Last Sunday, while most Filipinos are glued on their homes to watch the Margarito-Pacquiao boxing fight, Wife and I chose to do our Christmas shopping to take advantage of less crowd and traffic at Divisoria. But upon arriving by 9 am at the mall, we were quite surprised with the huge number of people, realizing that its not only us who have thought about this timing strategy. :)
We did a walkthrough first, looking at the merchandise on offer by various stalls, then compared the prices.
This 2cm-thick 2011 planner with ballpen was quoted at retail price of Php 100/pc on a stall at the first floor. After 3 more canvassing, we got it for half the retail price in another stall at the second floor. Our initial plan is to buy only a dozen of the planner for our friends. But with the huge savings, we decided to give planners to my officemates, and to school teachers of our kids as well. We ended up buying 25 pcs with enough savings to offset our gas, toll fees, and meal costs.
We also bought 20 pcs of these "class A" Power Balance bracelets for lesser value Christmas giveaways. They cost 60% to 65% less than their retail price at Festival Mall in Alabang.
Hankies can be bought from Php 100 for 7 pcs for the low grade, or up to Php 200 for 3 pcs for the nice ones, depending on the brand and quality. All items can be bought at less expensive prices, depending on your bargaining skills. The pen-flashlight-mini saw-bottle opener gadget below is also a good find.
Driving Tips to 168 Mall:
Avoid the Juan Luna St. because of heavy traffic and many vendors occupying the road. If you use this street then turned right to Sta. Elena St., you cannot enter the mall on this part, as you will have to turn right on the corner as Felipe St. is one way. The only option is to use the Reina Regente road then enter Felipe St.
If you arrive by 9 am, you might still be lucky to find a parking space on their new wing's basement parking with elevator. Parking fee is Php 50 for first 3 hours, then Php 20 for each hour thereafter, even on weekends. Yes, their parking fee is more expensive than Glorietta or SM malls on a weekend, because the 2 other malls have fixed rates on weekends.
If you arrive by 9 am, you might still be lucky to find a parking space on their new wing's basement parking with elevator. Parking fee is Php 50 for first 3 hours, then Php 20 for each hour thereafter, even on weekends. Yes, their parking fee is more expensive than Glorietta or SM malls on a weekend, because the 2 other malls have fixed rates on weekends.
You can buy clothes, things, etc. to this place in Divisoria in a lowest price. Because we know that not all of us have money to afford things in a biggest mall and 168 shopping mall is here for us to buy a thing we need and want in a price we wanted. But this place has large amount of people so you need to be patience, thanks for sharing your experience I had a great time viewing your blog.
ReplyDeleteIve been in Divisoria three times and as usual I had a great time. I bought a lot of things here in a low price. You can also ask if they can make the price more lower or they call in tagalog " tawaran" :D Anyways, Big thanks for sharing.
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