I recently discovered my love for Grendha sandals and it’s timely that I found tremendous discounts during the Great Singapore Sale. With GSS ending on August 12, I thought I’d share with you some of the pairs I bought from Royal Sporting House, and maybe you can get your hands on these, too!

Grendha is a Brazilian brand of sandals from the company Grendene that manufactures stylish and elegant looking footwear, made from the highest quality materials. The brand is commonly seen at SM Department stores in the Philippines, but I never paid attention to it before. I no longer see the practicality of purchasing rubber slippers (i.e. buying Havaianas like I used to) and plastic sandals that’s worth more than Php 1,000 a pair, when I can purchase formal and classic flats for only Php 300. In addition, my previous job required me to wear business attire and closed shoes everytime I had to meet with clients. There was no purpose of me buying such sandals with expensive cost per wear.

As you may have known (or not), when I travel abroad it’s imminent that I shop. This time when I shopped in Singapore for the first time this year, I didn’t go crazy on buying stuff. Most of these are from IKEA and Mustafa, but I got some from other stores, too.

My Singapore shopping haul isn’t exactly planned and I didn’t spend too much on these. I spent as little as $2.90 (about Php 116) for some, while the most expensive one is at $49 (Php 1,960). I mean if I were still that addicted to makeup, I’d probably be bringing home tons of new stuff from Sephora. But since these are random items on my shopping cart and each item is nothing over $49 each, might as well show them to you! Oh, and did I mention shopping is soooo much fun in Singapore?

Singapore is one of the top ten countries in the world with the highest cost of living. In Asia, the country holds the top spot. The expensive rent is a given, but you can always resource cheap food through hawkers and food stalls you can find everywhere. But how about toiletries? Well that’s a different story.

If you’ve been to Guardian and Watsons in Singapore, you’ll be shocked as to how expensive toiletries can get. For example, the same well-known napkin being sold in the Philippines at around Php 80 for a pack of 20 will cost at SGD 6.90 in Singapore (Php 276; 1 SGD = 40 Php conversion rate as of posting). A global brand feminine wash that’s Php 194 for 250ml at home will cost at SGD 13.90 (or Php 556) in Singapura.

It’s difficult not to convert prices, especially if you’re trying to save money. So I asked my friend (Thank you, Jore!) where she buys her toiletries.

I had fun shopping in Osaka last year (especially at Japanese drugstore), and so I thought of getting something for myself again this year in Tokyo. During my last trip, I bought a number of Japanese makeup and skincare products. Now you’ll notice how Tita I’ve become with all the different muscle patches and relaxation products I bought! (Lol).

I think I bought a more useful batch of of items this time. Some items, I believe I can use more frequently. Some are hard to find… and another one I bought because of an emergency situation (we’ll get to that part). Ok, let’s begin!

Guam is a tropical destination with clean and beautiful beaches, has an abundance of restaurants and various cuisines to choose from, as well as a laidback atmosphere for your much-awaited chill vacation. Aside from that, it’s the nearest shopping destination in Southeast Asia for those who want to experience what it’s like to shop ‘til you (literally) drop in the US!

I went back to Guam and went home with 45 things during my shopping trip. For tourists who haven’t been to Guam yet, here’s an inside scoop and some shopping tips for you!

If you’ve been following my IG account, you probably knew that I went back to Guam last December and that I spent most of my days shopping! Too bad we went there after Black Friday sale. Nevertheless, my husband and I scored awesome deals during our stay.

Although Guam Premier Outlets (GPO) and other discount stores in Guam have limited offerings as compared to massive outlet stores in mainland US (such as those in California and Nevada), you can still get awesome deals when you go to Guam. First, flights going to Guam from the Philippines are more affordable as compared to airline tickets going to mainland US. Second, you can be sure that you’re buying genuine items straight from the store. Third, you don’t need to pay an additional tax at the counter when purchasing goods. So just like in the Philippines, whatever’s on the price tag, that’s just what you're going to pay!

My travels abroad aren’t complete without a little bit of shopping. And even though I wasn’t able to shop something for myself (like a souvenir shirt or hoodie) during my entire New Zealand trip (a first for me!), I managed to get a number of Kiwi snacks from Four Square and Countdown supermarkets.

Everything is expensive in New Zealand, like a regular MAC lipstick costs Php 390 more there or the cheapest microwave beef lasagna I found was NZ$ 5. But if there are two affordable items that are worth buying in NZ, these are milk and chocolates.

I didn’t go too crazy in my snacks shopping, but I did get myself 18 items. I was able to bring home most of them and consumed two snacks during my vacation. 80% of these are chocolates in different varieties and I’ve taste tested them in different days. I won’t blab much longer – here’s my Kiwi snacks haul straight from New Zealand!

About 3 weeks ago, I got my Louis Vuitton 2018 Agenda PM Refill which is an early holiday gift from my husband. This is the complete week on two pages version and we bought this one at the Louis Vuitton store in Greenbelt 4. This is the first time I’ll be using a PM Agenda / Small Ring Agenda cover together with its corresponding refill.

2018 Small Fonctionnal Weekly Agenda Refill - Complete

If you’re thinking about getting these inserts yourself, read my detailed review, pros and cons, and close-up photos before you spend on Louis Vuitton’s Luxury Agenda Refills.

The 2018 Agenda Refill came in a box which features a hand-painted, watercolor fashion and travel theme. In the complete weekly version, you get the diary (the actual weekly refills and additional pages), Cartes du Monde (maps of the world), and Repertoire (directory or phonebook). For the weekly diary version, only the diary is included in the box.

If there’s another shopping haven in the world you need to see, it’s got to be Osaka. From apparel, drugstore products, to food items you can only find in Japan, it’s right at the center of Osaka. Before flying to Japan last April 5, I listed down all the things I wanted to shop for. Majority of these were makeup and skincare since I love to hoard try different products, especially those raved about by beauty bloggers and YouTube content creators.