Excited na for Paskong Pinoy! Like in the previous years, when the calendar turns ‘ber’, we go to Paete.
Little did we know what we thought was just a sight-seeing adventure to an uptown town in Laguna has morphed into a Christmas tradition for my husband and I. It started last 2012, and every year thereafter, we always find ourselves visiting Paete during the Christmas season to kick-start Christmas decor shopping. 🙂
In the Philippines, the Christmas season starts September 1, the ‘ber’ months haha.
We just went there again this afternoon :). Ang init lang talaga sa Paete if you compare it to the cooler climate of our town, Liliw.
WHERE TO SHOP IN PAETE?
Our go to store for Christmas decors is ADAO’S HANDICRAFT, it’s our absolute favorite! They’ve got the best displays and from our previous years’ experience more affordable too, even for the same santa figurines. We did some price comparison with some other stores selling pang pasko decors in the vicinity a year or two ago.
You can request for discounts for buying several pieces. Good customer service pa! That’s why Penfires highly recommend this shop. 🙂
I was given a calling card earlier but I forgot where I’ve put it. I’m still looking for it, I would have wanted to put here the telephone number of Adao’s. Hmmm, where is it?, tsk.
Adao Handicraft is located in front of Kafe Kesada in Quesada Street. Actually, they’ve got two entrances, sa magkabilaan na street. The cool thing is they have this special area by the entrance perfect for those who wants a souvenir pic, or a selfie pic with a Christmas theme background. Great addition to the shopping experience!
Paete Christmas Decors Prices
Belens or nativity scenes are available from small, medium, large, really large, and then different designs. I didn’t ask if they’ve got belens for less than P1K, mainly because we were not planning to buy nativity scene set, since we already got 2 sets from previous visits.
On the pic – the first belen sells for P6,000, the second one is P3,000, the price tag attached to the third one is P5,100. I don’t have the price for the last one. My advise to you if you will go to Paete to shop is to try to negotiate, request for discount.
Paper mache santa clauses in various designs and sizes can be had as low as P150. The bigger ones with more intricate designs like climbing santa, santa with big bag, etc. sells for P400, there are also P700 to P1,000+ designs. If you frequent Christmas bazaars, you may find some Paete products selling there.
2017 Purchases
We bought this Christmas rocking horse figurine, this normally sells for P850, but we got a discount. 😉 There were only two of these when we were there, the store assistant said a koreana was there a few days back and bought 8 pieces of the rocking horse. Good thing I was able to stake my claim on this Christmas décor, since a few minutes after, another buyer snapped up the remaining one. I don’t know if the new stocks coming this Saturday will include this same model.
Another good find for Christmas 2017 is this set of vintage looking carolers holding different musical instrument. 😉 Ang cute nila tingnan. Selling price for this is P1,500, but then again, I advise you to negotiate. We did, we asked for discount and we got a good offer. 😉
Finally, the last piece we bought is this mini Christmas tree with a climbing santa. This sells for P380, we got it for P300. Yeyyy!
Since we’ve been going to Adao’s Handicraft of Paete for years now, the store in-charge, Abet, already knows us by face. Suki na kumbaga hehe. Probably the reason why we always get a freebie when we shop for decors in their store. For this visit, I requested if they can throw in one free Christmas tree hanging décor, the gingerbread house, because I accidentally broke ours last year. :/ And they did, thanks Sir Abet may pangsabit ulit hehe.
These are some of what you can find in their store. Check out the Christmas ornaments and decors available in Paete on this video 😉
OTHER SHOPS in PAETE
There is another big Christmas decors shop by the roadside, before reaching Paete bayan, it looks like a normal house but lots and lots of santas on display at the frontyard. Wala palang kaming chance makapunta dun. If you are driving or on-board a private vehicle in going to Paete, you may want to make a stop to check out that store’s offers too.
Around the town center, there are other shops. Most of them specializes in wood carvings, but there are some which also offers santa clauses and other holiday decors. If you like Filipiniana theme like these in the picture below, check out the store almost across Adao’s, “Ang Buhay at Hugis Sa Paete Heritage Shop”. They are not into Christmas decors but more on sculptures, paper mache, wood carvings, paintings, commission works, etc.
The good thing about exploring the stores in Paete is that they allow visitors to take pictures of their merchandise and displays.
These products are proudly made by Filipinos, and mostly by hand. If we buy local, we help artisans earn, we help even the nanays and tatays who do some of the work in producing the finish product. We help the local economy, we help the country. Hope this coming holiday, we’ll all be able to also buy local made products. Let’s make Paskong Pinoy more memorable. 😉
Plus, Paete products are really great! Go, shop! 😉
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