where the moon shines

Sorry, I’m not over my bag craziness just yet

I blame our client/guest for getting me bag crazy again, lol. Well no it’s not her fault really. Just before they arrived I had already seen this Coach bag that I so want to own. It’s an original and over 200 dollars. So anyway, I happened to notice the client’s bag, it was Coach and surely it was an original so I commented on it. That’s how we learned that we both had a thing for bags, and the trip to Greenhills that weekend was sealed.

Apart from buying pearls, she got bags and boy was she able to get a good bargain. She commented that she doesn’t want to use her bags here anymore because people would think it’s not an original. I think she was shocked that there were so many replicas available, and good quality ones too. I saw several ones that I really liked. I think the bags at Greenhills have moved up a notch. They’re knockoffs but if they just remove the brand and sell them as their own brands, I’d love to buy. What I mean is that I’m not for the brand but rather the look and the feel of the bag. There’s this particularly simple leather tote that I really wanted but I was surprised that they were selling it for over a hundred dollars. I would do a double take for a knockoff that costs 5k. I saw the original Chanel in the Michka stall in the Promenade Mall and it costs a hundred thousand pesos if I remember correctly! You know what? The knockoff version actually looked better. But I still don’t want to spend that much money on the knockoff Chanel.

I’d rather spend my money on an Epiphanie. 

My phone’s memory has been saying that a lot lately. I’m not sure exactly how big, but 8mp pictures take up a lot of space and my phone’s built in storage just can’t handle more of them. I keep on deleting older photos but I just can’t say goodbye to all of them, eventhough I’d already copied them onto my PC hard drive. The solution, I know, is to get a micro sd to expand the storage capacity. I just keep forgetting to buy one. Tsk.

Apart from my phone complaining, today my tummy complained twice too – I’m too full! First while having a meal with the SME’s and Boden (the core SMEs went to Mister Kebab and they got us Keema with eggplant and rice with butter!). Just as I was finihing up, I felt like I couldn’t eat another bite! Lol.

Second time was over our late lunch at Savory in Greenhills. I didn’t eat all the rice I had just so I could finish my chicken and have another crispy stuffed shrimp. As if I didn’t feel heavy enough, I sipped on the juice drink they sent us home with, toinks. By the time we had checked out all the beautiful bags, I could feel liquid going around my tummy while I walked! Haha.

Speaking of bags, I spied two bags that I really liked. One was too expensive but really classy, the other was in violet and could be used as a camera bag without the special partitions. I exercised restraint just like our guest did today, and walked away…

But I’m still dreaming of getting an Epiphanie Bag…

I am surprised that I have not mentioned these bags before here.

Ginger (click the picture and check her out at their shop)

I found them awhile bag, ugh back, through Shutter Sisters, if I remember correctly. Epiphanie Bags is a line of camera bags with women in mind. Women like me who would rather have all her things in one bag with her camera than tote a separate bulky camera bag.

They’re not cheap though. Definitely not. But I still want one. I would definitely spend for either one of them over a genuine Coach bag; and an Epiphanie bag costs less too! 

Problem is, I don’t want to spend that much money now. So I’ll wait. What for I’m not sure. I have enough on my Paypal to cover one bag actually… Another problem is that I’m not sure if they would be delivered without customs charging me an enormous fee, you know? That’s the hazard of ordering in from the US I could have it delivered to a friend or relative in the US again and wait until there’s a chance to have it shipped here but I haven’t really thought about it that much…

Really, I haven’t.

Lola (collage of photos from their website)

Sheesh, I really want an Epiphanie Bag. Or a Jill-E, but I’ll talk about that other line more some other time…

As in any prolonged absence from the blog (last post here was 11/26, is 8 days considered a prolonged absence?), I have accumulated quite a trove of photos and fond memories that go along with each. Just as much as I am excited to tell them stories, I am also anxious about keeping my photos safe. I should seriously consider my online backup options and I’ve narrowed it down to two choices: Carbonite orMozy. It’s just that I need to use my CC for this and I don’t want to do that at this time.

Oh well. I just pray that my PC remains healthy until January…

Anyway, let me start with what this post at my photo blog was all about although those who are also collecting the stickers would already know about it

I started collecting the Starbucks stickers a few days after their Christmas  promo started in early November. The quest for the planner definitely ruined my plans of losing weight before the holidays, as you can see here, but it is now over. I can stay away from expensive coffee until next year!

Don’t you just love the packaging? Definitely better than the plastic that the other year’s planner came in. My brother threw it away already though.

This is the design I chose. There are three available, all different covers with their own textures too. I love the soft velvety feel to this one.

And look at that marker? Isn’t it cute?

And of course the big bonus is the 3000 wishes granted by supporting this promo

I had another wish granted early. Alfred decided to get me the bag I had wanted for Christmas. So December has just started, and I’ve received my first Christmas present for this year (I wonder if I’ll be receiving more gifts?).

We went to the mall because he wanted to checkout something, then I also wanted to checkout the bag. He promised that if it was something he could afford, he’d buy it for me as a gift. They didn’t have the bags at the Trinoma branch of All Flip Flops, so we went to Megamall the next day. And it was right there on display. It was huge, a lot bigger than I expected. But I also knew that I really really wanted to have it.

I initially wanted to get the blue/brown in the middle, but Alfred preferred the yellow/grey combination. had the pink been available though, I’d have loved to take that but there are so far only two available colors. To be honest, once we found out how much it cost, we left the store to take some time to think it over. I really wanted to have it, and thought about splitting the cost of the bag with the boyfriend. Then I thought, it’s way too expensive.

Eventually though, Alfred decided to just buy it for me, as long as I really wanted it. And I really did. And I love him so much.

Having been to Greenhills three times in the past seven days (to have the PlayStation 2 serviced, or to return defective game discs, etc.) an idea came to me while we were on the cab home. We had just passed by a truck collecting dry garbage and I was going to comment on how neat and orderly it actually looked. Seriously. It didn’t look dirty and I doubt if it was all too smelly either. On the side of the truck, there was a huge sign about the garbage collector being a member of an organization of contractors in the Litex-Payatas dumpsite.

Immediately as my brain was processing that thought, another idea fired through – malls should have their own waste programs and recycling facilities. They can help save the planet, and still generate additional income for themselves. How much waste do you think is accumulated in Greenhills each and every day, specially during the holiday season? How about in the chain of SM and Robinson’s Malls?

I think that if they were really committed to doing their part in the fight to counter pollution and global warming, then they should put their money where their mouths are and invest on their own recycling facilities.

I mean, people troop to malls every weekend. We go during weekdays and there are still a lot of people there. So business is always on the up and up, from my point of view. They keep on renovating, to accommodate more shops. Then in recent years, we’ve seen more malls go the Ayala mall way of having Pay Lounges where you need to cough up ten pesos to use their well maintained American Standard toilets.  I actually like the concept. The restrooms are clean, and they smell wonderful. There’s always tissue, and soap, and even powder and hand lotion. But hey, I’ve gone so out of topic here…

So really, don’t you agree that the big malls should invest on their own recycling facilities? Or better yet, there should be legislation around this area. So that anyone in the business of malls, depending on some criteria (income, number of shops, etc.) should also submit an environmental plan then government and NGOs should monitor its implementation.

Just a though.