Uniqlo is now one of my favorite brands. When I say brands I do mean brands and not just clothing…read morein particular. I mean, I love the fact that Uniqlo sells high quality stuff at extremely low prices. They make the expensive stuff very affordable. Uniqlo gives people what they're really looking for, value. Price is what we pay for. It's the money that leaves our pocket or wallet. Value is what we in turn receive and Uniqlo gives it in spades. I mean, damn, some of their products are made from supima cotton. It's some of the best fabrics on the planet. I'm no expert, but the fact that they're able to sell it at such a low price point is amazing to say the least. I walk into Uniqlo with a few thousand pesos and walk out rich in clothes. They have almost anything I could possibly be looking for. The fun thing about Uniqlo is that it's always like this massive store that feels more like a grocery store than a clothing store. You'll here someone say something over the mic about a special discount or what not. The Uniqlo in SM is by far my favorite since it's the biggest one among the lot.

Uniqlo is probably my favorite clothing brand right now. It's simple and minimalistic, with the…read morebasics that get you through every day in style. Their jeans are so comfortable and it's great how they're so stretchy. Also, their tees are great! The recent collections of their graphic tees include Star Wars, American Movie Characters, Pixar, and a whole lot of other neat, sleek designs. Their shirts really get you to breathe comfortably, and the cloth just feels so good that I even wear the nice shirts at home! Also, one of the more popular choices in Uniqlo for the college males are the Easy Shorts, and with all those different colors to choose from, it's not hard to see why we like to hoard as many as we can and wear them every day. They're just so comfy! Uniqlo is priced awfully okay for an international brand, and there are always some items on sale. Something completely underrated in Uniqlo: the socks. They're so cute, and some of the nice designs go as low as P90 per pair when they're on sale! They're such a steal.

I'm not very particular with the kind of comb I use because I'm blessed with thick hair and healthy…read morescalp. In fact, I still carry on my back pocket the cheap local brand of fine tooth comb that my dad gave me when I was still a teenager. But the case is different with my niece. She has extremely thin hair and quite a sensitive scalp to boot. No wonder she didn't like to have her hair combed. While prowling the shops in SM Megamall, I came across Hua Mulan, a kiosk selling high-quality handcrafted combs made from horn and wood. I inquired about their products and the staff at the counter told me about wood comb being gentle on the scalp. It helps prevent hair fall and is easy to use. Since the items at Hua Mulan are quite expensive, averaging around PHP 400.00 - PHP 500.00 each, I told the staff that I would return for a refund if the comb I bought didn't help with my niece's problem. The staff half-jokingly said yes. I actually went back to the kiosk after a few days, not to return the comb I bought for my niece but to buy three more as gifts for my sister, my mom, and my aunt who all had sensitive scalps.

When I was a kid one of the trends was to wear sandals. You were cool and trendy when you wore…read moreBirkenstock. Birkenstock was known for its durability and looks and for being a tad more expensive when compared to others of its kind. Wearing sandals was cool back then, it was sort of the middle line between a shoe and a slipper. Nowadays, people like to wear slippers in the form of flip flops or slippers that more resemble shoes than real slippers like Crocs. It's sad to see that this brand has fallen by the wayside in the face of new brands and trends. But alas, such is the result of time moving forward. I'm not sure whether this place still earns enough money or if they're starting to lose their market sharer to newer brands like Crocs. If and when it foes go, it will sorely be missed.

If you are in SM Aura Premier, the only place where you can buy medicine, even prescription…read moremedication, is Watsons Pharmacy. As a matter of fact, I think that this pharmacy pretty much has a monopoly inside every SM mall. Anyway, I can't complain. They usually have the medicines that I need and the pharmacists at the counter usually offer generic alternatives to branded meds. That means I usually save a lot when I buy from Watsons. Besides, they accept SM Advantage and BDO Rewards cards for rebates and payments. Thus, the more I buy from them, the bigger points I get. The actual pharmacy section of Watsons in SM Aura Premier occupies about a fifth of the outlet's total area. The bigger chunk of the shop is dedicated to cosmetics, hair accessories, and other beauty and personal hygiene products. Occasionally, they offer discounts and Buy One, Take One promos for toll-packed Watsons products. The last time I shopped, I was able to buy plenty of Watson-branded scented wet wipes for my nephew.

Watson's is one place I really love going to when I need toiletries or anything beauty and hygiene…read morerelated! It's the most convenient place to buy all these things. It's a one stop shop and it really saves a lot of time. They have a lot of brands to choose from as well. They have shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, moisturizer, deodorant, and even make up! If you're a girl, this would be a complete beauty haven! They even have hair related products like straightening irons, curling irons, and hair dryers! I think you don't even have to go to the department store to search for all these products in different places. It's all just here! No matter where I am in the country, I definitely look for Watson's when I forget to pack toiletries. They even have a pharmacy so you can purchase some medicine you'd need in case you get sick in the trip!

A big store with a lot of merchandise. This is where I get…read moremy Oat Milk and Almond Milk from. A recent discovery is their ready to drink Kombucha.

I used to avoid Healthy Options stores because I've always had the impression that everything here…read moreis pricey (and even personally called it "Wealthy Options"--I am very lower middle class, if you should know). Generally speaking, this place can seriously break your bank. But to my surprise, *some* products here aren't really that expensive, and reasonably priced, considering the good quality of their products and how ridiculously hard it is to find some of them elsewhere. For health nuts, vegans/vegetarians/people on plant-based diets, clean eaters, and virtually anyone who would like to switch to a more natural lifestyle while minimising the amount of chemicals in their food, personal products and so on, this place is very, very helpful in making that way of living possible and very convenient. There are a couple of products I head here for, such as: - Daiya cheese (non-dairy, vegan brand of cheese. EXCELLENT on pizza!) - Bob's Red Mill products (mostly raw ingredients like flours, grains, oats, etc.) - Nutritional Yeast (Red Star or Bragg - So far this is the only place I know where these are available) - Almond milk, rice milk - Apple Cider Vinegar - Witch Hazel facial toner - Jason Vitamin E Oil (so fragrant, and does wonders on the skin!) - Aztec Indian Healing Clay (super cleans all the clogged gunk on your face!) - Alba Organics tinted lip gloss/balm (great colours!) And this particular branch is the biggest one I've been to so far. It's spacious, well-lit, and they even have shopping carts here! Healthy Options also has an organic farm (no surprise there!), and fresh produce are available here. I am amazed at the quality of their oyster mushrooms. They're SO beautiful, plump, and fresh! So yes. Healthy Options: Good for you. Bad for your wallet.

Trusted pre order shop in Manila. I buy a lot off of Amazon and they will ship it for you. Plus…read morethey've got friendly staff

Don't mock the name! I have to be honest, when I first came across them, I doubted them because of…read morethe name but I was only buying a box of Twinkies, they can't really do much damage now can they? This was when Hostess and their products weren't available at SnR yet. We would pre order, pay half of the amount and then wait about a week or two for it to get here. At first they only had a couple of Hostess products, those spreads that people went cray over and some shoes like only a limited number and the pre picked size and kind. Since then I've built a relationship with Gr8tshops and they're one of the few online shippers you can trust. I say this because I'm a hard customer to please. I'm one of those who needs constant updates and proof of whatever. They send a screenshot of the online transaction (of what you ordered), pictures when it's arrived on their bodega and text you updates on when it might arrive. They did all that without me having to ask 'em to and that's some customer service right there. You can either have it shipped to your place, go to one of the meet up places or pick it up at the bodega in Cubao. We also had this instance where we ordered something from the U.S. and it arrived at their bodega a little damaged, the shoes had some sort of stain, upon closer examination. They could've sent the item and claim that it wasn't their job to return it but they did and when the new item came, it had a similar stain. By that point they offered to refund our money and send back the shoes but it was fine because the stain was barely visible and we really liked the shoes! You can be confident that you're in good hands with Gr8tshops!

Kultura Filipino is conveniently located in the Mall of Asia. The Mall of Asia gets a lot of…read moretourists each day (especially those who might be flying back home soon), so that was a brilliant idea to put this store inside the mall. Kultura Filipino has a wide variety of pasalubong (souvenirs) to bring back as gifts for loved ones or as keepsakes for yourself. The prices aren't the cheapest, in fact you can for sure find cheaper souvenirs elsewhere throughout the Philippines, however, the items here shouldn't break the bank (especially if you are on a budget). I for one like Kultura Filipino and their items due to the variety and the convenience, since I can make last-minute pasalubong purchases before going home. I look forward to visiting the store again on my next trip back to the Philippines.

For anyone coming to the Philippines and don't have time to go to other places for souvenir things,…read morethis is the store to go to! They have all the native items to buy from clothes including barong, shelled dishes to frames, pasol (lighted stars), jewelry to sweets. Very surprised there was a store like this in the SM Megamall (mega A side). I liked everything but only limited funds to buy a lot at the time for me. The prices of course is a little expensive here but if you have no time and still have to travel to get to the cheaper store, I would just buy from here. It's organized and clean. [121/100]

I don't know why, but my wife has a love affair with Bath & Bodyworks' hand sanitizers. She has a…read morepile of these things at home and every time she has extra money, she buys one or two more bottles at Vitamix, located at the second floor of Glorietta. Sometimes, when I head to my favorite comicbook place, she would ask to be left at the kiosk to take a look if they have new stocks of her favorite Warm Vanilla hand sanitizer. I understand her tendency to hoard these things because she does not only use them but she also gives them as gifts to family and friends. Just the other day, she again asked me to buy a couple of hand sanitizers from Vitamix. When I went there, I realized that the kiosk doesn't only sell hand sanitizers. They actually have other Bath & Bodyworks items such as lotions, colognes, and hand soaps. The funny thing is all these beauty products aren't even their main business. I didn't notice it before, but their bread and butter items are actually imported herbal supplements and multivitamins. Now I know why they are called Vitamix.

I went with a friend of mine once in this place called Vitamix because my friend wanted to get a…read morespecial kind of supplement he needs to take alongside with him constantly working out. I got dragged to go here and well in this place you will see a long of products that are of herbal foundation (meaning they are all healthy herbal supplements). They are definitely all imported products and for the ones who go here regularly it is not pricey but for someone like me, I found it to be pricey. As from the herbal supplements, I notice they have a lot of Bath and Bodyworks products like body sprays, hand sanitizers, hand soaps and lotions. If I went here during my phase of hoarding Bath and Bodyworks products (years ago), this place would be my best friend! You know what I find a bit weird? They have bread and butter products which is so far from the beauty and healthy products! Overall though, this place could help you especially if you are into herbal medications.

This is one of the few online shopping and shipping company that I trust with my $$$. Now, it took…read moreme a while to order at US2MNL because of their long list of requirement but they only need that to make sure they're ordering the right product in your behalf. At that time they only had one shipping option in which you'd have to wait about 2 months before your package arrives. I know that might not seem like much time but for someone who has internet trust issues, that's super long. For example, you order something that's worth 10k, you'd have to pay about half that which is 5k and wait for two months to know if your order's coming or if you've been duped 5k. Thankfully there were a lot of good reviews on their page already and I was sort of at ease because I think they had an idea on what I was going through. I was messaged the moment my order arrive and I picked it up hassle free. You could also opt to have it shipped to your location but their bodega was near where I was at that time. You can be sure about US2MNL and know that your orders are safe. Oh and they have air freight now which arrives in half the time!