Here is the second part of my blog post where I’ll be sharing some of the wonderful finds I bought in Divisoria last Friday… and this time, it’s this colorful bootleg version of a Thomas and Friends toy train manufactured in China. As Adriel and I were scouting around the Tutuban area, we happen to stumble upon this big wholesale store where they sell literally a sea of very affordable plastic toys and we couldn’t help but check out their stuff on sale.
Month: February 2011
Another tiring yet fruitful adventure in Divisoria
My long-time friend Adriel and I embarked on a journey to the heart of Manila where everything is affordable and abundant, and that place is no other than Divisoria. Though I have mentioned in my earlier blog posts about my initial failure and small success in finding those elusive toy shops, but this time, we finally hit the jackpot and now I can finally and truly say that there are toy shops indeed in Divisoria that sells loose and mint-conditioned anime and action figures at really affordable prices! But the price we had to pay in searching for these shops was not amusing… Hours of long walk, braving the scorching heat and making your way into crowded places while familiarizing yourself with the establishment through a maze of small stalls was simply nerve-racking and a lot of patience is definitely required for you to remain sane.
The hottest mecca for the freshest vinyl figures and so much more only at Secret Fresh
Last February 21, I had the privilege to check out this wonderful place called Secret Fresh along Ortigas Avenue and initially I never had the slightest idea what this joint was all about, but as soon as I entered the door… I felt something overwhelming that I wanted to get down on my knees and start kissing the ground with the heavenly things I saw, it was toys galore and many more that greeted me and I wasted no time in checking out their stuff from each and every display rack that I saw and everything is definitely an eye candy for all toy collectors to enjoy.
Photographs at High Noon: The old meets the new
Here are more of my film scanned monochrome photos that I took inside the historic Spanish fortress of Fort Santiago in Intramuros using a Nikon FE SLR camera and a roll of Ilford XP-2 black and white film (36 exposures)…
Old lampposts and new buildings
Passageway under the shade
Old structure within its walls
The Fort and the Cathedral...
Adorable refrigerator magnets from Japan
Samurai and Bushido warrior figures as refrigerator magnets from Japan
Oftentimes we get to stuff our refrigerators with those magnets for the sole purpose of fastening paper notes, fast food menus and other things onto the fridge like those sticky and reliable post-its. But the refrigerator magnets has come a long way and now they are more adorable, eye-catching and sometimes original. Several years ago my fiancèe went on a business trip to Japan to attend a press junket for some international artist and when she came back to Manila, she brought home some souvenirs and one of them was these cute refrigerator magnets of a Samurai and Bushido warrior made of clay.
These ref magnets from Japan adorned our fridge for the longest time but unfortunately the Samurai figure was accidentally dropped by someone and the crescent-like horns of its helmet broke and snapped. My sister thought of keeping them as tabletop figurines but she decided to let them be. Stick them up as ref magnets or display them like miniature figures on top of your table, you can do away with these wonderful Japanese fridge magnets however you please.
Photographs at High Noon: Sidewalks of Serendra
My fiancèe and I rarely go to Serendra (Bonifacio High Street, Taguig) since for one thing, the place is a bit far from where we reside and the “Rodeo Drive-like” shops you find there offer only pricey signature items for those who are willing to spend money like water (well, I guess not all shops there sell expensive items) but the only thing that I like about Serendra is its vast open space and awesome urban scenery and shutterbugs who are into urban photography will truly have a swell time taking snapshots there.
I remember taking this photo one evening while resting on one of the sidewalks with my S.O. after attending a dinner party at T.G.I.Fridays… we were bored out of our wits and we decided to spend a couple of hours more enjoying the cool breeze before calling it a night. I took several snapshots that evening and of all the photos I took, this was the only one that came out just fine while the rest, sadly, were all blurred. Oh well, the pains and risk you have to endure while using a point and shooter for night photography…
Sitting on a sidewalk one evening at Serendra (Taguig, Manila)
Yes folks, there are toy shops indeed at the 168 Mall…
Yes Adrian, Azrael and Kristian Carlo… there are toy shops at the 168 Mall in Divisoria…
The long wait is finally over and so I decided to make another trip back to Divisoria and once-and-for-all find those elusive toy shops located inside the famous 168 Mall… and it happened earlier today. It was a good thing my dad had to attend some business there and he asked me a few days back if I can accompany him, well I couldn’t refuse such a request since I get to hitch a free ride going there and I want to find those darn shops that has eluded me the last time I went there. After my dad bought something at the Tutuban Mall, we started on our way by braving through the winding side streets and grinding traffic until we reached our destination…1..6..8.. armed with much information given to me by my buddy and Made in X‘s PR honcho Adrian, now my chances in finding these toy shops were bigger though I still admit that the vastness of that establishment can be intimidating and you had to rely on your wits to be able to reach your destination.
Ultraman Tiga, Dyna and Gaia chibi figures
It’s been quite a while since I last featured here one of my toys from my collection and I have been (surprisingly) preoccupied lately with other things, and sadly picking up the camera and shooting toy photos wasn’t exactly on my “to-do” list… then I remembered something… my Ultraman figure set!… good thing I was able to photograph a few weeks back a set of three Ultraman chibi figures composing of Tiga, Dyna and Gaia that I bought on sale from the toy shop I frequent to (purchased them for Php 150 (around $3.oo plus.) I almost completely forgot about them but at least it would save me some time in getting back on track to gather my other toys and take snapshots of them for future blog posts. ‘Till next time, see you guys around!
Set of three Ultraman chibi figures (L-R) Tiga, Gaia and Dyna
Photographs at High Noon: Dusk over M.O.A.
I was with my fiancèe during the Pyrotechnic Olympics held last year at the open grounds of the SM Mall of Asia (M.O.A.) and since we came there a bit early just to beat the traffic and the maddening crowd, we decided to hang out by the V.I.P. area where we were designated. You can see the beautiful Manila skyline since it is a wide-open area and it is no wonder why budding and professional photographers love to do photo shoots there. It was nearing dark and the skies gave out this awesome glow on the horizon, so I grabbed my camera and immediately took a photo of the skyline as dusk started creeping in.
Dusk over the skies of the SM Mall of Asia (Roxas Blvd., Pasay)
Photographs at High Noon: Intramuros
This is the famous arch inside the historical grounds of Intramuros in Manila. I remember taking this photo during my second trip there last year and I used my dad’s Nikon FE film camera along with a roll of Ilford XP-2 black and white film. It was only later that afternoon when I found out from one of the guys at the film processing centre that some of the photos I took were ruined due to lens flare and sadly this wide shot of the famous arch leading to the heart of Intramuros was one of them (as you can see on the right side of the photo that was negative scanned), too bad that my dad’s SLR camera now needs to get all of its light seals replaced, but nonetheless it has managed to capture some nice photos that were intact.
The famous Intramuros arch leading to the heart of the historical Spanish fortress
Art Fragments, Playthings and Whatnots 