LILIW: HOMES AND ABODES

These are part of the Laguna series which I didn't get to finish last time because of the NCAA project. These were all taken in Liliw. The main road which leads to the church has most of the old houses - regal testaments to Liliw's grand past.

Overlooking San Juan Street. Further up is Liliw's Catholic church building.

A most unusual architecture for the Church of Christ (how is this different from Iglesia ni Cristo?). It looks almost moroccan.

The three-tiered house that is home to the famous Arabella restaurant. Note that every floor looks different. The top looks rather recent.

What a waste...

Next visit to Laguna will be to Pagsanjan.

LILIW: DISCOVERING ARABELA CAMELLO

There's no way you could miss it. People around here talk about it. Drivers point to it like it's an important landmark that must be visited at all cost. When you're hungry and you find yourself in a far-flung town as Liliw, it's Arabela Camello's or bust.

Puca shell curtains make for a mysterious entrance to Ara Bela.

It's a surprise, to be honest about it, to find such a quaint restaurant that offers a wide array of Italian goodies in a 4th-Class municipality that's known for its tsinelas and uraro. Arabela (or Ara Bela) is like a sore thumb sticking out, but it's a welcome break nonetheless.

Upon entering the shop, one immediately notices one's head scraping the ceiling. Hmmmm... They're not exactly fond of tall people around here, are they? Well, this is because Arabela was carved out of a house's basement hence the low ceiling. But making up for this little inconvenience (watch out for that beam!) are the shop's bright colors, wonderful collections of knick knacks probably sourced from the owners' travels, paintings, and the multi-colored batibot chairs that make for very comfortable seating. There's also a nice old wooden table at the foyer with magazines to amuse you while you wait for your orders to be served. It wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to dine here, as I soon found out.





For 5 people, we racked up a bill of only Php 810 for four (4) kinds of pasta, one (1) huge pizza for sharing, and five (5) lemon iced teas! The experience: priceless. Forgive me if I am given to cliches lately. I just can't help myself.

Starting it right. The salad

The pizza with green pepper, olives and feta cheese.

The shop is almost always full, I think, judging from the lunch crowd - and this was a Wednesday, mind you! Credit owners Bobby and Tonet Camello for whipping up such heavenly offerings nobody can possibly resist. I am amazed at their business sense, really. Who would have thought a resto like this would be a hit around these parts? (I wasn't being condescending when I said that, hey! The comment is one of true and honest amazement.)

Colorful batibot chairs side by side artworks on walls

I bet Arabela is contributing greatly to Liliw residents' growing girth. Just kidding!


Gaita Fores would be very envious of the Camellos. She's the one on that magazine's cover. She also owns Cibo, Pepato and Cafe Bola back in Manila, but I digress.

Methinks Liliweños (or whatever it is that you call the nice people of Liliw) are very lucky to live in such a lovely place as this town.

ARABELA Camello’s Bakehaus and Coffee Shop
503 Rizal St. Liliw, Laguna.
For inquiries, call (049) 5632495, +639172041447 or +639273860639

PASALUBONG LILIW: DITO NA TAYO SA Y.S.L. !!!

Liliw is on the southern side of Laguna and rests at the foot of yet another mountain - the mystical Banahaw. It is said to be the Footwear Capital but again, footwear makers of Carcar in Cebu and those in Marikina City wouldn't be happy with this claim.

What the heck. Let's just call Liliw the Tsinelas Capital, shall we?Anyway, I'm glad to be finally here. This is my second stop here in Laguna in what is a dizzying tour of this beautiful province. There's just too much to see! And Liliw is one town no visitor to Laguna should ever miss. Founded in 1571 by Gat Tayaw, it is 17 kilometers away from Santa Cruz, Laguna's capital.

According to a story, Liliw got its name from a bird. It was said that Gat Tayaw and his followers decided to erect a bamboo pole and to name the town after the bird that would first alight at the top of the pole within four days. A crow, however, was the first bird to alight on the pole. A crow was considered bad and so Gat Tayaw and his men moved south and erected another bamboo pole. A beautiful bird alighted on the pole and sang, "Liw, Liw, Liw". Thus the town became Liliw.

Throughout the Spanish regime, the name Liliw was used. When the Americans came, it became Lilio since the Americans found it easier to pronounce it than Liliw. However, on June 11, 1965, the municipal council passed Resolution No. 38-S-65 which declared Liliw as the official name and spelling of the town to avoid confusion in pronouncing and spelling it. (Source: Wickipedia)

The historical relics of Liliw are compiled and found in Bahay Laguna that also houses some souvenirs and tokens of the late governor of Laguna, F. San Luis. This museum is found in Barangay Bungkol, Magdalena. It's a newly opened community museum where you can find samples of the great arts and crafts of the province. I hope to visit it soon when I return. No photos of the church for now. My camera ran out of battery on the way there, grrrr.

My hosts brought me here at YSL which turned out to mean YARI SA LILIW (Made in Liliw), ha ha! Don't you just love Pinoy humor?

Sandals here start Php 70 and can go up to Php 150 per pair. You can always ask for a discount.

The men's sandals surprisingly look very modern!


A Laguna native warned me about buying shoes in Liliw. They are said to be very uncomfortable. Maybe we should just leave the shoe making to Marikina, eh? The sandals are just to die for already!

For a few hundred bucks, you can bring home so much more from Liliw, but the experience is just priceless! I really hope to be back.

OUR NEXT STOP: LILIW

Welcome to Liliw!

Because of the thriving footwear industry in this quaint Laguna town, the local government through the encouragement of the Southern Tagalog Tourism Council conceptualized the Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival. The festival is dubbed as such in honor of the town’s founder - Gat Tayaw- and its major industry- tsinelas.

First held in April 5-7, 2002, the Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival was a raging success with no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attending. This 6-year old 5-day festival showcases street party featuring all night dancing, street dancing participated in by different cultural dance troops who perform native and traditional dances depicting the life of the early Liliweños in participation, Music in the Making, and the search for Mutya ng Liliw. The festival also showcases other native products such as uraro (arrow root) cookies and lambanog (coconut wine) and other local delicacies.

A visit to Liliw on regular days is already a treat for tourists but during the festival, it will be an experience to beat. (Source: Festivals of Laguna)

WELCOME TO PAETE!

Welcome to Paete! To say that it is the Woodcarving Capital of the Philippines (I hear dissent from the wood artists of Betis, Pampanga, he he!) would remove the focus on Paete's many other gifts. After all, woodcarving, even if it the town's main industry, isn't the only one that gives honor to its residents. Anyway, that title was given this town by a declaration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on March 15, 2005.

The best times to visit Paete would be in January, July, April and October. The Salibanda on the last week of January, the Town Fiesta on the 25th of July, the Cenakulo on Holy Week (I was told they do this every day of the Week!), and the Lanzones Festival in October are enough to satiate your festival fixations. (As an aside, Camiguin Island in Northern Mindanao also has a similar lanzones festival on the same month.) Also, do not miss the two versions of Salubong done by the Catholic Church and the Aglipayans. This will be on Easter Sunday, of course.

Ice carving is said to be held a day before the town fiesta. In fact, a lot of carvers who've run out of wood (as I said in a post below, there's an ongoing log ban) have worked on luxury ships as ice carvers. There are actually a lot more mini-festivals featuring Filipino martial arts (using 'arnis') and even a santol fest in August. Well, well, well! Looks like living in Paete is never a bore!!!

Baskets of paper mache lanzones line the main streets of Paete - a tribute to the town's many products - from wood to paper to lanzones!

Paete exists peacefully under the shadows of the Sierra Madre.

Note: Thanks, Tutubi, for the correction. I already wrote Sierra Madre when I posted this, but a local said last Sunday that it was Makiling. Haaay...

PAETE: LUIS AC-AC, SCULPTOR

We visited the shop of the noted sculptor Luis Ac-ac. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the shop when we dropped by, but we did have the chance to see his works in a mini-gallery at the back of the shop.

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) describes him and his contemporaries as "Working within a genre dubbed folk modern and primarily in traditional sculptural materials" and "represent a stable romantic thread among sculptors carrying a torch for work portraying characters from local myth, excerpts of small-town tableau, and idealized images of Filipino heroes."

His shop, along with many other Paete landmarks, form part of Paete's "museum".

A carver begins work on panels ordered by a US-based client. Below are samples of Ac-ac's work:

This is one of a series of works on the older brother-younger brother theme. The magkapatids (siblings) are usually portrayed engaged in Filipino children sports.

Si Malakas at si Maganda. What's missing here is the bird that split the bamboo open to reveal, as the story says, the first Filipinos. Despite this, there seems to be a European quality to the way the couple were portrayed by the artist vis-a-vis the work done on the same subject by National Artist Carlos Villaluz Francisco a.k.a Botong.

I was thinking that this particular work by Ac-Ac might be interesting when cast in stone or bronze. It could be a nice gift to European governments when the Philippines celebrates something historic in Europe, say, 50 years of diplomatic relations. It would look awesome in a plaza or a lobby.

Incidentally, the Botong work - which he did for the 1953 International Fair in Manila under the presidency of Elpidio Quirino - was executed in wood by carvers from - where else? - Paete. The painting version is still, I think, with the Marcoses. It used to be displayed in their San Juan home. This information came from an article by Jaime Laya on the subject of the former First Lady's collections, but I digress.

Children at play.

Warming the bench. If you're not looking hard enough, you might trip on this sleeping boy and his dog.