Shopping for a baby is not easy at all, especially when it's not your baby, but Baby and Company…read moremakes the task easier. Since they are a specialized store for babies, everything you need or want is there. I like how they carry several (not a lot, but just enough) brands to choose from ranging from mid to high-end. They've got bottles, clothes, strollers, diapers, bath tubs, cribs and other baby essentials, as well as toys and accessories. I've also canvassed around for baby things for my own child and they have quite a good selection. The best part is that they carry the regular SM prices, without having to go through the hustle and bustle of SM malls. They also have a baby registry and offer gift cards, making it a great place for baby shower/baptism/birthday registries. :) I know where I'll be shopping in the next coming months!

What I love about Baby and Company is that it has both the expensive, hard-to-find brands and the…read moremore affordable ones all in one store. From bottles to creams to toys, I have a fair amount of options in one store. It's not the most complete but it's got well-curated stock that mothers will appreciate. So, whether I'm shopping for my daughter and looking for best quality item on the shelf or shopping for another kid who won't notice whether I got them a Fisher Price or Lamaze gift, I can find it there. I also don't mind that I can use my SM Advantage card in a store in Powerplant Mall. LOL I always feel like I one-upped Powerplant or something when I do that!

I'm addicted to thrift stores and 'ukay-ukays'. Not only because I don't have a lot of money and I…read more-can- be cheap, but personally, it's a thrilling, satisfying experience and past-time that naturally curious folks would enjoy. Seriously, you'll never know what thing of beauty awaits you (and for less, too)! A couple of my prized possessions (mostly clothes, artwork/trinkets) I've purchased from such stores. I live 2 minutes away from Go Green Japan Surplus, so I frequent this place quite often to look around, see what's available. I really find the whole experience entertaining, to say the least. I mean, all these odds and ends from another culture, owned by a stranger you will most likely never, ever meet--who may also be still alive, or dead! Okay, that's not very enticing. But really, with a combination of luck, perseverance, and a good eye, you can really come home with a lot of good finds. This place mostly sells second hand furniture and home accessories. Their furniture can be a bit pricey, so do choose wisely. It might be helpful to check brand new items in other places first for a price basis. If you're a mug/teacup/plate hoarder, they have a huge selection of ceramics with novelty designs (i.e. ceramic sake glasses with erotic Japanese artwork called Shunga). For outdoorsy types, beautiful, secondhand Japanese bikes and surfboards are available here, too!

There's a relatively large warehouse-type store in the middle of Dona Soledad Avenue in Bicutan,…read moreParanaque City that simply calls itself Japan Store. It is, of course, a second-hand shop that sells a wide variety of houseware, furniture, home décor, bicycles and just about anything that can be sold used. Every so often, the Japan Store will sell shoes that look to be in good condition. I chanced upon a pair of tripods that I had been looking for and one was being sold for P1,200 and the other for P2,000. The most interesting item available was an old-style slot machine. Two of them actually. It didn't have the lever of the typical one-armed bandit, making the P5,000 gizmos next generation slot machines. The place also has surf boards and more cups and mugs than I could count. One seemingly fast moving item would be wheelchairs, as every so often a few would be on display, only to be gone a week later. Cabinets, clocks, kitchen utensils are also plentiful. For those who like to restore old furniture, Japan Store has a wide array to choose from. This place has been around for years so it's safe to presume that business must be booming. I like to visit it just to see what new old stuff they have for bargain hunters like me. I'm still waiting for them to have a classic juke box for sale, and I will probably bargain like crazy to have it.

There really is no shortage of good stores for babies and kids in Greenbelt, Makati. One of my…read morefavorites to visit among the row of baby stores here is Youji & Me. It is the perfect place to find some of the basic big-ticket items when you are having your first baby. They carry the best brands for strollers, cribs and playpens. My sister got my 5-in-1 playpen from this store as a baby shower gift for my little girl. We decided on a playpen when she asked what I wanted because I was planning on co-sleeping. It really was a great decision. She started to use the playpen when she was only a few weeks old and up until she was almost two (and could start to climb out of it). It worked as a sleeping cot, a diaper changer, a real playpen with lights and sounds. It was one of our most over-used items for my baby. Now that she is a bit older and has amassed a huge collection of toys, we use it to hold the hundreds of dolls that she received as presents over the last three years. Youji & Me also has my dream crib which I really had my heart set on before deciding to co-sleep. They carry Cuddlebug cribs which can go from newborn crib to toddler bed. They also have some pretty interesting brands like Nuby for pacifiers, teethers and bottles and Boikido toys. I love how clean the set up of the store is; it is not over stuffed with shelves upon shelves of items which makes choosing all the more difficult. They have the toys, feeding items and other essentials on one wall; the strollers, sample playpens and the Cuddlebug crib on the other end; and a few Boikido toys in the middle. There's a lot of space to test the strollers and for little tykes to run around and look at their toys

A few years ago, I asked an expecting mommy friend what to get her for her baby shower gift and her…read morereply was: "Anything, as long as you get it from Youji & Me." Now this was before I had my own kid and so I had no idea what this store was; I actually assumed that it was some sort of quirky boutique. So I went into the store and saw that it was a baby needs' shop, and a well-curated one at that. Unlike the rather overwhelming hodgepodge of baby stuff that you will find at the department store baby section, Youji & Me only carries a limited inventory, but almost everything is lust-worthy. They had all the nice baby brands like Nuby, Aprica, and what have you. The store is spacious enough so that you can browse without bumping into other customers. There's room enough to roll the strollers around. I was particularly impressed by their selection of convertible baby cribs--you actually can turn them into kiddie beds! Of course, premium baby stuff comes at a price, so prepared to give your credit card a beating. If you can, wait for their annual warehouse sale where they slash as much as 50% off products from participating brands. They usually hold the warehouse sale in San Juan City - I've never gone but other moms have told me that it really pays to go early as the best picks of the lot are pretty much gone a few hours after the sale opens.

WAAAH PLUSHIES. CUTE PLUSHIES. IN ALL KINDS, CREATURES, THINGS, FOOD, AND SIZES. If you're the…read morecrafty sort and you like handmade things, this store will catch your eye. I was touching all the cute little plushies displayed here. So granted this place will make you think "What the hell do I do with plushies?" and the answer usually is "nothing" as their purpose (if you are an adult that is) is for them to sit there and look CUTE! For children though (I really do think the market for these are kids, by the way. Haha) these plushies would make for charming little toys to play with. They're not at all like those "Beanie Babies" that were the craze back in the 80's/90's but imagine more like arts-and-crafts type of plushies, the kind you would make out of a kit with your mom (and I mean this in the best way possible!). They're all delicately made and you can tell that the materials they use are of high-quality, so it's really a unique product to give as gifts or to grace your work desk with.

When it comes to my niece and nephew, I err on the safe side. Even if there are many brands…read morespecializing in children's goods, I usually patronize the ones that my mom bought us when we were young. One brand that our family has trusted for a long time now is Enfant. I can attest to the quality of their products because some of their clothes that my mom bought me when I was a kid are still usable up to this day. I like going to the Enfant store because everything I need to buy for my niece and nephew can be found there. Aside from kids' apparels, they also sell baby bottles, toiletries, bags, and baby-friendly furniture. I like their baby clothes because they are made of 100% cotton and are hypoallergenic. I wish, though, that they sell clothes that are more in tune with the modern times, so to speak. Another good reason to buy from this store is the price of their products. I was able to buy a sturdy stroller for my niece for less than PHP 4,000.00. Now, I think that's a bargain.

When you become a godmother, it's time for you to look for places to buy baby clothes and baby…read moreaccessories. You can't just rely on the sales that happen seldom. You will have to come to reality by accepting the fact that anything for the baby is expensive! Whenever my friends and I give gifts to a new mother / friend, we try to pass by Enfant to check out their merchandise. First we ask our mother / friend what she needs for the baby and being the practical friends, we split the cost of something big. Like for example before when my boss gave birth, we bought her a crib in Enfant. Since we were 15 people, the price of the crib divided amongst us wasn't so bad. I think it's the best way to help the mother / friend. You give something that she really needs, which lessens her costs. This is really a mommy's heaven!

I remember when I was still a new mom, I was so conscious about breastfeeding my daughter in…read morepublic. Whenever I'm out with my baby, I would always bring feeding bottles and stored milk so I wouldn't have to breastfeed in public, or if I had to, I would go to the most secluded area I could find. I love shopping for baby stuff in Rustan's at Alabang Town Center so I was really happy when I found out that they have a breastfeeding area inside their store. It's not just a nursing room per se, but more of a baby room. There's an area where toddlers can play and read, and a small crib where you can change baby's dirty nappy. I like that it feels more like a baby's room at a friend's house rather than a common room at the mall. And it's located inside Rustan's (near the Infants and Toys section) so I don't have to leave the department store area if I need to nurse my baby.

Man, I've grown up a lot but the Rustan's in Alabang town Center is still standing. It's weird to…read moresee this place now that I'm older and it not changing one little bit. Sure the products on their shelves have changed with each passing seasons, but that's to be expected. This was where I used to buy my Pokemon cards when I was a lot younger during my elementary days. Rustan's is still the place to go to if you're looking for something fancy and classy. I mean, Rustan's is practically synonymous with big name brands. Brands that you would rarely see anywhere else in fact. I passed by the other day and found out that they know stocked items from the designer Oleg Cassini for crying out loud. I don't think I'd find that anywhere else other than Rustan's. If you're looking for a fancy pair of shoes, threads, cosmetics or whatever then Rustan's is your best bet.

Props to SM for coming up with this specialty store. And they have good reason for doing so; moms,…read moremoms-to-be, titas and most especially grandparents can't resist buying stuff for the little ones! My eldest daughter is the first grandchild in my family. And even if we planned to live abroad, that didn't stop the new lola (my mother) to dote on her first apo. A month before my child was born, my mom had already completed my checklist of the things the baby would need. Where else could she buy those things but in SM's Baby Company. I'm surprised they didn't offer her the Mom Card (their loyalty rewards program). She could have acquired a lot of points with everything she bought. As the name implies, this is the place I go to when I need something for my baby. May it be clothes, bathing, feeding, sleeping, anything! And it doesn't matter what your budget is, because Baby Company offers a lot of baby brands, from the local and cheap to the imported and slightly pricey ones. I have a four-month old daughter now, so no visit to SM is complete without passing by Baby Company.