Posts tagged shopping

Busy as ever, the Via Condotti stretches out from Piazza del Popolo until the Piazza di Spagna

It’s always nice to walk down the Via Condotti, it’s lined with high end designer boutiques, as well as quirky shops like this one (Mr. Boots) haha

Always entertaining to see a street musician

Found a little Gelateria in the corner, Ciampini. Not bad too.

We saw another Ferrari store there, my sister’s favourite F1 team. She’s a Schumacher loyalist.

Check out that engine!

Photos: Canon 450D + 10-22mm

Quick stop at the Castle Sforza in Milano, where da Vinci himself was imprisoned for a time. We were almost unable to visit this because of some traffic situation in Milan for a race or something. Luckily, our tour director Gus worked his magic with the traffic officials and we were able to get in.

Photos: Canon 450D + 10-22mm

A couple of months ago my sister and I went on a short extended weekend trip to the nearby Guam (mostly it was for our US visa’s usage). We really had no idea what to expect out of Guam, except for people saying that the shopping was good. So we went with suitcases practically empty, and a wardrobe consisting of sundresses and flipflops.

From Manila, we took Continental Airlines (which surprisingly had pretty spacious seats in a 6-seat-row plane), stopping over at Palau after about 2 hours. We flew another 2 or so hours to Guam. Our complimentary hotel shuttle picked us up (we were grouped with this MEGA ANNOYING family—the kind that I WOULD NEVER WANT TO BECOME or be with or be related to) with this giant beast of a mother who constantly kept complaining and whining and was acting “pa-sosyal” (feeling socialite). I felt so sorry for the kids, who are probably already screwed up little brats because of her, and I just wanted them to shut up. Not exactly a brilliant start to our trip, but whatever. They made me more grateful that my mom is decent.

We got there early, like 5:30am, so nothing was open yet. We just left our luggage with the concierge (where the annoying mom was AGAIN complaining about some thing or other) and went exploring. 

We missed the bus to the flea market we wanted to go to, so we got stuck waiting around for 9/10am when the malls would open. We spent the next four days with ZERO sightseeing, 100% shopping. We went to Guam Premier Outlets (GPO) which had Ross, BCBG, Nine West, Levi’s (haha), etc. We also went to Micronesia Mall (Macy’s, Payless, etc.), KMart (food+Quiddity supplies), and DFS (Duty Free).

Was it like shopping in the US? Somewhat. There were a lot less stores of course (only Macy’s, Ross, KMart and a few others offered the more American shopping experience), and the deals, though pretty good, will probably be greater in the states, but all else considered, Guam is a pretty good shopping destination already if you’re looking for a cheaper, faster alternative to mainland USA. And you won’t have to suffer through 16 hour or so flights.

lunch.

adorable packaging!

dinner.

View from our hotel window

Micronesia Mall

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe

Trying out some classic munchies

Finally visiting the beach by our hotel. The only form of sightseeing we did.

Here’s my sister, Stephanie

And me, in the water with all my clothes on. hahaha

Now seeking shade hahaha

Our last lunch in Guam. Planet Hollywood

The biggest challenge was fitting all of our purchases into 2 50-pound suitcases and 2 40-pound carry ons. If some people have Hong Kong as their go-to shopping destination, I think we have Guam, mostly because we’ve never really suited Asian fashion (or tiny, short asian sizes), and we’ve been so used to replenishing/updating our wardrobe & things in the states that shopping in Guam, albeit a much smaller, less vast version of the US, was actually quite comforting and familiar. We should definitely try going back on black friday or boxing day. Hmm.

Photos: Canon 450D + 24-70mmL