Summer with Muji

This is an advertorial

People are often in awe when I tell them that I once traveled for 30 days with only a backpack. They are often the same people who bring a trolley for a weekend trip. The thing is, you don’t really need to bring fresh clothes for each day that you’re traveling. Rolf Potts was even able to travel around the world for six weeks without any baggage. If you’re like me, who don’t really mind wearing the same outfit during the same trip, traveling light is a breeze.

Washing board, check. Now if only I have someone to do the laundry…

The secret to doing this is quite simple: laundry. You don’t need to bring one set of outfit for each day you’re traveling (providing you’re traveling for more than a week), because you can have you clothes laundered. When I traveled for one month in Southeast Asia, I had my clothes washed at least twice. In between, I would wash one or two articles of clothing (the quick drying ones), as well as my underwear, in my room’s ensuite toilet. That’s why Muji’s Portable Washing Board caught my interest.

Doing the laundry sans washing machine is hardly ever a comfortable task, made even more tiring when doing it in a place not meant for doing laundry. The basin is often always too small, the faucet is in an awkward position, and standing over the sink for too long results in a back ache. The portable washing board is no washing machine, but I’m eager to see it if it would at least make washing clothes easier and faster.

Not kidding, my luggage was rolling around the train whenever we make a turn.

I’m also interested in seeing the new Muji luggages. Traveling in Japan last year gave me a better appreciation for my four-wheeled luggage. We traveled mainly by rail, and either walk or take the subway from the main train station to our hostel, because taxis are too expensive.

Four-wheeled luggage is so much easier to maneuver and requires less effort to take it from place to place. The only problem with mine is the wheels have no lock, so in more than one shinkansen ride, my luggage was rolling around when the train was in motion. Muji’s new luggage features a lock, which stops your bag from rolling where and when it shouldn’t. Seems like a simple upgrade, but believe me, it makes a world of difference.

Muji to Go app

I’ve also started using the Muji to Go app for the iPad. It’s a free app that gives you the information you need when you travel: the time and the where you are, and other cities you have set (maybe the city you came from and the cities you will be going to afterwards), currency exchange rates, calculator. While these functions are available in other, prettier and flashier apps, Muji combines them with one winner: the power supply guide. Basically, it shows you the commonly used plugs used in the country you’re traveling in (or traveling to). This is very handy if you have no time to research, and if you have the Muji travel adaptor, it shows you the adapter setting for that plug.

Muji limited edition stickers. Collect all 12!

If you’re shopping Muji this summer, they’re giving limited edition stickers featuring 12 of the Philippines’ favorite summer destinations. You can get one sticker for every Php 2,500 worth of Muji items.

Muji has branches at Robinson’s Magnolia, Bonifacio High Street, Power Plant Mall, Greenbelt 3 , SM Mall of Asia, and for a limited time only, in Alabang Town Center, and 158-Designer’s Blvd at The Podium.