Far away from home

Today's quick swing-by to the neighborhood overrun store has proven two things: 1. You can find just about anything in HK, and 2. Most of the world's clothes are made in China. In my experience as a shopper, (I'm sure Mark is thinking, "He's definitely got a lot of experience there.") I've seen brands ranging from the must-haves to the is-there-really-such-a-brand-items. I've seen global names to obviously local ones. There have also been stray designer outfits; some off season and others are here even if they haven't hit the stores in the US.

After having seen so much, I must admit that it didn't prepare me for what I found a few hours ago.



A Philippine brand in a HK overrun store? Strange, but true. Actually, this isn't the first time it happened. Once, I saw a Penshoppe shirt at Maple, and there was an Oxygen polo at the Uno Uno branch in Granville. What makes this find unique is the fact that the item is fully intact. The label hasn't been cut-out, which is a usual practice in these kinds of stores:



And it even comes with the full tags! If it had the price in pesos, I would've been totally flabbergasted.



Obviously, I bought the shirt. It's such a novelty to buy your country's own brand in some narrow, crowded bargain basement abroad. This must be how an American feels whenever he goes to Surplus Shop and finds a stock pile of Abercrombie and Fitch shirts and Ann Taylor blouses. Speaking of Surplus Shop, they even sell a line of clothes designed by Daisy Fuentes. Hamakdat!

Finally, true to its being a surplus item, this Kamiseta blouse is cheaper compared to the ones they sell back home. It's just 1/4 of the SRP. Not bad for an item that's 711 miles away from home.