If Tiktokers and Youtubers do Amazon must-haves slash product reviews, then I would like to present my Shopee and Lazada must-haves as well! I haven’t written anything in a while – I’m just not inspired. (I’ve been trying to finish this blog about Siquijor but I can’t get myself to do it.) So I thought since I’ve been doing so much online shopping this quarantine period, why not make a list of some of the things I bought that I was really happy about or those that particularly stood out. I will try to link the products as well from where I bought them. A bit of a disclaimer, I like to shop but I am a very frugal person. I will do anything to save coins, so when shopping, I always try to look for the most affordable products, but with decent reviews. Also, if it is something expensive (like an appliance or big furniture) or if it’s an electronic device, I only buy from Shopee Mall or Lazada Mall. Otherwise, China products are fine. We live in a small apartment so we don’t really have a lot of appliances and furniture. I don’t even stay at the house a lot, so I didn’t realize what we needed until during quarantine and I had to stay at home ALL THE TIME.

Work From Home Needs

Ah, this is what started it all. I started working from home right when the quarantine started so I needed to buy some stuff that would make me feel more comfortable working from my room. Actually, prior to this set-up, I don’t really use my current “room” all that much. But when I started WFH, I began staying here all the time and obviously, I can’t be staying in the same room as my family where they are sleeping, since I work at night.

(1) Laptop Table

Price: PHP299
Shop here.

Obviously, at the beginning of the quarantine, most shops (even online shops) had to close because they were prioritizing the delivery of essential goods. I ordered this in early April, but I had to wait for 2 weeks until the seller was able to book Grab Delivery. I think at that time, that was the only available courier, so it was a bit expensive – I had to pay PHP150 for shipping). After that, the deliveries have resumed so I was able to buy more things for my WFH setup. It’s a foldable table so I can easily stash it in a corner or under the bed when I’m not using it. Plus, it has grooves for your phone if you like to watch videos while working like me, as well as for drinks – my mug fits perfectly in this.

(2) Floor Chair

Price: PHP1,000
Shop here.

This is actually from a Japan Surplus shop in Pampanga. If you’re not familiar with Japan Surplus, they’re basically second-hand furniture or goods from Japan. I was a bit disappointed with this one because although I was so happy in the beginning, I realized that the back part of the chair doesn’t stand on its own. You can’t lock it, unlike normal tatami chairs from Japan. You need to lean this against the wall when you use it for some back support. It’s still functional, just disappointing that it was not mentioned in the product description. Second-hand furniture is tricky, but I feel like as a seller, you need to be honest with the defects. I think the buyer would understand because they would know what to expect.

I no longer use this because I intended for it to be in a little corner in my room along with the laptop table. (As seen on the photo above) But since I bought a bed frame, it doesn’t really fit in the room anymore, so now, my aunt uses it in the living room downstairs.

(3) Cord Organizer Box

Price: PHP271
The product has been deleted from the shop, but here’s a similar listing in the same price range.

I badly needed this because I have two laptops + my extension cord + my chargers so the cables can get crazy tangled. I initially recycled a pop-up toaster’s box, but since that’s cardboard, I thought it might be a fire hazard. I was eyeing UGreen’s cord organizer box, but man, it was almost PHP1,000! So I had to look for an alternative because you can totally find something that is totally similar but so much cheaper. This is quite big, so it has my extension cord inside, my 2 laptop chargers, and an extra phone charger. You can also place your mobile phone on top while you’re charging it. I place my new humidifier here now, too, since it needs to be plugged when in use. This, plus that cable clip thingy that you can tape to on the wall is the best cable organizing you can do! I’m talking about this. LOL. If you have a lot of gadgets, you need these!

(4) LED Light Clip-On Lamp

Price: PHP210
Shop here.

I needed this for work-related Zoom calls / meetings, because even with the light on in my room, or even the entire apartment, it still looks dark, so I decided to buy this light. It’s as simple as that. I literally only use this once a week during meetings. It works really well, and it’s super bright. You can either use it with batteries (triple A) or plug it in using USB. When I use this, I just clip it on my laptop table and plug it into the USB port of my laptop. I plug it in because I don’t have triple A batteries.

(5) Logitech Headset

(5) Price: PHP450
Shop here.

Another need for work-related Zoom calls / meetings. Sadly, my earphones / headset stopped working at some point during this quarantine and I couldn’t really buy the earphones that I normally buy because the malls are closed. So I bought a really cheap one from the sidewalk not too far from our apartment, but unfortunately, the mic sucks. Like, I don’t think it even picks up my voice. So I decided to buy a Logitech headset because I think it’s worth investing in an actual computer headset because we are going to be in this WFH setup for a really long time. I made a mistake here though because I overlooked that this is meant for old laptops or desktop CPUs where the microphone and headphone jacks are separate. For new laptops, you only have one for both, so buy H111 instead. I bought H110, which is wrong! If in case you make the same mistake as I did, you can buy an audio splitter.

(6) Vention Audio Splitter

Price: PHP147
Shop here.

This is obviously related to the previous item, to rectify my mistake. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Just make sure you buy the correct splitter, because there are ones that are both for earphones. I initially wanted to buy from the official Vention store on Shopee, but this specific style is sold out and I really wanted this one! Luckily, I found it on another store so I bought it from them instead. I am convinced it is legit because it’s the same price. Plus, it’s more convenient since this store is located in Manila, while if you buy from Vention, it will be coming from overseas (China). It works well and I’m thankful for no extra cords!

Bedroom Must-Haves

Like I mentioned, I’m in my bed ALL THE TIME, so I just had to make sure that my space is comfortable, organized, and clean. I moved some things out to our balcony to make space.

(7) Hapihomes Bed Frame

Price: PHP3055.75
Shop here.

Let’s start with this because this is a huge purchase. I actually never thought I’d purchase a bed frame because I was satisfied with just my mattress on the floor and if I want to sleep on a bed, I sleep next to my mother in the other room. I have a queen-size mattress that I fold in half to make a single bed, plus another single mattress that I bought for my brother when he moved in with me a few years back. I’ve had this for a while, since Baguio days! But then, I suddenly felt like I needed it. Initially, I wanted a customized wooden pallet bed, and I was able to get a quotation for a single bed from Dimen Woodworks. The single bed frame (39x76x5 inches) is PHP3700, and their shipping fee to my home is PHP400. I have decided on this, but then I was scrolling through Lazada and saw this bed frame and it was so much cheaper! Plus, the shipping was free! It was a day after the monthly sale, so I’m surprised that it was still on sale. I definitely lucked out with this one. It was easy to assemble and while the body is made from metal, the posts are made of wood. I like it a lot. I measured it and the normal single bed’s size is 36×75 inches, but this one longer than that on both sides by 2-3 inches. You can also put stuff under the bed, of course, but I don’t want to put so much in there because I want to be able to clean it every weekend. I have some stuff under the bed, my luggage and my laptop bags inside a cloth storage organizer plus the disassembled round side table.

(8) Bedside Table

Price: PHP499
Shop here.

I used the round side table for a few months, but I decided to buy this one when I saw it because it has more storage. I have my travel stuff on the bottom part of the cabinet, and just my electronics (power banks, adapters, external HDs, etc.) and some random stuff on the top part. This also works better with my bed frame in terms of height, while the round side table worked better when I was still sleeping on the floor. I put my cord organizer box here, plus my personal laptop. It’s easy to assemble, but I think I’m going to have a hard time disassembling this. I actually made a mistake with the bottom door, but I can no longer fix it because I can’t disassemble it! It’s not real wood, I don’t know the material (plastic?), but it looks like wood. It is pretty sturdy as well because I used to have my electronics on the top part, so it’s heavy but it’s still fine. So yeah, this is a really good buy! (I try to avoid buying wood furniture because they are heavy. It will be hard to carry them if ever we’ll need to move again. (Which I hope doesn’t happen for a long time.)

(9) Blue Water Lemon Humidifier

Price: PHP297
Shop here.

Ok, I am really excited about this because I got this less than 24 hours ago. (As I start writing this blog – not sure when I will finish this. LOL.) I initially saw some humidifiers on The SM Store from this brand, but I thought, I’d buy directly from the brand’s official store. It is really cute and small, and it does the job. I also bought some essential oils from them and I do agree with some of the reviews that it lasts around 7-8 hours. Since it’s small, the water capacity is just 180ml. I put in about 3-5 drops of the oil every time I make a fresh batch.

Ok, one huge disadvantage is that this took so long to get delivered. I waited a month and 8 days for this! I contemplated on just cancelling this and looking for another humidifier and the seller actually said it was fine to cancel, but I decided to just wait because this was such a cute design. So just keep that in mind if you’re buying from their official store.

(10) US and UK flag storage boxes

Price: PHP199 each
Shop here.

I bought these on a whim because I needed storage for my towels and linens. They used to be in this cloth storage organizer that I bought in 2018, but the outside material has started to shed and it no longer looks pretty. That is not a good look for visible organization, so I had to remove that and place the contents into another storage box. I have been eyeing these for quite a while, and since I have a small room, I wanted something that would fit under my clothing rack or under the bed, or if I use them as decor, they will still look pretty, and these were perfect! I actually measured the space I have under the clothing rack and these two boxes fit perfectly, as evident in the photo below. I can also easily just place them on top of each other and use them as decor in the corner of my room. They don’t fit under the bed though. They are too cute to be hidden under the bed anyway.

These storage boxes can also function as a chair, you can step on it when you’re trying to reach high places in your room. I even use it a stand for my laptop table, I just put the two boxes on top of each other. Although, I really need to look for a proper table stand to hopefully replace those. I would say, they’re pretty sturdy. I’ve used them a few times as a chair during hour-long meetings and they’re still in shape. Ah, but I have one issue – the smell! I don’t know how to remove the smell! I have been using linen spray on it but to no avail.

(11) Round Side Table

Price: PHP250
Shop here.

This is super cute! So it’s basically just a round table, with a compartment underneath that’s perfect for magazines or books. (I used to put books in them.) But I no longer use this, so now it has been disassembled and placed under my bed. I was going to sell this on Carousell, but I changed my mind because I think I can still use this in the future.

(12) Silk pajamas

Price: PHP250 and PHP208.
Shop here and here.

I’m sure we all have our quarantine uniforms, right? Well, these are mine. I think I turned my obsession of buying swimsuits to silk pajamas. LOL. If I can’t buy new clothes because I have nowhere to go, then I’ll buy stuff I can wear at home. This is also probably why I nap a lot – they’re just too comfy!

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(13) Wallpaper

Price: PHP109
Shop here.

I wrote about my wallpaper journey and that’s pretty much everything I want to say about wallpapering.

Kitchen & Bathroom Needs

Huh, I only have a few for this section.

(14) Refrigerator stand

Price: PHP299
Shop here.

I didn’t realize it was difficult to find a good, affordable product like this! My first attempt was terrible, because the seller sent an incomplete product, and I actually just finished dealing with all that shit last week. TL;DR I had to return the product, wait for the refund, and the shipping fee.

Anyway, the second store where I bought from was so much better! The transaction was flawless and it’s better than the first one, in my opinion. It just felt sturdier to me because the tubes were bigger and thicker. I had difficulty screwing the wheels though. I just did whatever I can and left it at that, hopefully, they don’t fall apart. *fingers crossed*

Can I just say though that my mother and I did this ourselves? I lifted the refrigerator just enough so that she could insert the stand underneath. I was sweating the entire time, but it’s so funny how I was able to carry that refrigerator. It wasn’t that big but it was still 25kg. That’s half of my weight. LOL. Anyway, just a short story time for yah.

(15) Locaupin 3-Tier Trolley Rack

Price: PHP1248
Shop here.

Ok, this is multi-purpose, but we just use in the kitchen to organize pots and pans. I do think though that the pink or green one would look so cute in a bedroom! The stands are metal, and the racks are plastic – but they don’t feel cheap. I do think that Locaupin is a really good brand, they have other products that I would really want to buy. The product was well-packaged, complete, and came with tools. I just had a really hard time screwing everything so just like the ref stand, I hope they don’t fall apart. LOL.

(16) Ice ball tray

Price: PHP82
Shop here.

Hahaha, I didn’t know I would be too happy about a freaking ice tray! I don’t know the ice balls just really make me happy when I make my iced coffee or milk tea, okay?

(17) Bathroom corner shelf

Price: PHP450
Shop here.

Honestly, I enjoyed making over our bathroom because it’s so small and I know that I’ll be able to finish it. LOL. My mother wanted to buy that bathroom rack / shelves that go over your toilet bowl, but I didn’t really want that because we have a small bathroom and the toilet bowl is not really centered – don’t ask me why. There is a bigger space on the left corner, so I thought that a corner shelf would be better. And I was right. Assembling this was tricky, but Youtube will really teach you anything. LOL!

Some old but very recommended products:

I didn’t buy these during quarantine, but I want to talk about them briefly.

(18) Bluetooth Remote Control

Price: PHP58
Shop here.

If you normally travel by yourself or just want to level up your selfies, then you need this. Plus a tripod.

(19) Veger Power bank 10000mah

Price: PHP399
Shop here.

This is the best! Affordable and super lightweight. I saw my TL had this when I was looking for a power bank, so I bought it and I liked it so much, I recommended it to a friend, who also bought it! I bought a 10000mah because I actually already have a 20000mah, but it’s super heavy! This is perfect for traveling.

Ok, 19 items! That is a lot! It took me two days to finish this blog. LOL. I hope you find some of the stuff here interesting and think, “I need this, too!” (LOL, naghanap pa ng karamay!) Hopefully, I get to do a part 2 (but maybe limit it 10 items LOL) because I still have some stuff on its way and I will probably buy some more stuff in the future. I have a freaking spreadsheet, people.

Happy shopping!