In having a small printing business, one of the problems I face is being in the middle ground of…read morenot being a "regular" consumer and being a pro-sumer. I rarely get to gather enough materials from buying in bookstores and since it's not bought by the bulk, I don't get a discount. When I do get in touch with large-scale production companies on the other hand, they don't mind me because they have such high minimum quantity for orders. This is what I love about Veco. They don't have a ridiculous minimum order for as long as you head to their office, which is conveniently located in Pasay near Buendia. I usually call in advance to find out if the items I need are in stock. When I get confirmation from them, that's when I go to make my purchase. I find it so convenient and the staff is very friendly. I like them so much I may as well put them on my speed dial.

Many (I repeat: MANY) times, I've found my laptop to suddenly be malfunctioning, or my Ps3…read moreincapable of playing disks. Obviously, I go to Greenhills, where there are enough tech experts to give you nosebleeds for months on end. I make a beeline however for the fourth floor, opposite the food court and across Datablitz. There I find my go-to guys (and girls) for my gadget repairs at Brochure Greenhills. They're a quiet bunch, and for really fair price they do basic services like formatting your laptop and resetting your Ps3 (the tech guys here will hate me, but I am absolutely clueless about these things). They do their repairs as you wait most of the time, and while most people would roam around, I find myself just staying in the area, and usually ending up sitting down and talking to the guy who's repairing my gadget. They're awfully nice, and calmly explain to you what happened or what went wrong, and how to avoid making the same mistake again in the future. Also, they sell secondhand Ps3 games at low prices - P200 at the lowest, and I end up buying one every other time I go there.

VMall is known for its sea of seemingly similar stores selling phones, computers, and basically any…read moretech you can think of. With such a great variety of choice, many newcomers find themselves bewildered, uncertain which stores to enter and which to avoid. They all sell the same things at similar prices, and the staff mostly have the same service culture. So, how does one decide? To be honest, I don't even know myself. All I know is I've been going to Brochure for more than 10 years now, and I can't even remember why. I hardly consider myself attached to my habits, but over time I've developed a trust for them. Even though other stores could also meet my demands, I keep coming back for technical problems and computer parts. An irrational favorite, perhaps, but that's as close as you'll get to differentiating all the rows of computer stores in Greenhills.

Whenever I just absolutely have to go to CD-R-King (Hint: I hate lining up at any of their…read morebranches), I go to this one. Why? There's usually no one here. That's a WONDERFUL thing. CD-R King has been the place to be for everything you need that's related to computers, not just CDs or DVDs, but EVERYTHING. Sure, you can't be too confident about quality when you're paying so cheap for most of their products, but more often than not you get a good purchase that will get you by through whatever tech crisis you are encountering. In the last few years though, CD-R King has gotten stranger and stranger. How so? They've been "branching out" into a place that just about sells anything. Rice cooker? Fancy, decorative fountains? Stress balls? Luggage? Blender? Back scratcher? It's really quite strange, but OK. Fine. Distract us customers with more stuff then. Though, one of my favourite, non computer-related purchase here around 4 years ago is actually an analog, point and shoot film camera, and they had these on sale for Php50 before. It's blue, translucent, and takes great pictures--that is until the film advance gets stuck and it leaves you screwed with more than half a roll of unexposed, wasted film. The film it came with was actually expired, and this is actually a good thing (for me and people who like lomography) because the pictures produced had some extra, trippy effects. Anyway, yes, CD-R King. You know what needs an upgrade though? Funnily enough for someone who sells tech stuff, their queueing and manual receipt system is still in the dark ages! It takes a lifetime for you to get out of their stores. Again that's why I particularly love this store. Look for branches that have NO PEOPLE!

I don't usually like buying cheap electronic devices because most of them don't last. Usually the…read morecheapness comes with a short useful life. But this is not to say that all cheap devices are bad. Cheap electronic devices are a delight for some people who just need a temporary device or just something cheap and reliable. The problem again comes when finding a store where you're questions can be answered. I really don't know if CD-R King still sells CDs, but I do know that they sell all kinds of affordable electronic devices. As in really anything, just name it. A cheap rechargeable flashlight? Yup, but that's easy. An ipad/iphone adaptor that let's you read flash drives and SD cards? Yes they have it. CCTVs, computer needs (earphones, hard drives, speakers, webcams ,and all of them haha), TVs, game controllers. I even heard from a friend that some branches are selling affordable scooters and refrigerators. And yes everything in CD-R king is relatively cheap. It's probably because the labor is cheap or that they really price competitively or something that I don't know. What I can say is that some of the suff here can last for months but some of them will last only for one so some weeks. But wait, they have a limited warranty for I think a week or so depending on the product so at least there's some customer assurance in buying their products. I usually just run here when I need something cheap like a temporary gadget or device. But there are some rare times that I buy permanent suff here like mices and keyboards (they last) sometimes speakers or even webcams. I visit from time to time just to see what new thing they have. You never know, they might have something that you've never seen but definitely need.

If SM has everything for you, so does CD-R King. They have almost everything for your tech and…read moregadget related needs. They also have peripherals and accessories not just for desktops and laptops but even for common household appliances as well. On top of these, they also have other random merchandise like small scooters and kitchenware. What's best is that everything is sold at a very low price. This is the reason why almost all the branches that I've visited is almost always full of people. They even organized a queuing scheme to address the concerns and purchases of the lined up, budget-conscious tech-savvies. Piece of advice though, don't forget to test the items that you purchase to ensure that it's working and in good condition. Buying a cheap gadget can be a hit-or-miss gamble. Some of the items that I got from here served me for a long time while there are some who simply gave up on me after a couple of weeks. They're cheap. Don't expect too much. You can always go back and get another one anyway.

Trusted pre order shop in Manila. I buy a lot off of Amazon and they will ship it for you. Plus…read morethey've got friendly staff

Don't mock the name! I have to be honest, when I first came across them, I doubted them because of…read morethe name but I was only buying a box of Twinkies, they can't really do much damage now can they? This was when Hostess and their products weren't available at SnR yet. We would pre order, pay half of the amount and then wait about a week or two for it to get here. At first they only had a couple of Hostess products, those spreads that people went cray over and some shoes like only a limited number and the pre picked size and kind. Since then I've built a relationship with Gr8tshops and they're one of the few online shippers you can trust. I say this because I'm a hard customer to please. I'm one of those who needs constant updates and proof of whatever. They send a screenshot of the online transaction (of what you ordered), pictures when it's arrived on their bodega and text you updates on when it might arrive. They did all that without me having to ask 'em to and that's some customer service right there. You can either have it shipped to your place, go to one of the meet up places or pick it up at the bodega in Cubao. We also had this instance where we ordered something from the U.S. and it arrived at their bodega a little damaged, the shoes had some sort of stain, upon closer examination. They could've sent the item and claim that it wasn't their job to return it but they did and when the new item came, it had a similar stain. By that point they offered to refund our money and send back the shoes but it was fine because the stain was barely visible and we really liked the shoes! You can be confident that you're in good hands with Gr8tshops!

Having four (or is it five already?) job descriptions and pocket businesses isn't something for…read morethose who crumble at multitasking. This is especially true if the jobs you hold or the businesses you have are quite diverse especially when it comes to supplies. This is why it makes a huge difference when the suppliers make an effort to make things convenient for you, even for the little things. Having broken my 3-year old over-utilized workhorse of a printer, I was set to buy a new one. Confused, I paid the store at Bonifacio High Street a visit and explained my requirements to the salesperson. I was impressed by his knowledge and carefully taking into account my preferences, he recommended a printer, which I later on bought and continue to use. To extend further convenience and service, they even gave me a mobile number which I could text to inquire on availability of stocks, especially for the toners. This has saved me a great amount of time and effort, not to mention gas in going and just finding out that what I need isn't available. When I do go, they always have the item ready, I pay for it, go through the process, and I'm out in less than 5 minutes. Convenient, economical without sacrificing quality, topnotch. Now tell me, how do I not stay loyal to Canon?

I have tried to avoid having the need to go to Triplex for several reasons - it's in Pasong Tamo…read moreand I am afraid of getting honked at because I am driving too slow while looking for the address, I feel anxious also about going into their office and being a "small player" in an otherwise gigantic producer's office. I finally had the courage to go, with my Dad's assistance and driving. All my fears were pointless apparently. Politely asking, I was given samples and the prices of what I needed so I can make my choices, and was guided into their procedure of payment and claiming the items. There are so many paper products ranging from plain copy paper, to brown bags, to chip boards used for mass production of boxes and whatnots. It's actually just a matter of going from one window to the other, placing an order and paying, then proceeding to the back (or rather to the side) of the office, into the gate and into the loading dock, where small orders like mine are tied up and massive orders are slammed on top of crates then loaded into trucks for delivery. I felt like a minor in the big leagues, being accommodated the same way everyone was. Not I have a wider array of paper products I can utilize, and I am no longer afraid to head into Triplex.

This store is basically the National Bookstore of UP students in UP Diliman. D' Holy Book located…read moreat a stall inside the UP Shopping Center saved my academic life many times, back in college. This is where I bought my blue books (the official exam notebook in UP) minutes before the exam, art materials for class projects and a ton of folders and brown envelopes needed for requirement paper submissions. I have observed D' Holy Book's expansion in terms of items offered because their stall is getting crowded with new selections of school supplies and materials every semester. I prefer this store over huge bookstores because they practically offer everything that I need in much cheaper prices. I even remember the lady in the cashier giving me a folder (that I was supposed to buy) for free because my shopping for school requirements went beyond my budget. It's very pleasing that the staff just like the prices are all very student-friendly!

Sometimes when people hear UP students talk about the "shopping center," they expect some mall to…read morebe secluded somewhere in the campus and get a good chuckle at seeing the squat, modest building housing the row of humble stores within. Most of the stores are photocopiers, but what people don't realize is that they are all there trying to make life easier for the lowly UP student just trying to graduate on time. Much like the rest of UPD where "official" names are hardly ever remembered, you'd likely forget what this store's called, and just know it as that school supplies place. And when we say "school supplies," we do mean SCHOOL SUPPLIES. This teeny stall is filled to the brim with nearly everything you need to survive in the academe. It can actually be kind of mind-numbing to figure out where everything is, but luckily the staff are ready to help. There is no empty space here, folks, especially when there are several customers scouring the place for folders or envelopes or cartolina. It can get a little intimate, but you know, a nice, wholesome, d'holy kind of intimate.