Thrift Shops
Estela once told me about a friend who furnished her 3 bedroom apartment with great finds from second-hand stores along Evangelista Street. I was looking for a bed for the guest room at that time. That was like more than a year ago. I have asked around where exactly Evangelista is and the nearest answer was from Barry who said that he knows Evangelista but there are only car parts shops in there. So I relented and bought a generic bed from Paco.
Well, out of the blue, last Saturday we found Evangelista Street while searching for Estela’s next crash landing area. Barry was correct — the street was mostly full of surplus car parts. But there were two streets (crossing Evangelista) that are full of thrift shops.
It was fun going around the place and poking at all sorts of things — from old furnitures to all kinds of whimsy. There were several carved Narra and other hardwood furnitures being refurbished right there on the street. We saw a chest of drawers with mother-of-pearl embellishments being loaded to a pick-up truck for delivery. Mismatched chairs are all around (see pic for my favorite find). There were at least two secretaires with legs made from old Singer sewing machines. The spinning wheel still intact!
We found bauls of various sizes and shapes but none called out to me for special attention. The wood is either too thin or too heavy or the carving too fancy.
Michael noticed that a lot of the whimsy stuff are souvenir items from various parts of the world. I told him that’s why I never buy those things in the first place. They are great for visual aid when recounting your travel adventures but they soon lose their novelty.
We did not stay very long in the area because it’s too hot (12:30 noon) and we still have to check out one other room-for-rent. But definitely am going back!
Did I say already that we found all sorts of things in the shops? Here’s one I have never seen before — a mini-portalet. I could not figure out how it works so I just took a picture.
