This must be what its like to go to war. You wear comfy shoes, tie your hair up, wear baggy clothes, bring a huge bag, or no bag just the plastic in the back-pocket or some bills. This is the earnest, last minute christmas shopping. Whoever created the idea of gift-giving must be laughing his/her ass off watching the last-minute shoppers. If you want to go to the oyster that is Divisoria, make sure you start around 7am and be out of there by 11am, otherwise you'll get sucked in the vortex of bargain shoppers, scrounging and scrimping the ever powerful peso to purchase gifts for everyone they know. The family, the friends, the classmates or workmates, the garbage collector, the building security guard, the dogs and cats. In here you get sidetracked at every turn, you buy a good gift for your boss, but then you walk a few paces and something better and cheaper (and more perfect for your teacher) greets you, so you mentally adjust who to give the one you just bought to (mentally you go: "ok so the first gift could go to my hairdresser instead and ill get this one for my boss...). This just goes on and on an on until you realize you've purchased a bundle of inconsequential items like little sewing kits, flashlights, army knives that you do not know who to give to.
Malls are a different story, its good to have a companion when you go gift hunting in the malls, so you can have them stand at the cashier queue while you quickly grab the items you want. When I go mall-shopping I take my nieces with me, to line up at the counter, carry my parcels, run to the other end of the floor to get an item I've been looking at but forgot to get. Only downside there is I have to feed them, sometimes they want Starbucks and there goes a quarter of my shopping funds!
The commute can go from easy to horrible. Not one for taking jeepneys or buses I get all the horror stories of taking the cab. The bargaining with the driver whose windows are rolled down, the additional charge for God knows what. There's the irate driver, who begrudgingly takes you to your destination but makes it a point to let you know he doesn't want to (why they even went to cab driving in the first place...). There's the endless yak about how bad the traffic is here or there.
Sometimes this tiny little things take some of the fun out of what should be the funnest period of the year. It is during this time when I switch the words of the famous Christmas song from: This christmas rush is through - to this christmas rush is TRUE! hahaha Have fun shoppers, and same time next year!
