The Papier Tolé Shop of Intramuros

During the last Holy Week season, I was able to re-visit Intramuros and explore the place from a new perspective. This time, I opted for the typical turista point of view and tried to visit places that would attract a newbie's attention. The Papier Tolé Shop has been on my wish list of places to visit in Intramuros every time I pass by the place since I thought it was a paper and stationery shop--and there's nothing more a girl loves to collect than paper and stationery, right? Since we were waiting for the 6pm Easter mass at San Agustin, we decided to cross the street to finally check out the place.

Now, the only thing I know about the art of paper tolé  is how you cut and glue together a single illustration to make a 3D effect of the whole picture. This used to be a hobby of my tita and we have lots of paper tolé  creations framed around the house. I wasn't expecting though that the Papier Tolé  Shop would be filled with unique souvenir items from all over the world. It was like a treasure chest exploded all over the place!

One of my favorite finds, a secret book within a book! 

The sister was also thoroughly amused and can't get over the Russian dolls she found in one corner.

I also found some amazing or creepy (however you want to look at it) head bells upon further exploration of one shelf. I was itching to buy the Thai buddha bell--I'll definitely buy it if it's still there the next time I visit.

Since all the shelves are overflowing with trinkets, you'll never know what you will find. They don't seem to have a method of categorizing the items and it's actually fun to explore the whole place and find unusual souvenirs. They also display their paper tolé creations, there's an artist on site, and sell them for reasonable prices. I particularly love the one they have of the old Intramuros and some French toy shop window.

And look! Origami dragons! I'm in my dragon obsession phase right now thanks to Game of Thrones and these were so cute when I found them staring up at me from a glass case.

Since they have every space jam-packed with different items, it's also rewarding to check out the top shelves or cabinet tops to see what other items are waiting to be discovered. We spied a dainty woven basket filled with stalks full of pearl flowers resting on top of one of the shelves near the doorway. It looked so pretty from afar.

Here's my sister Bernice posing with the masked dancer who greets every customer by the front door. We're definitely coming back here!

And a sneak peek of my next Intramuros blog post, Barbara's! Since they're all housed in one ancestral Spanish era building, you can spy the patio of Barbara's from the Papier Tolé's window by the stairwell. (They were setting up for a debutante party!) It's also connected to a museum which houses authentic Spanish-era furniture. I remembering going there once when I was in grade school, can't wait to check it out again.

Until we meet again, Intramuros!