Muji in Manila - Afer The Visit

It was a year ago since I blogged about Muji coming here in the Philippines.  Now that it has finally opened its flagship store in Bonifacio High Street last October 16 (and after reading others blog about  their Muji experience), I couldn't help but check it out last week. Boy, was I disappointed.

Don't get me wrong. I love Muji (maybe because I'm normally biased when stuff are Japan made ^^) even if I don't actually buy a lot of stuff from there, Muji in Hong Kong has always been a happy place for me as I can spend hours just looking around.  A different case in Muji High Street as I was able to do the rounds in 30 minutes (or less).

Truth is, the look and feel is very Muji-like.  All of their merchandise have the same product sticker you'll find in other Muji stores abroad.  They have the usual areas: clothes (Japanese style, of course), bags, shoes, accessories, home and kitchen utensils, cosmetics, furniture and most especially, food and stationery (the last 2 being Rai and my favorite areas).  The disappointment came in when we saw what they have to offer in the food section as it  was almost non-existent.  (Look at what HK Muji has to ). And the pens and stationery... not as much choices as from stores abroad.  Too bad because I've always had this thinking that Japanese stores offer the most number of (cute) pens and stationery.

Aside from that, I somehow felt like every item was just too expensive. I don't know how it can be said that the products here are cheaper by 6%-7% as compared to HK prices. Believe me, as I looked at the price tags, I can't help but compare how much the items were sold in HK and how cheaper they are there (also maybe in Japan as I was surprised to see a foldable umbrella being sold here at Php1250 which I was able to get at half that price in Japan).  With that, it can be said that Muji's target consumers are those who can really afford (which is why they set it up in High Street).  Average consumers will probably opt to visit a Saizen store for more affordable Japan-made products.

With that said, I'm not so sure if I'll frequent this store as I thought I would. 

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Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A haven called Chinatown


Ikea chicken wings. Yotsuba with edamame.
Being the last day of the trip, it's about spending it on our own personal business. For me and Ji, it's about visiting the local toy stores in Chinatown and so did we as we were accompanied by Paui on the morning of 26 July 2009. By afternoon, we decided to get to Ikea in order to meet the rest of our friends. In this post, we feature more food. :9


Great day for taking photos outdoor because the sky is clear. UV rays are merciless though.
This branch is located at 317 Alexandra Road
Not sure if Ikea stores normally have a restaurant since the one we go to at Hong Kong only has a few selections such as hotdogs and popcorn. Like a cafeteria, you go around to check on the selection and point out what you want and they serve it to you.

Counters placed at the center to collect payments.
Just across the street is the Anchorpoint shopping center. Aware of another Charles & Keith retail outlet, Ji and a few others dashed there right after having our fill. I also checked the stores but didn't find anything particularly interesting for me to try on, we ended up waiting at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.


We left the area with Che and Mon towards Vivo City and bought some items at Daiso. The highlight here however was the dinner. Che and Mon knowing very well that Ji and I are fans of Japanese food treated us to this awesome place called Akashi ^^. "Yum!" indeed, all the dishes were very tasty, check out the photos modeled by Yotsuba.


Carl's Jr is still available in SG. Yotsuba on a kiosk.









Itadakimasu~! nom nom nom nom


Domo arigatou Che and Mon ^^

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A haven called Chinatown

Read more...

Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 1 - A Haven Called Chinatown

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 3 Part 3 - Drummer Girls and a Guitar Hero
Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Before we started on this trip, the thought of visiting Chinatown and checking out all the hobby centers was already on my mind. The thrill of hunting for that missing figure for your set, not knowing if you'll be able to find it or not and at what price. Like walking through a gallery as the store collection display their merchandise as these figures have gone beyond the level of mere plaything and have reached artwork status. Or even a museum for these nostalgic memorandum of the past.

I held back my anxiety as each day we had to bump Chinatown to give way to other activities... until at last, 26th July 2009 arrived and I need not wait any longer ^___^.




Deprived of sleep since the first day, the previous night was no different as Ji and I stayed with the college gang until the wee morning. I really really really wanted to stay in bed longer, but time is of the essence and I will have no regrets.

I can feel a headache coming on...

On this day, everybody (my folks and my cousins, aunt and uncle) are going with us to Chinatown. Although we planned to leave early, we were met with some delays due to a large group. Finally we arrived at the destination via MRT by 11:00am.

All those shops and sidewalk vendors are located right as you exit the subway. This area looks entirely different. I ♥ Chinatown even if the hobby centers are not located here!

Time to split up again to cover more ground, I doubt anybody else is interested with these figures except for Ji and Kat, Rache and Sab's sister who was not able to join our trip. Paui was quite hospitable by offering to wake up early and act as our tour guide ^_^, he saved us a lot of time and effort to search all the malls and buildings in the area. We hit the jackpot on the first building that Paui recommended, which also happened to be where TC got me my last batch of figures :).



Need to remember that exit number NE4-Chinatown, my folks went on the exact opposite direction, their exit is on the other side of this one.


The architecture here is entirely different. Gotta love that change in atmosphere.


With the use of the map at the station, we walked in one direction, all the way to reach the China Square Central


Once inside, almost instantly, my attention went to the display on the stores. There are two shops here that are noteworthy, Playbar and ToyNToys. Obviously most of the shop owners are Chinese, since we're in Chinatown but interestingly, the head person in Playbar is Indian. I found my prospected Andromeda God Cloth here for a relatively lower price, the shopkeeper wouldn't give me a discount stating that all prices are already fixed since there's no point in haggling - I wonder if that's true if you purchase multiple items. ToyNToys on the other hand is most noticeable due to its size.






There were also stalls in the center of the floor and just outside the stores. There's two floors to explore here and fortunately I found everything I was looking for!


And who says I was the only one who had fun... Ji found something that appeals to her and made some friends ^ ^.


Seems like Cinnamoroll at the back caught her eye and some hand bags.

Mission accomplished! It's already time to meet up with everybody as the clock strikes 1:00pm and discuss plans... we're supposed to finish all our personal business as we are near the end of this trip. Personally, I only made plans up to this point :p.

Related posts in series:

Singapore Trip Day 3 Part 3 - Drummer Girls and a Guitar Hero
Singapore Trip Day 4 Part 2 - Ikea and Akashi

Read more...