Mission: Find a Gown! Outcome: Full Stomachs!

Hi dear Hivers! How’s your day going? I hope you’re all doing great. I’d like to share with you our weekend bonding last Saturday. What was supposed to be a gown-hunting trip ended up turning into a food trip afterward!

So come join me as I take you through this full-stomach story. It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon when we went to Divisoria to look for my gown. I was with my sister, my cousin, and my old friend who’s always on the go—no matter where I ask him to come with me, he’s always there and very supportive.

We took a jeepney going to Divisoria, and when we arrived, we still had to walk a bit to reach Lucky Chinatown. We passed through the mall on our way to 168 and Tutuban Mall. Since there was so much to see inside the mall, my cousin and my sister’s boyfriend decided to go their own way and check out some stores on their own. So we continued our own mission and focused on looking for gowns.

However, we couldn’t find anything we liked in 168 Mall, so we decided to transfer to Tutuban Mall, which was very close—just about a minute’s walk.

While walking, we stumbled upon a street-food stall selling fried squid on a stick. Of course, we all had to try it! It cooks quickly, and once it’s done, you dip it in a sauce filled with onions and vinegar. It tasted sooooo good!

So we continued our mission. When we got inside the mall, we finally found the floor where the gown shops were, and I started checking each store one by one. After a few minutes of looking around, I found a shop with very approachable staff, so I decided to have my dress made there.

After taking my body measurements, showing them the design I wanted, and settling the down payment, we started thinking about what to do next. By the time we stepped out of the mall, everyone was already hungry from all the walking, so the obvious decision was—time to eat!

We also found a massage chair where you just need to scan a barcode to pay, and then you can use it. We spent 15 minutes enjoying a massage here. It was definitely relaxing, and I especially enjoyed it since my body and feet were already aching from walking.

When we were out, there’s a lot of food stalls outside offering many different choices. There was Japanese food, Thai food, and authentic Vietnamese food, as well as fresh drinks and fruit juices. There was even more to choose from. So we each bought our own food and drinks, and we found an area where we could sit down and enjoy our meals while having a conversation.

When we finished eating, they started deciding where to go next. The decision ended up being another food place in Manila that everyone is visiting because it’s trending on social media, and we also wanted to try the food and the experience. I was actually already tired at this point, but I didn’t want to miss out, so we went anyway.

And so we arrived, and there were food stalls everywhere—left and right—with so many different choices that you could easily get full just from trying everything. But we only tried the ones that were trending on social media, the ones featured by celebrity YouTube vloggers.

Since I was already super tired, I told them to find a place where we could sit properly and eat comfortably. So we walked again, and eventually our feet led us to the Manila City Hall, where there were also food stalls at night and a lot of people around. It felt almost like a park.

This was definitely a fun and tiring, yet truly worth-it night with them. There were a lot of first-time experiences, and each one was definitely memorable.

I hope you enjoyed this story as well, and I’ll catch you in my next blog.

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All photos are mine.
Edited using Canva.
Camera used is IPhone.