Why Shopping in Manila is the BEST!

Guess what I bought?

I LOVE SHOPPING!  And I love shopping in Manila the most...

If you know where and when to shop, you can really get good enough quality things for next to nothing.  This is emphasized further if you mentally convert the price in PHP to SGD!

Last week, we had dinner with the mom of my friend who is like family to all of us.  She was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer and she is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments with hair loss as one of the side effects.  We are all attending a wedding of a close friend in February where Big Ma and Sofia will be part of the entourage.  We were just discussing that it would probably best for her to come in a bandanna and a nice hat to match her dress (ala Royal Wedding) as it would be more comfortable for her than wearing a wig.  I immediately volunteered to come in a fascinator, to join her in a Royal Wedding theme.

On a totally different topic, I found myself having lunch in Greenhills two days in a row. (For non-Filipino readers, Greenhills is a shopping complex with a wide selection of restaurants as well as a combination of stores, boutiques and temporary bazaar stalls called "the Tiangge".  It is a treasure trove of local brands, export overruns and counterfeit products ranging from shoes to Hermes birkins)  Since we are going to Bohol after New Year and since all my clothes are in Singapore, I was always trying to sneak 15 minutes before or after my lunch commitments to look quickly through the Tiangge to buy beach clothes - focusing on a search for board shorts or short shorts for the beach.

Since the stalls are all on a Cash Only Basis, I was quite prudent with my cash (having left my keys to the drawer with my cash stash in Singapore!), only buying what I considered to be Value Buys.  In other words, nakahanap lang ako ng reason to justify being kuripot! Hahaha. (in english, it means I found a reason to be stingy! Hahaha.)

The first time I was able to sneak in some shopping time, was just before I needed to bring a friend to the airport.  He only gave me 15minutes to shop, or missing his flight to Singapore would be on my conscience!  It helps that I love a great challenge especially when it's shopping related.  I was able to buy these in 10 mins - as we covered probably only 5% of the total stalls.

Short Shorts Php100 (SG$2.95)
Board shorts that are both Roxy and Quicksilver in one! Hahaha Php 250 (SG$7.38)

We actually found the board shorts because the fascinator stall caught my attention and I was busy trying on different ones to find the best one to go with my outfit for the wedding.  I wanted one in Dark Purple, so despite the price, I DID NOT BUY THE FASCINATOR the first time around!

Whenever I am not sure whether or not I should buy something, I do the sleep-on-it-test. If I can't sleep because I regret not buying something, I immediately go back to buy it knowing that I really want it and it's not just an impulse purchase.

The fascinator sort of passed that test.  All the way to the airport, I kept on thinking, I should have bought that Fascinator. In my mind, I could already see my outfit: Ady's Deep Purple Dress Yup! It's not even my dress!, Strappy Charles & Keith Sandals I bought to match the dress, and if I used a black clutch, it would tie-in the fascinator to my outfit! And the fascinator just looked so good with my curls!

So I convinced my extremely sleepy daughter that she wanted me to take her to see the outdoor Christmas Show in Greenhills.  Even though we were tired na, I agreed to bring her!  Hahaha...  I just made sure to park at the other end of the Shopping Complex so that we would have to walk through the stall with the fascinators before getting to the show. Poor yaya (nanny)... at this point, she was carrying around my sleeping daughter!

Here's a better angle to see my fascinator
Php80!!! (SG$2.36!!!) from Girl Shoppe

Sofia just opened her eyes to watch the show, after 10mins of watching, she goes, it's nice but i'm done.  She wanted to go home, but stopped to shop when we saw a stall selling really soft cotton shirts with nice prints.

Kid's Shirts: Php80 each Previously Php 150 (SG$2.36)
Jersey for Kids, On Sale at the Night Market

On the way to the car, I tried to pass the fascinator stall again to buy sofia a smaller one to match mine, but she didn't want, so I ended up buying a Red Dress for me to wear for birthdays instead.  Sorry, no picture since it looks better on me than off me, and this is NOT that kind of blog. Red Dress Php 200 (SG$5.90)

When we got home, Lola Yaya told us Sofia also needed shorts.  She is still wearing her 18-24 months sized shorts from Gingersnaps with adjustable waist bands.  That's what I call sulit.  I was happy I had a shopping mission again! (thought bubble: do you think i'd use the term shopping mission, if i did something different for a living?) 


So the next day, after having coffee and lunch with friends, I passed the Tiangge again! This time, the limitation was that my daughter fell asleep already, so we had to walk around and shop with the poor nanny carrying my sleeping 4 year old daughter again!  We found some good buys, but it felt kind of bitin, so after dinner I convinced my daughter that she wanted me to bring her to Tiendesitas to look at the dogs. (For non-Filipino readers, Tiendesitas is has shops similar to Greenhills with a more native Filipino twist.  They have local food stalls with live bands, less fake stuff and a section with pet stores and pet grooming services.) 

I had quite a good haul.

Mission Accomplished: 7 pairs of shorts for Sofia ranging from Php100-150
The total I paid for everything was Php1000 (SG$29.50)

I found it extremely hilarious that one of the vendors gave us their sign by mistake!
He did not remove it from the pair of shorts we picked.

For me, I was able to buy tank tops to go with my board shorts for bohol
Black and White tank tagged H&M Php 80 (SG$2.36)
White Halter top Php 100 (SG$2.95)

I also bought really comfy shirts for sleeping on the plane
White NY&Co shirt with studs Php120 (SG$3.54)
Black shirt from Jewels Php 100 (SG$2.95)

That's all folks!