Retail Therapy

For halloween, my sister, two cousins and moi engaged in some retail therapy. We went to the Mall of Asia, supposedly the biggest mall in Asia. Ten reasons why the Filipinos love to go to the malls:

1. The heat gets to you in some days, to save on airconditioning and for people who cannot afford airconditioning, the mall is the best place to cool down.

2. It's a one stop-shop. You get everything from cinemas, to food outlets, salons, and even Sunday masses. Yes, pinoys hear mass inside the mall, after which they promptly go about their shopping list. I could just imagine them bargaining with God. "God, if you don't allow my mom to discover that i stole money from her wallet, I will not watch the pornographic movie (craftily rated as R) being shown today" or "God, please don't let Bong discover that I'm dating other guys. I promise I will not meet DJ at the skating area today".

3. Filipinos always want to be updated. Whether it's the latest fashion trend, the coolest bands, the most popular Hollywood movie, the most happening party place. Pop culture dictates what they should wear, listen to, have. And they get all these from hanging out in the malls.

4. We are a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country, where people look up at the elites of the society (meaning the old and nouveau-riche). They are the usually very light colored people who parade their wealth in the malls. They have bodyguards who carry their purchases for them, maids in uniform (just in case the common mass do not get it that they can afford hired help), and chauffeurs that stay in the drivers lounge.

5. Kids don't read anymore. Instead, they just want to be seen. So they hang out in the malls, just in case the cute guy from Biology class is there to check out chicks.

6. We are a generation that has been brainwashed to consume ceaselessly. Consumption drives the economy. Go to the malls and spend, spend, spend...

7. We love to eat! We eat breakfast, morning snack, lunch, merienda (afternoon snack), dinner, midnight snacks. Our lives revolve around food. Thus, the food courts in the malls are always filled to capacity.

8. We grew up adoring movies set in the mall (well at least I speak for me and my sisters). Kevin Smith's "Mallrats" and Cameron Crowe's "Fast Time at Ridgemont High". I love these guys for their exceptional discernment of the teen-age pysche and for their brilliant soundtrack.

9. Retail therapy works. Your boyfriend dumped you for that girl who resembles Kate Beckinsale but is lacking in intellectual acuity. Try out Zara's entire autumn collection, buy those that makes you feel like a lovely lady that you are. Forget about men for awhile and bask in the superficiality of modern day living.

10. Hanging out in the mall is a study of human nature. It's a giant science laboratory where you can observe your unsuspecting guinea pigs and how they would react to different social stimuli. It could be fun.

Pictures from the mall and of my purchase that day.