Oyen went inside the Truffaux Panama Hat Salon looking for a hat for herself. Naki tingin na rin ako.
I thought the price range would be $60 to a hundred. My estimate was very far from the price tags. I didn’t know that hats could cost as much as $2,000 each.
This must really be quality and something special for it to cost this much.
According to their leaflet, Truffaux is the world specialist in Panama hats. These are handwoven in Ecuador. They just named them Panama from the Panama Canal.
Erika Agpalza is the sales specialist at the Truffaux hats store in Waikiki.
She was 13 when she moved to Hawaii with her parents. She’s now 26 and hasn’t been back to the Philippines since then. They’re originally from Ilocos.
Her grandparents retired in the Philippines. She strikes me as a very smart girl. #filipinosinhawaii
Erika says she likes living in Hawaii because of the diversity of people. It’s a tiny island that makes one feel cozy. She also likes her job because she gets to meet different kinds of people from all over the world. Her parting words “thank you ate”.
(Oyen didn’t buy a hat)
