My Little Shoe Gal

The little princess saw her auntie trying on some sandals and said

"How 'bout me?! How 'bout me?!"

"I take off my shoe Auntie!"

"Oops, I need to take off my sock too."

"Give me one!"

"I need to take off my other shoe too."

"What do you think Auntie?"

Nativity Scene

I wanted to get a nativity scene at the bazaar last week. The figurines were just exquisite. Too bad Belle was really kulit, I wasn't able to get some pictures of the displays. But the one I wanted was a little like this

This scene is a bit crowded, I don't have enough space on the table I plan to display them on. Maybe Sister is free to accompany me next week to buy a set. And I'll buy a tree too.

Christmas Decor, and Belle Loves Santa

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...


Some Christmas tree hangings I bought at the Pamaskuya bazaar last week

I bought 1 dozen of these assorted hangings. I was tempted to get a lot more, but reasoned to myself that I could buy them a lot cheaper near our home. I do live in Divisoria, the bargain shopping capital of Manila you know.

Christmas Shopping

We went to the mall again for Christmas shopping. My mom and I like to shop early for our Christmas gifts. We hate last minute shopping in December, with the hordes of shoppers competing for breathing space.

I came home with 7 shopping bags full of gifts for assorted children, relatives, classmates of my nephew, kids of our salesladies and salesmen, godchildren of my mom, Willy's nieces, etc. It's a good thing a lot of them have actually grown up and don't require toys anymore. You see, if they've graduated from high school, they also graduate from my list. Of course, new kids take up their place on the list, but the list is slowly becoming more manageable every year. I used to have about 50 kids on my list!

I like shopping in September too. It's usually the month of sales everywhere. The bazaars are starting, the malls and big department stores are having price offs on a lot of products.

All the gifts are with me for the moment. If they were left at my mom's house, they would get misplaced and lost. And also I'm the family gift-wrapper. All gifts pass through my hands. I buy wholesale giftwrap and ribbons so I make pretty nice gifts, if I may say so myself. I'll show you when I start wrapping them.

Book Fair 2008

While still nursing a tender tummy, I went with Sister to the 29th Manila International Book Fair last Monday. Yipee! I had planned to go last Friday, the first day of the fair, but wasn't able to push through with it.

Even if my tummy wasn't feeling alright, I REALLY REALLY wanted to go to the Book Fair. It's the first time it will be held at the SMX convention center. They usually have it at the World TRade Center. The airconditioning was great! Even if there were lots of people, I didn't feel hot at all. In fact, I wished I had brought my shawl. The food by Albergus Catering was so-so, and was so overpriced. Imagine, a cup of instant 3-in-1 coffee for 30 bucks!
Sister and I separated at the entrance to the fair, to better make the rounds of what each of us liked. I went to the children's books and education areas mostly. Most of the storybooks I saw this year, I already bought for Belle last year, so I didn't buy anything new. But there were great bargains to be had, magnetic picture books for only P100 and other big board books for the same price! What a steal!
I saw a lot of activity books for kids, I think I'll get them next year, when Belle starts preschool and can hold a pencil or crayon better. The prices were lower than regular mall prices, so if I can just remember to buy them next year...
I also bought a few pieces of a blackboard with magnetic alphabets and numbers set with whiteboard at the back. It had a free whiteboard marker, eraser, and colored chalk. 1 will be for Belle, the others are for gifts.

front view

back view

More on the book fair here.

The Big Bulacan Sale

I went to the Big Bulacan Sale with my mom and my sister last Saturday. We left the house at 9am, which was kinda late, I thought. The people who've been to the sale said to make sure to arrive early, as it was sure to be crowded and the lines at the cashiers were slow. We didn't have a hard time finding the place, as Meycauayan was not very far from Manila and there was no traffic.
Star Trends Apparel holds the Big Bulacan Sale a few times every year. They sell factory overruns at discounted prices. From the thread in my egroup, I was expecting the place to be mobbed, but it was surprisingly small and there wasn't that much stuff to be found. Or at least, not to our liking. I saw some people filling 2 crates of their choices, but we only managed to fill half our shared crate, between me and my mom and my sister. I bought 9 items, they bought 9 items too.
The warehouse served snacks, and we each got a cupcake and a soda or coffee while we were waiting for the line at the cashier to move. We had to wait for almost an hour, while the cashier processed the 4 people in front of us. Good thing I asked my mom to bring her maid, so she can line up at the casheir while we were still choosing stuff, or else we would have waited longer.
The menswear designs I saw were not were good. The striped and plain shirts with collar were very ordinary. The round neck shirts had very big designs, which hubby and my brother don't like, so we didn't buy any shirts for them at all.
I bought a pair of slacks for myself, P150 only. The usual price at the mall would be around P899. The tag at the warehouse said P400, but the saleslady said all slacks were just P150, so I bought it without even trying it on. I reasoned that I could always give it away if it didn't fit me.
I just bought a few blouses for myself and for gift-giving, a shirt and a dress for Belle. The Crocs sandals there were the same price as in the mall, so I didn't get any. Anyway, I just can't stand the idea of spending more than P1000 for shoes which Belle will outgrow within 6 months.
While we were waiting for the line at the cashier to move, we heard that they will be serving lunch. So we decided to wait 15 minutes after paying for our stuff. They served a pack lunch for everyone, 1 pc chicken or porkchop with rice, with soda or coffee again. Not bad really, I even called our driver to come inside and get lunch too. When we were finally on our way home, he said he got 3 bottles of soda! We laughed and cautioned him to watch his sugar levels.
All in all, for the price we paid, it was worth it going there. But if the next sale, said to be in November, will be like this, I will not consider going again. There's just not enough stuff to get excited about.

Shoe Emergency, with Heaven and Eggs

Sister and I went shoe shopping for a pair of heels for her last Saturday. Her everyday pair was almost worn out at the heels. Heels are a requirement in her school, you see, and she bought an almost identical pair.

We had a late lunch at Heaven and Eggs, Glorietta. I had the chicken and mushroom omelet with fried potatoes and sourdough bread.

Sister had the chicken with vegetables omelet, with rosemary and garlic potatoes and pancakes on the side. Excuse the blurry shot. The swing moved when I pressed the camera button.

This is Sister, while waiting for our food.

We've been wanting to try this place out for a long time. Luckily, the swing chairs in the middle were unoccupied, and we each sat on a swing.

I got a blouse from People Are People, but I forgot to take a picture before having it washed. Will post a picture of me wearing it soon.

Sister's New Cellphone

My sister bought a new Nokia 2626 yesterday at the Power Plant, Rockwell. She was looking for an inexpensive phone as her second cell, and she chose this one from the Nokia store. It's cute, and only 91 grams. It has a colored screen, but no camera.

Bazaars, I Came, I Saw, I Conquered!

Went to the World Bazaar Festival last Saturday Dec 8 with sister.

The WTC bazaar had a lot of exhibitors. And it was really dinumog! It was so crowded, we could hardly go around the small aisles. I saw some people bring toddlers with strollers and old people with wheelchairs. Grabe! Kawawa lang sila, people would keep bumping into them. In these bazaars, best thing really is not to bring little kiddies or old people. I know gusto natin sila ipasyal but really, its hard on them too. I bought several gifts there. Wish I have time too go back because I want to buy more! (somebody stop me please.)

I have no pics of my loot there because my house girl is masipag, she wrapped them all for me the very next day.

Went to the Lifestyle Bazaar today, Dec 15 with sister in law. It was held at the new SM Exhibit and Convention Center. The center was huge! It had 4 halls inside it so different exhibits can be held there simultaneously. And it was so new and cool and had a new feeling and smell, if you can imagine it. :)

The bazaar itself was at Hall 3. It had few exhibitors. I thought I had the wrong date or place, because there weren't much people going to and fro outside it. We only bought a few pahabol gifts.

This is the kikay kit I saw on the first booth. The envelope bag had toe separators, brush, file, pink nail polish, felt slippers. I bought 2 sets, for yaya and my house girl. The slippers were a nice pink, you just can't see it in the pic. (too much light?)