After uploading a few photos on Facebook, I received a few questions about the new Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.
At first, I was a bit hesitant to write about it because I don't want my non-Filipino readers to think that the Philippines is outdated. Aside from being my personal outlet, I use my blog to promote Philippine tourism as much as I can! But I realized that in terms of venues, it's true. Before, there was only the Smart-Araneta coliseum for big events, already decades old and very worn out. But now, we have the MOA Arena, the first venue in Southeast Asia to have private deluxe rooms called the corporate suites (similar to the luxury boxes in the United States). Rumor has it that the rent for these suites is P12M/$300,000 a year!
And since everyone's curious about the place, might as well post an entry about it. I've been there only twice -- during the Lady Gaga concert last May and the UAAP game last weekend.
The Lady Gaga Concert
May 2012
If I'm not mistaken, Lady Gaga was the first to hold a concert at the MOA Arena. This event created quite a stir here because of the highly-conservative groups that were of the opinion that Lady Gaga was promoting devil worship through her song "Judas".