About
Divisoria and Me
Hi, I am Lisa Araneta, single, 42 years old, a native of Manila and a resident of beautiful Baguio City for the past 10 years. If you want more of my profile, please check my About Lisa page.
Working in the hospitality business in both areas (like running an inn, restaurants, canteens, cafes, etc.) a billiard hall requires a whole lot of supplies and stocks. So even if I live 240km away, I do have to travel pretty often to source the things I need.
Now . . .
I discovered Divisoria when my mom used to take me to Ilaya to buy cloth by the yard, to Tabora to buy ribbons and lace to use as decor at my debut, to Juan Luna for plain T-Shirts that we used to silkscreen. My sisters used to sell for me polka dotted kikay pens in their schools that had pink, purple and green ink when only Bic ballpens were available at office supply stores in blue, black and red. In my 20s and 30s I would source a lot of kitchen equipment from Sto. Nino, and raw materials for restaurant Christmas decor from Tabora.
The ritual every other Friday was to go to Divisoria after lunch (I made sure my college classes ended before noon on Fridays). The only decent and clean eatery — and restroom — available then was a small Jollibee in the middle of Ilaya. Of course we tried all the hawker food, or took a calesa (horse-drawn carriage) to nearby Binondo and eat at ‘Estero’ of course!
Estero is Spanish word for riverside, and in Binondo, a court was set up with the most exciting food stalls that would cook your chosen viand, noodles and rice before your very eyes! I remember my law school buddies telling me that if we sang Happy Birthday to one of our number, the Chinese owner of the stall we ordered the most from would send us a platter of noodles for free. Because the Chinese celebrate birthdays with noodles to symbolize long life.
I remember going on Fridays because that’s when we would buy the ‘Dividendazo,’ the primer (for lack of a better word) that contained tips for Sunday’s Horse races at San Lazaro and the Santa Ana race tracks. I was 16 and betting my P2.00 on the Winner-Take-All for
And then the New Divisoria Mall
