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Top and bottom:
Drink tea and
shop at Hsiao
Won Tze;
(
inset) check
out Jasmine &
Pitcher Plant
for second-hand
luxury items
S T R E E T S O F C H A R A C T E R
Little shops
of local color
There is a sense of nostalgia when
walking through the alleys. Hsiao Won
Tze (“little meatball”), a teashop selling
premium Taiwanese teas also sells
vintage furniture and local handicraft.
Owner Calulu Wu recreated an old-
style provisions shop to bring back
childhood memories, decorating it with
a few ancient Chinese instruments and
a violin. It’s no wonder New York artist-
musician Mark Nilsen wandered in one
afternoon. When Calulu asked me to
play her violin, Mark started plucking
on the Gu-zheng and for the next two
weeks, we played jazz songs with Tina,
another customer, on the moon guitar.
Continuing with the vintage theme,
just down the road is Jasmine &
Pitcher Plant, a second-hand luxury
boutique selling vintage coats from the
US and other items. I was pleasantly
surprised that the starting price was
PHP200 for jewelry and PHP600
for a beautiful cotton blouse with
latticework. Emily Huang,
the owner,
is very accommodating as is her
partner Zac Hong, a physicist turned
fashion designer with his studio in the
same space.
If shopping for your home, don’t
miss Le Bon Marché selling European
