My Shopaholic Confession

Hi! My name is James and I'm a Shopaholic!

In fact, make that James Bloomwood. When I was reading the book, I felt like I was reading my life story with some prelude of the future--except of course I don't have a vagina, will never have one, thank you very much, and Manila is my London.

This extreme fascination and addiction to retail must have started when I was still in high school. I come from a middle class family somewhere in the Visayas. Apparently, everybody has the shopping gene because we would go to Manila at least once a year for a vacation and shop ourselves out. From Greenbelt to Divisoria, to Megamall, etc, there was never enough time nor too much shopping to do. Since then, I developed a passion for hunting down the best buys. And it's great to know everyone in the family appreciates a good shopping trip.

Now that I live and work here (Manila) with all the malls and shops practically calling my name whenever I'm free, "big city" shopping has become more available. There are countless shopping spots and frequent sales but sadly, there's never enough money to spend. It sucks when your credit limit allows the purchase yet eventually you would have no idea how to pay the bill you know. My parents are still very supportive but overspending with their money is out of the question. It sucks to be poor.

One October afternoon last year, a couple of days before All Souls Day and All Saints Day, a.k.a. halloween time, I decided to go out and spend some of my hard-earned money. Out of sleep and desperate to take a break from thinking how much I hate my job, I headed to Greenbelt to buy shirts my father had asked me to get. And of course I just had to buy stuff for myself. It was bittersweet because I was all alone. I felt homesick thinking of the times my family and I would camp at the cemetery during Fiesta Minatay to bond with relatives dead and alive. This prompted me to get more "therapy".

After hitting Greenbelt and Glorietta, with a shopping bag and a grande frappe in tow, I headed to The Fort just when the sun was setting.

The place was packed. It was brimming with both kids and adults in costumes. Everyone seemed to be cheery bonding with their families. Needless to say, jealousy bit me in the ass. It was funny because as I was walking, carrying my loot, I received a text message from a good friend that goes this way:

Money can't buy happiness...

But somehow, it's more comforting to cry inside a ferrari than in a tricycle.

It really made me smile. I don't have a ferrari nor do I have the capability to buy one, and I love tricyles because I grew up in a town where trikes are the main mode of transport, but this text message reminded me of how lucky I still am compared to other folks out there.

So with renewed optimism and high spirits, I raided Theodore's The Store and bought myself a shirt and compulsively threw in a pair of Cheap Monday pants too. After which, I rushed to Robinson's Manila to pick up a pair of red canvass shoes I had put on hold. I made it just minutes before the mall closed. Whew.

The day ended with me talking to my parents over the phone about my purchases and their plans for All Souls Day. It was tiring, physically and even emotionally, but damn, it was a sweet shopping experience.

Catch "Confessions of a Shopaholic" in Cinemas on February 18, 2009.