from Cake to Sweet Avenue

   In our Makati area, the neighborhood cake supplier was "Cake Avenue".  Here, it was...well...none really, except Goldilocks, Red Ribbon, Babycakes (which has shut down and is now only in Festival Mall), and recently Sugarhouse.  There have been cupcakes from the area with the classic cardboard taste and texture, I hear.  Many residents are, I know, really good bakers.  And so rather than another cake shop, a smart mother has set up "Sweet Avenue", a baking supplies shop.  I don't know her but I can say she has savvy marketing skills.  She left a business card on my table where I sold desserts. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her.  She spoke to my friends, the foreign friends who just two days before, had driven by themselves for the first time to Carla's Confectionery and Baking Supplies in Sucat. 

   My friend who drove was so determined, she overcame her fear of the slex.  My instructions were to look for the huge Bakemasters Inc. sign on the right side of Sucat if they missed the U-Turn slot to Carla's (which is across Shopwise).  They did end up at Bakemasters which I'd never been to, and were happy to find a shop with aisles so they could touch items. They had things Carla's didnt, and generally found prices to be cheaper.  The trip to Sucat isn't too bad, but Sweet Avenue is one of those shops that make you think, why didn't I think of this?  With no scientific research, I have a gut feeling it could really work.

   I know cupcakes were so trendy from a couple years ago.  It just amazes me how many mothers in this town are really into baking. I even asked a friend who used to bake birthday cakes in Manila whether she was planning on going into it when she moves to Nuvali.  She said she had actually given up taking orders in MM due to the saturated market.  If even I have been trying to bake, I guess the 'growing' atmosphere in this town (city) just produces confidence in most of us.

   Sweet Avenue is in the building housing Rustan's Express, across Don Bosco Church.  It seems this building is now an Avida property...I wonder if they will finally renovate it. It needs a facelift, but I was glad to have experienced a clean and dry restroom upstairs! 

   Anyway, back to Sweet Avenue...they have many things Carla's has...nuts, bread baking ingredients, sprinkles chocolate bars, tools.  There are currently summer workshops for kids.  I really love that the owner's children were minding the store by themselves while mom was at the school conducting workshops.  I wish I took photos of my kid doing the transacting with them. I will say again:  I wish this aspect of this place remains the same, though as it 'develops' things will change.

 https://www.facebook.com/#!/SweetAvenueStopAndShopForYourBakingNeeds

    In the years to come, this city will develop its own roster of sweet providers akin to Becky's, Vargas kitchen, Miss Desserts,  Polly's, Purple Oven, Estrell's, Costa Brava...let's make this a game, please add to the list!

Palochina in Binan

     I'm showing the bookshelf, not the books.  It is very simple, straightforward, made of palochina.  I don't know exactly what the name translates to, or if it is even supposed to be one or two words. Palo could mean like a strip of wood (please, somebody, help?), while china would mean that it is wood from China?

     Anyway, palochina used for furniture, usually beds, is sourced from shipping crates.  Carpenters source the crates from the port area in Manila, but I also heard they buy the crates in Santa Rosa. I just don't know where.  I am also not sure how sustainably-produced the wood is, but at least it is recycled from cargo.  These days, the price of palochina is up, owing to low supply of good quality crates.   I suppose it is also due to a decrease in imports?

    I remember palochina being something of a fad in the late '70s to early '80s, or at least I thought it might be when as a child I kept hearing about it from a neighbor in our middle class neighborhood.  She had a 'bar' made (a well-stocked liquor bar set with stools is, I reckon, another fad from the era. I don't think it's as standard an area as it was then. Correct me again here, please?) I digress.

    By the time I wanted furniture made myself, I turned to palochina, as it was affordable, had the Swedish pinewood appearance, and there was a community carpenter whose specialty was the palochina bed.  I had him make little stools for children.  Later I ordered a bed from one of the palochina guys along the Service Road toward Bicutan and across the United Paranaque Subdivision (United Hills).  I have since ordered store shelves and cabinets from a guy named Jose, who has since disappeared from Sucat Rd., and wardrobes from the group on Santolan Ave. across Camp Aguinaldo.  
This bookshelf above, is from my latest palochina carpenters in Binan, Laguna. 

   Trivia:  all these guys are from Isabela in the north. Just ask them. They are all cousins, they say, including the ones along Commonwealth Ave (are they still there?). They must have learned from one great master carpenter, then.  I tend to believe them, too, except maybe the latest, most professional one so far.  Why? Well, no matter how "industrial" your preferred design, meaning all straight lines, they will insist on adding their "curved" border.

    Honestly, I can't even remember whether I drew the curve for them to follow. Then again, I think my sample photo was from an IKEA catalogue and it didn't have the curve. At any rate, it has grown on me, and I concede that straight lines would make the piece too boring and box-like.  These guys, are after all, craftsmen. It's just that, if you aren't really going for the "country cottage" look, make sure you have your design clear. 

   Through the years, the varnish the carpenters use has evolved.  My first orders yellowed due to the finish, my sister's one order turned dirty because she refused varnish, hoping to keep a natural finish. Now, they have achieved the natural finish with a new kind of varnish.  The wood doesn't turn yellow.

   Since our previous bedroom furniture already consisted of palochina, I chose it again for the book and toy shelves. JOVIMAR Palochina along the national highway in Binan, toward SM Sta. Rosa and just before the fork to Sta. Rosa, is a good shop. They did not charge for delivery, either, and have their own van for it. 
   I have observed that many Korean families here (and there are many), opt for palochina tables and beds. Double deck beds made of palochina are popular in the country.  It is quite practical, inexpensive and clean-looking. I recommend Jovimar for their on-time and even early delivery, and for how they try their best to get the design right by thorough discussion.  Jovimar's number is 09263449312.  They don't need advertising, and I get nothing from them for this. They don't even know.  Wait, this again assumes someone's out there reading this. Let me know?