Motoring to Liliw, Laguna: the ‘tsinelas’ country
On my way home to Manila, I dropped by San Pablo’s neighboring town Liliw which is just 30 minutes or so away. Going there, we passed by the towns of Rizal, Nagcarlan (site of the Underground Cemetery) and Alaminos (where another tourism spot, the Hidden Valley is located.) Liliw is famous for being a prime producer of tsinelas (native slippers) and in fact held its annual tsinelas festival recently.
I had the impression that Liliw isn’t like any of the other towns I’ve seen. It’s very ‘quaint’ and I thought it possessed a certain magic to it. Like Laguna’s own version of Europe!! The streets were narrow and it would have been okay if there were none of those obtrusive jeepneys. There were very dainty shops and houses which appeared to be really taken care of by its owners.
We toured the whole strip (Gat Tayao St.) which sold nothing but native footwear. The prices were very reasonable and I got some rubber slippers with bead designs for only P50 and abaca wedge shoes for P380. I was particularly impressed with Entrada which was primped up like one of those high-end boutiques in Manila with airconditioning to boot. Another must-visit is the town plaza where the City Hall and orange-colored brick church is located. It also has colorful statues of various saints and a couple of pavilions perfect for when the townspeople gather on weekends.
Liliw was a revelation and I didn’t regret going here a bit.
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
I didn’t know that Liliw produces tsinelas:wink:
Ganda at sarap sa sariling bayan..thanks for the blog made me reallyx100 homesick…cheers
Jane, kilala talaga sila for the native tsinelas; especially yung may heels na gawa sa abaca, kamukha nung galing sa bangkok. road trip ka dun minsan..be warned, the streets are really narrow in the commercial area..
salamat eric.. ang ganda ng paintings mo:)
liliw? wow..my kind of town!!!!clean..fresh air lalo na sa “bukid”…di mo sukat akalain na sa isang liblib ng bayan.mayroong high rise modern buildings..sey mo..milyones ang halaga ng lupa lalo na along gat tayaw street..yan ay kung may ipinagbibili pa!!
can you give me some facts about the interior of liliw church.
Do you have the contact number of Entrada? Thanks!
wre going to liliw laguna for the tsinelas, my mom wanted to buy diffferent kind of tsinelas for her shop. the reason i drop by.. i dont know the exact way to go to lilw.. were from malate manila
we heard that liliw produce huge of tsinelas and have good quality products.