While prancing around a Filipino blog about Japanese culture and immersing myself with helpful guides, I chanced upon this article. It's about a store selling dirt-cheap second hand Japanese items. Imagine the excitement I felt when I found out that it was just located at Project 8, only one jeep ride away from home.

Taking advantage of the holiday today, I embarked on another where-would-this-jeep-be-heading adventure in search of this magic place. After accompanying my mother in a crowded and fluffy Dakki sale in Munoz (I swear, this prepared me for the trip), I rode a Project 8 jeepney; the fare is just 7 pesos, the minimum. As the blogs I've read instructed, I got off Road 20, the drive between 7-Eleven and McDonalds. After that, I decided to walk instead taking a trike. It wasn't really that far. It isn't easy to miss the place--- it has a giant anime mural painted against a sky blue wall.

My first impression was that it looked like a garage sale or a junk shop; you will be greeted by old appliances and huge electronic gadgets. As I entered, I tried to find the figurine section, which was the first room on the right. Le gasp, you will be instantly drawn to the walls and stands flooded with toys, figurines, posters, key chains, model kits and all those goodies. Scanning through the first pieces (which cost 3 for 100), I couldn't recognize any characters asides from the obvious Pokemon. Since the rest of the items overwhelmed me, I decided to check other stuff.

When you leave the room, you'll notice on the floor, boxes filled with used clothes, and baskets filled with toys and figurines. This didn't make any sense since the pikachus were in the same sealed plastic as mirmos, mickeys and random robot parts. Which reminds me to ask the person in charge about it... Anyhoo. The Saizen bloggers weren't kidding, the Japanese do have everything. I can't believe anyone, myself included, would sift through their old junk and hand-me-downs.

One of the things that caught my fancy was the Hello Kitty sewing machine. It was obviously overused but I was ready to jump at it. Fortunately, I found another portable sewing machine: boxed, cleaned, more credible-looking and battery operated. It was only 500 pesos. I drooled in my mind. I have been searching for mini sewing machines and the only ones I could find cost at least 7000 in Trinoma.

As anticipated, the CD section did not disappoint. It was a gold mine, at a cost of only 50 each. As a true JPop noob, I quickly noticed Utada Hikaru and Orange Range CDs. Then, I saw two of Ayumi Hamasaki's with Depend on You as one of its tracks. Thousand Arms was one of my treasured childhood playstation games and its song kept on resounding in my head through the years... so this was a no-brainer for someone who couldn't recognize 99.9% of the artists there. I made a mental note to buy it after I've gone through everything. Unfortunately, someone else beat me to it while I was away. *facepalm*

Another section had a bigger electronics selection. Cathode ray tvs, huge CD players, keyboards, guitars, speakers, unusual amount of golf clubs, you name it. They have it.

If you're an audiophile and several years older than me, you'd be pleased to find records everywhere. If you have the time, determination and resistance to dust, be prepared go through the entire pile. (That's what I did with the CDs ^_^)

Having the uncanny ability to sift through millions of items and restraining from buying anything, I managed to only snag these Digimon cards which would make my childhood self very proud. I got these for only 50 pesos.

And for my favorite mating cows, I got them these Evangelion cards (mixed with some SEGA and Bandai cards) since the colored glossy magazines cost 100 pesos (cheap and a steal, yes, but out of my imaginary budget.)

These cards are also grouped in plastic baskets on the floor. The ones I could recognize are Dragon Ball, Yu Gi Oh, Pokemon, Gundam, Digimon 02, Digimon Tamers, Evangelion, Naruto and Bleach.

I can't wait to go back there when I have more money. I might get the maid costume which only costs 1500. Price, negotiable ;)

Labels: anime, hobbies, interludes