marikina is the first on the list of SM malls for deploying WIFI and they invited bloggers for an afternoon WIFI stress-testing session.   

After registration, bloggers scattered around differents parts of the mall to try out the free WIFI.   Bloggers were equipped with laptops, wifi-enabled mobile phones, PSP's and PDA's.  

Several bloggers reported that WIFI signals were detected from the basement up to the top floor and were able to conduct live blogging during the event.  I was able to stream some youtube videos from my laptop and download updates for my anti-virus program.

By 5pm, all bloggers proceeded to the Cyberzone area where SM officials raffled off some prizes.  I won a Microsoft cap.  Sha, my blogger friend won the grand prize, an ASUS laptop.  Incidentally, that day was her birthday so it was a great surprise and gift for her.

Personally, I's say that SM City Marikina is stepping up to the plate in terms of offering WIFI.   The other malls within the vicinity, Robinsons Metro East and Sta Lucia East have been offering WIFI for a while too.   SM City Marikina can now compete head on with the WIFI-enabled malls.

The city will also benefit from this as one of the biggest mall chains now offers free WIFI in the city of Marikina.

Here are some other blogger posts about the event:

• SM Marikina wi-fi test recap
  
• Live Blogging at SM Marikina WiFi Testing Event
• My WiFi Testing Experience at SM City Marikina vs Robinson's Metro East and Sta. Lucia Grand Mall
• Live Blogging from SM City Marikina
• SM Marikina now offers Mall-Wide Free Wifi Access
  

SM City Marikina by Foot

For vehicles, SM City Marikina can be reached via Marcos Highway exiting the exclusive ramp built for SM City or via the service road to the immediate right which leads to parking. 

What many may not know though is that SM City can also be reached by foot via the access path following Marikina River's curvature.

Just across SM City Marikina, separated by Marikina River, is Marikina Riverbanks.  A floating foot bridge is provided for easy crossing from one side to the other.  

In addition, SM City Marikina happens to be on the side of the Marikina River where a long cemented trail is suitable for walking and biking.   You can be from as far as Lamuan and Bayan passing through San Roque and Calumpang and traverse the trail while enjoying the serene waters of the Marikina River as it curves and eventually leads to SM City Marikina.  From the path, you can cross the street to the ground parking lot and take the stairs leading to the mall itself.

So you can avoid parking or commuting fees while taking a leisurely route and exercise in the process before you go malling. 

Czarina For Your Currency Needs

Czarina Foreign Exchange has been one of the longest money changers around the Metropolis.  Since established in 1978, they've added several branches, including one in Hong Kong and in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Here in the East, the closest Czarina branch to Marikina used to be their Q-Plaza branch in Cainta across Sta Lucia East.  But now, for the Marikina-based, they've added a branch at Bluewave Marquinton.   

Czarina has one of the most competitive and convenient exchange rates available.

Czarina Foreign Exchange is located on the 2nd floor of Bluewave Marquinton Mall right beside the PCSO Lotto outlet, Book Nook and the Globelines office.