I celebrated my birthday with a bang. BANG! Ouch! I almost die about how humongous my spendings are! Starting from my morning routine of buying pandesal (12 pieces x 1.25 each = Php. 15) for breakfast and the morning paper (PDI-Php.18) my cousin and I pack up to the Libertad market. We rode the usual public utility jeepney (7.5per head x 2 = Php. 15) to our destination. Ok. So we are at the middle of the trade of all the raw goods I am planning to serve on my birthday. We started to buy 2 dressed whole chicken for the chicken marinade (Php. 260). We then move on to the beef section. It's totally a very hard decision if we are going to buy ground beef for the Spaghetti of just a plain corned beef instead. I realized that it would be better to buy ground beef due to my animalistic instinct that the taste of the sauce might suffer. So ok, we bought 1/2 kilo of beef (Php. 85) and asked the vendor to grind it for us with no extra charge. We then bought onions of about 1/2 kilo (Php. 22.5) and a sachet of pepper (Php. 5). My cousin said that I might be considering to add additional menu for my birthday like buying extra beef for a beefsteak. Hmm, the sound of the menu made me realize it would be a nice idea but how many kilo of beef do we have to buy? 1/2? 1 kilo? Well, again we toured the beef section passing the old lady stall where we bought 1/2 kilo of beef until we suddenly stop at a nearby stall where we see the existence of a red and fresh beef. We asked the vendor in charge.
my cousin: "Magkano kilo ng baka?"
vendor: " 220 na lang sa inyo!"
my cousin (shocked): "Ha? Ang mahal!"
vendor: "200 na lang ayaw niyo pa rin?"
We leave the place laughing and discussing how high the price of the beef the vendor is offering until we had found a stall selling beef for only Php. 160 per kilo. We got the beef sliced as a steak in no time. We saved about 4o pesos.
We also bought a pack of salt for 5 pesos and a plastic juice container for Php. 150 on which we negotiated for a bargain from a price of Php. 220. well, I still feel that the regular price is lower than what we really be expecting.
Next stop, is my haircut. I have to go to the cheapest barber shop within the market in order for me to save lots of money. Within the insides of the wet market, I shell out Php. 25 for a barber's cut.
Same goes again with the process, We rode a jeepney all the way to Fahrenheit (THE MAY DAY BIRTHDAY VENUE). This is just to leave all our wet market purchases and make necessary initial preparations of all the menu. Of course, the chicken should be well cleaned and the other ingredients should be well set.
We walked our way to the nearest grocery store in our place which is the "Cash and Carry'. The store actually has an image of being "high prices" but still I have no choice whatsoever because I have no time to find any cheaper stores. Alright, here are my shopping purchases:
1 kilo Beefies Hotdog -114
1 kilo Spaghetti Sauce -109.7
1 Fuji Apple -23.1
Reno Liverspread @ 2 -25
Axion Lemon -24.95
1 Orange Fruit -22.35
Sprite 1.5 Liters -31
1 kilo Tomato Sauce -56.4
Bread Crumbs -26.25
Pineapple Orange in Can -84.9
Loaf Bread @ 2 -52.2
Olsen Loaf -35
1 kilo Spaghetti -53.1
Pineapple Sliced -50.2
UFC Catsup -21.8
Chicken Marinade -42.5
Minola Cooking Oil 500ml -32.7
Eden Cheese 500g -72.9
It's a very difficult part for me shelling out money in that grocery store that we really spent our time comparing prices. Some goods are actually priced lower but then with lesser weight! That's a nice strategy alright but we cannot be fooled. I bought also one Gilbey's Gin for my Punch. After the extreme shopping experience we hailed a sikad (Php.15)and I let my cousin to ride her way together with the goods to Fahrenheit while I walk my way back to my boarding house to take my bath and fix up for the coming birthday bash. I grabbed my new set of clothes: a green shirt and a humble pair of jeans.
It's really hot and I don't even think of walking along with the heat so I rode a jeepney instead (Php.7.5). Arriving at Fahrenheit I bought 5 gallons of water (Php.40), 2 packs of ice cubes (Php.20), 2 Eggs (Php.8), Film (Php.79) and 2 Batteries (Php.40).
ALL IN ALL I SPENT 1, 969.55 PESOS.
But to sum it all and ignoring my worries regarding how my wallet got so thin after the 'MAY DAY' I really had a very wonderful time. I am in fact happy that I experienced celebrating my birthday with my closest relatives for the first time. You know, I already been celebrating my birthday way back in the province but it's just so simple as having a menu of pasta and drinks just enough for the whole household. Even though I would want to invite guests, I still couldn't for they are miles away from our house or perhaps I don't have any close friend after all. It really sounds dramatic but it is true. And please don't think that I am again beginning to pity myself for such a situation because I don't even think about it. Let's just say that during those harsh time nobody wants to join me in celebrating my birthday except my family.
How happy I was during this day I call "May Day". Indeed I am happy. That's what money can't buy.
