Sinamay and Cookie House in Iloilo

 

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I think we are all guilty of bringing back home some goodies after some days of R&R.  Aside from photos and maybe t-shirts, local delicacies are one of the most common souvenir items to buy.

In Iloilo, you can take home the biscocho but I highly recommend visiting Mama’s Kitchen and Sinamay House in Arevalo before you say adieu to Iloilo City.

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Sorry for the blurry photo. This is Mama’s Kitchen, located at the lower part of the Villanueva ancestral house. You can buy their mango crunchies, chocolate crunchies and the likes for 120PHP per box (some cost a little higher like 130PHP, depending on the variety).

These goodies are perfect for your coffee time. A nice treat to give to your office mates or boss? Haha. Kids will love it too. And before we arrived home, one box was gone. Haha. The cookies are very light yet flavorful and they are all made from local ingredients like the local chocolate from home-grown cacao seeds.

But if you some like a heritage-classy remembrance from Iloilo, go upstairs and purchase their sinamay products. Oh, I think before that you should check out their “mini-museum” a few steps from where they display their cookies.

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This is a loom which they still use today for their weaving products ( they also get some items from local weavers). Panay’s weaving industry has been one of my beloved topics, fashion meets heritage – that is perfectly me. So it was not hard for me to pitch a story for Mabuhay magazine about Aklan’s weaving industry.
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A large turbine-looking booby to separate the fibers before their assembly to the loom.

And this is my son’s favorite item
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It reminded him of one of the main characters of the movie “Cars”. A cadillac, a symbol of the family’s status in society back then.

Now, let’s go back to sinamay. Sinamay is another local fabric made from abaca. It is one of the best Philippine fabrics. To learn more about this fabric, click here.

At the Villanueva Ancestral House a.k.a Arevalo Sinamay House, you can buy fans, hankies, tablecloths or this..
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Royal blue caftan for only 600PHP. If only I can have a deal with Rumpelstilskin and become Gretchen Barretto (right spelling? hehe) for a day, I can surely pull this off.

Unlucky girls like me can buy other items. I bought two sinamay fans – hand embroidered.
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Here is a list of their items and their corresponding prices..
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To go to Arevalo:

Ride a jeepney going south like Oton and stop at the Arevalo Plaza. Inform the driver beforehand that you will be stopping at Mama’s Kitchen in Arevalo.

 

Enjoy Shopping!

 

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