Laguna: Nagcarlan & Liliw (Part 2 of 2)

After another 30-minute jeepney ride, I arrived at the town of Liliw, Laguna, founded in 1571 by Gat Tayaw.

According to a story, Liliw got its name from a bird. It was said that Gat Tayaw and his followers decided to erect a bamboo pole and to name the town after the bird that would first alight at the top of the pole within four days. A crow, however, was the first bird to alight on the pole. A crow was considered bad and so Gat Tayaw and his men moved south and erected another bamboo pole. A beautiful bird alighted on the pole and sang, "Liw, Liw, Liw". Thus the town became Liliw.

Throughout the Spanish regime, the name Liliw was used. When the Americans came, it became Lilio since the Americans found it easier to pronounce it than Liliw. However, on June 11, 1965, the municipal council passed Resolution No. 38-S-65 which declared Liliw as the official name and spelling of the town. This was to avoid confusion in pronouncing and spelling the name of the town.

Liliw is best known as heaven for shoe lovers!

Along the main street, Gat Tayaw Avenue, you could fathom the multitude of footwear outlets surrounding the area, that is why Liliw is considered as the "Footwear Capital of Laguna" due to its thriving footwear industry. 

Edna's Footwear along Gat Tayaw Avenue

Around 90-95% of footwear being sold here are locally-made and the prices are very affordable, so for those who fancy imported stuff, this place is not for you. Some colored Liliw-made slippers were sold at 3 for Php 100.00, and I also saw slippers with the unique Liliw-made durable sole, which were being sold at only Php 60.00.

To add more spice, lots of footwear here cannot be seen in Metro Manila malls, that is why, for uniqueness sakes, it is best to purchase those kinds of items, so that when you go back home, you could definitely say or reminisce that you really had the Liliw experience.

As I turned right to 7^th Street, I saw the Saint John The Baptist Parish, founded in 1605. The original church and convent were badly damaged in 1880 during a strong earthquake, while the reconstructed church was partly burned in 1898. 

St. John The Baptist Parish

Going back to Gat Tayaw Avenue, I came across the monument of Gat Tayaw, the founder of Liliw, and this ended the Liliw site trekking, as my stomach began to growl for lunch.               

Gat Tayaw Monument

My restaurant of choice actually was Arabela, the most famous restaurant in Liliw, but unfortunately, since it was already noontime, when I arrived at the venue, a huge throng of customers were already lining up at the cashier, and the endpoint was really outside the establishment. 

I ended up eating lunch at the Graciano’s Kitchen along Gat Tayaw Avenue. 

Graciano's Kitchen

The "Graciano's Special" pizza here was very good, but the service was sooooo disappointing. First, there were only three...I repeat...only THREE personnel in this outlet -- 2 cooks inside the kitchen and the other one does ALL the jobs outside of the kitchen (kahera, server, and table cleaner. Given that, you could just imagine kung gaano kagulo sa loob with loads of frowning clients. Kawawa talaga yun nag iisang taong yun. I just do not know if the other branches operate like this one.

Despite the super bad service...smile pa rin for the cam!

After that “memorable” lunch, I hopped on a jeepney going back to San Pablo and rode a JAC Liner bus back to Manila. The weird part here is that, the conductor of the bus I rode going to Laguna was also the same guy when I departed from the place hahaha…..wow di ba! 

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