Palit Mo'g Umang?

When Giselle Bundchen decided to advertise havaiianas, the world took notice and it became the IN thing. It is the ubiquitous tsinelas. It is the staple footwear among everyone I knew back in Cebu. More than just footwear, it is used for playing bagol, slipper game, catching blue crabs and (sorry, Mother Earth) lighting firewood. Who knew that the lowly tsinelas would suddenly be sooo cool?

At the Great Mall in Milpitas, there is a stand selling little hermit crabs. Ask any one of the kids in Argao - who would want to pay pesos or $$$ for umang? We just go to the beach and catch them. Mostly for fun, sometimes for bait. But no one had an umang for a pet.

At Crab World, they sell umangs with painted shells. I wonder who came up with the idea of painting hermit crab shells. Either a creative genius or someone with nothing better to do. I feel bad for the little critters stuck in a sandbox in the mall. Kids harass them and I bet its hard to find them good homes since the saleslady is really cranky and has no people skills.

One of the other things that became really popular is the loofah. Who knew that dried sikwa would be so popular? We used to have 2 sikwa plants that climbed on the roof over the laundry shed in my grandpa's house. I was frequently assigned to climb up and harvest the gourds because I was the small and wasn't afraid of heights. One Christmas we made ornaments out of loofah - sosyal!

What will they think of next?

Maybe it's time someone exports 'lugod'. It is a piece of coarse sandstone (i think) used for very effective exfoliation. Maybe Giselle Bundchen decides that it's cool and endorses it.