May is for Mango

The fruit, not the store. I think the season officially starts in April, and throughout the whole of May, markets are full of mangos in all states of ripeness, or over-ripeness!

A couple of years back we were invited to go mango-picking at a farm in Zambales. I was surprised to see such compact and low mango trees. I'm used to huge ones. The green mangoes were hanging low on the branches. I wondered about that when our host told us that his farm staff had already started harvesting the fruit, but he told them not to pick the low hanging ones because he was planning a mango-picking adventure with kids.

Our city kids were thrilled to be picking mangoes straight from the tree-- I was thrilled to be taking home all these mangoes for free! :)

We didn't know (then) that the sap from a newly-picked mango's stem is so acidic that it can actually blister your skin. Carmel had a small wound on her chin, and I had one on the back of my hand. Good thing it was only that because took over two weeks to heal.

The mangoes were wet because it was drizzling. Each mango has to be wiped dry otherwise the water spots will turn into black spots on the ripe yellow mango. The more experienced pickers came equipped with tube socks that they used like gloves to dry the mangoes.

Mangoes are picked when they're green. Then they take a few days to ripen. 

After picking three big baskets of mangoes and drying each one carefully, it was time for a picnic lunch and generally lazing around the whole afternoon. We then drove to Subic for the night.

When we got home, I divided two kaings and shared them with dad and mom, pa and ma, and siblings on both sides who were in town, and then I still had one whole kaing for us enjoy for the next two weeks and more.  We ate them in all stages of ripeness--green with bagoong, slightly yellow still with bagoong, then of course when they were  yellow and fully ripe. I froze the ones that had gotten too ripe--and used them to make mango shakes.

Philippine mangoes are the best in the world and I think is best eaten in it's purest state--just cut open and scooped up. Yum. Thanks Ed and Lina, for a this special back-to-nature experience for us and the kids--and of course for all those mangoes!

Our hosts

Jars in Silang

This is a new vendor along the road going to Nasugbu again. Beautiful jars all over the place! I stopped to inquire because the only other outlet I know is that along the Mandaluyong bridge.

These are the jars that are usually specified by landscape artists like Budji and Ponce. They're not cheap--the ones I asked about were 5-7k pesos and the big ones can go up to 25k. They are all imported from Vietnam! 

Well guess what, they are the SAME guys who are in Mandaluyong! The shop is called "8 Corners" or eight something, I forgot. Just like the furniture guys who are from all over Luzon, but who set up along the road to Nasugbu, these guys got smart and also set up here. I think they've figured that a lot of their customers are those who have beach homes along the Nasugbu coast!

They cleared a pineapple field and are renting the space for only 15k a month. They guy told me that they have more containers arriving and they will be able to finally unload them all--so expect even more jars!

They don't look like anything laid out this way--but one or two jars in a beautiful setting..

Bamboo Beach in Kawayan Cove. I barely got the jar in the photo--but it's on the right side

These jars are super heavy so they're not worried about it being stolen from the roadside. At least they're halfway to Nasugbu already, for those who are buying for their beach homes.

Makati and Taguig from the Sky

Don't you find the view from an airplane fascinating? If I sit by a window (which is almost never), I always pull out my camera and snap some aerial shots. It never looks interesting in the little camera screen, but once it's on iPhoto, it's captivating.

The top photo is of the Makati CBD and the residential villages of Forbes and Dasma. Here below, we've moved a bit farther and the buildings of Taguig are coming in stage right.

To the left of the Taguig buildings are two neat squares--that's the north and south fields of the Manila Polo Club. I can't figure out what the open space and the golf course on the foreground of the photo are. Hmm..I don't know my geography. Could that be Navy Club golf course?

Now we're flying over Taguig and the American Cemetery, the big round patch of green grass. It's a beautiful, green park and the white crosses are neatly lined up--I would hardly call it a cemetery--more like memorial.  You can see that Bonifacio Global City is still way underbuilt, and with all the available lots between the buildings it will soon be overbuilt!

The streets in Bonifacio Global City are also not that wide, so I'm not too hopeful about the traffic situation here. Good thing there is that American memorial, which I now realize is almost as big as Bonifacio Global City. A big park in the middle of all the future congestion.

We're now leaving Taguig. Goobye Manila..for now!

Mirror Mirror...

This is from the Vogue Interiors book

I'm looking for a mirror for my living room, and I want one which looks like this one above. It's gold, it's simple all around with a focal point on the top.  Infact, if I can get an old one with matching ghosts like the ones in the Paris flea market, I would love it. I'm still figuring out how to ship something like this back home, and I wonder if it is even worth it.

I almost fainted when I saw this shop. I just want one...okay, maybe two?

The ones in this shop were between 2k euro to 9k euro! Eegads. Those ghosts are expensive. How can these all be antiques--reproductions perhaps? I don't know too much about the shops in the Paris flea market and if these are real antiques or Egyptian reproductions. For all I know, they come from Pampanga? hehe.  These ones below were lower than 2k because they hadn't been restored.

I like the one in the middle

In Dalat Vietnam, they had French-looking mirrors all over the Sofitel Dalat Palace. I loved the overall ambience, but don't look too closely, because then it will scream "tacky".  It doesn't have that elegant gilt old-world look its supposed to have. There were a lot of impressionist reproductions hanging on the walls too--again, very well executed, but don't look too close.

Sofitel hallway mirror

Too gold and a bit too much with the too-curly console

The whole hotel has a French colonial theme--well, Dalat is supposed to be "Little Paris" as it was the French who discovered and developed the place in the early 1900's, the way the Americans built up Baguio for us.

In every corner and landing, there was a different mirror and console set up. This is a bit better.

I want something carved out of solid wood and gilded after. Vietnam has a lot of French influence so it's only natural for them to reproduce these things in the proper proportions. I'm sure the Pampanga woodworkers have these mirrors too, I just haven't had the time to check them out. Maybe when it's not too hot anymore, I'll make a trip there!

Love this look--the chandelier, the mirror on the left with non-matching console

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Gaudi Meets Alice in Wonderland

In Dalat, Vietnam, we were brought to a place called Crazy House. Because I was busy chatting with the rest of the girls on the bus, I didn't pay much attention to what the guide was saying, so had no idea what this place was all about. Apparently it's one of the more popular tourist destinations here, as well as a place to stay for the more adventurous folk. For 100,000 Dong, or US$5, you can visit it like visiting a museum.

Crazy House is a totally unconventional structure, and parts of it are still under construction I think. At first, I found it too quirky. I was exploring the outer grounds and was wondering what the fuss was all about. It just looked like some ill-constructed Disneyland structure from outside, and didn't bother to look inside. As I was headed for the exit (we only had 20 minutes to explore) I happened to peep through a passageway and a chandelier caught my attention.  I was drawn into the house.

At once I liked the contrast of the kitschy exterior, and elegant interiors--even if the only things that gave it a bit of elegance were the crystal lighting fixtures. That was the "hook" for me. I quickly went in since I only had a few more minutes.

The fixtures are not anything spectacular, but it is the contrast that is attractive-- outlandish but civilized, rustic but elegant, new but old. There were a few simple chandeliers and wall sconces, but I think that made all the difference.

You get to the bedrooms upstairs through narrow winding but easy to navigate staircases. I think there should've been more crystal fixtures in the bedrooms. Maybe small chandeliers in one corner, or even more wall sconces.

There are no straight lines in this building, and all I could think of was Gaudi. The kids would haven had a heyday exploring these structures I thought, but then my friend Edna, who is scared of heights told me got 'stuck' in the middle of one of the narrow bridges that connect the buildings to each other. The side railings are too low in some areas, and she was momentarily paralyzed. I didn't get to the other two buildings in the compound.

The view from the topmost room in this building, looking at the other two structures, and the narrow bridges with low side railings 

There are many other bizarre things about the Crazy House and I regret wasting time outside. On the way out, I snapped a photo of a message from the owner/designer. It was posted together with other letters and photos in a little gallery up front (note to self: don't do a tour backwards again!)  We were  told that she was inside the room behind the ticketbooth, if we wanted to ask her questions. It would have been interesting to meet her, sayang, but I wasn't prepared.

I admire the designer Hang Nga for what she did--not that it fits my aesthetic, but because she set out to design what she wanted without caring what other people thought.  Then when she realized she caught the people's attention, she was even able to turn it into a business right away. Being different certainly has its advantages. That's one of the things we always tell the kids--being different is good, don't try to conform and be like everyone else (hoping to teach them to avoid peer pressure this early!)

Our visit to Crazy House was too short. I'm reminded again not to be too quick to judge and dismiss--I would've seen everything had I been more open-minded. My interior design take away from this experience? I will hang that small unimportant-looking chandelier that I already own, somewhere in the beach house.  I think the contrast will make it look important and give the room a needed point of interest.

Late Night Comfort Food

After a night out on the town, which means a full dinner and a number drinks in a bar, my Asian friends always look for a snack of noodles or soup before going home.  My very svelte Malaysian friend says "I always have to have my noodles before going home"--and they don't like noodles in some hip restaurant (we would have done the hip restaurant for dinner), it almost always has to be something on the street. When we were in Koh Samui, it was this street cart that caught our attention.

This Thai noodle cart had yellow noodles and white noodles. You could have it with or without soup. 

Waiting for our cooked-to-order noodles

The noodles were delicious and really hit the spot. I don't know how they all pig out and still stay so thin.

When we were in Singapore, our local friends there were eager to show us their comfort food. After a big night in a nice restaurant, and then drinks at the top of some fancy hotel, we headed off to a part of town where she said had the best Ba Kut Teh in town. There were two or three other shops beside it but no, she said this was the one she been coming to for years. We took a table on the sidewalk and were served in 3 minutes flat.

They all ate as if we didn't have dinner. I was still full, so I just tasted the soup and  it was really good! Yum! Ba Kut Teh is the Singaporean version of our local Bulalo, or bones (beef or pork) cooked forever in a soup.

Imagine cooking with Ba Kut Teh stock--the dishes would be so wonderfully flavored. I'm sorry to say, but those shortcut bouillon cubes, which are really just cubes of salt with a little bit of flavoring,  just can't compare with cooking with real stock. It just doesn't have that depth of flavor.

The shopowner put all these dishes on the table, but we returned the three dishes in the middle. We only wanted the Ba Kut Teh.

I never have a noodle/soup nightcap in Manila because after a big meal, I just want to go home and veg! I usually don't even do the drinks part of the night much to my friends' disappointment. I've become such a cornball.  Tsk tsk!  But I think I better look for a midnight Bulalo place in the city just in case--I know my Asian friends expect this type of nightcap.  My western friends just think we eat way too much.  

Raffles Hotel in Singapore

The Raffles in Singapore has beautiful colonial details. I like the baseboard and molding details, the lighting fixtures and the furniture. It was a source of inspiration when I was renovating the house. I didn't stay there so I don't  have any pictures of the rooms. I only took of the public places.

I liked these chairs because they had woven cane (solihiya) sides.

I like this look--rattan chairs, white walls with lots of molding. Even the columns are fluted. There's lots of shadow detail even if it's just a plain concrete wall. Then the nice contrast of brass light fixtures.

Even the bathroom details are very well done. Simple glazed white tiles with solid wood trim. Very low key and tasteful.The finishing is really pulido.

The tropical gardens are beautiful also.

I have a friend whose house looks like the Raffles, but instead of British colonial, it's Spanish Colonial.

This is a view of the courtyard and front door from the picture window of the kitchen. The window details have colored textured glass. I think they are old antique panels, I'm not sure.

The veranda is full of beautiful solid wood antiques like this round table. The top is one solid round piece.

There are very thick double cornices and wooden shutters all over the house.

I'd love to bathe in this atmosphere. In fact if I had a bathroom like this, I'd probably stay here the whole day, read, paint, surf the net.

I bet you can't tell the difference which is the Raffles and which is my friend's house! It's amazing and I love the details of  her house. Of course her garden is beautiful. This is only one small part, at the side of the house.

She might kill me if she finds out I posted pictures of her house so she shall remain unnamed.

And you, if you're reading this, this is not your house. Any likeness to your house is pure coincidence!

Antiquing On the Way to Nasugbu

A lot of enterprising folk have set up shop along the main road in Silang and Tagaytay--the route you pass on the way to Nasugbu, Batangas. Long ago one could only shop in fruit and produce stands but now, a profusion of furniture shops and woodworkers are scattered along the way. Some of them look like they are reworking old wood, but a lot of them look like they always have a fresh supply of newly-cut hardwood on their premises. Is this legal?

Anyway, lots of the shops are from La Union, and they have just moved there because the rent is cheaper and they have a steady supply of moneyed customers plying that route ever weekend, on the way to their homes by the sea. 

What never ceases to amaze me is how loosely they use the term "antique". I stop to check out the antiques and I don't see anything that resembles even a Philippine antique. Maybe they started out with "folksy" antiques, but once they were gone, they started reproducing them. Then they started creating new designs. Then they are not remotely "antique" in any sense of the word! Many times I've even come across signs that say "Made to Order Antiques" (can't find that photo just now)--can you imagine such a thing? I've realized that to them, "antique" means anything old, doesn't matter how old, and made of wood. 

I admit it's usually beautiful solid hardwood, and a many of the woodworkers really know their stuff. They like to show you the old slabs and chunks of wood that they have, and tell you that the wood won't move, warp or crack on you--hopefully. Then they offer to create an antique for you, in any style you like. Antiques, made to order. An interesting concept indeed!