Shopping at Dapitan Arcade

I went with my mom to Dapitan Arcade yesterday to help her look for some stuff for the house. For those not familiar, Dapitan Arcade is a small market / tiangge where you can buy Philippine-made handcrafted items, home interiors, gift items (and Christmas decors when in season) at very affordable prices. It is located at Kanlaon cor. Dapitan St. in Quezon City. We got there at about 8:30 am and half of the stalls were still closed although everything was pretty much open after an hour.

some of the stalls were still closed when we got there

This is my 2nd time to go here so I already knew that I had to control myself otherwise I would end up emptying my wallet. Even though the arcade is in one small building with just three rows of stalls, you'll have no problem finding gorgeous and unique buys that you'll surely want to take home. I was drooling and palpitating everytime we moved over to a new stall or turned a corner. The space is tightly packed with so much stuff that you'll need quite a bit of time to go through all the pieces per stall. I suggest you make a list since you'll surely get sidetracked with all the items on hand. Feast your eyes on these goodies!

one of the rows of stalls inside the building

so much stuff you don't know where to look first!

accent pieces

decorative items

throw pillow cases

artificial flowers

novelty toys

assorted ceramic balls (3 for P100)

I really liked this mirror but wished it was longer

all kinds of metal art

sunflower ceramics

decorative serving dishes

plates, bowls and more dinnerware

lots of ceramic and glass decors to choose from

jars

vases

more jars & vases

hanging rattan balls

lanterns

all types of boxes & organizers

Dapitan Arcade is really a shopper's paradise for cheap, unique, and fabulous finds. Some tips:
- the place is not air-conditioned so make sure you wear cool and comfortable clothes (or bring a fan)
- prices are not fixed so haggle, haggle, haggle to death!
- bring cash as they don't accept credit cards (plus I'm not sure if there's an ATM near the vicinity)
- make sure you eat before you go there (or bring snacks/water) since there aren't any food stalls in the building
- bring a van or make sure your car has space for all the items you'll buy
- try looking around first before making a purchase or wait until all the stalls are fully opened. With just 3 rows of stalls, you'll easily be able to go back and find what you're looking for (not like in huge markets where you can get lost in the maze)
- some of the items we bought were heavy so we just asked if we could leave them first in the stall while we continued looking. No point in lugging everything around when you can just come back and get your purchases when you're ready to go

I'll be posting what we bought next so stay tuned! =)