CR Diaries: Tiendesitas

August 6, 2008 | 09:09 AM
Category: • CR Diaries

An indoor garden can be found inside the Tiendesitas CR.

It’s difficult not to feel patriotic when you visit the CRs at Tiendesitas. Upon entering either of the two CR facilities (on either end of the mall), you will be asked to make a choice: enter the male or female side. These are designated not by the iconic symbols of gender so often used in CR’s elsewehere but with the national dress of the Philippines-the barong tagalong for the men and the saya for the women. This Filipino theme is continued inside, with a wooden wheel converted into a charming chandelier, iron sconces on the walls, and an outside-inside feel with the bamboo wall and garden. The sinks look like antique ceramic bowls used for dining and there are wooden mirrors to add to the rustic effect. The cubicles are private and roomy enough, guarded by wooden doors with bamboo slats.

Clean and simple with a rustic feel, the Tiendesitas CR is one of the better public CRs around.

The CR is laid out simply. The sinks are lined in a row, parallel to the individual toilets (seven in all). I visited on a busy Saturday night and was afraid that there would be a line (I was right) and even more afraid that it would be dirty (I was wrong). The toilet was more than tolerably clean, the floors devoid of the icky and sticky sensation of many public restrooms. It’s monitored by a janitress (as so many CRs now often are) who routinely mops and cleans up after each cubicle that’s vacated. Sadly, there’s no ready tissue available but there is a Vendo machine that dispenses personal hygiene products. As far as I could tell, all toilets were flushing without a hitch.

I have a tiny pet peeve of happening upon faucets that don’t close properly and let water drip wastefully away. There was one such sink here; I called the janitress’ attention to it (plus points for friendliness by the way). She just smiled at me and said that it needed to be closed like so, and with a blink-and-you-miss-it flick of her wrist, she turned off the tap. They also had shell soap dishes to catch the excess liquid soap that dripped from the dispensers.

All in all, the Tiendesitas CR is as charming as the whole complex itself. A little surprising actually and, in the end, quite comforting-as CRs should ultimately be.

I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Image taken by Patti Malay

By Patti Malay

Send us your CR Diaries entry with at least two (2) high resolution images and if it’s publication worthy, we’ll post it on SPOT! To e-mail your submissions or for more inquiries, please contact communityed@spot.ph.