Manila Shopaholic

It has been such a busy day at work. Well actually the whole week has been UBER busy with a lot of things to do, issues to resolve, meetings to attend, etc., etc., etc. However, the weird thing is, this week has been SUPER fast. As compared to last week when I was in Shanghai. So weird. And they say, time flies when you’re having fun? I beg to disagree. Time flies when you’re just busy. Period.

BIG DEALS

I received an email from a person who works for this company, BIGDEALS. It’s again one of those group buying sites but this time around, this company is established in Pampanga. Which is pretty cool! Way to go, Pampangenos!

The people behind BigDeals are a group of entrepreneurs composed of engineers, software developers, and marketing professionals. They launched BigDeals last September 2011.

Basically, it works just like any other group buying sites. I’m pretty sure a lot of you guys are familiar with that.

Checking Out The Site

Of course, I had to check out their site (http://www.bigdeals.com.ph/) and here are some of the deals that they have currently:

Azucar: Unlimited Illy Brewed Coffee and Unlimited Cakes, Breads and Pastries for only PHP120

Comments: This looks pretty interested except that I haven’t been here yet. It’s at Wilson in San Juan City. I’m pretty sure one of the food bloggers out there should try and review this!

Be Amazed for 3D/2N Holy Week Vacation Package at HK with Free Macau Day tour for only PHP 17,848 instead of PHP29,747

Comments: GREAT DEAL! J I want to go to HK however during these dates I wont be here in Manila, I’ll be in Shanghai! WOOHOO for me. But note to self, must plan a trip to Hong Kong next year.

Avail 45% off on 8 in 1 Screwdriver with built-in led light (FREE DELIVERY WITHIN METRO MANILA ONLY)

Comments: This should be a great gift for guys! You can already buy stuff and stock it up for Christmas! It’s never too early to start your Christmas shopping because when Christmas comes along, I am pretty sure that you won’t know what to get your guy friends! I have that problem year in and year out.

Have fun in the sands for 3D/2N Holy Week Boracay Barkada package with Airfare + Accommodation and more

Comments: Saw my comment in the first bullet? Well, this is exactly the same way I feel about this. I haven’t gone to Boracay for the past 6 years! And have not had any summer vacation since 2010. Next year, I wish to see the sun and the beach and feel the heat instead of having a super cold year!

Avail 59% off on an amazing shoe rack (Free Delivery Within Metro Manila)

Comments: I need this. NUFF said. I’m pretty sure all of you shoe fanatics out there would love to have this!!

Explore Singapore for only PHP 14,998 instead of PHP23,798 for 3D/2N with hotel accommodation + airfare + City Tour and more

Comments: Cool! I love Singapore and I love shoe shopping in Singapore! I hope (and I hope I won’t jinx it that I’d be able to go back there this year. Pray, pray, pray.

Enjoy Puerto Princesa for only PHP7,688 instead of 12,813 for 3D/2N with hotel accommodation + airfare + underground river and more

Comments: I haven’t been to Puerto Princesa and I know that someday I will go. This is one place we should all go to because of the underground river. I heard in the news before that it’s so hard to go there now because of all the media mileage that it got before when it was part of the roster for the wonders of the world.

To Summarize It…

I love group buying sites and I have to admit that at one point in my life I was soo addicted to it that when you review my credit card bill most of the items there came from the group buying sites. SO BEWARE! Buying from these sites CAN be addicting.

I guess for me, the most “sulit” deals would be the travel deals however, you can’t really rely on what I say because I have to admit that I haven’t purchased any deals yet with regard to travel. BUT, I have purchased a lot of deals already that would require shipping. 90% of the time, it was reliable and all. Actually, there was just ONE instance that really disappointed me – when I ordered a Longchamp bag from Cash Cash Pinoy last December. From that time on, I really kind of stopped buying already but not totally.

But seriously, when used in a good way, these group buying sites would really give you a good deal. I guess here are some of the tips that I would have for you:

Always make sure that when you buy, it’s something that you need instead of something that you want
Buy based on your personality, let’s say you’re a travel – then the travel deals are best for you
Buy only those coupons that you know you’re going to use and not PLAN to use. For instance, I go to this mall a lot, if I buy a coupon for a restaurant in that mall, then I’m pretty sure that I would be able to use it because I’m always there as opposed to buying a coupon from a restaurant that’s located in a place that I’m not usually in

That’s all for now. And for my parting words – YAY! IT’S OFFICIALLY FRIDAY!

As Manila Shopaholic, one thing that really excites me is my passion for shopping and going to the mall. This passion has been the root and the reason behind why I started Manila Shopaholic. I know that last year, I wasn’t able to blog as much because of work. Yes, I do work and apparently, I figured out that I do love my day-job (no matter how difficult it has been for me).

2011 was a difficult time for me because I had to leave my comfort zone – the team that I used to work with. I had to leave the familiarity and start anew. I have given up this comfort zone to be able to go out, explore the world and explore other things that are there for me.

Yes, in fact, I was able to explore Europe. But with this, I also gave up a lot of things. I gave up my routine of living a healthy lifestyle (I work from the afternoon until late at night – sometimes, until the wee hours of the morning). I gave up hanging out with friends because there are time when my schedule would not match their or sometimes, because I’m just too busy. I gave up my accessibility to the mall because the location that I work in does not really have a mall accessible to it. I lost my personal life as well because I was just too busy and I wasn’t able to determine that something was wrong.

To augment everything and everything that I felt, I built a small business which made me happy – Mis Cosas. Through that I was able to life up my mood. Remembered how it felt like to be excited once again. It also allowed me to show my creativity and passion for colors and a colorful life.

Looking back, I realized that there are 3 important things to me:

1.) To make sure that everything is finished and everything is finished on time

2.) To make people happy – yes, I am a people-pleaser (sometimes to a bad-extent)

3.) To Laugh! To enjoy life!

Last year also, I realized that there are just some values that are non-negotiable for me:

1.) Courage – to be strong in the face of pain or grief

2.) Faith – to completely trust and put all of your confidence in God

3.) Honesty – to be upright and fair at all cost

4.) Integrity – to be consistent in actions, values, principles, expectations and outcomes

5.) Loyalty – to be devoted to something or someone

6.) Trust – to be able to rely on someone or something

Yep, I, Manila Shopaholic am a person to and these are the core values that I hold dear to my heart. I am proud of this and I am proud that I work hard to make sure that I uphold all of these.

What about you? What are your thoughts of 2011 and what do you think would you still hold dear this 2012?

Next up is Island Girl Accessories. It’s such as small, small world. We, my sister and I, found out that the one who owns Island Girl Accessories is actually a friend of my sister from college, Jan. According to her, they have this business for quite some time already but they just primarily sold in Boracay. Now, they want to boost the market and make it known to people that materials here in the Philippines can be made into such beautiful accessories. Check out their site here: http://islandgirlph.com/.

Island Girl

Island Girl 2

Here’s a closer look on the stuff that they had during the bazaar.

Travel Essentials. The ever so reliable suki of my mom when it comes to Christmas. Now, they have slipper bags, shoe bags, laundry bag, wet and dry bag, gym bag. Check out their website here: http://www.travelessentials.info/

Travel Essentials

Erzulie. My dear girls who have always believed the whatever size or shape you are, you’re still bautiful. Beautiful people with good hearts. This is probably why you’re soo blessed with a booming business and a fashion show at that! If you’re interested to come, check out this event here. For more information about Erzullie, check out this link.

Erzullie

Jewelled Bags. It’s not everyday that we go to formal events and make “porma” to the nines. But when that day comes, I have to admit that one thing that I really scramble on and look for is a nice bag that would definitely fit my outfit OR MAKE the outfit. So, it’s a good idea to stock up on nice evening bags – jeweled at that. Check out this link and be enticed! Yes, it’s a bit expensive but if you want to make a statement – who cares about the price?

Jewelled Bags

Bags In The City. I have a confession to make. Whenever we would go to the vet before (Vet in Practice – during the time when they were still in their old spot), I’d always drop by the shop of Bags in the City. I didn’t get anything but I just LOVED looking at their stuff. There were soo many different kinds of bags in soo many different colors that it would make it difficult for me to pick one. I wanted everything. Also, they have little pouches that you can give away for Christmas. Check out their site here.

Bags in the City

WHAT_IF Products by Ti&Me Co. These cubes which I first saw at this bazaar can be used for anything. You can use them for games, learning stuff, door stoppers or neck support. They’re cute and they’re unique. It’s a nice-to-have thing and something that you can give as a gift. Check out their site here.

What If

YourUnik Xchange. The exploding box is the new greeting card. Well, that would be in my book. If you’re the lovey-dovey person and you like giving creative gifts to your special someone, well, I would DEFINITELY recommend this. When you give it, it’s just a box tied with a ribbon. When you open it, there are a lot of different papers where you can place a lot of pictures or any other materials that you can place. In the middle there could be something that would capture the whole idea of the box.

Unik Xchange

Farah Abu Accessories. My favorite accessory-maker is still making waves. What more can I say! J Check out this link to know where she will be next.

Farah Abu

DAS (warning: these shoes can kill!). Oh, definitely. Fall down, break or leg or neck but still have the shoes that everyone in the room would kill for. Unfortunately, it’s you. I envy those girls who can walk in high-heels. Can anyone send me a link of a seminar where I would learn how to walk on these kinds of shoes?

DAS Shoes

More pictures on part 3. :)

I, a certified and self-confessed shopaholic, have come to the conclusion, that the one thing that I truly need in my bag all the time would be a shopping bag or a reusable bag or a grocery bag or whatever you want to call it. Since 2009, when my eyes were opened to the use of these items, I’ve always had one in my bag. Whether it would be accompanying my mom to the grocery or just going on a shopping spree where I would find it such a hassle to bring a lot of different bags. I just stuff everything in my reusable bag and I’m good-to-go.

Mis Cosas Reds

Another instance that I found extreme use for it was when I was in France. I was there for 3 long months and to help me survive, I had to go to the grocery and cook my own food. Unlike here in the Philippines, there were no baggers (bag boys who’d help you pack the things that you shopped for), there were no readily available plastic bags – except for some groceries, and to top it all, you’d have to pay for one plastic bag or a reusable bag.

Mis Cosas yellows

Good thing when I was packing my things, I brought 2 reusable bags. One I was thinking of using as a pseudo laptop bag (we did that even here in the Philippines) and the other one was just an extra one (just in case I needed another one). Needless to say, I definitely saved a penny or two but with the high conversion rate, I obviously saved a couple of hundreds.

Mis Cosas Green

When I got back to Manila, I really wanted to start a business and I wanted it to be something in connection to something that I truly loved. I obviously loved bags and light-weight bags and I wanted something like Longchamp or Le Sportsac. (Trivia: Did you know that the Longchamp Le Pliage bag that everyone is raving about was originally designed to be a shopping bag?) And I obviously loved shopping (hence the name of the blog). And then came the birth of Mis Cosas.

Mis Cosas Bags with Kinney

Mis Cosas.

Mis Cosas is the Spanish term for “My Stuff” or “My Things”. I envisioned Mis Cosas to be a collection of all the favorite things that I have or all the favorite things that I’d like to have.

Mis Cosas Blues

For the first product of Mis Cosas, the Crayola Carry Alls, I wanted something in different colors (17 colors to be exact) and lightweight. The concept of the reusable bag was brought about the need for us, people who live in Pasig, to always bring a bag whenever we would go to the grocery. A couple of months back, they have already banned plastic bags here and as a result, they would use brown paper bags – which I think is also totally not good for the environment because they be chopping more trees to produce these bags.

Mis Cosas Browns

Because of this need, and because of the future need (the anti-plastic bag law will be implemented all over the Philippines in January), I decided that it was time for a Filipino to come up with a line catering to the reusable bags. I know that there are already some in the market but I needed something in different colors and something that would not clash too much with your outfit (ang arte, bow).

Model 4 Bags Smile

Crayola Carry Alls.

The Crayola Carry Alls look like the typical plastic bag. You know it’s called the t-shirt shirt bag because it looks like a t-shirt. Well, actually, a sando. I decided to come out with different colors of it because as I said, sometimes, the reusable bags that I have would clash with my outfit (and most of the bags out there are in printed fabric). Let’s say, there are times when I’m wearing blue and then I have a bag in khaki and green, it would really look a bit off. (Don’t you think so??)

Model 4 Bags v2 Web

In addition to that, I designed for it to be this way as well because not only can you use this when you go to grocery. You can also use this when you go to the beach. You go to school and you have lots of folders or books to carry. You go to the mall (Rockwell) and you want to be “fasyon”. There are even some people who actually use this as a bag – going to the parlor, going to a family member’s house, etc.

Model Brown Bag

But going down to the basics of why it was created, I decided for it to be big enough to hold around 2-3 plastic bags full of grocery items and strong enough to hold heavy load. I for one tested here at home and put 18.5lbs of weights inside the bag and hung it around on our gate for 6 hours and it didn’t break. YAY!

Model Purple Bag

The bag itself has the following dimensions – 15″ high x 25″ wide x 6″ deep. It folds into a 6” x 6” pouch with a 7” diameter wristlet which you can hang around the handle of the bag (so you won’t lose it). You can stuff coins, papers or whatever you want in the bag so that it wont get lost.

It’s made out of Ripstop Diamond Taffetta. You won’t see it in the pictures but when you look closely, there are tiny diamonds in the fabric. I made a little research about ripstop and it seems that these are woven fabrics made out of nylon and when weaving them, a special reinforcing technique is used that makes them resistant to tearing and ripping. This is the primary material used in a paraglider or in hot air balloons. So imagine how durable it is.

The Price. Currently, it is being sold at PHP250 each and if you buy 4, I can give it to you for PHP900. It’s the perfect gift this Christmas season because not only will the recipient use it but you will always be remembered because they will keep on using it!

How to buy?

You can go to our online shop: http://miscosasonline.com or you can contact us via their Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/MisCosasOnline. If you prefer to email me, please email me at miscosas888@gmail.com.

Let’s be eco friendly this Christmas!

Comments and suggestions are welcome; please don’t hesitate to post them!

Love,

Manila Shopaholic

Check out more pictures here:

P.S. Thanks to EJ Arboleda for all of the pictures, Ginger Palma-Arboleda for the make-up and the Model Rachel Perez. :)

Being a Filipino brand, it’s only fitting that they design something truly Filipino as well. And when it comes to Filipino Design, we can say that Team Manila is one of the best. TIMBRE and Team Manila take part to create the first ever design of Timbre.

Timbre Branding Poster

When you are asked, what does Filipino Music look like?

One of the truly Filipino icon of music here in the Philippines is the Gitara (Guitar). Hence, it’s not surprise that for the launching product of TIMBRE, they have chosen the GITARA to represent Filipino music.

TIMBRE GITARA headphones design.

On the left, the old-school guitar etch design can be seen. It will have the iconic sun of the Philippines and the 3 stars of the Philippine Flag which represents Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. You can also see diagonal lines that symbolize the guitar strings which the statement “TIMBRE X TEAM MANILA JAMMING”.

On thee right, you will now see the new-age guitar etch design on the earpiece. There will be 6 strings which represent the guitar even more. The iconic sun of the Philippine flag will also make an appearance on this side. The advocacy statement will be this – “SUPPORT LOKAL MUSIC”.

Currently, there are 2 colors to choose from. One is white and one is black. The white one will have the Gold-Grey-Charcoal colors defining the different elements of the headphones. On the other hand, the black one will have a gold-tan-brick combination.

So choose your poison. :)

Technical Specifications.

I know that you guys out there will probably be a little more techie than me and would want to know the specs of this. Well here it is:

Loudhailer: 40 mm (Diameter)
Frequency Range: 20-20,000 MHz
Sensitivity: 110 dB
Impedance: 32 Ohm S.P.L. (at 1 KHz)
Plug (mm): 3.5 mm stereo
Cable Length: ~1.5 m
Accessory: Volume Control

Interested? I do believe that they are already accepting advanced orders. You can check out their website. http://www.timbreheadphones.com

Check out more pictures below:

When you talk about timbre, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Well, for me it’s the quality of sound or tone. I have to admit though. I’m not a very musical person – that is, I can’t carry a tune. But I definitely love music. I love hearing sounds, listening to songs, etc.

But to other people, music is art. For me personally, art is equivalent to colors. To musically inclined people when you ask them to listen to something, they literally see colors. Just like how I see colors in clothes, bags, and shoes.

To them, different kinds of music are equivalent to different colors.

Have you ever heard of color synesthesia? Well, I have. Thanks to my very nerdy brother-in-law. It’s actually a very rare condition in which an individual associates anything with colors. Well, there’s this new and upcoming company named – Timbre who believes that there’s a bit of a synaesthete in everyone.

This company that I am talking about has come up with a new kind of art that I’m pretty sure music lovers will surely love – headphone art. With all of these new and attractive headphones in the market, I’m pretty sure this one will truly be a cool addition to your list.

They have come up with headphones that will be representing something. It could be something very personal to you because it could be the genre that you love, the artist that you love, places, periods or even generations of music.

They have actually come up with a new term for this – visual audio. And you know, what’s cooler – a FILIPINO thought of this. Who would’ve thought that we would have our own brand of headphones?

Currently, that’s all that I can share. I want you guys to stay tuned for more information about this very new and upcoming brand – TIMBRE.

If you want to see their site, check out this link: www.timbreheadphones.com