Michi Photostory: bazaar

December 02, 2016

8 Reasons Why I Love Shopping at St James Christmas Bazaar?

One thing I look forward every Christmas Season is visiting different bazaars. There are 3 bazaars that I frequently visit during the past several years such as Noel Discovery Bazaar, World Bazaar Festival and St James Bazaar.

Read: List of Christmas Bazaars

St James Bazaar was established in 1991, so they just celebrated their 25th anniversary last week. It was built to raise money to build the church in Ayala Alabang Village which is the St James the Great Parish Church.

I only learned about this bazaar when I moved to Southern Luzon, there are tarpaulins near Alabang Town Center area. At first, I was hesitant to visit this bazaar kasi feeling ko pangmayaman at nasa Ayala, Alabang.

2008 was my first visit in St James Bazaar, as in baby pa anak ko. But during that time, there are only few stores but few years ago nag-improve na. Now, there are more than 500 concessionaires in the bazaar.

8 Reasons Why I Love Shopping at St James Christmas Bazaar?

1. Location

Most of the bazaars are in Metro Manila, I live in Southern Luzon so Alabang is my good option to avoid the city traffic. I also save more in toll and gas.

2. No Entrance Fee

Some bazaars has P75 or P100 fee but St James Bazaar has no entrance fee, the best thing in life is always FREE. Big savings for me or else, I will pay for 3 tickets which is pang foods and drinks na rin yun.

3. No Parking Fee

Aside from no entrance fee, there is no parking fee but there are times that it is hard to find a parking slot so you need to go there early or be ready to walk far.

4. Money?

No problem if you ran out of cash because there are ATM machines in the area where you can withdraw and some stores accept credit card transactions too.

5. You will not get hungry or thirsty

There are food stalls too where you can buy drinks and food. In some bazaars that I’ve visited, there are no available tables and chairs, so nakatayo kakain. But in St James Bazaar, no need to worry because there are tables and chairs when you dine. We ate at Ineng’s Barbecue and Ellies Roasted Calf during our last visit.

6. It is Like a One Stop Shop

When I say One Stop Shop, it means there are different stores that will cater to different customers. They sell foods, beverages, jewelry, accessories, home decor, personal care products, toys, clothes, stationery and many more.

I prefer going to bazaar because there are products that are not available in the mall. There are online stores that I follow in social media that have kiosks in St James Bazaar so it saves me from shipping fee. I just buy products at the bazaar and sometimes they have promo too if you buy there.

7. Activities and Raffle Prizes

If you are into contest, you can join the different activities or you can buy raffle ticket to win some prizes.

8. You Can Help

You can help because the proceeds of the 4-day bazaar will be given to St James Parish Church. Not only that, you can help small entrepreneurs in earning money. Yes, support small businesses.

I won’t share photos muna because some of the stuff I bought is panggift. Hehehe!

Yey! Nakahabol sa last day... #stjamesbazaar #bazaar #christmasbazaar

A photo posted by michisolee (@michisolee) on Nov 26, 2016 at 10:10pm PST

July 04, 2011

DIY Kota Kinabalu City Tour

As early as 6AM we started our itinerary. We went to Atkinson’s Clock Tower; it is two blocks away from our lodge. In 1903, this clock was built in memory of Francis George Atkinson; it is an all wood and no nails structure which is considered as the oldest standing structure in Sabah. It survived the World War II and until now it keeps the city’s time.

Gaya Sunday Market

Then, we dropped by at Gaya Sunday Market to buy some souvenirs. Every Sunday morning the whole Gaya Street is closed off to give way to Sunday Market. There are different stalls that sell flowers, pets, foods, handicraft, souvenirs, fruits, antiques, plants, herbs, footwear, antiques and many more.

I did not miss the chance of getting here; it is just one block away from our lodge. Gaya Sunday market is open from 6:30AM to 1PM. I bought some souvenirs here, keychain for RM10 (6pcs) and t-shirts for (RM20, RM9 and RM8).

DIY Kota Kinabalu City Tour

City Tour is my last itinerary before we leave Kota Kinabalu, I did not book any City Tour package because the price is too expensive for me, RM90+ per person so I decided to DIY my City Tour.

I contacted few taxi drivers that I’ve got from the internet but no one replied. So we ended up walking and looking for taxi driver that we could hire for 3 hours of City Tour, after forty minutes we found the taxi driver who agreed for RM100 for City Tour.

First stop is Sabah Museum and Heritage Village; 10AM is the opening time so we just took some pictures outside the museum.

Second stop is Menara Tun Mustapha or formerly known as Sabah Foundation Building. The design concept of this building is very unique; it is a 30 storey high circular tower of glass stands and steel. There is also a revolving restaurant at the 18^th floor but again, opening time is 10AM.