My tour at the Mall of Asia Arena

Had a tour inside the Mall of Asia Arena last Friday. This was just days before the Lady Gaga Concert in Manila. Workers were rushing to make it to the concert, and they did.

This Mall of Asia Arena were the buzz few years back and I myself was also excited for this one. Now, the Mall of Asia Arena standing up, no longer a dream but a reality. It is the latest and biggest venture to rise at the Mall of Asia complex— it is figuratively and quite literally an architectural (as they fancy calling it) “eyecon”.

As a backgrounder, it began construction in 2010, but even before that, the owners made sure that the design of the Arena will be different. Priding itself on exceptional and world-standard amenities unique in all of Southeast Asia, MOA Arena is commitment linked to its vision of “changing the game, elevating entertainment”.

The MOA Arena can accommodate a seating capacity of of 15,000, with a full-house capacity of 20,000. It has a five levels and takes pride on the Robbins floorings, eight-sided, center-hung scoreboards by Daktroniks, retractable Spalding basketball goals and an LED ribbon boards—all of NBA standards.

The MOA Arena, with its massive all-glass façade, have an impressive land area of 64,085 square meters, the MOA Arena is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and world-class facilities. The Arena Management also prioritizes on safety, that is why CCTV cameras are also provided by Mobotix, the same company that equips the Vatican Apostolic Library at the Vatican with professional-grade, high-resolution security devices. By those, you can really see that this venue has some cutting-edge facilities.

We all assembled on one of the Suites. It was nice to be able to experience one of the corporate rooms and to be able to taste the food of their accredited caterer. MOA Arena has 31 private deluxe rooms more known as the executive or the luxury box in arenas in the United States. Located just above the lower box section, the MOA Arena Corporate Suites are furnished with its own restroom, a mini bar, comfortable furnishings and a glass-paneled viewing deck complete with plush theater seats. Certainly the first events venue not only in the country but in the entirety of Southeast Asia to introduce corporate suites.

31 of these suites—referred to as Premier Suites—are being leased on a long-term basis. 10 Events Suites are also available for a per-event basis lease. The Premier Suites can go for about P9 million to P12 million and entitles suite-holders season pass for all of MOA Arena’s entertainment and sporting events.

The Arena also employs the leading edge plug-and-play set-up that can enable live beaming through SM Cinema theatres nationwide.

For its patrons’ maximum convenience, the Arena is designed with 16 comfortable smoking lounges. For ease-of-access, there are 10 elevators available in the premises. 34 units of escalators are also employed, with 8 units in each of the floors. To add, special access lanes for PWDs are also provided for.

To comply with international standards, the Arena also has four dug-outs, a mess hall for an event’s technical team, a room exclusive for press conferences and even a special area for meet-and-greet affairs.

Inside the Star Room

There's me sitting on one of Arena's future performers chair. :) Gaga sat on mine I hope. :)

Parking-wise, the MOA Arena has more than 2,000 parking spaces located on the south side of the mall, with an additional 1,400 more accessible at the neighboring Mall of Asia Arena Annex (MAAX) building.

Hungry and want food to go? The Arena has lots to choose from and lots more to open.

Below are more pictures during the tour inside the Arena.

You can check out more pictures here.

They say that this Architectural Eyecon from MOA will soon become a choice promoters and tourist destination for entertainment and sporting events. I would have to agree with that.