"What is this tsinelas, you ask? Well, they’re an indispensable part of Filipino culture. They’re basically Havaianas–rubber thong sandals (or slippers, as they’re called here)–except without the hisbiscus flowers and the exhorbitant price. Everyone who’s a Filipino has to have worn them at least once (before the Havaianas craze). When I was a kid wreaking havoc on the streets on my bike, I did it in my tsinelas. And so did my other childhood playmates. Nobody wore sneakers or anything; we just ran around and played our games in tsinelas. What’s incredibly interesting about this whole slipper fad is that two years ago, if you decided to wear tsinelas to a school like Ateneo, people would look down on you or think you were poor or something. Tsinelas are so cheap, even palengkeras and (most) street beggars can afford to wear them. Hell, before the tricycle ban in Katipunan, my school imposed a dress code on the tricycle drivers that could go in Ateneo, and one of the no-nos was–you guessed it–wearing of slippers. (So much for being “men and women for others”) Now everyone’s all “look at me, I’m so cool in my 900-peso flip-flops.” - from Lauraganism.com, "The Evolution of the Flip-flops"
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