Bazaar here, Bazaar there, Bazaar everywhere…

It has been a busy weekend for me. Saturday was an overlapping event that got me in a bind. I was invited to a wedding that started at 2:30  PM then it was also the company’s year end party. The registration was 6PM. Given that it was a Saturday and the first one of December at that, I was expecting the roads to be heavy with traffic jams. And I woke up late last Saturday, too, so that added to the fact that I didn’t have enough time to prepare for the wedding. Little Z was awake until about 5 in the morning so I woke up late. The ending was, I never got to the wedding but I was one of the early birds for the year end party. I was there a little more than an hour prior to start of registration. 😛

Anyway, it is that time of the year again – Christmas time, holidays, year end or whatever you call it. It is the season of giving, so to speak. It is also the time when people get their bonuses and inflated paychecks. And where else to spend all those extra moolah? Bazaars!!!!

I have been going to bazaars for a few years now but not as much as I have been to since last year. I like bazaars. Well, generally, I like them. You get to see items that are not usually in the malls (well, it used to be) and other items at a somewhat cheaper price. I have been to a couple of bazaars earlier this year and I was able to buy a few items for little Z (well, he wasn’t born yet during those days). And given that I was able to find something from those bazaars, I was expecting great finds again this time of the year.

I have been to two sites earlier today. One has about 4 separate sale events: Baby and Family Expo, Toy Kingdom sale, Christmas warehouse sale and I think the other one was for shoes. I was looking forward to the baby expo since end of July and getting there earlier this afternoon was quite disappointing. It was not what I was expecting. There were not much sellers (I think the occupied stalls were just about half of the total stalls set up for the event) and not much offerings in terms of baby stuff. And I was expecting so much from it.

The other hall, Toy Kingdom sale, I went in, got in the middle of the center aisle, turned around and went back out. There were too many people with too many kids and strollers going around the aisle. It was kinda scary navigating the aisles with the population especially since little Z was with me. So, there goes nothing.

The Christmas warehouse sale, I did the same. Went in, had a few steps towards one of the booths closest to the entrance, turned around then got out. Again. I was scared of the crowd. LOL! No, seriously, I hate crowds but it makes me paranoid if I have a kid with me – and an infant at that. It is not easy navigating aisles wearing a baby and carrying a baby bag at the same time. Or maybe I am just not used to it.

Well, I guess you can guess the last hall. I didn’t go in. There were a lot of people standing at the entrance that I was scared of knowing how much people were already inside, trying to find the pair of the shoe that they were already holding.

Out of the four halls, I was only able to purchase one. Just one item. Could you believe it?! I got little Z just one shirt. And I got it because it is cute. Oh well. 😛 He won’t be able to wear this yet. Maybe I’ll give it a couple of months.

But I got a few freebies from the baby expo. One of the perks of going to bazaars are the freebies. Although I noticed that there are fewer and fewer freebies every year.

So, since I got disappointed with the four sale events, and little Z was getting fussy because he was getting hungry, we took a cab and went to our favorite hang out place to chill and relax for a bit.

So, after having coffee for me and milk for little Z, I decided to visit one other bazaar. I have been to their clearance bazaar last August and it was good. There were a lot of items being sold and I was having a hard time back then trying to stop myself from hoarding a lot of the baby items for sale. They had another bazaar for the last three days. I don’t know, maybe it is just me or maybe it is because I was there on the last day, but I didn’t find any good stuff there like they had a few months ago. I didn’t find anything unique or something new and unusual for that matter. There were quite a lot of stalls but they almost offer the same things. I was hoping that I could buy something there – either for gift item or for little Z – but, I just can’t find anything that catches the eye and that I consider a good buy.

I only got one freebie from that event and that is all that I took home with me from that sale.

I guess I spent more in taxi fares than in my purchase. 😛

So, there. I do remember that there was another one happening somewhere but I wasn’t so sure. And like I said, given that I have my son with me makes it quite a lot more challenging going to sale events than going there alone.

Depending on little Z’s schedule in the next couple of weeks, I will make it a point that I visit one of the big bazaars that I have been waiting for – World Bazaar Festival. It is going to run  until the 22nd of this month so I guess I still have time. I just hope that there will still be some good finds out there. And I hope I don’t end up spending more on food than on my intended purchases. 😛

Here’s a link to the bazaars happening within the metro. I think some of them are up until the end of the month.

Enjoy shopping! 🙂