A lot of adults with adult money to throw around toys are queueing up to buy in-demand toys from Chinese toymaker Pop Mart. I had been seeing its pop-up stores in Bugis for years now but this is the only time I paid attention to it since people are going crazy with the company’s ugly monster character Labubu. They’re paying thousands of pesos for the stuffed toy that they made into bag charms. This trend started with Lisa from the K-Pop group Black Pink.

As a special request from my bff, I queued up yesterday to buy her some editions that are constantly sold out in Lazada and Shopee Philippines.

Since it was office hours and I was just killing time before my next meeting, I was able to grant her wish. Once I got inside the store, we video called so she can see the merchandise. She was so excited to see the blind boxes that she couldn’t get her hands on back home.

She is so thrilled. While I don’t get the craze with Pop Mart, I understand the love for toys or merchandise from your favorite characters. I go nuts for Studio Ghibli Stuff and I search for them in places where I know they’re popular, such as Taiwan, and of course Japan. I used to have a Studio Ghibli shrine in our old apartment in QC just by the stairs top landing.

Speaking of bags, my mom requested me to buy her bags in Singapore that she will gift the staff at the agency she’s working with. Yes, she has retired from the university but she is still working as a scientist for the DOST. So anyway, I went to Charles & Keith in Marina Bay Sands because they have a bigger store there compared to Suntec. Plus I wanted to go to the Studio Ghibli exhibit at MBS.

While I personally don’t buy C&K (because they’re PU leather and don’t last like real leather does), I can say I didn’t do bad with my purchases. Yes, there are C&K stores in Manila but I wanted to make my mom feel special by exerting effort and buying what she wanted in Singapore. Plus the new styles is SG may not yet be in Manila. The purchases are complete with dust bags and one is in a box. I asked for three paper bags so my mom doesn’t have to wrap these gifts.

I was so busy jumping from one place to another that I wasn’t able to find time to visit this. I wasn’t able to buy tickets ahead of time since I didn’t know when I would be able to squeeze this in. 😭 I’m sooooo sad. I wanted to cry at the concierge.

I wasn’t able to visit the Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo the last time I was there because ticket purchases had to be made way ahead, like a month or so. And you can’t buy it online from abroad; you need a friend in Japan to do that for you.

The best substitute was Donguri Republic in Taipei, which I was able to visit in 2016.

Anyway, gotta prepare for three four meetings today. 🫠

I’M SO EXHAUSTED.

I skipped a networking meeting because my social battery is already depleted. If I were to meet this VIP later, I need to recharge. I’m just sitting here at Fullerton Hotel, waiting for the world to swallow me whole. It’s raining so I’m stuck.

I’m just so tired.