In Which I Write About How Enjoying This Experience Has Been.

I used to keep a personal blog but its contents were entirely different from what I write here. My personal blog consists of rants, opinions on matters of less importance, reviews, and just about anything that I could think of. So basically, this was the first time I wrote about something of consistent theme that reaches a large audience.

The theme of our blog requires us to visit places where readers could dine, shop and enjoy under limited budget. The fun starts with brainstorming with my co-bloggers on what we should feature on our entries. We do researches, we make plans, and we save up for our trips. When everything is set, we then bring our plans to life. Because of this blog, I was able to consume the most slices of cake and cups of coffee my heart desires, I finally found a messenger bag that I’ve been dying to have since high school, for the first time I went out of town with my friends, and much, much more. Having good friends around make such experiences worth-remembering.

The fun continues on putting my thoughts into words. I was assigned to write about bargain shopping – something that I enjoy doing – so narrating and sharing my experiences, opinions, and thoughts wasn’t that hard. The challenge in this is how I could keep the readers interested. I have to think of a way on how I could get the page visitor to read my article, and how to keep them interested to read on until the very last word. I have to come up with creative and catchy titles, and keep my articles short and precise but useful and informative.

I learned a lot of things in the course of five months. Since anything you post on the web is for the whole world to see, you have to be cautious in all aspects. Asking your colleagues to proofread your work would definitely help for they could point out any mistakes that you might have overlooked in the first place. You are responsible on what you say (or write) on cyber-space. Your work reflects who you are. To wrap up, I can say that I absolutely enjoyed the whole experience. And if I’ll be given the chance and the resources to continue blogging about bargain shopping or any other topic, I definitely would.

Bargain Shopping Galore! 10 Tips for Successful Bargain Shopping.

More than a decade ago second-hand shopping was not socially-accepted yet, but those days are gone. Today, almost every one of us has done bargain shopping at least once. Some sites are popular for bargain-shopping like Cubao, Bambang and Evangelista St., but most stores are well concealed around the Metro, waiting to be discovered. Each store houses different brands from the other. But one thing is for sure: with ukay-ukays you’ll never get the same thing twice!

If you like dressing up but don’t have the money to support your fashion urges, you should definitely check those ukay-ukays out.

 Here are some tips I have gathered based on personal bargain shopping experience from the past 5 years:

1. You could always haggle. Or “tawad” in Tagalog. If you think 500 php is a bit expensive for a second-hand bag, or 250 php is too much for a pre-loved blouse, you could ask for a discount. Meet halfway with the seller’s price. You will be surprised with how much is the seller willing to scratch off from the original price.

2. Bring smaller bills or barya. How can you convince the sales clerk to give you a discount when you are carrying bills in 500php or 1000php denominations? The main trick of the haggling game is to make sure that the seller sees you as a broke fashionista looking for cheap fashionable items.

3. Dress for the “occasion”. Don’t go in an ukay-ukay looking like someone who “has all the money to spend”. Forget about wearing make-up and jewelries. As I’ve mentioned earlier, you should act and look like a struggling fashionista so you could convince the sales clerk that you really deserve a discount. Wear clothes that you are comfortable with, 'cause you will be spending some time sorting through racks and piles of clothes.

4. Always check the quality of the item. Check for any damage like discoloration, stains (especially at the underarm areas), missing button, jagged zipper, and even the tiniest hole in the pocket. Most ukay-ukays strictly observe a “no return, no exchange policy”.

5. Make sure the item fits you perfectly. Like what I said above, they observe a “no return, no exchange policy.” Dressing rooms are always available. If you don’t feel comfortable changing your outfit in a makeshift dressing room with curtains that serves as partition, I suggest you just wear the outfit of your choice over the clothes you’re already wearing.

6. If you’ve decided to purchase an item, then purchase it right away. You cannot ask the sales clerk to reserve an item for you. Remember: the items for sale in an ukay-ukay are of one quantity only.You don’t want to be disappointed when you go back the other day only to find out that someone else has bought that piece you have wanted to buy in the first place.

7. Ask yourself if you really need/want this item. Not because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s not a waste of money. If you think there’s no chance that you would ever wear that item, put it back and leave it for someone who would actually love it.

8. Befriend the sales clerk. Once you’ve found the ukay-ukay that has clothes that suite your taste, make sure to be friends with the sales clerk, and ask for their contact details so you could get updates on the arrival of the next batch of hand-me-downs.

9. Be patient. Be really, really, patient. Shopping at ukay-ukays could be time-consuming, and tiresome. But, I am certain that you’ll like something out of the thousands of items up for sale. And it feels really fulfilling after you find a piece that you like, it’s like finding a needle on a haystack.

10. Kill those bacteria. If you could notice, items bought from ukay-ukays have this striking, distinct odor. It is the disinfectant poured into the clothes before putting it up on sale. But it doesn’t mean that the item you’ve purchased is totally free from bacteria. What I do is rinse the clothing with vinegar (upon research I’ve discovered that it could eliminate bacteria). Some says that boiling it slightly will also do the trick, but I haven’t done it myself yet.

So there you go; 10-tips that’ll lead to a successful ukay-ukay experience. Equipped with this battle-plan, I’m sure you’ll survive bargain-shopping.

Bargain Shopping Galore! Ukay Tagaytay!

I have discovered on my recent trip to Tagaytay that the city has so much more to offer. One of them is the numbers of ukay-ukays which thrift shoppers like me will surely enjoy.





Our 3-hour bus ride ended at Olivarez Plaza – it has 5 ukay-ukay stores open to the public. One of them is owned and managed by the Kabunyan Family, and has all sorts of apparel – from short sleeves (Php 120), long sleeves (Php 150), shorts/tokong (Php 150), pants (Php 180-280), dress (Php 180), bags (Php 180-600), and shoes (flats, high-heels, sneakers).





According to their sales clerk, all items are imported from neighboring Asian countries – Korea, Japan, China, and Hong Kong.





And you wanna know what the best thing about the place is? It has free Wi-Fi.





Walking around the plaza, we’ve spotted four more ukay-ukay stores, all of which has the same price range for items. One of them even has toys for sale!






We left the plaza after an hour or so. After 5 minutes of walking, we’ve seen another ukay-ukay.





What distinguishes it from all the other ukay-ukay in Tagaytay is that it has an overlooking view of Taal Lake.





They have the cheapest price around town; items for as low as Php 10/each. With that kind of price though, I didn’t expect good-as-new items. I’d rate it a 6 out of 10.


Here are some of the few best buys I happen to came across during my Tagaytay ukay-ukay hopping with friends:

Bargain Shopping Galore! A two-storey establishment of massive bargain items.

You could only appreciate thrift shops, famously known as ukay-ukays, if you are willing to spend hours sorting through hundreds of racks with clothes, bags and shoes of various shapes and sizes to find a perfect fit. As for me, I've been checking out ukay-ukays since my early high school years, so I really don't mind standing for hours as long as I’ll find something that will tickle my fancy.

For my first post, I will feature one of the many ukay-ukays found along Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila – one of my favorite “bargain shopping destination”.  One of the biggest ukay-ukay in this area is located at the corner of Gonzalo Puyat (or Raon) St., and Rizal Avenue, a minute of walking away from LRT 1 Carriedo Station. I’m certain you’ll find something to buy in this 150-sq. meter, two-storey establishment. Taking of photos were prohibited but I was able to ninja my camera.

Click on image to enlarge.





Found at the first floor are the bags and shoes. The shoe section – which I personally enjoyed – has flats (prices ranging from 200-500php), high-heeled pumps, wedges and sandals (prices ranging from 300-600php), leather boots, both men and women’s (prices ranging from 300-700php), and authentic rubber shoes – Nike, Addidas, Converse, Levi’s, Merrell, Fila, name it, they have it here – (price ranging from 700-2,000php). I happen to spot pairs of Doc Martens for 1,400php, too!


Click on image to enlarge.





The bag section has many styles, sizes and shapes to choose from. I’ve been looking for a leather messenger bag for quite some time now, and I happen to see one for 580php. Other kinds include backpacks, shoulder bags, tote bags, gym bags, body bags, and class A designer bags. They have this rack full of class A Louis Vuitton (2,800-4,000php), Gucci (2,000-4,000php) and Dolce and Gabbana (2,000-4,000php) shoulder bags.

Click on image to enlarge.





The management has been strict when we went to the second floor of the establishment so I wasn’t able to take photos. Located upstairs are another hundred racks of ladies’ wear – dresses, blouses, skirts, pants, tank tops, and even gowns. They also have men’s pants, jackets, and caps upstairs. Prices range from as low as 50 pesos an item, up to 500 – it depends on the condition and brand of the piece.

Since I was running low on cash that day, I didn’t purchase either of the messenger bag or Dr. Martens I’ve been eyeing. But I’ll definitely go back after saving up enough money to buy either of the two, that is, of course, if the bag or the pair of shoes is still available.