cheap and cheerful!

as i mentioned, i am a small-town girl. small town means a cheaper cost of living, lower income and basically a simple lifestyle. it doesn't mean i live in the neck of the woods, or that i do not know fashion, food, living etc in the big city. i did live for almost a year in manila, have ridden the jeepneys, taxi, MRT and LRT, prayed at Quiapo and St. Jude and visited Greenbelt, Baclaran and Divisoria. i have experienced the big city life. but i hated it! not exactly every minute of it. the food was good and so was the shopping and movies but i felt like i was always in a rush. commute to work is 30-45 minutes in what would have been 10 minutes back home. and that was during the summer months. when it was time for classes, it took almost an hour to get to work! i had to do housework on weekends since i lived alone and was to tired to do it during the work week. so i left. and have been happier ever since. (we have household help at home!)

thanks to the internet and television, i am still in touch with the latest trends, concerts and happenings. just like the janet jackson concert i would have wanted to watch but at 15,000 and 8,000? i'm sorry but you have got to be kidding me!

small town life is cheap and cheerful. if you have a hundred bucks in our town, that can buy you lunch and snacks! but in manila, that is only a cup of coffee!
another good example of the difference between a big and a small town is this pair of shoes. i got this at an american surplus shop at home. mind you, this pair is brand new too! i was aiming for anthology flats (bottom photo) but it seemed way out of my budget. this pair of ballet flats cost me only 680 (top photo) while this orchid pair costs 2,995. as my bff would say, my black flats are definitely cheap but cheerful!