First of all this place is right off of 280 in between the San Francisco International Airport and San Francisco itself. The ride up is really nice from San Jose since you take 280, and in my humble opinion, it is one of the nicest and most scenic highways in the Bay Area. So, anyway, its just off the highway and you couldn't mis it even if you wanted to. It's a big brown box building with beg red letters letting you know you've reached DAISO JAPAN! and the white flowers are nice touch, too.
The best thing about this place is EVERYTHING is $1.50. There are some things that are a little more expensive but I seriously didn't see anything that was over $10. I think Holly and I got out of there with spending just about $60 a piece on about 30-35 items each. We were very proud of ourselves. Once you've gone through the checkout they put your items back into your over-sized pink (!) basket for you to take over to a station they have so that you can bag and wrap your own order. This place is a well oiled machine. And I think they have to be! When we first got to the shop there was maybe 15 people in the shop but when we left (2 hours later!) it was close to swarming but still not cramped.
So Holly and I walk in and we stop dead in our tracks. As soon as you walk in the door it is just a sensory overload with all of the things they have on shelves. Now even if you had never seen the look on a deer's face when it it sees headlights coming dead on, you would have immediately known what impression we were doing, it was just that good. I think we even looked at each other after a moment and said "Where do we start?" We decided to split up and do our own thing. Very smart. Divide and conquer. Holly went straight ahead because she could see stationary and I went to the left where the Christmas and knick-knacky things were.
I spent the majority of my time in the first third of the store just because there was so much to see. And oh-my-goodness how incredibly cute everything is! Even the most utilitarian of things, like a plastic zippered pouch, was charming. I felt like I had died and gone to Cracked-up Hello Kitty Heaven! Seriously folks, if you're in town, or if you've got a long layover at SFO, seriously consider hopping in a car or hailing a cab and taking a trip to this place. They've got stuff there you never even knew you wanted.
Here's a picture of what I came away with. Some of this is Christmas presents, some of this is because it was just to cute to stay on the shelves!
My favorite things I came home with are:
1. Origami Cake Folding Paper - it even has tongs! This is obviously not a Christmas gift simply because it's just too cute to give away!
2. My felt hedgehog and birdie picture frames - They're going up on the wall sans pictures. They're cute enough as it is.
3. My cute little "He went to the flower shop" piggy bank. All four sides have a scene on it and I think I just might have to use it as some quilty inspiration!
4. My cute little blue and yellow lunch box. Now, realistically, I would have to have two of these to take my lunch in because I am not at all about the small portions even though I should be. But I will be using this as some kind of quilty organizer.
Well, that's my report on Daiso. After going up to Daly City I looked on the web and found out there was one not 10 miles down the road at one of the nearby Malls. I think I need some more presents... for myself! This could be oh-so-dangerous!
And now for a sneak peek of what's coming tomorrow. I think you're going to enjoy it!
Have a charming day!
2 comments:
I've been waiting for this post. It makes me want to go.. so where's the Daiso near you? Sounds way easier for me to get there than South SF. My daughter and I are going to do Daiso over her vacation.. woo I'm soo excited over it.
I WANT TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!
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