One of the main attractions
in Kalibo in the province of Aklan is the Jojo's Christmas Cottage. Located
inside the Sampaguita Gardens, this cottage features Christmas items and other
themed collections.
The cottage itself is
an attraction already from afar. It's a dream house for kids and kids at heart
who love Christmas. This 3-storey
Victorian house is the first Christmas-themed establishment in the Philippines.
It’s the only place where Christmas is celebrated every day.
On the ground floor, you'll find a lot of Precious Moments collectibles
for sale. You'll find pins, dolls, cute figurines and posters and other themed
collections. The designs are unique and so is the price! :P
I wanted to buy one
set, the tea making collection set, but it's too expensive for me. I just took
a picture as a souvenir. The figurines range from Php200.00 to Php5,000.00,
depending on the design and how unique it is. 
From the entrance, at
the very center of the store is a figurine of an angel beside the
Victorian-style round table with flowers and figurine set. That’s if they don't
change the decoration every now and then. This is not the
Christmas museum yet, but you will see that they also decorated it with
Christmas theme and it actually gave you that feeling.
It said to feature of collections of
extensive, electric and highly-specialized Christmas items. If offers a journey
of how Christmas is celebrated around the world. I was kind of sad when I saw
the under maintenance sign. I just content myself
in taking pictures of the figurines, trying to control myself from buying
because they are really expensive.
The Christmas museum
is located on the upper floors. It's under maintenance when we went there, so I
wasn't able to see the Christmas collections. The dolls displayed at
the stores are unique too! They clothes are designed and made by the staff.
They are so tiny and detailed, and I know it's not very easy to make them.
Maybe that's one of the reasons why the dolls are expensive too.
When you go further
behind, there are even collectible dolls of the late President Corazon Aquino,
her husband, Ninoy Aquino and their kids. I didn’t see any other Philippine
President figurines. Festival-themed dolls
are located just left of where the dolls of the Aquino dolls are.
And if you are game,
you can just sit in front of the wall with the Cinderella themed wall, complete
with crowns for you and your special someone. Or if you don't have a special
someone, then just sit there and wish for him to come.
An hour is enough to
explore the store, but if you are planning on exploring the Christmas Museum on
the upper floors, you will need 2 hours. Exploring the Sampaguita Gardens is
included in that too.
I read from other
blogs that you can also explore the mansion of Mr. Butcher, but I can't confirm
that. I didn't ask because even if we can, we don't have time and it's already
late.
Kalibo is known for its
Biscocho delicacy (toasted bread), but make sure you buy the one in
Jojo's! It's really good, like no other I've tasted.
The Php50.00 entrance
fee you will pay at the gate is consumable and you can use to buy at the coffee
shop inside the cottage or if you want to use it to buy a figurine, then you'll
just have to pay the excess.
The cottage is located
inside Sampaguita Gardens and open from 9:00 to 9:00pm daily. No tour guide, so
you'll have to explore on your own.
Kalibo is known for its
Biscocho delicacy (toasted bread), but make sure you buy the one in
Jojo's! It's really good, like no other I've tasted.
Address: #1 Sampaguita Avenue, New Washington,
Aklan
Phone#: +636)264-3422
Email: mariamae_sjb@yahoo.com
Website: http://sampaguitagardensresort.weebly.com/index.html
Entrance Fee: Php50.00 (Consumable and can be used to buy in their store)
Business Hours (Museum): 7:00am to 5:00pm, Daily
Phone#: +636)264-3422
Email: mariamae_sjb@yahoo.com
Website: http://sampaguitagardensresort.weebly.com/index.html
Entrance Fee: Php50.00 (Consumable and can be used to buy in their store)
Business Hours (Museum): 7:00am to 5:00pm, Daily
