Flip-flops

Three weeks ago, A and I spent an insane amount of money in less than an hour of shopping. Let me set this straight ----I am far from being a shopaholic. In fact, I am one of those few women in this world who totally abhor shopping. I hate, really hate the looking part. When I want to buy something, I want to find it on my first stop. Of course, this probably happens once in years, when luck is purely on my side. My sister was my personal shopper when I was still living in Cebu. She actually likes going around the mall for this quest of finding the items. (Can you believe it? And she’s my sister!) Anyway, living in Prague means having no Botong to do it for me. A shares the same sentiment about shopping, maybe that’s why it’s a disaster when we have to do it ourselves.

Springtime means almost summertime clothes. Almost because you still have to wear light jackets or sweaters to keep you from turning blue from the chilly wind, especially in the morning when I go to school. This is a problem because except for one or two jackets, I only have summer clothes from the Philippines. A, being an ever supportive (and sometimes patronizing, he-he) husband, tagged me to Centrum Chodov to update my wardrobe.

Some update it was! We spent several thousands just for a shirt and sunglasses for me, a pair of jeans for him, in record time. I didn’t feel like eating afterwards.

It was my fault. I chose quite expensive brands because I believe they last longer so I won’t have to go shopping again soon. Then again I have to sound defensive by saying everything is so expensive here anyway. The same brands won’t even cost half of what we spent if we bought them in the Philippines. Here in Prague, one tiny skirt equals to a luggage full of ukay-ukay from Baguio. Sigh. I miss Baguio. I miss Carbon in Cebu, too, where I used to buy UKay clothes for P20 a piece. The prices were so dirt cheap I didn't mind the “looking" part at all. :)

Thank goodness, alternative shops actually exist in this country. Hail to the Vietnamese businesspeople here! Below are some of the stalls owned by them in Brno. The only downside is the fact that haggling is unheard of in this side of the world. Nevermind, you are already guaranteed of much cheaper prices when you visit this place.


Last week I realized I needed some flip-flops badly but I was traumatized from that shopping spree I was talking about. Then I remembered seeing some relatively cheap and really good stuff on the stalls near Brno’s main station. Brno is actually 3 hours by train from Prague but my in-laws live in a town very near this city. We visited them last weekend, perfect time to make a side-trip to Brno. Here are my finds:

These two pairs only cost a total of 350kč. The usual pair from the shops costs three times or even more. I have to say this again-----thank goodness for the business-minded Vietnamese here. They made our budget more manageable and stretchable. I didn't have to starve myself as penance for sins committed after I bought these pairs.

Now I can welcome the spring sun with these flip-flops. It's pretty warm in Prague these days. I think I'll wear them out pretty soon with all the walking that I have to do here. Well, I can always make a trip to Brno, if ever. :)