A spontaneous trip to Quiapo featuring Globe's Lumpia House!

A spontaneous trip to Quiapo featuring Globe's Lumpia House!

Here's a story. Last Sunday, I had plans to just attend mass and go back home afterwards. But since my mom was saying that she was having dizzy spells consequently these past few days, I've decided to accompany her. She is scheduled to have her last booster shot for anti-rabies since she got bitten again by our own dog. She was trying to check if the dog has also eaten the antibiotic capsule in the liver and maybe the dog thought that she was going to take away the food so she got bitten. Again.

And so we went to the hospital in the afternoon. About 30 minutes of waiting outside the emergency room area and right after she'd finished her last shot, we've taken a UV express vehicle which was going to Quiapo. Aside with the intention to pick up her prescription glasses, we were supposed to go to Jolli Dada just beside the Quinta Market because I heard that it was a famous local eatery for their palabok and their halo halo and would like to try it out. We picked up her glasses first then we were on our way to Quinta market.

As we go along the way, we've purchased 1/4 kilogram of cooked peanuts for 50 pesos since my mother love to munch on these. We dropped by a native products stand located under the bridge where my mom purchased a 20 pesos stick which she says she can use to shoo away any animals that could harm our dog during their daily walks. We got inside the Quinta Market and asked where Jolli Dada was. We got there at 2 pm. Unfortunately, they were on a break and would resume at 3 pm. Aside from that, there were also a couple of people which was at least 10 persons which was a bit late for us because we will be also attending mass so we headed into Globe Lumpia's House instead which was near Raon. We were surprised that there was already a long queue and I've decided to be patient just to eat this again though I had my doubts. The last time I purchased the lumpia, I was disappointed because it was not really up to par with the taste that I used to have when it was still at 18 pesos. By the way, their lumpia costs around 30 pesos a piece now along with their Empanada which is also at 30 pesos. They are also selling brownies for 20 pesos and their special atchara at 80 pesos. The taste had improved but their lumpia wrapper is lousy. I hope they would be able to maintain the consistency because I've enjoyed their lumpia since I was still studying in college and it would be such a waste if their flavor had changed.

Looking through the Glass: Picking a Bang-For-Your-Money Eyeglasses

Looking through the Glass: Picking a Bang-For-Your-Money Eyeglasses

I've been contemplating on buying prescription glasses for a very long time. I opt to wear contact lenses instead as the prescription lenses tend to cost more especially if you are highly myopic. Myopic is a medical term we use for nearsightedness. To simply put this in a layman's explanation, this is when you experience seeing things/reading words clearly when you are very near the object.

Recently,  I had done an eye check-up with an optical shop in Waltermart, Makati before purchasing contact lenses. However, I am experiencing itchiness which I don't experience before and I think that this is the time to let my eyes breathe as I've been donning contact lenses for more than 6 months already.

So my first step was to go through (..at least in the birds-eye view of my imagination) the most cheapest place that I know: QUIAPO. The first time I've heard this was from my aunt who had her glasses done at this place. Since then, we've (we referring to my family as I had a family history of myopia which is kind of sad though) had our glasses done.

But before actually going there, I need to canvass first how much money it would cost. Below are the list of optical shops I've inquired to and their respective contact numbers. I've tried to googled some of them at first but  upon checking some of them are not updated.

*Clearvision

-Located at Walter Mart, 790 Chino Roces Avenue Corner Arnaiz Avenue, Makati, 1230 Metro Manila

-Phone Number: 728 5701 (not confirmed)

600+ ultra thin glasses costs around 3300 pesos.

*Reshma Optical

-Located at 628 Pedro Paterno St. 1001 Manila, Philippines

- Phone number: (02) 736 9269 (CONFIRMED)

600+ ultra thin glasses costs around 3500 pesos (already multicoated)

*Vinas Optical Supply

- Located at P. Paterno Street

- Phone number ()

600+  1.61 ultra thin is around 2500 pesos already multicoated. If you want the very ultra thin lenses a.k.a NIKON lens, it would cost you 4500 pesos.

*Sunnies Specs

-Located at Glorietta

Their 1999 php already includes their frames and lense. It's a sad day for me because this deal would only cover up to 600 grade only. Because my other eye is  around 625, I inquired how about that and they told me that it would costs around 3999 php which is already ultra thin along with the frame. For me, these is not bad as they have very stylish frames. However, I think they are not multicoated nor have the screen protection as my sister had to pay an additional of 1000 pesos for hers. By the way, she got her glasses at this shop.

*Eye Republic Optical Clinic

- Located at P. Paterno St. Quiapo beside JSM Optical Supply

- Phone number (Sorry guys, I forgot to get my copy of receipt)

- Sundays are up to 4 pm only

This is where I finally got my glasses (August 27, 2017) which cost around 2800 pesos in total. (Score! I didn't even haggled as I already find it cheaper than my previous optical shop). The lenses are already multicoated and cost around 1800 pesos. For a 625 grade, 1800 pesos is their minimum amount and it can get higher if you also have a high astigmatism. Thankfully, I do not have astigmatism anymore. The frame that I chose costs around 1000 pesos which is not bad however the lady assistant advised that I chose another which have smaller frame as I cannot appreciate the ultra thin if I'm going to go with the first choice. I really like the shape of the glasses so I ask her if they have available frames which is similar to what I like. She redirected me to another and I just love it. They have maroon and black in color but I chose these to make my look less intimidating. I usually go for black in color before. I overheard the assistant talking to another customer that the consultation is free as long as you will proceed with the frames and lenses. But if you will not, then they will require you to pay 125 pesos for the consultation fee. After paying for my order, I was asked to get back after 2 hours before 4 pm.

I went back there at 3 pm and found a lot of customers in the shop. Good thing I went there almost noon.