Philippines: Bargain shopping in Manila; Paseo de Santa Rosa & Solenad

Date: May 10th 2014

Being really hot during the day, I decided to step out only at around 2pm.

Cheese flavour KFC rice meal — I began my outing by having a KFC lunch. The outlet I sat at had cheddar cheese coated KFC. It was bleh! It’s basically the same artificial coating you find on cheese balls crisps but now on KFC. The meal cost ₱99.

Ladies train MRT Manila — I then went to Ayala to withdraw some money from Citibank branch there

After withdrawing some money, I walked around the area (very posh, mind you). Lots of malls and office buildings.

Asian Institute of Management Manila — Asian Institute of Management — it’s one of the top-ranked B-schools in Asia

Comic Sale Central Greenbelt mall Manila — I entered Greenbelt 5 mall, which is just one of many malls under the Greenbelt name in the area

Greenbelt mall Makati Manila — This is Greenbelt 3, the posh mall with all the really high-end brands

Naruto t-shirts Robinsons Manila — I spent some time at the SM department store picking up some t-shirts for my younger brother. SM has official merchandise from popular anime like Naruto, One Piece and other cartoons. Pretty cheap too, t-shirts can be found ranging from ₱99 all the way up to ₱399.

After that, I went to Carriedo (LRT station) where SM has a clearance mall

SM Clearance mall Carriedo Manila — I had seen this building from taking the LRT, figured I would check it out

I found some great bargains inside. Besides a bunch of in-store brands by SM, they had a few name brands and foreign brands in short supply (maybe export rejects). None the less, I found H&M cargo shorts for ₱400. Definitely export-reject-worthy Rip Curl swimming shorts for ₱200. And then some bermuda shorts for like ₱100 each. Not everything was cheap, but then again, coming from India, I wasn’t planning on buying many clothes from Philippines anyway.

One thing I found funny was just how many sales persons are there to sell you socks. Like, super-aggressive when it comes to shoving socks in your face. Think perfume sales people offering a spray to get you talking to them — but a lot more of them selling packs of socks! High margin socks I presume?

Carriedo street market Manila — Outside, Carriedo is home to a rather large street market

Carriedo market Manila Philippines — I walked through Carriedo market

Carriedo street market clothes Manila — It’s mostly clothes, but you get everything from toys to proper food market later on

Carriedo street market Quiapo Manila — Carriedo seemed to have a historical charm to to it

Quiapo church Carriedo Manila — I ended up walking till this church

Quiapo church Carriedo Manila Philippines — This is Quiapo church

Quiapo market Carriedo Manila — I walked around some more

Quiapo market Manila Philippines — Turns out Quiapo and Carriedo used to be the financial hub of Manila in the 1960s

Carriedo street market vegetables Manila — Now I was in the fresh market area

Pulses dried fish Carriedo market Manila — Dried fish and pulses

Prawns vegetables Carriedo market Manila — White prawns on sale. That’s the cost per plate.

Carriedo street market stalls Manila — I left Carriedo

Divisoria Night Market entrance Manila — And made my way to Divisoria

Manila textile market 999 mall Manila — Fortunately no rains today

Central prime block Divisoria Manila — You have some older shopping centers here

168 mall residence building Divisoria Manila — I made my way to 168 Mall

Anime comics toy store 168 Mall Manila — On the ground floor I stumbled upon this toy shop. They had a whole lot of Naruto and One Piece figures that looked, really good for just ₱100-₱300. I bought a set of 4 characters for just ₱150 (after bargaining).

Naruto figurines Sasuke model — These are the figurines I bought (photo taken at my brother’s place once I got back)

Toy store 168 mall Manila — There are other stores just like that at 168 Mall, selling anime and pop culture merchandise

168 mall food court Manila — After doing some shopping, I went up to the food court

MC 168 toy shop anime comics Manila — I decided to check this store out. They had all sorts of figurines and mecha toys. I picked up a One Piece Luffy hat for ₱230 from this store.

Mecha toys K-pop posters Manila — They got some good stuff, and you can bargain too

Seohyun computer parts Manila — SNSD’s Seohyun unofficially hawking electronics

Wedding dresses floor 168 Mall Manila — The basement has an entire section devoted to wedding gowns and other dresses

Rufo's tapa meal Manila Philippines — On the way back to the hostel, I had dinner at Rufo’s, an eatery famous for its Tapa meal. This is it: beef curry, garlic rice and egg. I would have liked it… had the gravy/sauce not been a tad sweet.

Date: May 11th 2014

Today, I decided to go to Paseo de Santa Rosa, in Laguna. Paseo de Santa Rosa is where you have a lot of outlet stores of famous brands. Being a keen bargain seeker, I figured I would check it out.

Jacliner bus movie Manila — You can hop on buses going to Laguna, but tell them you need to go to Paseo de Sta. Rosa. I boarded a JAC Liner going to Sta. Rosa, Laguna, from their Buendia Terminal (near Gil Puyat LRT). The ticket cost ₱61.

Coca Cola factory Laguna Philippines — Where you get dropped is at an T-junction near the Coca Cola bottling plant. From here, you have to then take a tricycle taxi to Paseo de Sta. Rosa.

Coca Cola intersection taxis Laguna — I boarded one and it was short ride that cost ₱10

Paseo de Sta Rosa outlet shops Laguna Philippines — Although there is more than one mall housing outlet stores, the famous one is Paseo Greenfield City

Adidas Starbucks Speedo outlet stores Paseo De Santa Rosa — I mainly came here because I read online that Zara had an outlet store here

Skechers Giordano outlet stores Paseo De Santa Rosa Laguna — You have a whole host of brands here: Skechers, Giordano, Adidas…

Toby's Crocs National Book Store outlet branches Paseo De Santa Rosa — Tobys, Crocs, National Book Store…

Marks & Spencer outlet store Paseo de Santa Rosa Philippines — Marks & Spencer, Timberland…

Nine West Aerosoles Paseo de Santa Rosa outlets Laguna — Nine West, Aerosoles, Payless Shoesource…

Nike Mizuno Gforce factory outlet stores — Nike, Mizuno, G-force…

The Outlet GAP Banana Republic Paseo de Sta. Rosa — But as I looked and asked all around for the Zara outlet store, most people were clueless about its existence. A few pointed to this store, which also sold GAP and Banana Republic. I found that quite a few of the clothes had their tags removed, so you couldn’t make out it was Zara or not.

Kawasaki pro shop Laguna Philippines — Disappointed, I decided to leave Paseo after an hour of checking out the stores

Pasta fish fillet Spaghetti House — I had a quick lunch at The Spaghetti House. This was a bland fish fillet pasta meal that cost ₱275 (with beer)

Paseo De Santa Rosa mall stores Laguna — I had scanned all the shops and made a note of what I wanted to buy — I wasn’t going to yet

Dockers Levi's Adidas stores Paseo Laguna — I would come back later

Paseo de Santa Rosa outlet mall Laguna — I left Paseo and took a tricycle taxi to the other major outlet mall…

Solenad 2 outlet mall — Solenad 2 in Nuvali

Aldo liquidation store Solenad2 Laguna — You have more brands here

Asics The Optical Shop Hafelle outlet shops — There was an Asics store to the left, The Optical Shop and Hafelle to the right. Solenad2 welcomes cyclists too.

Vans Rox Republic outlet store Laguna — You have Vans and a lot of other shoe wear brands inside

Bratpack Sebago Hush Puppies Laguna outlet — The prices were definitely on the higher side at Solenad 2

Gerry's grill Solenad2 Laguna Philippines — You have a Gerry’s grill out here

Solendad Laguna Philippines — After checking out Solenad2 and finding nothing I wanted to buy, I walked to Solenad1… just like that.

Solenad business park Convergys Laguna — Convergys has an office here. Solenad1 seems to be more of a business park. And then I spotted something in the water.

Lots of Koi fish lake Philippines — It was koi fish… like thousands of them!

Koi fish feeding pond Solenad Laguna — People were throwing feed and the koi fish were jumping out of the water to catch them… which was kind of sad

Koi fish pond Laguna Philippines — Still… quite a sight

After walking around Solenad, I went back back to Paseo de Sta. Rosa. I ended up buying the stuff I wanted from the Giordano store. A slim fit suit jacket for just ₱1000 (₹1300/$22/€17), a pair of white pants for just ₱400 (₹540/$8/€7), and a pair of nice denims for ₱600 (₹800/$13/€10). Considering the brand and the quality, I’d say the bargain was worth coming this far.

Puregold supermarket Laguna Philippines — Once I was done with my shopping, I took a jeepney back to Sta. Rosa town

Jac Liner buses Laguna Philippines — I found the Jac Liner bus terminal and boarded the bus going back to Buendia

So is it really worth it going all the way to Paseo for shopping? Depends really. There sure are some neat bargains to be found, especially on shoes. For example, a pair of Adidas basketball shoes that I saw back in Manila for around ₱3500+ was available for ₱2200 at Paseo! That’s more than ₱1000 in savings, which more than covers your bus expenses going to Paseo and back. Still, I’d say Paseo de Santa Rosa and Solenad 2 are at least worth checking out.