So I made it back from an overseas trip and of course needed to check on some toy and hobby shops for some die cast and here is where I broke the rule.
The HAWL:
Rule 1: Only get what I like. Really really like. And that means I have average around 5 - 7 cars per trip.
Rule 2: Only get what is not available in the USA. That means no Hot Wheels, Matchbox and possibly M2 and Greenlight as well as they can be acquired over here at a better price.
Both of these rules were thrown out the door in this trip as you can see on my first picture it already included Greenlight, M2 and I’ve gone past the magic 7. Way, way past. Lots of nice goodies that I can’t resist.
I figured it was worth it since some of these are hard to find or not available in my area which means using more gas to look for them or ordering online and factoring the shipping cost. Will hopefully feature all of them individually or as a group in future blogs.
The FOOD:
What’s a trip without enjoying food since man does not live by die cast alone.
Here I was introduced to this restaurant located in a spacious mall called S Maison beside Conrad hotel at Seaside Blvd in Pasay City which has high end merchandise and restaurants.
This place is well known for their Xiao Long Bao aka Chinese Soup Dumplings (pictured on top left of outdoor menu) which is traditionally prepared in xiaolong, place in small bamboo steaming baskets, which give them their name.
Inside is usually minced pork with clear soup in leavened or unleavened dough and aspic. As the dough is fragile, it is best to carefully lift it up with a spoon and slowly bite into it while sipping the soup inside.
But this place comes with 8 different flavors in different colors which includes would you believe, cheese.
And that’s just the, how do I say it, appetizer as here are some of the main dishes as well.
I also had Greek as well with a Souvlaki chicken, pork chop with roasted potato and Pasta with Greek meatball which uses lamb.
The PLACES:
Of course if you haven’t guess where this place is, it is in the Philippines and one of the places besides Manila that you might want to go by bus or car is Baguio.
A little history. When the United States occupied the Philippines after the Spanish–American War, Baguio was selected to become the summer capital of the Philippine Islands due to the temperature being around sixty eight according to Governor-General William Taft in 1901 during the hottest month due to it being on a higher level.
While there, we visited a store that sells everything in sterling silver and one of the things that caught my eye is the Jeepney model not in die cast but sterling silver as well. Here is their most popular mode of public transportation which were originally based on the Willys jeep after World War 2. Below are models that were hand made in probably 1/64 and 1/18 scale.
As for the price, let’s just say the 1/64 would probably be equivalent to around $125.00.
Back to Manila while visiting one of the malls I came across a small temporary stall where they were selling action figures, die cast planes and... 1/18 models based on Initial D by Auto Art.
Saw these 1/24 in one of their toy stores in a mall.
And lastly here’s a typical Tomica display in a mall.
