Singkaban

Based on the book (Sandagan, 2016), Singkaban is a type of

(Tope110383, 2013) Filipino art of shaving a bamboo for home decors and
bamboo arches for weddings, mass gathering, fiesta, and as
welcome signage of a town, city, or village in the country. It
is broadly utilized as enrichment amid town celebration in
Bulacan. Experienced workers who strive to shave bamboo,
layering to make curls and sensitive twirls to reach the
unique art in this field. Perhaps, it is an art form ensuring
that art is acknowledged and is open to everybody within
the community and their visitors.

According to (Flores, 2018), Puni is a traditional art of leaf

folding. It is an ancient art of weaving that uses elongated
leaves. It starts with preparing the leaf, folding the leaf,
Puni tightening the package, and trimming the garnish. It is one
of the recognized crafts in the weaving industry. In the
history of Bulacan, they use these leaves in making “Kubol”
as a resting place, as a wrapper for their foods, and most of
all as a creative toy for children. It was only during 1998
when it was called Puni.

These leaves were widely used then but now, it's becoming
obsolete and become a dying art. With the cooperation of the
local governments of Bulacan, it is gradually being
introduced to the new generations. Today it continues to be
used to create woven baskets, bags, fans, and most of all as
"Palaspas" by Catholic believers at the beginning of Holy
(Malolos, 2010) Week. Currently, these leaves are imported from Sampaloc,
Quezon. The leaves dry and crumbled within a few days. It
is more common to use that are dried treated and dyed for
strength and color.

Pabalat As featured by Galvez in 2016, the province of Bulacan is

known for making Pastillas de Letche one of the Filipinos'
favorites. It is made from carabao’s milk and sprinkled with
white sugar. After this is done, it is wrapped in plain white
paper and then placed in packages to be released to the
market.

Due to the unique mindset and creativity of the Filipinos,

they had a unique approach in making pastillas. In the
town of San Miguel, the unique production of paper used to
(Bulakenyo.ph, 2020)
wrap pastillas first emerged. This art was soon transferred
to the town of Malolos, Bulacan.

Mrs. Luz Ocampo was only eleven years old when she
 became fond of making designs on pastillas wrappers.
When she was a child, they had a business on sweetened
products and one of them was the pastillas that she later
loved to make its cover that we still recognize until today.

This kind of art is what we called borlas de pastillas, the

intricately-designed wrapper is made from papel de hapon
or Japanese paper. First, Make a design on the tracing
board. Trace the design on the papel de Hapon or Japanese
paper. The real challenge comes with cutting the paper
where the design is traced. The designs include Bahay kubo
(nipa hut), rice field, farmer/farmers, Maria Clara, flowers,
landscapes, figures, or specific activities and scenarios.

Wrapper-making used to be folk art, but the tradition is

slowly diminishing. Today, Ate Naty Ocampo Castro
continues the legacy of her mother – offer her borlas de
pastillas- to keep this culture alive and to be recognized by
the current generation (Amaia, n.d.).
Paete, Laguna is one of the most colorful and creative
places in the Philippines. The name Paete is derived from
the word chisel which is an important tool used for
Taka sculpture.

(Hariboneagle927, 2017) Taka or Paper Mache was first recorded in the 1920s when
Maria Bangue made a paper toy. The papers were molded
from wood carving and glued with paste. After drying, the
paper was removed from the molder and reassembled,
dried, and painted in a decorative pattern that eventually
becomes toys and ornaments. Unfortunately, no one knows
if her artworks were saved after her town was consumed by
fire and almost all traces of Takas she made are gone.

Every April the Paete people are busy making Christmas

characters like Santa Claus, Rudolph the red nose
Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman in preparation for the
upcoming holiday season.

Within the town, almost all the shops sell various

Filipino-inspired designs carabao figurine, Maria Clara
dolls, and horses in a variety of options. Some new
designs are cherubs, toy soldiers, giraffes, rabbits, and a
variety of fruits — all in different colors and sizes
(Baldemor, 2020).
Pagpapalayok or Pottery- Kare-kare, Paksiw, Sinigang, these are only some of the
 Filipino dishes we love to feast on. Of course, they're only
more appetizing served hot off the fire, in a clay pot. Our
use of clay pots is one of the things that highlight the
Filipino trademark of our dishes.

Despite many changes, the people of Pasig still preserve

one of the oldest and most important art forms of the city
the pottery-making.

The tradition of Pottery-making lives on in Pasig until

now. Where the products include not only ornamental
making jars but also those used in everyday living.

Some pottery makers in Pasig import clay in San Mateo,

Rizal. The first step is passing the clay through the mill.
Then, they shape it in a mold made from "Plaster of
Paris." Next, they put the clay on the potter's wheel. After
it's done on the wheel, it will be buff and smoothen the
pot. Drying takes one or two days depending on the
climate. When it rains, the pots can take one week to dry.
When it is sunny, it can take only one day. When the
(Valenzuela, 2015) pots are dry, they can be baked in the kiln. The ideal
time is eight hours of baking. In baking, if you heat it too
suddenly, the pots break, so you have to heat it slowly.
At first, keep the heat low. When the pots turn red, that
means they're almost done so turn up the heat until the
embers spark. Today, they used old pieces of wood and
plywood as fuel in their ovens. However, potters before
used carabao dung and hay. That's what they used back
in the 1950s. When the pot is tapped and sounds like a
bell it is cooked then it must be inspected once more.
Finally, it will be painted with latex or acrylic paint, or
coated with a glaze to make it shine (Castro, 2020).
Sanikulas Cookies or News featured in Youtube last 2018, considers
Panecillos de San Nicolas Pampanga as the culinary destination of the Philippines.

Atching Lillian Borromeo is one of the famous food

historians and experts in Pampanga. Her recipes are
handed down from her grandmother whom she called
“Impo”.

Atching Lilian also makes Panecillos de San Nicolas,

whom Filipinos believe to possess healing properties.
Arrowroot is the main ingredient in baking the said
cookies. The arrowroot plant was inherited from her
(Judgefloro, 2017) ancestors. They had to plant the arrowroot and wait

5
eight months for the roots to mature. The roots are then processed. It is pounded and
soaked in water. It is sun-dried and ends up as powder. That's the flour they used for
San Nicolas cookies. Unlike these days you can easily buy ingredients from the store.
But at that time, they didn't even have flour.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl – cornstarch, baking powder, salt, sugar, egg
yolks, coconut milk, softened butter, lemon zest, and oil. Blend well with a wooden
spoon. Slowly add the cake flour and the rice flour, knead it into the mixture till it
resembles a thick dough, and has a smooth surface. Mixing by the hand should take
about 10 minutes till it is smooth and all ingredients are incorporated.

Place the dough into an airtight container and freezer for 2 to 4 hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, take the dough out of the freezer and thaw on the counter for 8
to 10 minutes. Keep the dough very cold so it is easy to roll out and handle on the
heirloom cookie molds.

Grease with baking spray or shortening the surface of the San Nicolas mold which
has the design. Make sure to grease the inner crevices and corners so that dough can
be removed easily after shaping. Place a chunk of the dough, about 4 tablespoons
over the San Nicolas mold, on the hand-carved portion. Flatten with your hand to
spread it around evenly. Place a piece of parchment or wax paper over the dough,
which is over the wooden mold. Using a rolling pin, roll and flatten the dough so it
gets embedded in the design.

Place a round or oval cookie cutter over the San Nicolas mold, to cut the dough to the
appropriate shape needed. Trim the edges of the cookie if needed, whether round or
oval. Quickly transfer the molded dough onto a baking sheet that has parchment
paper or a silicone baking sheet.

Bake Pan de San Nicolas at a preheated oven of 325 F degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or
till top is brown. When done, cool the cookies on a cookie rack. They will be crisp on
the outside but will have a slightly soft shortbread texture inside. It will take at least
30-40 minutes for the cookies to cool on the rack. When Pan de San Nicolas cookies
are cooled, wrap in white cellophane wrappers to show off the intricate designs. Store
in an airtight glass or plastic jar.

San Nicolas cookies are quite bland in taste. People say it's good for people with
diabetes. The absence of sweetness makes it excellent when it is paired with hot
chocolate (Sison, 2017).

Pagbuburda Embroidery is an art of decorative stitching, especially by hand.

The high quality of embroidery in the Philippines is partly due to
its history and partly due to native talent.

The town of Taal and Lumban, Laguna had a long tradition of

hand embroidery since the arrival of the Franciscan Missionaries.
They started teaching women embroidery. This is probably one of
 the most formal studies that have happened to women folks.

During the Japanese era, the culture of embroidery was forgotten.

It only goes back to the American era.

Piña and Jusi are traditional fabrics used by the bordadoras. But
Piña is more special because it is decent, soft, refined, durable,
and not hot. Ang Jusi (Chiese term for raw silk), on the other
hand, is a lightweight, flimsy, and ecru colored fabric regarded by
the bordadoras as the best material for embroidery (News,
Youtube, 2019).

The first process starts with a “magdidibuho” (designer) who is in

charge of stamping design on the cloth. After making the design
(Barongsrus, the cloth is then passed on to the “burdadera” (embroiderer) it who
2019) embroiders the cloth which the designer has stamped. After
embroidering it will be passed to another person called
“magbabakbak". She pulls each thread to form a design. After that,
another person will do the next process which is “pagkakalado”
(calado). It is done to avoid the cloth from being frayed. In calado
you will lock the threads from which you have pulled from the
cloth before you have to make sure you look at each thread.
“Calado” is a very tedious process. Those are the process from
embroidery, “pagbakbak” and “pagkakalado.”