The 100-yen find that reminds me of home - somewhat

When I moved to Japan, I have to admit: I easily got sucked in to the convenience of the vacuum cleaner in cleaning my place. So much so that I ditched the use of the broom, even if I grew up in a household where I was taught by my parents to sweep the floors every weekend morning using the traditional soft broom in the Philippines called walis tambo. In my defense, my then apartment had small wooden flooring, and the bigger part was tatami (which I covered with carpet). 

The walis tambo, the traditional soft broom in the Philippines that is made of tiger grass.

However, when my sister and I moved to our current unit, I somehow began missing using the broom in cleaning. Maybe the bigger wooden floor area triggered that feeling in me, or that I sometimes just wanted to clean without having to make any noise. Plus, I remember getting more exercise using the broom compared with the vacuum, because not only my arms are moving but I was also bending and even kneeling. I tend to not do those with the vacuum cleaner.

Sure, there are the dust wipes (with its accompanying stick) that I could use, and these are available at nearly all 100 yen stores. But if there is just a bit too much dust, I'd rather use the wipes after I sweep. 

Despite objections from my roommate-slash-sister, I decided to get us a broom and dustpan. I was surprised to find a set at a 100 yen shop, although from what I recall it was priced a bit more than 100 yen (but no more than 300 yen), which is understandable.

Although it's not as soft as the one I used back then (of course, this one's made of plastic), it does give a decent cleaning, so I could say it's worth the price I paid for. What I like the most about this set was that the broom can easily be clipped onto the dustpan, close to the handle, so I can carry and store it easily at the back of our mirror.