Confessions of a Shopaholic

Shopping with Yuko, John and Becky in Toki Premium Outlet


shopping with Kaori and Kei in Jazz Dream



Too tired after 6 hours of shopping!



It is Official. i have a shopping sickness...for the past 2 months...Let me explain.
When i was fat....ooops.....Im writing as iF Im REALLY thin now.hahaha. let me rephrase that... when I was 25 kilos FATTER...I always used the excuse that I couldnt buy clothes in Japan whenever I shop in other countries. You know how Japanese women are incredibly thin so i couldnt buy clothes in the women's section. All the shirts that i bought here are from the Men's section. Thus, i AWAYS had to deal with excess luggage problems on my trip back to Japan. Friends who have seen me shop abroad all say that I am crazy. I liked the fact that I was a Size M in Western countries compared to being a SIZE LLL or 4L in Japan! Ouch. As I mentioned in my previous blogs, when i like a certain type of clothing and It fits me, I but it in all colors available. So you would often see me wearing the same style of clothes but in different colors! haha. Sometimes, I buy clothes even when they dont fit me. Hoping they would fit me someday (That someday is now! Yey!) Well, Ive had this habit even when I was still in the Philippines, before coming to Japan.

This is whay my living room looks like now after a week of shopping....




With a lot of work and perseverance and self-discipline and prayer, I started losing weight last year. Praise God for that! Thus, I was able to shop for clothes here already. And clothes here are EXPENSIVE. But, I liked the feeling of not just looking at women's clothes but actually trying them on! And when they fit, how can I resist not buying them? I am only human....hahaha. I felt very good that I wasnt "deprived" anymore. I could actually walk in women's clothes shops and be confident that something will fit me there.

I liked going to shops...which i know have clothes that are size 0-6 only(That's usually the case in Japan....most shops dont have size 8 up). shops like Morgan,Mango,Sara, Diesel etc. even when i know that nothing will fit me there, I still go because I might find something cute for my bestfriend Joyce who's got a lovely body, my good friend Gold who is always appreciative of what i give her, and my other thin friends.I love buying cute stuff for them and seeing how nice they look on it.

When I was in Taiwan a few years ago, I went to Taipei 101 mall and was about to enter the store Morgan when the ugly, thin saleslady(hahaha) told me off. She said even before me and my ex bf was about to enter the store...."WE DONT HAVE YOUR SIZE HERE!" What a Bitch! My ex bf knew me so well that i was about to make a scene, so he just grabbed my arm and we walked off. I cannot forget this experience. i felt really bad at that time. My ex, who liked me being voluptuous....hahaha...i mean, fat....cheered me up so i felt better.

There's another shopping incident I couldnt forget up to this day. I met the kindest sales clerk while shopping in Amsterdam. You see, Ive always wanted to have those knee high boots. Besides the fact that they seem warm for winter, they look very fashionable too. esp when I see the Japanese ladies here wearing them. I tried several boots here in Japan but besides the fact that I have big feet, (25cm or 8.5-9 inches depending on the shoes)I have big calves. So, naturally, I cannot buy boots here in Japan. Not with the small sizes and the small girth of the boots. They are meant for Japanese women with nice, thin legs and small sizes. Damn It! So, I entered a shoe store in a mall in Amsterdam. i was looking enviously at several pairs of nice boots. A clerk came up to me and asked me If i wanted to try them. I said, "OH NO, THEY WONT FIT ME". i was scared of being "rejected" by any pair of boots again. Hahaha. Ive been "rejected" so many times in the past. She then kindly looked at my legs and my feet, asked me what size I was, and when i told her, she said "OH, We Have Your size. Why dont you try one? "...I was very hesitant but then she went and got the boots and kindly helped me fit it. They didnt fit.Naturally. because my legs were big. I felt so bad again. I told her "I CAN NEVER FIT INTO ANY KIND OF BOOTS. MY CALVES ARE TOO BIG". And she said......"OH,NO. DONT SAY THAT. YOU JUST HAVENT FOUND THE RIGHT PAIR OF BOOTS!" Ohhhhhh. i love her! I said "Thank You. That's very kind of you". And I asked her If i could take a picture with her coz she was the kindest clerk Ive ever met.


So, back to my "sickness"....ive been depressed since January so Ive been shopping every week. I dont have a car here so whenever any of my friends would tell me that they are going to a shopping mall or an outlet store next weekend, I usually cancel my classes and go shopping! hahaha! Seriously. I stopped shopping 6 weeks ago. That's the time i got out of my depression. I was already okay. i didnt need the "high" i'd usually have after shopping to feel better. BUT This week.....3 groups of friends invited me to go shopping. My American friend Aiko, invited me on Sunday, March 16, to go shopping in Toki Outlet store in Gifu Prefecture...a 40 minute drive away from my place. On Thursday, March 20, My Japanese friend Kaori, invited me to go shopping in Jazz Dream in Mie Prefecture, a 2 hour drive away from I live. and today, Yuko and I went on a tour to Gamagori in Aichi prefecture...again a 2-hour drive away. I went shopping to 3 BIG Outlet stores in 3 different prefectures in less than a week! Oh god! i havent even unpacked the things i bought since January. My living room is a big mess right now! hahaha.And I think I just permanently damaged my credit card!

Well, I promise myself that i will not shop until April 24! That's until I go home to the Philippines! The Shopping BAN is lifted as soon as I land in Manila! Hahahaha! Cant wait!

By the way, FYI. I have a nice pair of knee high boots now! And I bought them in Japan! Yey! And I'm a size M now too! Size M in Japan! YEY!!!!! Praise God!