One day at Makati Cinema Square, I noticed a large store space filled with rows of clothes.  The place was sparsely decorated, but nonetheless clean, well-lit, and airconditioned.  What caught my eye were the extra large tee shirts on display.  Some looked new, while others looked newly-washed.  Then I realized I was in a thrift store, or Ukay-ukay in local terms.  The first thought which came to me was "I hope no one sees me here..."

Much to my pleasant surprise, I was able to find some really great unused tee shirts as well a couple of slightly used ones with cute designs at the cost of 3 for P 100!  The unused ones included Late Night with Conan O'Brian, M&Ms Christmas, Jerry Garcia's "All Good Things", Johnny Mnemonic, and the North Face.  The slightly used ones: New York Knicks, MTV Jackass, and the American Cancer Society.  The total I spent for eight shirts (purchased over three trips) could barely pay for one (1) brand new tee shirt in a mall!

Besides the economics, I enjoy looking through thrift stuff because it's like reading someone's personal history.  Some of the stuff there is so worn and ratty, I couldn't help but picture in my head how the owner looked and what he or she had been through. 

Cheap, you say? I could care less.   I'm savoring the few moments in my life (like this one) wherein I could shop like there's no tomorrow and not lose an arm and a leg.

(Note: The above photos feature a US surplus/thrift store in my office building in Cubao.  Another interesting place to browse, but this place has used shoes, toys, sports equipment, and even household appliances and electronics as well)

It's been a while, but I'm finally back.  The last three months were spent at a mom & pop shop where I was paid (quite well) to sit around in a non-airconditioned environment and surf the web.  Occasionally I'd be asked to research a certain topic and write non-essential stuff.  Was it paradise for me?  Definitely not.  I had nothing to do with the core business, which was ceramics.  Five years from now, I had no clue what I would be doing for this firm.  Given that I was already a Quality Supervisor at my previous job in a call center, I opted to to return to the industry.  At least there I have direction and goals to look forward to.

I found Stellar in the job section of the Sunday Bulletin.  They were looking for Quality Analysts for a new program.  Here was what really got me moving:  the account is Australian, which meant working in the daytime (Australia is 2 hours ahead of the Philippines) on e-mail only.    The interviews were typical, while the exams were a bit challenging.  I'm thankful that I passed.  The account has yet to get off the ground because of technical issues, so my colleague and I are on standby. Good thing we're getting paid!