It's Shoe Time!

My child showed me his broken shoes one afternoon and he asked me if I could still fix it. This pair of shoes is his favorite. He loves that he could just slip his feet into it and do not have to deal with tying the shoelaces. He is five years old and he knows already the easy way. Clever boy!

The shoes are still in a good condition except that the soles are detaching. The glue that used to keep it together is not working anymore. I guess it could be because of frequent washing. I can't really do away with washing since he easily gets his shoes dirty being an active kid.

I understand that fixing it with shoe glue won't work anymore. It will just get broken all over again.

It would also be a waste and impractical to buy new ones, so I brought the pair of shoes to a shoe repair shop.

The shop is a small makeshift bamboo hut with just enough space for the shoemaker to work on. It is located along the road at the corner of the entrance to the town's seaside park.

His shop is quite small but still noticeable even as you pass by the road. He just displayed the shoes he fixed on the counter of his shop. There are no sign board, or tarpaulin to advertise his shop or to at least put the name of the shop and be made it known to passersby. So when someone asks where I had my shoes fixed, I will just describe the location. 😄

I handed him the shoes and asked how many hours to have the shoes fixed. He said it won't be long and I can come back at 4pm. I went there at around. 2.30pm. I decided to go to the market center of the next town first and come back.

While waiting for a cab or a bus, I noticed how efficient this shop owner with the litte space he has. I can see how he uses the little space he has and make a vegetable garden. His shop is surrounded by a bamboo fence to establish boundary and within those spaces is his garden.

He has okra plants in front.

He has lemon grass, more okra plants inside the fence and alugbati climbing up the fence.

This is the side view of his shop with his garden. I admire how he live simply yet sustainably.

A mobile bakeshop passed by as I was waiting for a bus. It travels around town, into barangays with loud music playing to notify the people of its presence. It's a great idea to reach more people even at the comforts of their homes. The name of the mobile bakeshop reads "Timo ta" which means "let's have a snack".

Finally got on the bus and arrived at the next town. I went to buy pants coz I really needed some. My pants were getting tighter to fit because I gained weight. I went to this store that sells RTWs. We do not have malls here so we settle with this store or some other small shops.

These are the pants I bought from the store. The prices range from 5 to 7$ each.

I went on to shop for other things I needed and went back to the shoe repair shop. It was already 5pm so the shop closed already. I came back the next day.

The shop owner had my shoes displayed on the counter ready to be claimed. I payed 1.4$ for his service.

I checked the job he did with the shoes and I can see he did a good job. I can see the sew stitches and I am confident that this pair of shoes will last longer.

So for a shoe fix go to your local shoe repair shop. Lets keep their business rolling!

Have a great weekend!