The new mall is exciting, it’s modern and the features are amazing. It carries within its halls the luxury labels you see in fashion magazines with the items you covet-the IT bags and shoes, food selection can be mesmerizing in its variety-from the stall selling the cheesecake brand from Japan and the tea and sconces at the UK-branded high tea shop to the fancier restaurants serving a distinct cuisine—in a trend-setting-designed space, no less, which you can say, “These are nice spots for a break before I continue shopping.”
 |
| Something good comes to those who follow the green path.. |
Just when you’re about to say you’ve seen all of what the EmQuartier has to offer, another feature pops up to surprise you—a water garden. Its location-the higher ground.
The Quartier Water Garden is an al fresco feature at the 5th level of the Helix Quarter. The mall allotted 3,000 square meters of its space to create a charming tropical garden as its calming green retreat in the busy district of Phrom Phong.
The two level expanse features an abundance of flora, including wild tropical orchids and lush ferns, and a brook with the soothing sound of flowing waters filling the pond.
 |
| The soothing sound of flowing water |
If you ask me, this is a better place to rest the exhausted shopper’s feet. The verdant scenery is a nice color change after hours spent in the bright white interior of the mall.
In the garden, there is the Cocoon Parc. Set within nooks of lush patches are cocoon-like seating furnishings embraced by tree ferns. It can be romantic spot for couples out on a date as the cocoon can give a “little” privacy. A few of these fittings offer a view of the city.
 |
| The Cocoon Parc |
 |
| The cocoons are "almost private" seating areas set in nooks of green patches |
Follow the path of the flowing water and it leads you on the lower level where the pond is. It features a winding bridge and beyond the lush greenery is a view that provides an extension of the sky garden, the Banjasiri Park.
 |
| The green break in the all white mall. The Water Garden ovelooks an even bigger garden, the Benjisiri Park |
If I’m right, the hanging bridges are recent additions to the features of the park. The suspended apparatuses form an obstacle course above the water, an added activity for the kids and adults alike. Of course, I dare not try it. Exciting it may be, I was in the area to chill and not to perspire.
 |
| The pond, the obstacle course, the meerkats and me. |
The concourse on the main entrance of the garden is where the 100-meter long “rainforest chandelier” is. Encircling it is the Helix, where EmQuartier’s “endless journey of dining extraodinaire” transpires.
How to get there: the BTS Skytrain is fastest way to get to EmQuartier.
The PhromPhong station provides a direct link to the mall via a skywalk.
*****
Email me at jinggoysalvador@yahoo.com. For more lifestyle & travel stories, visit apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com and jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com.
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on August 25, 2016.
CONVERSATION