THE ECONOMIC downturn has prompted Filipino entrepreneurs to put up businesses and products with hilarious names in a bid to grab customers. And what catchy names they have come up with. There’s ”Cooking Ng Ina Mo,” a carinderia specializing in home cooked meals on Boni Avenue in Manduluyong City. Just a stone’s throw from it is a competitor called ”Cooking Ng Ina Mo Rin.” From the names, one could easily get an idea about the specialties of the eateries. Take for instance ”Caintacky Fried Chicken.” Where else, but in Cainta, Rizal. What about ”Blue Marilyn?” It’s a sing-along, ihaw-ihaw restaurant on Sucat Avenue in Para?aque. And ”Crispy Per Minute” is another giveaway. It offers crispy pata while ”Cleopata’s” is a bakahan and manukan. The owner of ”Babalik Karinderia” in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, seems to be confident that his customers will return to the eatery.
‘Cinna Von’Urban living has created a demand for laundry service especially among those who don’t have maids. If they live in Pasig City they can go to ”Cinna Von,” a laundrymat. In Legaspi Village in Makati, the woman who takes orders for ”Launderland” is reportedly named Alice. In San Juan, there’s a janitorial service company called City Cleaners whose slogan is: ”Talk dirty to me.” For those who enjoy beer, they can try ”Bali Gulp,” which is just beside Valley Golf on Sumulong highway in Antipolo. Those who work near Buendia and Taft Avenues could go to ”Beery Good.” A businessman or executive who wants to have a few drinks and feel not being hounded by his wife may have a good reason to tell her that he is in ”The Conference Room,” a nightclub formerly near P. Burgos in Makati. ‘O’Beer Time’Newsmen, however, prefer the ”The Other Office,” a bar in Ermita, Manila, or maybe ”O’Beer Time.”
These names are culled from a list of establishments that Filipino techies have gathered and shared with their friends on the Internet. The list includes the following: Fagoofyt (a children’s hair salon on J. Elizalde Avenue in BF Para?aque), Felix the Cut, Going Straight (a hair straightening salon in Megamall), D’Scalp (a barbershop on Evangelista Street in Makati), Curl Up And Dye (beauty salon) and Cutis (hair and skin clinic on South Superhighway); Beefer 150 (meat shop), Common Cents Store (sari-sari store), Happy Birthday Toyo (a soy sauce brand in the 70’s), Holland Hopia (owned by Mr. Ho; next door is Poland Hopia, owned by Mr. Po in Chinatown Manila), Bee Tin (Hopia Factory) and The Fried of Marikina ( fried chicken shop); Ali Baka (A shawarma shop), Ace-Deo Optical (Tanay, Rizal), Alabank (rural bank of Alabang), Beads and Pieces (bead shop), Berde Plants (plant shop in Glorietta), Doctor Sebago (Shoe Repair Shop, Pasay), Dear Hunter (mail order brides); The Enchanted Florist, Elizabeth Tailoring, Leon King Video Rental (Las Pi?as) and Fernando Pe’s Box Office Hits (video rental shop in Busuanga, Palawan). ‘Funeraria Mabuhay’ Faithfully Yours (detective agency in Kamagong, Makati), Farmacia With Love (drugstore ), Funeraria Mabuhay, Goldirocks (gravel and sand shop), Goto Heaven, Ho Kee Yah (pronounced ”OK Ah!” with a Chinese accent; Chinese restaurant on Session Road in Baguio). H. U. Kayin (deep-well drilling services), Income Taxi, INK-credible! (a tattoo shop in Bicutan), Inno Scents (car freshener found in a Caltex Starmart), James Tailoring, Jane’s Pondahan and Jean Tonic (denim shop, Shoppesville in Greenhills). Juice Co. (fruit juice stand), Labo Optical, Lalafca (novelty store), Let’s Goat-Together (kambingan cum beer garden), Mahal Kita Honey (bottled honey from Batangas), Maid To Order (maid placement agency), Mane Attraction (beauty parlor) and Mang Donald’s (burger joint, Naga City plaza that serves quarter pounders and the Big Mang! . . . Mak-Mak and a side order of Prince Fries). Mat & Jeep (jeep accessories shop), Meatropolis (meat shop), Meating Place (meat shop), Megamelt (ensaymada), Memory Drug (a Mercury Drug clone), Mercy Drug (another Mercury Drug clone in Olongapo), Miki Mao (noodle eatery), Motel Monaco and Nacho Fast (nachos to go). ‘Mercy Buko’ Mercy Buko (fresh coconut roadside shop), Pa-Kap-Log (budget breakfast package: pandesal, kape at itlog), Passers Buy (convenience store), Perfect-Lee (sari-sari store in Alabang), Perm Foundation (a Christian beauty salon) and Petal Attraction (flower shop). Pig Out (restaurant/take-out in San Antonio Village, Makati specializing in pork dishes), Pizza Hot (Pizza Place), Saudia Hairlines (beauty salon), Scissors Palace (barber shop), Second Time Around (second hand watch store), Side-saki (side street eatery beside Mandarin Hotel), Sophisticut (unisex hair salon), Star Wash (launderette) and Susan’s Roses (flower shop). ‘TapSi TurBi’ Su-To-Kil (a seaside wet market/eatery near Mactan shrine, called ”Su-to-kil,” which is great feast for ‘’sugba-tola-kilaw.”) Suzy’s Key Duplication, Sylvestre’s Salon, TapSi TurBi (tapa, sinangag, turon at bibingka) and 10/Q (convenience store chain). The Way We Wear (boutique), Tio Paeng Longganisa Stand (Pampanga), To Home It May Concern (furniture shop in Caloocan), Tree’s Company (artificial plant store, Pasay Road), Triple Bee (restaurant) and Tutti Fruit-asan (fruit stall); Wash & Carry (laundromat on Dian Street, Makati near Cash & Carry), Washing Well (laundromat), Windows & Doors ‘98 (sash factory), Wheels Fargo (eatery), yehey.com (Yahoo clone), Your Best Vet (veterinary clinic), What’s Disc? (novelty CD kiosk, Megamall) and Wrap and Roll (lumpia outlet, Quad, Makati). A menu in a seafood restaurant has these entrees: Isda best, Pusit to the limit and Hipon coming back.