Backpacking Philippines: The Glorified Tiangge of Tiendesitas

The Glorified Tiangge of Tiendesitas

A brief visit to the mall-like hospital known as Medical City on Ortigas Avenue was followed by lunch at the nearby Tiendesitas, an upscale cluster of huts with specific products, stalls and spaces according to a theme.

It's only Tutubi's second time at the place since it's not his interest to visit "snobbish" places like this, frequented by moneyed people and or tourists/balikbayan compared to the mass appeal of Greenhills Shopping Center, both owned by the same people.

On entering the place and parking his car, he proceeded to the Food Village near the entrance of the road of Frontera Verde, a quick scan of restaurants in front of him locked on to the ginataan ulang (freshwater prawn in coconut milk) with kamias (an endemic sour fruit) and laing (taro leaves in coconut milk, a Bicolano specialty).

Picture of the open-air village taken with Tutubi's new iPhone 3G

Ginataang Ulang (freshwater prawn in coconut milk) at P195 from Kinuron, quite expensive but worth it since it's not a usual fare in other Filipino restaurants. (iPhone 3G image quality at "macro mode" is not something to rave about

Before leaving the place, Tutubi intended to take photos of the facade and other villages but his trusty old Canon Ixus 30 point and shoot cam failed him by losing its battery juice. Being unplanned, he didn't bring his Nikon D80 :(

Despite Tutubi's comment on high prices, Tiendesitas, is a great place for foreign tourists and ex-pats to discover the best of the Philippines under one roof and offer safe and clean place to stroll even window shopping.

Information on Tiendesitas:

Dubbed the best Tiangge in Metro Manila is probably true to most people if you can stand the usually higher prices offered here, Tiendesitas is a cluster of large huts or open-air bahay kubo with evaporative condensing airconditioners.

Owned by the same people behind the Greenhills Shopping Center, Tiendesitas caters to the higher income bracket people due to the higher prices of goods but beter facilities and less people.

Villages inside Tiendesitas:

Furnishings Village: home furnitures, sofas, beds, of Filipino or Asian influences

Fashion Village: bags, shoes, t-shirts, mainly ladies' shopping similar to Grenhills

Delicacies Village: pasalubong from all over the Philippines under one roof

Food Village: restaurants offering various regional culinary specialties

Central Plaza: a performing stage for concerts surrounded with tables and chairs

People's Village: probably a lounge area, nothing to be found

Novelty Village: necklaces, trinkets, kakikayan et al

Antique Village: for lovers of old stuff even old coins and paper bills

Garden Village: for "green thumbs" and landscaping people

Pet Village: dogs, cats, birds, pet foods and other unusual pets for sale

Near Tiendesitas is the Ark of Avilon, an interactive zoo from the same owners of Avilon Zoo in Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal. (Entrance: P250.00)

If you're looking for other food trips and tiangge with less cash, better visit Salcedo Weekend Market in Makati on Saturday mornings, Legazpi market also in Makati, Lung Center Market on Sunday mornings, and Banchetto in Ortigas Center.

How to get to Tiendesitas, Pasig City:

Commute: There are jeepneys plying Cubao and Pasig City that pass by the place. From Manila and Sta. Mesa, G-Liner and RRCG buses pass by Ortigas Avenue but you need to walk towards Tiendesitas. Same route as jeepneys plying Pasig/Tanay (Rizal).

There are free shuttle rides from Greenhills Shopping Center, but Tutubi still needs to verify the schedule.

Driving Directions to Tiendesitas:

From Quezon City via C5, Tiendesitas is just near the corner of C5 and Ortigas Avenue, a palce called by commuters as IPI, but the entrance is the road shared by SM Hypermarket (Supercenter).

From QC via EDSA, take left on Ortigas Avenue via the flyover, drive straight until you see the Frontera Verde on your right and just on the takeoff of the flyover over C5. Tiendesitas is about 200 meters from there.

Labels: Metro Manila, Pasig City, Shopping

posted by GingGoy @ 9:59 PM,

26 Comments:

At Sep 8, 2008, 6:28:00 AM, Mari said...: I have wondered about that, when an email friend said that she and a friend had a place at a Tiangge. Then her partner afterwards quit as she got a job as a stewardess. It's a good thing, though, that there's a cleaner place for tourists to experience the down home-like atmosphere of our tiangge. That would be one of the places I would go to, if ever I visit again.
At Sep 8, 2008, 7:29:00 PM, the spool artist said...: Wow, seems like another cool place to hang-out! We were in the Philippines (Manila) last April but we sure haven't paid a visit to Tiendesitas. We sure will next time! Thanks for posting this!
At Sep 8, 2008, 7:34:00 PM, Anonymous said...: That ginatang ulang is so scrumptious and your description of the joint is interesting. Thanks fo rthe info. Definitely a place to check on my next vacation to motherland :)
At Sep 8, 2008, 9:02:00 PM, GingGoy said...: mari, you've saif the word to describe the place: touristy :P

spool artist, people who prefer not too crowded places will like it. good place to hang out but be careful with your budget :P

bw, do check it out. the best of pinas in one place :P
At Sep 8, 2008, 9:21:00 PM, tin-tin said...: i was there last friday night. what i like about the place, naka-group siya. di nakakahilo unlike sa greenhills.

malapit ka lang sa west ave?
At Sep 8, 2008, 9:27:00 PM, GingGoy said...: tin-tin, define malapit? :P ...i frequent a spa there malapit sa kanto ng EDSA
At Sep 8, 2008, 11:00:00 PM, Tinunuy said...: hindi pa ako nakakapunta ng tiendesitas kahit taga mandaluyong lang ako. haha. pero mukang masarap yung pagkain dyan ah. natatakam ako sa prawn nila!
At Sep 8, 2008, 11:50:00 PM, pusangkalye said...: I always take Julia Vargas to SM- Ugong which is near Tiendesetas coz my bank is near SM. It's just last week when I tried entering the area from Ortigas extension. It was night that time and I say the stores and restos are classy. Clean, decent place. You also get to have a good view of ORTIGAS Business district...nice, nice place.
At Sep 9, 2008, 9:07:00 AM, Anonymous said...: i've been there once.. kasi ive seen it on tv a couple of times. and when we passed by i told my partners i wanna see what's there. hehe.

kaya ayun.. they obliged naman. it's a nice place.. medyo mahal nga lang.. pero it's nice.
At Sep 9, 2008, 10:04:00 PM, GingGoy said...: ethyl alcohol, mas gusto ko greenhills, hindi pang-masa :P

salingpusa, yes good view of Ortigas skyline. i wonder if guards won't mind if i take pictures of it

tina, they sometimes dub it the best tiangge in metro manila, i agree to some extent but not with the prices :P
At Sep 9, 2008, 11:36:00 PM, carlotta1924 said...: nakakatuwa ang antique village sa tiendesitas, may nakita akong electric fan from the 1920's na gumagana pa rin.

relaxing nga sa tiendesitas unlike sa greenhills na sobrang sumikip. malapit lang ako dun pero di ko na masyadong pinupuntahan. ;p
At Sep 9, 2008, 11:38:00 PM, escape said...: nice shots from here. sana pala kasunod ka na lang tido.

by the way, i highly recommend wake/knee boarding.

tip is just to keep yourelsf a waste.
At Sep 10, 2008, 3:46:00 PM, escape said...: basta may gata ayos na ayos. kaya yang shrimp na may gata patok na patok yan.
At Sep 10, 2008, 3:56:00 PM, GingGoy said...: carlotta, masarap mamasyal pero hindi pag bayaran na :P

thedong, i've already tried wakeboarding at Lago de Oro in Nasugbu, batangas. haven't been to CWC though.
At Sep 10, 2008, 4:17:00 PM, Oman said...: the ulang looks so delicious. medyo mahal nga lang kaya ako na lang magluluto ng ganyan sa bahay.

very detailed info bro, great job.
At Sep 10, 2008, 5:34:00 PM, GingGoy said...: lawstude, info to offset lack of photos of the place :P thanks
At Sep 12, 2008, 6:28:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Well, I always want to see everything, both the touristy and the locals places to get a whole picture of a place.

The shrimp pic look good enough.... Yummy.
At Sep 12, 2008, 9:33:00 PM, Jasper said...: i used to visit the place and see the pets.

your prawns made me drool btw! :P~
At Sep 13, 2008, 3:55:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Great mobile phone photo and you know - coming from Norway - I love seafood - my mouth is watering :-)
At Sep 14, 2008, 3:38:00 PM, x said...: the dish looks very tempting!!! now i'm craving for 1.
At Sep 18, 2008, 1:06:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hahahah! i love how you describe medical city as a mall-like city ;-)
At Sep 18, 2008, 4:21:00 PM, pusangkalye said...: My place is only 15 minutes away from Tiendesitas but I never tried eating or shopping here. I should try it one time.....
At Nov 15, 2008, 2:29:00 PM, Nina said...: I've never been to Tiendesitas :) Nikonian ka pala. Nikon din gamit namin :-)
At Nov 15, 2008, 2:39:00 PM, GingGoy said...: nina, expensive hobby eh? :P
At Sep 3, 2009, 12:58:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hi, could explain further how to get to Tiendesitas if I am coming from SM Megamall. If i will commute via jeepneys. thanks! my email is geo_mikiko@yahoo.com
thanks
At Mar 14, 2010, 4:22:00 AM, Stacey said...: Thanks for this post! I'd like to use this info for my blog. I wrote a recipe on how to make Vigan Empanadas and I first saw the stand here at Tiendisitas.

Vigan Empanada Recipe: http://lakbai.com/2010/03/13/filipino-vigan-empanada-recipe/

The Glorified Tiangge of Tiendesitas

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