December 1, 2009 at 9:26 pm (19th century Filipino Art, 2008, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Domestic Travels, Filipino Art, Humor, Past Events, Personal, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos)
On one A-MRMF Assumption Mother Rosa Memorial Foundation Tour to the beautiful heritage town of Taal in Batangas, we visited the two beautifully restored and strictly maintained Villavicencio ancestral houses, the 1850s “Original” and the 1870s “Wedding”…
In the “Sala” [ drawing room ] of the 1870s “Wedding” house, now owned by Ms. Monsy Villavicencio-Joven, initials of the illustrious Villavicencio-Marella family members intertwined with leaves and flowers were painted on the frieze of the room.
Admiring the ornate “Sala” [ restored under the direction of patrician Filipiniana scholar Martin "Sonny" Imperial Tinio Jr. ], one of the socially prominent lady travelers, who certainly knew her Art and Antiques, but decided to be naughty nonetheless, pointed to a painted cipher and quipped: “Sosyal! “L V”… Louis Vuitton!!!” 
Harharhar!!! 
4 Comments
August 22, 2009 at 3:28 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 19th century Filipino Art, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
“You should see the gold cuffs I inherited from Mama, Toto.” a dear lady friend of Old Leyte lineage told me.
I have been fascinated with Filipino Colonial Jewelry for many years now…
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April 13, 2009 at 10:11 am (19th century Filipino Art, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Pampanga Art, Pampanga Cuisine, Pampanga Traditions, Personal, Random memories, Religious Traditions, Rodriguez de Bacolor, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos)
2 Comments
November 20, 2008 at 3:25 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Filipino Art, Humor, Manila Houses, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
At elegant dinners, especially in the company of highly accomplished and therefore superior individuals, one is supposed to converse intelligently, eloquently, elegantly, with just the right dash of razor sharp wit, not too much and not too little. One never crosses the line from sophistication to ordinariness. You’re NOT supposed to talk about those bags at “Louis Vuitton” nor those shoes at “Salvatore Ferragamo” at Greenbelt IV [ even if yes, they are nice ]… so terribly gauche to do that. You’re supposed to discuss “higher concerns”: the latest scientific discoveries, for example. That was how the lively conversations went at my uncle Brother Andrew’s dinners and lunches. But then, eternal and worldly child that I am, I have retained a healthy disregard for social conventions…
We were at a lovely formal dinner at a European embassy residence to welcome an important personage. I looked good and smelled nice because it had characteristically taken me ages to put myself together. Knowing that I would be in “elevated” company, and to ensure that my conversation would not be banal and stupid amid cerebral heavyweights, I mentally summoned my rusty knowledge of the great European thinkers 18th century to contemporary, the philosophers, the “encyclopedistes,” as well as the very latest from CNN, Fox, Bloomberg, and the rest of Cable TV, the “Cartoon Network” and “Nickelodeon” included. I was “thus armed” for the dinner table…
*unfinished*
7 Comments
September 24, 2008 at 2:10 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Angst, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, Tristesse)
There are those who say that Intramuros should be preserved because of its sheer historical importance: for hundreds of years before 1571 it was the site of the flourishing settlement of “Maynilad” ruled by the Tagalog rajahs of ancient Malay history; from 1571 – 1898 it was Manila, the colonial capital of “Las Islas Filipinas” and the seat of the Spanish Empire as well as of the Roman Catholic Church in the Far East; from 1898 - 1941 it was part of the rapidly expanding American colonial city of Manila, which at that time was one of the most progressive and beautiful cities in Asia when Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok were mere towns and backward settlements. Filipino History happened in Intramuros, as simple as that; one wonders why some intellectually-challenged quarters of Filipino Society have such difficulty understanding that fact.
There are those who say that the dead Walled City of Intramuros is a useless remnant of Spanish colonial oppression, that the resources of the nation can be directed towards more productive economic activities that will benefit a larger percentage of the Filipino people. Yes of course, productive economic activities that benefit our admirable, truly hardworking, and frugal government officials and politicians.
Then there are the local politicians who want to conserve and increase the ranks of the “informal settlers” [ one of those odd new "politically-correct" terms; the term is more incorrect than the former "squatters" because it reduces our less fortunate brothers to something akin to supernatural elementals or even extraterrestrials ] in the area because of the sheer number of their votes come election time.
It is during “pointless” cultural debates like these that I frankly miss the Marcos Era. During that time, what President Ferdinand Marcos and Madame Imelda Romualdez-Marcos wanted just happened. Period.
If one opposed them, he just “disappeared” from the face of the world.
To quote a disco song from the 1970s: “That’s the way uhuh uhuh I like it!!! Uhuh uhuh!!! That’s the way uhuh uhuh I like it!!!”
One has to take a stand on things. This is mine.
29 Comments
August 8, 2007 at 2:23 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Domestic Travels, Random memories, The Ilonggos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos)
Many years ago, Joey Panlilio asked his grandmother, the regal and enduringly lovely Dona Luz Sarmiento de Panlilio, where the most beautiful old houses — needless to say the most beautiful antiques — in the Philippines could be found, and She answered simply: “Hijo, Wherever Sugar Grew…”
That meant Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Iloilo, and Negros.
Of course, She was right.
51 Comments
April 13, 2007 at 6:29 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Arnedo de Sulipan, Domestic Travels, Escaler de Sulipan, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Pampanga Traditions, Random memories, The Pampanguenos)
It is my ambition to be a normal Filipino and flee the city during the annual Holy Week break and head off to some interesting and “happening” destination like [ the usual ] Boracay island, Bohol, Palawan, Camiguin, Siargao, Bali, Phuket, Chiang Mai, the Maldives, even Madagascar…
Or even to Sevilla, Espana to witness the hieratic ”Viernes Santo Madrugada” Procession of the legendary ”Nuestra Madre y Senora de la Esperanza Macarena”…
Unfortunately, it just isn’t possible. I am the one solely responsible for the maintenance of the family traditions during Holy Week in the Espiritu, Arnedo, Escaler, and Gonzalez hometown of Apalit, Pampanga. If I don’t go, nothing will happen.
17 Comments
February 27, 2007 at 7:50 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Arnedo de Sulipan, Design and Decoration, Escaler de Sulipan, Filipino Art, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Manila Houses, Pampanga Art, Quiason de San Fernando, Random memories, Religious Traditions, Reyes de Arayat, Rodriguez de Bacolor, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos)
In the late afternoons, a group of affluent Filipiniana collectors and connoisseurs, as well as authorities, scholars, and researchers, gathers at the eminent Filipiniana scholar Ramon “Boy” Villegas’ “Katutubo” Arts & Crafts at the LaO’ Center in Makati to catch up on the latest in the uppermost echelons of the Manila Art and Antique World. The conversations are invariably interesting, as the friends discuss the latest important finds on the market and express their interest in the rarest objects, generously peppered with, of course, the latest unsavory but interesting doings of Manila Society.
Usually, the conversations steer to the highly-desirable heirlooms of the “de buena familia” Old Families. And more than the Negrense, Cebuano, Batangueno, Laguna Tagalog, Ilocano, and even Manila families, The Pampango families and their storied holdings are the ones most often discussed.
I have always suggested to my good friend Ramon “Boy” Villegas that the Metropolitan Museum of Manila should mount an exhibition — one that will certainly be a blockbuster — themed and titled “The Splendors of Old Pampanga.” I also suggested the idea to another good friend, Corazon “Cora” Alvina, formerly the head of the Metropolitan Museum and presently the head of the National Museum, and while she thought it was a wonderful idea, she bowed and shook her head sadly when she realized the enormous insurance costs that such a magnificent exhibition would entail…
7 Comments
December 11, 2006 at 9:49 am (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Manila Houses, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses)
Yesterday evening, I found this journal entry of 30 May 2000, Tuesday, 1400 hours:
“”I had a marvelous evening last night. Joey [ Panlilio ] hosted a birthday dinner for Cora Alvina at Suzette Legarda Montinola’s ‘La Cocina de Tita Moning’ in the PreWar Legarda-Hernandez residence at # 315 San Rafael Street, San Miguel District, Manila. Also present were Toti and Dorla Villalon, Gilda Cordero Fernando, Becky [ Quema ] de los Reyes, Ino Manalo [ quite a revelation! ], Boni Pimentel, Boy Villegas, and Sonny Tinio [ surprise, surprise, surprise!!! ]. It was a lovely, lovely dinner…”
“I was the last to arrive at 7:45 p.m.. The house had so much atmosphere — ‘Stimmung’!!! As Joey mentioned beforehand, it reminded me very much of our own family home in Quezon City: imposing architecture, a nice garden, lights all around. One entered through a porte-cochere to a foyer with a stairway, a clinic on the left and a library to the right. On the second floor, a small vestibule with an imposing Venetian mirror led to the ‘Sala’ [ living room ] on the left and to the ‘Comedor’ [ dining room ]on the right.”
“The square ‘Sala’ was painted a light blue-green, a very European, nay very English color. An imposing Spanish chandelier hung from the ceiling. On the main wall, opposite the windows, hung a large painting by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo [ !!! ] of a lovely young woman [ in what looked like night clothes ] dated 1901. Gorgeous!!! On a wall adjacent to the window was a folder-size painting by Juan Luna [ !!! ] of a lady in a black dress. She seemed to be scratching her back while the young lady [ of Hidalgo ] did not seem to have taken a bath yet. When I mentioned this irreverently to Sonny Tinio, he gave me a ten-ton glare — so typical of him!!!”
“The ‘Comedor’ had a long dining table with Art Deco-style Puyat dining chairs. There were two round tables on one side, one of them marble-topped. There were three cabinets: one contained silverware, another one contained silver and porcelain [ remarkable was a Meissen covered dish with a putto on the lid, its arm broken ], and a third contained only crystal. Beautiful Meissen plates in dark blue and gold with flowers from the ancestral porcelain service of the Tuason-Legarda-Prieto-Valdes Clan hung on the walls. The table was elegantly set with PreWar Heacock chinaware, Art Deco-style sterling silver flatware, and 1930s green American glassware, all on an exquisite tablecloth of tatting lace, laden with fresh flowers.”
“The menu consisted of Pumpkin Soup, Baked Lapu-Lapu with an Avocado Salad, homemade Mango Sherbet, ‘Lengua en Salsa Blanca,’ ‘Arroz ala Valenciana,’ Mixed Greens Salad, Cheese and Fruit platter, the justly famous Bread Pudding of ‘Tita Moning,’ to coffee, tea, and candy. It was a delicious meal with all the flavors, scents, and nuances of home…”
“Conversation was lively, what with the utterly fascinating group. Sometimes funny, sometimes bitchy, but always fascinating…!!!”"
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