A date with a typhoon and Superman

I don't know what you folks did over the weekend, but I had back to back dates with my city. I was chatting with my friend Gian a few days ago and we were talking about mobility in our respectives cities. He said he loves New York because you don't need a car to lose yourself in the city and to discover new digs. On the other hand, Manila is soooo spread out, you really need a car if you want to go somewhere interesting.

Manila is a nightmare for commuters, whether it's the rainy season, or during the summer. Public transportation seesaws between erratic to chaotic, and when you do have a car, driving defensively is a rule of thumb if you want yours and your car's shelf life to last a long time because almost everyone is driving like they are always late for something.

So I decided to watch "Superman Returns" for the second time in the 3D I-Max theater in SM Mall of Asia. It's suppose to be the 3rd largest mall in the world, next to Golden Resources Mall in China and West Edmonton Mall in Canada. Personally, I don't really care about the size and breadth of the mall, since I'm an outdoorsy person, but this mall was built on 19.5 hectares of reclaimed land in the Manila Bay area, where the the waters opening to the South China sea is just at the backyard of the mall. It reminds me of a more "down-to-earth" version of Hong Kong's Harbour City Mall.
We were having really stormy weather last week and the view of Manila Bay from SM Mall of Asia was a sight to behold. The sky was dark, the wind was gusty, and the waves from the bay was smashing against the sea walls--it was just fantastic and scary at the same time.

Superman flies to Manila

It confounds me why the U.S. audience is not embracing Superman Returns with as much passion as --well-- everyone expected, the movie is an amazing box office hit here in the Philippines. I have a theory on SR's appeal to the Filipinos: Remember there was a scene where you'd hear from the news on TV the different countries where Superman already "visited" because he was desperately needed there? Well, Manila was first to be mentioned. I think Filipinos live out their fantasies of a superhero saving them from the super corrupt government and political system that are super endemic in this country.

Just my super theory.

Then again, maybe Filipinas just want a superhunk to fly-in wearing a supertight body suit, and the men are just around to make sure the women don't throw themselves from a bridge to be saved by Superman.