So, last Friday, I took a half-day leave from work, boarded a budget airline with my husband and flew for Cebu. Within an hour from boarding, we have safely landed in the International Airport of Cebu. Excitement has not even begun to sink in and we were already headed for our hotel.
I have been mentally disciplining myself days before our trip, that despite whatever temptation I may come across, I was in Cebu strictly for sightseeing purposes only. Under no circumstances was I supposed to shop for my personal pleasure. As such, early Saturday morning, after having breakfast at Bo’s Coffee Club, my husband and I went and saw some sights… By “some,” I actually mean two. We went to the Sto. Nino shrine and then to Magellan’s Cross. We walked around, did the “tourist” thing, i.e., took pictures of one another, prayed in the church and then walked around some more. For some reason, we ended up in Ayala Mall.
Still trying hard to maintain self-discipline, I told my husband that we were at the mall only to look around, perhaps to compare what it has and has not, in relation to malls in Manila. In fact, we were quite successful. We hadn’t really bought anything, except for lunch, of course, and then coffee at Starbucks (which is really not negotiable. I mean, it’s a staple, right?). Oh, I also had to buy a “tabo” at the Home Department (the bathroom in the hotel didn’t have one — I like to be “thoroughly” clean, if you know what I mean.). But that was it. As far as I’m concerned, self-discipline successfully overpowered the impulse to shop.
Earlier that day, my husband and I had agreed that we were supposed to have dinner at Shangri-la. I’ve heard that they’ve got quite a buffet, not to mention the splendid place. But, as the day wore on, we’ve agreed that we both need to be on a diet, physically and financially. So, we scrapped the Shangri-la plan and just kept on walking around the mall. After all, what’s a better way of getting fit than through cardiovascular activity, e.g. walking. The fact that we were doing it inside a mall is certainly of no moment. Walking is walking is walking, period. Right.
Sunday came and it was still the same. Not much purchases other than the staples, i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner and Starbucks. Although this time, we spent the day in SM rather than Ayala. By three in the afternoon, we’ve worn ourselves with out cardiovascular activity and decided to return to the hotel.
Everything was going well until Monday came. For some reason, the thought that it would be the last day of stay in Cebu had me sort of panicking. While my husband and his father went and saw a movie, I volunteered to just walk around, still in the spirit of exercising. But then, I inadvertently (hah, right!) walked by the ladies’ department. Then I saw the shoes… the bags… the clothes… It was like they were calling out to me, telling me that I may never pass this way again. In fact, I was quite stunned with the quality and style the “Parisian” brand has taken on. It used to be that I would not even look twice at it. I mean, no one in their right state of mind with financial capability would buy that brand if they were looking for fashion and quality (just my opinion). But yesterday, I swear that their shoes could stand as knock-offs of some famous brands but without the expensive price tags.
So, I walked around, trying to decide. As I had initially planned, there should be no shopping for personal pleasure…But then again, if it was for work, it wouldn’t be considered as “for personal pleasure,” right? I mean, obviously I can’t go to work wearing Crocs, right? So, I found myself a brown pair of shoes, somewhat similar to that “gladiator” style that’s now sweeping in the nation (even though I’ve already read that in Metro or Marie Claire, I think, about a year or two ago). I tried on the strappy gladiator sandals/slip ons/shoes and my feet looked depressing. They were like two macho men desperately trying to look cool and manly in spaghetti straps. I slipped out of them before anybody else got disgusted with my feet. Anyway, after I’ve found the right size of shoes, I headed to the cashier. It so happened that I looked to my left and there were these nice gray ones also. But I couldn’t find one in my size. So, I decided I’d leave it to fate. I’ll ask the salesman if they have it in my size: a negative answer and I would be satisfied with my brown high heels, a positive answer would be a sign to buy it. I may never pass this way again, right? As luck would have it, they did. Now, it’s off to the cashier with two pairs.
I walked around the ladies’ department some more and suddenly, it was like I was trapped inside a big maze of beautiful bags, accessories and shoes. Everywhere I went, something always caught my attention, a bag, a blouse, a necklace, begging me to buy them. I’d already spent half the amount of money I had with me to be used just in case of emergency and yet I wanted to buy more. I was desperate to get out of the department store to free myself of temptation. I tried to reason with myself, I already had three pairs of shoes (Oops, I forgot! I bought another pair of shoes at Charles & Keith last Friday, right after we arrived. heehee). I couldn’t possibly need more. It just got me thinking, if I had more money than I could ever need, I’d probably spend more than half of it buying shoes. I’d end up having more pairs than there are days in a year. Of course, compared to Imelda Marcos, that’s nothing. But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? I’m not Imelda Marcos, why would I need that many pairs? As I think of it now, I still don’t know why. All I know is that I want more!
Of course, I had to restrain myself from spending more than I already had. I feared that my husband would kill me if I brought home most of the stocks from the shoe department — not that I have that amount of money.
All in all, it was a wonderful sort of mini-vacation. I got to see some sights and bought some pairs of shoes. I’m perfectly contented…now. Teehee!
