Rustan’s always has nice things to look at and not necessarily buy unless you have money to burn. Or a nice house to put all the nice things in.
Years back it set aside the front portion and had some pieces from a museum in the US (New York Met?) for sale like jigsaw puzzles, totes, etc. Yesterday, towards the back (I think Shaw portion) they had this display of nice thingies. Actually that display was beside this portion which sells unusual things like metal puzzles, electronic stuff like docking systems, cute magnets, etc. Yesterday, that portion alone should have told us there was an adjacent area devoted to ships and planes. Because in that area of cute, unusual stuff were spy telescopes (the one you see Captain Hook look through), a small canoe made of dark wood which looked like it could be a shelf for something or just hung on its own, compasses, etc. Now for the really nice things.
What caught my eye were things that were suspended from the ceiling – miniatiure hot air balloons. Nice designs, interesting ones. They also had huge model airplanes that cost some P35k. Biplanes, monoplanes, etc. Vintage designs. And boats with masts – think Captain Hooke, Moby Dick. And Brooks bikes for men and women. These cost in the vicinity of P50k. And they even had this “steering wheel” used in ships – think Love Boat? No older. If one had a log cabin or a dark wood study, all these would look nice in them. Oops, this post is so full of the adjective NICE. But I can’t help it. Go check it (the section) out and dream. Would have wanted to take pictures but was scared they might not want it. I read in a post last week that a patron was disallowed from taking pictures of the food or interiors in a resto. what’s your take there? To avoid being imitated by competition? Don’t these establishments know pictures of their place or product posted in the Net, if favorably, can mean free advertising for them? Oh well.
Also at Rustan’s, checked out what Clinique had. A young lady, a family friend’s daughter, will have her debut soon. So I was looking at what CLinique had: gift sets in the vicinity of P2k. But they had this interesting product that came in a box with two pieces: lip gloss on one end and cologne on the other end of one tube. The lip glosses were of different hues. That box of two cost P1900 something. Very handy if one is into lip gloss and CLinique’s perfume. I like its Happy and Heart scents.
Also on the ground floor of Rustan’s is a GAP section. Gap’s clothes are nice (oops, nice again?) and they have nice informal bags. One can be folded and then one’s wrist inserted into the soft handle that fits snugly around one’s wrist so it can be held like a pouch bag except that it’s actually bigger. My son likes the colors of GAP apparel.
Upstairs on the third floor we looked at Kipling products a little. These aren’t made of leather but what looks like waterproof materials. Colors are a nice blue, beige etc. And they have cute monkeys. But they are a bit pricey. One pouch that looked like it could hold tissue sold for almost P1k. The bigger pouches cost P2k at least. I don’t know if and when I’ll have the guts to get myself a Kipling item. Le Sport Sac too. This brand is on the second floor. We didn’t go there yesterday but I remembered it after writing about Kipling. Same nice designs but pricey, given that they’re not items one uses in formal affairs. But I guess their being pricey is for a reason. Maybe they’re made of really sturdy materials. Or maybe you’re paying for the name? No they really look durable.
Like the title of this post says, it was mostly window shopping for us. My son though got guitar strings (steel) from Lyric Store at the basement. The store has pianos, guitars, violins, etc. for sale. It may even have music scores/sheets.
Christmas is drawing near so the fourth floor of Rustan’s has nice Christmas trees of various hues and sizes. One set of three table top gold trees that have lights costs P5k. 110w but it comes with a transformer according to the sales clerks.
They also have nice stuff made of silicone on the fourth floor, like basting brushes with the name of Mario Batali. Small ones at P500 plus, the bigger ones at P600. And cheaper versions starting at P300 plus. Silicone is really making it big in cookware. Will it go the route of the microwave in the sense that suddenly, detractors will declare it unsafe? I hope not. No I don’t have too many silicone stuff but they’re really more durable than their rubber counterparts. I’d love to spend more time looking at the colorful silicone things in Rustan’s.
(Having breakfast now: Chicken Hotdog by Virginia’s, a brand made in Cebu. It’s very good: quite tender and not at all rubbery. Maybe the maid cooked it just right? Or maybe the hot dog is really well made. I had some pork and beans heated so now it’s like I’m eating chili con carne hot dog sandwich without the chili. I’m eating this with a pan de sal half with cheese on top.)
Have you begun your Christmas shopping yet? Me, no and I regret it. August-September would have been a better time to shop with sales galore. Yesterday there were no more sales except in Celio which gave a 5% discount till yesterday care of a Bench card I got in PCX at Power Plant for P100. the card entitles one to occasional discounts (not year round) in Bench’s affiliate stores: Dimensione, Celio, Charles and Keith, Fix salon, etc. Year-round one earns points.
