Say hello to your new neighbors

Manila Pop Up expands, pooling together the freshest local independent brands, food specialty stores, art stalls, and more in The Neighborhood, a flea market that happens today.

Ever been to one of those Christmas bazaars and thought of it as nothing more than one big department store of overrun clothes and cheap knock-offs? Where are the local independent brands, the specialty stores of food we’ve never had anywhere else, the one-of-a-kind collectibles and vinyl records we’ve been looking for? Apparently it’s all in today’s event, The Neighborhood, a new take on the flea market brought to us by the good people of Manila Pop Up and Rockwell. Out goes the typical bazaars with the usual village titas and in comes something new for those truly looking for something new. According to the organizers, The Neighborhood promises to highlight and “bring focus to the new, the different, and the game changers” from the newest local clothing brands to the food and drinks everyone seems to be raving about.

The one-day event isn’t holding anything back and promises to provide everything you’d find in a great neighborhood. The organizers say they’re bringing in pop-up stores from some of the best local brands, food stalls from Hatch 22, Craft Point, and our favorite ice cream shop, Bono, just to name a few. There will even be a pop-up barbershop from Titan because, why the hell not? While they haven’t confirmed or denied it, The Neighborhood feels like it’s influenced by the Williamsburg markets you’d find in Brooklyn. Basically, it’ll have everything a hipster would want in a flea market; or if you’ve always wanted to be a hipster, this is the place where you can get all the essentials. Enough hyping around — here are the top three things we plan to do in The Neighborhood.

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The Neighborhood is open from 11 a.m. until 12 midnight over at the Rockwell Tent. Hope to see you there. Yes, you!

Get some really great shirts from

The Daily Shirting Company.

Our favorite local brand, The Daily Shirting Company, is going to have a pop-up store and we can’t wait to get more tops from them. If you’ve ever seen either of us in public, you might have noticed we’re huge fans of good basic button-down polos. Roll those sleeves up and it’s the perfect top for almost any day. No local brand does the basic button-down like The Daily. They use the best fabric available and the tailoring is always sharp. If they have a lot of new stock and designs available, then consider our money theirs. We can’t recommend checking their stuff out enough. If anything, The Daily should be your number one priority in The Neighborhood.

(Possibly) Get inked at Tattoos by Sarah Gaugler.

Maybe for us good old subdivision kids, nothing says, “I’m a bad boy now, Mom” quite like getting a tattoo. The girls seem to be into guys with tattoos more than ever. And we are pretty lonely these days, so maybe why not get a tattoo (and hopefully a girlfriend) in the process? Thankfully, Tattoos by Sarah Gaugler will have a pop-up store in The Neighborhood. Since that’s solved, the next problem is what to get. The first thing we won’t get is a tribal tattoo, because last we checked, we aren’t professional wrestlers or villains from a Fast and Furious movie. Maybe something tasteful like a white tattoo on our ring finger or a nice proverb in Sanskrit? Who knows? The possibilities are as endless as the regret that’s sure to follow!

Get a cup of coffee from The Curator.

The one thing we’re looking forward to taste the most is the coffee from The Curator. Our friends and Instagram have said nothing but good things about the coffee shop that seems to be the best cup of Joe anyone has ever had in Manila. Unfortunately, us Ortigas kids have no clue how to get to their actual shop in Makati. It’s something we’ve always wanted to try and the promise of smooth and true coffee is something we can’t resist any longer. Having it finally in Rockwell even for just a day will make it easier to get a hold of the latest blend of brew. So before we gorge ourselves on the Starbucks Christmas Frappuccinos in the next few weeks, might as well gift ourselves with what the connoisseurs call “artisan coffee.”