July 31, 2009 at 12:30 am (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Filipino Art, Humor, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, Tristesse)
“Fairy tales can come true… they can happen to you…”
And happen to you they did.
Erudite Manila simmered, seethed, and gritted their teeth as the four new “National Artists” were announced by the CCP Cultural Center of the Philippines…
“Fairy tales can come true… they can happen to you…”
June 23, 2009 at 1:30 pm (2000s Philippines, Angst, Current Events, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Humor, Manila Houses, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, Tristesse)
The Exemplars of the High Life and the Aspirants…
I am amazed and impressed at the propensity — nay obsession — of some people to do exactly what their social peers — or the ones they imagine to be their social peers — are doing. All those “musts”…!!! I imagine that if I would have to do all of those, I would go crazy!!!
Every time I find myself in the company of ambitious corporate executives and their wives [ no, the Financial Crash in the USA and Bernie Madoff really haven't decimated their ranks here in Manila 
], I hear the same list of otherworldly fashionable aspirations…
“Tito Danding and Tita Gretchen…”
“Tito Tony and Tita Nenita…”
“Tito Paeng and Tita Mely…”
“Tita Meldy [ Imelda Ongsiako-Cojuangco ]…”
“Tita Liding…”
“Mrs. Marcos…”
“Nedy…”
“Tita Baby…”
“Tito Ado…”
“Inigo and Maricris…”
“Dedes…”
“Jaime and Lizzie…”
“Fernando and Kitkat…”
“Bea and Joel…”
“Marivic…”
“Ricky…”
“GG and Ging…”
“Buboy and Libet…”
“Butch and Ollie…”
“Pedro and Gina…”
“Greggy and Irene…”
“Jon and Chari…”
“Michel and Amparito…”
“Philippe and Edna…”
“Rose and Manolo…”
“Jimmy and Connie…”
“Paul and Hetty…”
“Mario and Mimi…”
“Manuel and Alice…”
“Franco and Ros-ros…”
“Justito and Rina…”
“Micky and Maritess…”
“Citoy and Eva…”
“Gaita and Alvin…”
“Louie and Mellie…”
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*
October 1, 2008 at 3:15 pm (Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Humor, Manila Houses, Personal, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos)
For all the beauty and elegance I desire in my life, I have never been a cultural brahmin and I’ve never pretended to be one. In fact, I can be quite the crude philistine. So when faced with the unfamiliar, I tend to take on the catatonic countenance of Tom Hanks’ “Forrest Gump” character and remind myself: “Stupid is as stupid does.”
So I ended up that early Thursday evening at a good friend’s new art gallery in Makati. She is Manila’s top art dealer and her gallery is the place to acquire the best Filipino Art, bar none. Everybody who was Anybody even a Nobody was there, including I who wasn’t anybody in particular…
It was an opening exhibition of the newest, brightest, and best Filipino artists of the new generation. Contemporary Filipino Art hung all over the place, indeed, some even lay down on the floor.
There were hanging gymnasts with hooks on their chests; a brooding tree; a lady who looked like she survived the Holocaust or was just being pushed to the gas chamber; one of an Italian nobleman [ a Venetian Doge? ] with his face obscured by a big rose; a little girl playing on a rug; a small black door which led to nowhere; a girl vomiting into a toilet bowl [ or appreciating the toilet bowl, dunno ] with neon lights around; one was of roses, roses, and roses; there was a big canvas with childlike scribbles; there were small black and white works, one of them showed an extremely filthy, tiled shower enclosure.
Awed by the huge sizes of the artworks hung on the big white walls, I looked at them from the bottom, from the left, from the right, and finally from the top when I went upstairs to the mezzanine with five chicken lollipops in hand. Back in the ground floor with only the bones of the five chicken lollipops in my hand, I was tempted to create my own bit of “installation art.” I also wanted to lie down flat on the cement floor to further appreciate the works but was afraid to squash a mountainous installation of painted paper plates and another of white garden stones and blue “forget-me-not” flowers.
And so I looked at all the new art. And I tried so hard to understand all the new art. Then I realized that I probably lack intelligence of some sort because I couldn’t recognize the art in the new art. Realizing the hopelessness of my artistic dullness, I walked over to the buffet and took a heaping, almost obscene, serving of the gleaming golden ”lechon” from “Belen’s,” which for some reason was the favorite “lechon” source of “le tout Forbes Park”… yes, it was delicious and I chompedchompedchomped…
After chomping down the small plateful of “lechon” doused with a liter of liver sauce, I sidled up to a good collector friend. He was pleased as a plum because he had already managed to take his pick of the artworks the previous evening.
“Buti ka pa, naiintindihan mo ang mga ito…” [ "Lucky you, you understand all of these..." ] I told him with a burp.
“Maganda!!!” [ "Nice!!!" ] he replied with a big grin.
“Nagagandahan ka ba sa mga ito?” [ "Do you find all of these beautiful?" ] I asked.
“Maganda…” [ "Nice..." ] he replied with a naughty grin.
“Tataas kaya ang halaga ng mga ito?” [ "Will these appreciate in value?" ] I asked.
“Maganda…???” [ "Nice...???" ] he replied as he began to snicker.
“Saan mo naman ilalagay ang mga ito?” [ "Where will you put all of these?" ] I asked.
“Sa magandang… bodega!!! Heeheehee!!!” [ "In a nice... storeroom!!! Heeheehee!!!" ] his pretty wife replied, breaking into a giggle.
LAUGHOUTLOUD!!!
_________________________________________________________________________________
Someday, I know I will regret my lack of art investment foresight [ let's not even talk of art appreciation ] because, like it or not, the works of these contemporary artists will be worth a mint!!! I regret that I did not purchase the works of BenCab and Lao Lian Ben in the late 1980s before a dear uberrich friend collected them and drove prices up the roof. I do rue my lack of persistence twenty five years ago [ 1983 ] when I did not really force my parents to buy the works of Ang Kiukok [ Vicente Manansala's protege ] and other contemporaries. Had I been an adult in the 1950s, I would have pestered my parents and Lola Charing to buy the works of Vicente Manansala. I wish that I was already of age when a young Fernando Cueto Amorsolo was offering to paint large history scenes and full portraits of my Lolo Augusto and Lola Charing in the early 1930s. I wish I had already been alive from the 1870s-90s when Juan Luna y Novicio and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo y Padilla used to visit their friend Macario Arnedo y Sioco [ my paternal great-grandfather ] in Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga; I would have insisted that they paint me as a Chinese merchant, a Chinese hopia baker, a Pekingese, whathaveyou. Finally, I wish I had already been alive when Simon Flores y de la Rosa painted Cirilo Quiason and Ceferina Henson and their two elder sons Aureo and Jose [ my maternal Quiason great great grandparents in San Fernando ] in 1875 and Olegario Rodriguez [ my paternal Rodriguez great great great grandfather in Bacolor ] in 1856 and his children afterwards; I would have asked him to paint me in various guises as well!!! 
On second thought, I will start acquiring contemporary art even if I don’t understand a whit of it. Just to make sure!!!
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.
June 1, 2008 at 8:02 am (Architecture, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Manila Houses, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos)
[ OK, for those of you who are "tired" of reading about the "Traditional Elite" and "Old Manila," here is one about a Manila family who is richer-than-rich NOW, TODAY, 2008. Everything about them is new, new, new, and chic, chic, chic. If this doesn't "satisfy" you, I don't know what will. ]
“Dad always knew he would make it. But it was a long hard climb.”
We sat there in the “lanai” overlooking the vast front garden and the vast back garden of their new, contemporary residence set amidst +- 10,000 m2 in one of the city’s most exclusive enclaves. As with all Great Wealth, Everything had the air of Consummate Ease. And Sheer Expense. Even the plants, the grass, and the stones looked expensive. A Japanese firm had been summoned to design and execute the fantastic garden.
The dining room had a frankly new ”narra” dining table for 24 persons [ the top was 42 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 6 inches thick ], courtesy of the Dad’s lumber magnate friend in Surigao and the Dad’s general friend who facilitated its DENR-free and hassle-free transport to Manila. The entire dining suite was Neoclassical in style. Over the dining table hung three rare Art Deco lamps of Lalique glass, acquired last year in Paris. On the French Art Deco sideboard was a stylish Art Deco coffee service by Puiforcat, acquired for an unimaginable sum in Paris. The room was hung with four large 1930s Fernando Amorsolos and four large 1950s Vicente Manansalas [ certified as originals by the authorities ], artistic trophies purchased from the unraveling estates of various Marcos crony friends.
The large “kitchen” actually looked like a living room and was a serious chef / restaurateur’s dream: The refrigerators were “SubZero,” the ovens “La Cornue.” The kitchen cabinetry had been ordered in Germany. Most of the kitchen’s accessories were Italian, “Alessi.” One side of the kitchen was a casual living area with a large plasma TV and contemporary Italian furniture. Two large and important BenCab canvases casually hung in the kitchen’s living area, underscoring the wealth of the owners.
He took me to what he referred to as the “garage” at the far end of the property. It looked more like a chic loft at Rockwell instead of a garage. It was airconditioned and humidity-controlled; the lights were LED. There was a carpeted lounge, a bar, and men’s and ladies’ washrooms. Inside were parked some 100 cars, some luxury sedans, several sports cars, some SUVs. Several valets and mechanics were at work polishing and maintaining the cars. It was a scene guaranteed to get any man’s testosterone going.
April 29, 2008 at 5:15 pm (Domestic Travels, Filipino Art, Humor, Pampanga Art, Pampanga Cuisine, Pampanga Traditions, Random memories, Religious Traditions, 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)
One of the best things in Life is to be able to help the less fortunate and yet have fun in the process. That was what the MRMF Mother Rosa Memorial Foundation of the Assumption College did last Saturday, 26 April 2008 to raise funds for the Assumpta Technical School in San Simon, Pampanga. Charitable Assumption alumnae and their friends contributed Php 2,500.00/xx each and went on a Discovery Tour of Pampanga…
One could ask: What can be seen in Pampanga??? Lahar??? What else??? It’s warm and dusty. There are no white sand beaches like Palawan and Boracay, no five-star resorts like Amanpulo and Discovery Shores Boracay, no diving or snorkeling, no surfing or wakeboarding, no top international shops like Hermes, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, et. al.., no celebrated chichi restaurants and bars like at Greenbelt IV and V and Serendra, Nada!!! True!!! But Pampanga has so much more than mere consumerism. The province is undeniably rich with history, culture, traditions, quality education, fine and decorative arts, culinary expertise, and so much more. Pampanga the province has the ever elusive qualities of Wonder, Depth, and Soul. And it was that Pampanga that the generous Assumption alumnae and their friends sought to discover that day…
The fundraising MRMF Pampanga Tour was planned by Josefina “Nening” Pedrosa-Manahan and Jacqueline “Jackie” Cancio-Vega. Angeli Ko of KulTours was consulted for logistics. And I was consulted for the “off-the-beaten-track” itinerary.
Included in the tour group were “Connie” Carmelo-Pascal, “Angie” Barrera, Mary Garlicki, Asuncion “Nonny” Carlos, Marietta Cuenco-Cuyegkeng, Victorina “Chichi” Litton Laperal, Anna Aguirre-Pamplona, Rosalie “Salie” Henson-Naguiat, ”Ching” Singson Abad Santos, “Gigi” Lacson, “Mabek” Lichaytoo-Kawsek, “CJ” Junterreal, “Gina” Gozum, Dr. Gaudencio “Boy” Vega, ADB executive Victor Yon, et. al..
Petron gas station, northbound NLEX.
JDN CKS HAU The Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at the Holy Angel University, Angeles City.
The Assumption alumnae were very impressed with the JDN CKS Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies in particular and with the Holy Angel University in general.
Henson mansion, Angeles City.
Chow Time!!! Salie Henson-Naguiat had prepared a wonderful spread.
Dr. Jose Valencia, Dolores, San Fernando.
The group eagerly descended on “Nathaniel’s” along the Olongapo-Gapan Road and bought boxes upon boxes of the store’s famous chilled ”Buko Pandan” [ with carabao's milk ] dessert for their “buko pandan fix” and every other goody displayed that seized their fancy.
Archdiocesan Museum, University of the Assumption, San Fernando. I became very irritated with the rude security guards because they passed us from one gate to the other and would not let us in. As if the university was the gold-laden Fort Knox in Texas. I sneered: “You passed me from ‘Papa Gate’ to ‘Mama Gate’ to ‘Baby Gate’!!! Whothehell do you think I am, ‘Goldilocks’???!!!” *LOLSZ!!!* Later on, I was told that the ladies inside the bus were also wondering aloud about what was going on…
However, we all forgot the travails of the university gates when we beheld the sheer magnificence of the Collection of the Archdiocese of Pampanga. Absolutely marvelous!!! The curator and concurrently the parish priest of Santa Rita, Pampanga, Monsignor Gene Reyes, was a kind gentleman who took the trouble of explaining every object in the collection that we found interesting, which was mostly everything!!!
I was able to request my dear friend, the artist Alberto “Albert” Salgado Paloma — a first cousin of the legendary jeweler Erlinda “Liding” Salgado Miranda-Oledan — to open his beautiful home to us. It is to me, the Filipino version of the legendary tastemaker Roderick “Rory” Cameron at “Le Clos de Fiorentina” above the French Riviera, without the sea of course.
Albert, in his characteristic high style, had ordered his staff to prepare an elegant Kapampangan “merienda” for us. And what a chic and stylish “merienda” it was!!!
The ladies enjoyed every minute at Albert Paloma’s. It was as if they never left their houses in Forbes Park or Dasmarinas Village.
After Albert Paloma’s, some of the group members and I crossed B. Mendoza Street to get our orders of traditional large ”ensaimadas” from Lola Beatriz Rodriguez, who temporarily lives in a priest friend’s house after the old Rodriguez mansion in Bacolor was inundated by lahar. The group members were absolutely delighted to meet Lola Beatriz, who was already 98 years old but still healthy and alert.
Bacolor Church.
Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Cabetican, Bacolor. We made a quick stop to make our “first visit” prayers and requisite three wishes at this popular Marian shrine where many petitions are said to have been granted. We were efficiently out of there in ten minutes flat!!!
Betis Church. It was a beautiful church with many artistic details but we were not able to appreciate it as much as we would have wanted as it was already late afternoon and there were no lights inside. We requested some people chatting in the convent to turn on some lights but they replied nonsensically that there was no electrical connection or something equally otherworldly. We were able to enter the sacristy and admire the magnificent 18th century “vestuario” vestry cabinet, “aparador” cabinet, and “dinemonyo” “mesa altar” altar table. It was a good thing we had already seen all of that before the security guard entered the church and, not knowing who we were or what we were doing for charity, wanted to shoo us away. So I didn’t feel the least bit guilty when, in our rush to leave, we completely forgot to leave our envelope with a generous donation to the church.
After Betis Church, we visited the absolutely enchanting David House, which Salie Henson-Naguiat had arranged for us. Atty. Dante David showed us around his family’s restored and renovated 1904 Filipino house. Many of us particularly liked the antique-style, carved wooden brackets with peacock designs at the ceiling of the main floor.
The restored ancestral house had such a lovely garden. It seemed to be the work of a top landscape artist until Atty. David told us that they did it themselves!!!
The ladies peeked inside a garden pavilion being used as a [ not at all! ] “dirty” kitchen and giggled when they saw that the tablecloth was the very pattern of their beloved “Assumption Plaid” uniform. Also, the ladies very much appreciated the very clean and contemporary bathrooms of the house.
Antique “agente,” Betis.
And so, as the sun quickly set on the horizon, the group set out for the border town of Apalit…
The funniest, wackiest, and most outrageous part of the tour happened when we reached Apalit town at 7:00 p.m.. Jackie Vega had secured an appointment with a known Apalit decorative arts manufacturer whom she had met at the Manila F.A.M.E. exporters’ show. The address read “Dona Asuncion Village, San Juan, Apalit” which, despite my being an Apaliteno, I didn’t know, so I got down the bus when we reached the back of the Apalit Church and inquired with my friends there where “Dona Asuncion Village” was. They laughingly pointed to the town cemetery and said that the big bus would not be able to pass the street going there. OH. UHM…
I got back on the bus and announced to an excited group: “Ladies, we have the thrill of the unexpected!!! We know where ‘Dona Asuncion Village’ is. Problem is, it’s located after the town cemetery and the big bus won’t negotiate the street going there. We will have to walk, if ever we proceed. What’s your decision???”
I looked at the ladies. The ladies looked at one another. The ladies looked at me. I looked towards the cemetery!!! The “thought bubbles” on their faces were: ”Shopping… Cemetery… Shopping… Cemetery… Shopping…” And then a unanimous “YES!!! SHOPPING!!!” And they all proceeded to disembark from the bus!!!
It was a scene straight out of an adventure movie: some 35 well-heeled, well-dressed, and well-shod ladies happily chatting away as they trod the rough road [ of some 500 meters ], accompanied by excited Apalit children, on the way to the decorative arts manufacturer in “Dona Asuncion Village” past groups of drunken men, the town cemetery, and young families enjoying the night air. They were amply rewarded when we reached the manufacturer because there were all sorts of stylish, “au courante,” export-quality decorative accessories that could be purchased “in situ.”
Apalit Church. We were lucky to find the Parish Choir in practice so the church lights were all switched on. The ladies marveled at the San Agustin “wannabe” church with its interesting and folksy trompe l’oeil paintings.
I showed the group the beautifully-carved [ Carrara marble ] gravestone of my paternal great grandfather Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez [ 1853 - 1900 ]: a Spanish Augustinian friar’s son; a Paris-trained ophthalmologist who preceded Dr. Jose Rizal; he was the discoverer of “beri-beri” as a disease in the Philippines; and he was one of only two Pampango representatives to the 1898 Malolos Congress [ the other being Jose Rodriguez Ynfante of Floridablanca ]. I explained that Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez was the great grandfather of such diverse characters whom the ladies knew socially: Elsie Franco-Diaz, Cecilia Gonzalez-Soriano, Fr. Gabby Gonzalez S.J., Annie Gonzalez-Chanco, Romy Rodriguez, Rosemarie Rodriguez-Lopez, Tony de Leon, Marianne de Leon, Bambina de Leon-Herbosa, Jane de Leon-Syjuco, Gia Lopez Gonzalez, Toni Lopez Gonzalez, Mely Gonzalez-Gan, Atty. Renato Gonzalez, Leony Gonzalez, Jerry Gonzalez, Jean Gonzalez-Salvador, Ina Gonzalez-Dizon, May Gonzalez-Benedicto, Minnie Gonzalez Blanco-Abdallah, Gene Gonzalez, moi, Atty. Adolfo Gonzalez, Rocelle Gonzalez-Lizares, Charo Cancio-Yujuico, Arch. Jackie Cancio-Vega, Dr. Vicki Belo, Karen Cancio-Litre, David de Padua, Dr. Donna de Padua, Tweetums Cruz Gonzalez, Noli Gonzalez, Atty. Ging Madrigal Gonzalez-Montinola, BG Gonzalez, Gig Gonzalez, Dr. Jake Jison, and Liel Montinola Gonzalez.
Cacnio House, San Juan, Apalit. I explained to the group that the Cacnio House was the last intact ancestral home in the entire town and the only evidence that Apalit actually possessed a kind of Spanish colonial elegance which has almost entirely disappeared. My dear Espiritu-Arnedo-Mercado relatives Tita Esther Cacnio-Atienza and her daughter Paz came all the way from their Manila residence to welcome the MRMF Group to their beautiful ancestral home in Apalit. The MRMF Group marveled at the 1850s house, transferred from Malabon to Apalit in 1905, which has survived so many disasters intact, down to the last teaspoon of their ancestors.
The Cacnios prepared a wonderful “Pancit Luglug” traditionally soured with “Kamias” fruit which was a nice counterpoint to all the sweets that we had been eating the whole day!!! There were also those delightful little aniseed “puto” — a type which we used to produce in Barrio Capalangan, Apalit years ago. All “Gratis” again which we much appreciated because it was like a donation to the MRMF!!! Leading the group in their appreciation of the Cacnios’ warm hospitality, Tita “Nening” Manahan presented “Majestic” ham as a token of gratitude.
And so, in the dark of night, we bravely forged on to Old Barrio Sulipan in Apalit…
It was already 9:00 p.m. when we arrived in the legendary, once-elegant, definitely-not-patrician-and-sylvan-anymore Barrio Sulipan, Apalit, Pampanga…
Arnedo House, Sulipan, Apalit. It was simply too late to bother the gay caretaker to open the ancient house for us.
Saint Peter’s Shrine, Capalangan, Apalit. Our delicious, freshly-made Spanish “postres” were locked inside the Hall behind the gates!!! Aaarrrggghhh!!!
Petron gas station, southbound NLEX.
Some of the ladies were so happy to see Connie Carmelo-Pascal and Mary Garlicki — who were trapped for several hours in that frightful traffic between the San Simon and Pulilan exits of the southbound NLEX [ two big trucks had fallen off the viaduct!!! ] — all OK in the ladies’ room. At least, they were safe and finally on the way home!!!
Everyone had already boarded the bus and were raring to finally go home — except for Gigi Lacson. I got down the bus to look for her… She had come from the shops and was walking towards the bus. I waved to her and she waved back. Before we both knew it, a truck passed as she was crossing the pavement, nearly running her over!!! She mock-blamed me for not warning her about the passing truck, but I just smiled and laughed because my tired, tiny eyes really didn’t see the truck coming in the dark…
Back to Quezon City and Makati… We reached Merced Bakeshop along EDSA near Quezon Avenue — where the Quezon City group dropped off — at 10:30 p.m. and we reached The Manila Polo Club — where the Makati group disembarked — at 11:30 p.m.!!! Whattaday it had been!!! *LOLSZ!!!*
We had so much fun that we are already planning the next tour!!! Perhaps Laguna, maybe Bulacan, on to Batangas, Ilocos Sur and Abra, Bacolod and Iloilo, and of course, Pampanga Part II…
And yes, almost miraculously, but also because of the generosity of sooooo many people, MRMF was able to raise a good amount for the Assumpta Technical School in San Simon, Pampanga…!!!
February 22, 2008 at 4:25 pm (Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Manila Houses, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos)
Don Felix Roxas y Fernandez — that patrician raconteur of Spanish Manila — recalled how, in 1912, his nephew Don Antonio Roxas de Ayala [ son of the first cousins Don Pedro Pablo Roxas y de Castro and Dona Carmen de Ayala y Roxas ] had urged him to come to their house quickly by telephone. Don Felix rushed to the Roxas-de Ayala residence [ designed by his father, Don Felix Roxas y Arroyo ] along Calle General Solano in the posh San Miguel District, was met by the Spanish maid named Marcelina, and proceeded directly to the masters’ bedroom where the grieving Roxas family was gathered. There, he was informed that his dear second cousin, Don Pedro Pablo Roxas, had already passed away in Paris and that his remains would have to be brought back to Manila. His nephew Don Antonio Roxas declared that he and his uncle Don Felix would leave for Paris immediately.
Some twenty years before in the same manse, Senorita Margarita Roxas de Ayala — the eldest daughter of Don Pedro Pablo Roxas y de Castro and Dona Carmen de Ayala y Roxas — was married to the Spanish engineer Eduardo Soriano y Sanz in a lovely ceremony attended by all of the Manila aristocracy…
Don Felix Roxas reminisced: “”Let us gloss over the splendor and opulence of that wedding, the intricate trousseau with tiny baskets made in the Philippines filled with local and foreign garments, the involuntary parade of suits and dresses [ at your wedding ], the abundance of gifts from everywhere — and let me describe the ceremony as remembered.”
“The preparations for the ceremony were complete. Francisco Roxas* had sponsored the orchestra that would interpret a Mendelssohn composition during the ceremony: an eighty-man orchestra, rehearsed and conducted by that music-lover. The ceremony was to take place at the chapel of your home, which some friendly nuns had prepared and adorned with white flowers that dominated the ceremony. The dining room was set in the spacious hall, decorated by the botanist Regino Garcia who, combining papuan garlands with flowers of Singalong, obtained a highly original effect. Gil Mozas looked to the catering of eight hundred guests. On the day of the ceremony, your house on General Solano street became a temple of lights and flowers, and was invaded by guests from 6 p.m. on. Attendance was so heavy that the Spanish sergeant of police of the sector went twice to headquarters for reinforcements. At 7:30 that night, the orchestra started the prelude to the nuptial march, and with the dignity as befitted the occasion, the whole retinue left through one of the lateral rooms and slowly marched to the chapel.”
“A quiet atmosphere dominated the whole ceremony: It was only when the parents greeted and kissed the newlyweds that tears glistened briefly. The bride was besieged by her friends, her orange-blossom bouquet undone, each friend receiving a part of it. At eight, the bride withdrew, reappearing fifteen minutes later attired in her honeymoon dress. Her dress, made in Paris, was of sky-blue silk, her straw hat had a pinned-back brim, she wore gray-colored shoes, and all other details hugging her graceful figure. There was no fuss raised when the newlyweds left, for they did so without taking leave or being noticed. The awaiting ‘coupe’ started off immediately while upstairs couples danced with youthful ardor, parents spoke about the wedding, and the drinkers and smokers satisfied their craving with the beverages and cigar boxes set on tables adjoining the dining table. For their honeymoon, the newlyweds went to the Hacienda of San Pedro Makati, the legendary family mansion and resthouse.”"
_________________________________________________________________________________
Notes:
*Francisco Roxas — Don Francisco L. Roxas y Reyes — was Srta. Margarita Roxas de Ayala’s cousin [ actually an uncle, a Roxas second cousin of both her parents Don Pedro Pablo Roxas y de Castro and Dona Carmen de Ayala y Roxas ] who was executed by Governor General Camilo Polavieja for implication in the Revolution of 1896.
January 21, 2008 at 8:49 pm (Architecture, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Manila Houses, Random memories)
We live in The Casual Era. Some people call it The Era of the Flip-Flop. Most Everybody looks terrible. I, for one, will certainly not bother to distinguish the expensive “Hermes” flip-flop from the popular “Havaianas” and the affordable ”Beach Walks” worn by the mammoth crowds in the malls. Rubber slippers are rubber slippers and I say the hell with it.
Girls are invariably dressed in half-yard, make it 1/4 yard, wonders. That’s if they’re not wearing little more than Band-Aids. They should just walk around nude and get an even tan. Boys are invariably in made-for-anorexics T – shirts with Satanic designs and jeans that look as they were used for machinery wipes and target practice.
Why even dress up these days???
Even contemporary houses are casual. Obsessively so. The Current Linearity calls for One Great Room where “one can do everything.” Perhaps have sex even. Antecedents found in the “California Room” of the 1950s [ FYI, it's now fashionably pronounced "Kollifohnia" because of The Governator ]. Contemporary furniture looks like one variant of the bean bag to another. At least in the 1970s, Everything was Shamelessly Synthetic. These days there are all these blasted pretenses to being “Organic.” I don’t care if it cost ten million friggin’ bucks and is advertised in “Wallpaper” magazine, it looks like the furniture in my doctor’s waiting lounge.
Why even put up house these days???
But a long time ago, there were really reasons to dress up and to put up house. In those days, The Rich really looked rich, and Everyone Else looked, well, decent. Houses were elegant, with well-defined areas for living. One didn’t live in just one room; in fact, there were areas in a house one didn’t see everyday. There were sensible numbers of staff, without which entertaining in high style was impossible. The gentlemen worked and the ladies kept house. Yet, despite all the business concerns, One was subjected to a rigamarole of luncheons, teas, cocktails, dinners, and dances. Everybody was entertaining when they were not being entertained themselves. Even traveling abroad was elegant, Everyone was well-dressed, well-mannered, and well-heeled. It was a different time and certainly a better one. There was Elegance, and yes, even Grandeur, in Daily Life.
January 10, 2008 at 1:19 pm (Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Manila Houses, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos)
A very expensive senior decorator remembers…
“It’s all quiet now in that mansard-roofed French Provincial manse at one turn of Cambridge Circle in posh North Forbes Park, but back in those halcyon days when…”
“In those days, the mid-1970s, when One was Rich, One was Really Rich!!! We went around the world shopping on The Magnate’s private Lear jet. And there was a 747 that trailed us everywhere to load the purchases!!!”
“The Magnate actually had Simple Taste: He only liked expensive, very expensive, and terribly expensive things!!! If it wasn’t expensive, it didn’t appeal to him. There was also No Budget. So that was our peg for the whole project. A very easy peg to work with in any case!!!”
“We purchased The Art over several years shuttling between New York, London, and Paris. The magnificent Picasso was purchased from a top dealer in Paris; its purchase necessitated a hefty withdrawal from one of The Magnate’s Swiss bank accounts.”
“The Couple had decided that they wanted three immense chandeliers for their reception hall. Three chandeliers of Bohemian crystal just like those in Malacanang’s Ceremonial Hall. So off to Vienna in Austria we went. We ordered three “Marie-Theresa” type chandeliers with crystal prisms 12″ inches long and 10″ inches wide each costing USD $ 300,000.00/xx, USD $ 900,000.00/xx for the three. When they were ready, the 747 was dispatched to bring them back to Manila.”
“Of course, we bought many more chandeliers from Baccarat and Murano for the smaller rooms…”
“We bought all the antique rugs for the house in London. Some 48 of them. Several were very important pre-1875 Persian rugs. Others were 18th century Axminsters. And still others were late 18th century and early 19th century Aubusson rugs from France.”
“Many ladies swooned over the extraordinary curtains of silk damask and lace. They didn’t even know that we had actually ordered the fabulous silks from Lyons in France. And that we had gone to Saint Gallen in Switzerland for the exquisite laces.”
“The Magnate had long admired ivory and mineral carvings in the residences of his elegant Chinese friends. He wanted a collection of his own. But he was very specific about wanting several, big, impressive pieces. He did not want small ones, no matter how rare or exquisite. So we went to the major Hong Kong dealers. They were able to produce the impressive pieces that he wanted and he bought them all without any hesitation. They were displayed in vitrine after vitrine in their reception hall and in the other areas of the house.”
WOWWOWWOW!!! All of That three decades before Henry Kravis, Stephen Schwarzman, and the Russian, Chinese, and Indian billionaires!!!
And they were only a vassal and a lady-in-waiting to President Ferdinand Marcos and the First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos…
Those were the days.
However, the day came when there was a reprise — milder this time — of the vengeance of Louis XIV on his Finance Minister Nicholas Fouquet, when he dared to outdo him with his Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte [ southeast of Paris at Maincy, in the Seine-et-Marne ]…
