Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Souvenirs
VIDEOKE CRAZY
“Videoke” -
video karaoke
- is a major
fad in the Philippines, with cheap videoke
bars in almost every town and
neighbourhood. While it can be fun to
participate in a Filipino singing session,
being regaled by drunken wailings
wafting through your hotel window in
the early hours isn't so amusing. Adding
to the mix, most Filipino families own one
or more karaoke machines that they use
throughout the week, and always on
special occasions, birthdays and
weddings. Incidentally, a Filipino inventor
(Roberto del Rosario) actually holds the
patent for the karaoke machine.
Typical souvenirs include
models of jeepneys
,
wooden
salad bowls
, cotton
linen
and small
items such as
fridge magnets
made of coconut
shell or carabao horn. In department stores you
can find
cutlery sets
made from carabao horn
and bamboo and costing less than P2000.
Woven
placemats
and coasters are inexpensive and easy
to pack to take home. Filipino
picture frames
are
eye-catching and affordable. Made from raw
materials such as carabao horn and Manila hemp,
they are available in most department stores. All
towns have markets that sell cheap local goods such
as
sleeping mats
(
banig
) that make colourful wall
hangings, and earthenware water jars or
cooking
pots
that make attractive additions to a kitchen.
For serious souvenir-hunting, you'll have to
rummage around in small
antique shops
. There
aren't many of these, and they're often tucked away
in low-rent areas. The better shops in big cities are
listed in the Guide; elsewhere, ask around at your
hotel. Many of the items in these shops are religious
artefacts (see below), although you'll also find
furniture, decorative vases, lamps, old paintings,
mirrors and brassware.
Some souvenir stores and antique shops will ship
goods home for you for an extra charge. Otherwise
you could send bulky items home by regular post
(see p.51). Note that the trade in coral and seashells
as souvenirs in beach areas is decidedly unsound
environmentally, as is the manufacture of decora-
tive objects and jewellery from seashells.
but distant, your potential suitors will get the
message and leave you alone. To shout back or to
poke fun, particularly if Romeo is with his friends,
will cause him serious loss of face and lead to
resentment and the possibility that they will try to
get back at you.
Modesty
is essential to the behaviour of young
Filipinas, especially in the provinces, and this should
also be the case with visitors. Shorts and T-shirts are
fine for women anywhere (except for immigration
o
ces), but bikinis are only for the beach, and even
then it's considered bad form to wander through
a resort's restaurant or souvenir shop without
covering up first (a sarong is perfect for this).
Topless sunbathing is unheard of among Filipinos,
and tourists in popular resorts such as Boracay who
remove their clothes are likely to attract an amazed,
gossiping crowd of locals. For some Filipino men
this reinforces the stereotype that foreign women
on holiday are game for anything.
Tribal and religious artefacts
Not all tribal and religious artefacts are genuine,
but even the imitations make good gifts.
Woven
baskets and trays
of the kind used by Cordillera
tribes are a bargain, starting from only a few hundred
pesos. They come in a range of sizes and shapes,
including circular trays woven from grass that are
still used to sift rice, and baskets worn like a backpack
for carrying provisions. The best are the original tribal
baskets, which cost a little more than the reproduc-
tions, but have an appealing nut-brown tone as a
result of the many times they have been oiled. You
can find them in antique shops around the country
and also in markets in Banaue and Sagada.
Some exceptional home accessories and
ornaments are produced by tribes in Mindanao,
particularly in less touristy areas such as Marawi
City and around Lake Sebu. Beautiful
brass jars
,
some of them more than a metre tall, cost around
P2000, while exquisite
wooden chests
inlaid with
Shopping
The Philippines is a great place to buy
indigenous art, woodwork, masks and
religious artefacts, mostly at rock-
bottom prices. Manila also contains a
number of shiny malls with stores
offering much the same designer gear
you can find in London or New York. The
country's two main department-store
chains are Rustan's and SM. Both are
good for clothes and shoes, at slightly
lower prices than in Europe; children's
clothes are especially inexpensive.
