Mixing business with pleasure (How to become a successful Mystery Shopper)

Like other jobs and professions, being a Mystery Shopper has its ups and downs. It's not always going to be fun and exciting. It may not deal with more serious business like saving lives or finances but it is still tiring at some point.

Recently, I was assigned to 10 stores (Yes, 10 stores. Wheeew!) from all  over Luzon. I applied to them because I thought the expenses would still be lesser than the amount of payment in total. Or so I thought.

Day 1- Successful day

So my ever supportive boyfriend accompanied me to Valenzuela then Rizal then Manila for the first day. I was able to do 4 stores (Yeeey!) with expenses that would cover the payment for only 2 stores so I still had an income of 2 stores plus we were able to go to places we've never been before.

I know this is quite confusing so I will take the initiative to compute.

Every store I visit- 8 Euros x 4 stores = 32 Euros
Expenses= almost 16 Euros
32 Euros - 16 Euros= 16 Euros (Gain)

I'm sorry if my computation confused you more. I'm not really into Math ever since.

So this day was a successful day. We were able to visit the stores and at the same time, have a date in the Art Capital of the Philippines which is Angono, Rizal.

Courtesy: rclaw.wordpress.com

 We saw a lot of wood carvings and sculptures around the area. We even saw some giant paper mache or the so called "Higante" which actually have a festival every 23rd of November.

Courtesy: www.angono.gov.ph

“Higante” is an endemic cultural icon in Angono first used as symbol of agrarian protest. It was appropriated during fiesta to add fun in the celebration. Today, the local government considers it as a symbol of success and greatness which an Angono individual should strive for.

There were a lot of shrines too which pay tribute to the Katipuneros who fought hard for our freedom. Apparently, Rizal had lots of them which made them earn a sun ray on our flag. That's what actually some history remaining in my ever tumultuous brain.

After some sightseeing, we ate some street foods and boarded an FX bound for Megamall.

Although we were able to still gain some money out of this trip, it could have been better if we were more prepared by having our own lunch because earlier in the trip while we were in Valenzuela, we spent 300 pesos for our lunch. I could have gotten more from this trip if we didn't spend that much just for lunch. So that's Lesson Number 1. Being prepared by planning ahead.

And did we learn from lesson number 1? No.

And that earns a spot on my next post.