O in the Philippines!

For some reason a lot of people in Manila are wearing checkered scarves since late summer of this year. I swear, its like the entire Philippines is having a love affair with checkered scarves, its ridiculous.

My Muslim cousin said though, people from the Middle East use it as protection from the scorching sun or sometimes they say it carries a much deeper meaning. Some people said it offered symbolic support for Muslim extremism and calls for a revolution of sorts but for me its just a misunderstanding of the Muslim or Arab culture.

My fashionista friends said, 'its fashion' blah blah blah.. So I guess more often really, its a touch of style to an outfit. I googled for it and saw pictures of Mary Kate Olsen, Hayley, Colin Farrell and some other celebs in Hollywood wearing checkered scarves. Before my brother left, he bought some saying its expensive in Australia, he got 'em for 350PHP ($7)/each. Weeks ago when we went to greenhills, Ellona said she wanted a checkered scarf. I don't know why we weren't able to buy one. So, when I went there last Saturday with my family and cousins to buy south sea pearls and other stuff for relatives abroad, I looked for the infamous scarf.

I found a lot of the checkered scarves near the jewelry section of greenhills where most of the stall owners are Muslims. I was also told by the stall owner where I got the scarves from that its called a 'sahal' or "shemagh". At the malls and other small tiangges, they retail for 200-350PHP. Its Greenhills! So like any tiangge, I haggled for the best (cheapest) price. buahaha., and you know what... I got them for only 100 pesos each ($2)!

I guess we were bored so we started taking pictures, I don't know...