Living abroad we often complain, "You can't find _____ here." "They don't have _____." In some instances yes, this is true. More often than not, I think you will always find what you are looking for. You may not find the exact XYZ but you can find a substitute and heck, it might even be better than the one you are used to. After five years of living here I have found that I love searching and hunting for treasures. Miniso is a gold mine. I love Japan Home Center, Daiso and Muji. Miniso is essentially all of those combined with an affordable price tag. When I first saw photos of the clean design and organized space my interest was piqued. I am a sucker for Ikea and love Muji but we have no Ikea and Muji's price tag is a little heavy for me personally. I convinced three friends to come along for the ride and off we went across Manila in search of beautiful and affordable Japanese flare. I was pleasantly surprised that Miniso is as good in person as it is in photographs.

I was pleasantly surprised with their electronics section. Lamps, battery packs, head phones, speakers and phone camera lenses among many other items. I bought this fish eye lens clamp used in the photos below for around 150php. Our bluetooth headset did not end up working when I got home, I should have checked in the store. The portable home speaker I bought has worked wonderfully.

My in-store picks were the affordable children's plush toys, striped lunch pales, collapsable organizing baskets and travel caddies.

I will not divulge how much I spent because it is a bit embarrassing. Just know that I have gifts enough for birthdays, Christmas and in between.

You know that frantic feeling when you realize your child has been invited to a birthday party and you forgot to buy a gift? Oh right, that doesn't happen to you because your brain operates properly and you're super mom. Well, for us meager humans I pick up a few of the same gift and keep on hand for emergencies. The little animal tubs are filled with modling clay and were only 99php. Pictured on the right is our speaker that comes in three colors and was around 600-700php.

Recently I have given my children a chore chart with daily tasks. Some of these include basic self help skills, homework and also helping take care of their little brothers' needs. Each week we check in and they earn real money to buy something from the Mommy Store. I recently purchased clearance books at the Powerbook sale and have some stashed in there along with Miniso's brick building sets (Lego Type) and transformation toys (Transformer type).

I hope I don't send you on a shopping spree because I don't want to be a pusher for buying products you don't need or spending money that doesn't need to be spent. So you can read this post in one of two ways: that girl is crazy and needs help -OR- I now have another resource for floss wands and birthday presents. :) To each their own.

Things To Know:

Located at Robinson Place Manila
Level 2 Padre Faura Wing
Padre Faura St, Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila
(02) 559-7777
1. Email
  minisophilippines@gmail.com
2. Website
  http://www.miniso.jp
They accept credit card and cash.
We left Pasig around 10 am and arrived at Manila Place at 11:15. It took us only 45 minutes to return home.