In the Heart of Rome

What a wonderfully-located apartment we had in Rome. 

I found it as Residenza Lucina online but it is also called Teichner Suites. It is located in the "Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina", a little piazza right around the corner from the Spanish Steps--or basically a 5 minute walk.  Our suite (couldn't really be called an apartment because it had no kitchen!) was right above the Bar Teichner and I think the three suites above are owned by the same family that owns the Bar Teichner. 

Bar Teichner shares a building with the Carabinieri office--but I hardly saw the carabinieris. Tsk tsk, too bad. In the piazza also is the Basilica di San Lorenzo, where we heard mass.

There are two other bars in the piazza and were told the one across the street had the best gelato in Rome. Unfortunately, we weren't able to try it because we were so busy walking away from the piazza to try things far away.

This location was perfect for the kids. In the mornings, the hubby and I could come down from the suite at our leisure and while waiting for each other, the kids could play around the piazza. We didn't need to worry about cars or that they would get lost because they would always be within sight.

This is the view outside our first floor window. Our place had free wifi, and the cafe below also had free wifi.  My cousin Bea, who was  also in Rome the same week we were, actually wandered into the piazza and sat down at this cafe and caught up with all her email. The apartment she rented had no internet connection. She did this without knowing that we were staying in a suite upstairs (this window is actually right above the Bottega Veneta store!)

The suite is not plush but it was very spacious for the four of us. The kids slept down in the living room--one on a rollaway bed, and the other on the sofa. We had a very comfortable queen bed up a few steps.

The bathroom was spacious and new too!. The tiles on the floor were glazed tho--they should have used matte tiles with a rougher texture. I think it would be safer. But it was nice and bright.

Oops, this is our unmade bed. They had maid service and our beds were made and towels changed everyday.

This is the view  of the Piazza San Lorenzo from the Spanish Steps side. The umbrella on the far left is Bar Teichner. If you walked through the square and and out the far end, that road would lead you to the Pantheon and the famous ice cream stores: Giolitti, De la Parma and San Crispino.

note: The Teichner Suite site doesn't seem to link to a correct email address.

Moving In...and Feng Shui

Someone told me that January 29 was a good day to move, according to the Feng Shui calendar. We're not Chinese, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt to target that day--since we needed a deadline anyway! Then someone told me that the best time to move was between 6 to 9 am. What?!?! How do I move into a house in 3 hours? Even if I started at 6 am (which the village association is NOT going to allow anyway) I will be moving things starting at the lucky hour, and then overlap into the unlucky hour, and probably end the move during a bad day!  This was all too confusing.

I was pacified when my cousin told me that it was just a "symbolic move", or just the start of the move, and the symbolic thing was to bring into the new house: a container of rice, salt, sugar and water, plus a religious symbol. I don't know if she just lumped  a whole bunch of Chinese/Filipino/Spanish beliefs together, but that's what I did.

The kids had to be in school at 7:15 am, so we left our old place at 6:30, dropped our  "moving symbols" in the new house, looked around a bit and then we were off to school. We definitely made our symbolic move within the luckiest hours of the luckiest day of the month. I was belatedly told that I should've included a container of coins too.

Soon this dusty, empty (there was still minor work going on in different parts of the house) house was going to be full of boxes and junk that I didn't have the time and energy to sort out before moving.

Now these "moving symbols" are all sitting on top of the upper cabinet, and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to use them or if I'm supposed to keep them there forever. Maybe it should've been the first thing I consumed during my first days here? Who knows? Good thing were not Chinese, or Spanish, and we really don't believe in these things anyway.

Knowing an "auspicious date" got us to make that move, and that was the whole point anyway.

Roman Holiday with Kids

It was fun having the kids in Rome. We were able to find a brilliantly located and  spacious apartment for the four of us (wifi and CNN included!) for the 5 nights we were there.

Before the trip, which also brought us to London and Amsterdam, we made sure the kids read Vacation under the Volcano and also the Ancient Rome Research Guide of the Magic Tree House series. Of course  Roman Holiday was  our feature presentation during one of our Friday movie nights at home. Required watching before this trip also included My Fair Lady. I also got them a simple version of Anne Frank's Diary for the Amsterdam part.

 
I had to condition myself that this was going to be a "kid trip" meaning no late-night dining and no leisurely shopping.

 

 But I found that in Rome, so many things interest small kids. Just playing in the piazza with a balloon kept them entertained while we sat for coffee.

They had a great time trying out all the gelatos we passed, making special stops in Giolitti, dela Parma and San Crispino. For them gelato was gelato and they were just thrilled that they got to eat so much ice cream in one day. Food was easy with the 6-year-old preferring cream sauce or olive oil pastas, and the 8-year-old preferring red sauces. 

We had lots of pizzas too. The nice thin-crusted ones hot and crisp from the oven.

I read somewhere that water that comes from fountains in Rome is potable. I didn't remember this until I saw tourists filling water bottles from the fountain in front of the Spanish Steps, as well as drinking from the many hydrant-looking fountains around town. The kids were thrilled to follow them.

And of course since the kids loved this part of Roman Holiday, we had to visit La Boca dela Verita, something I never visited in any of my previous trips to Rome. We had to fall in line and when we got to the front, the guy controlling the front would take only a couple of shots. It made the line move fast and it was obviously only for photo ops. No time to do a little skit about asking a question and seeing if one is telling the truth--which the kids were expecting.

Too bad, but we got a nice shot of the family anyway.

The Colosseum was very interesting for them because they knew a lot about it already from their books, and because B brought things to life for them as he described how gladiators and animals were made to fight during those times.

Actually children are really easy to please and can entertain themselves with the simplest things. They're lucky to have grandparents who like to bring them along on their trips!

Moving Out!

We did it--we moved last January 29! I mean we started moving on January 29 and were in the new house on Feb. 1, a day before my birthday. I didn't know the act of moving was going to be so traumatic! I was freaking out when the movers were packing up MY things--and treating them like, well..THINGS!

I felt enormous sadness thinking-- this was our first home after getting married, this is where the kids were born, this is where they were babies, etc etc. Whaaaaaa!  I stayed in my room and cried for awhile.   I'll NEVER move again after this! I'm going to die in this "new" house.

It was hard the first two days, but as soon as the house didn't look like my place anymore, it was easy to just go with the flow and mechanically pack like everyone else was doing. I looked out one last time to the my view for the last 9 years..

Whenever there would be a "rally of 30,000 people", all I had to do was take a peek out my window and it would always only be a couple of thousand people, all "hakot", laughing, eating, taking pictures of each other!

It was also easy for me to assess the traffic situation and plan an alternate route before I left the building. One of the big advantages of living in a condo--NO mosquitos! I guess they can't fly that high. 

I Found It!

I saw this pull at a restaurant in Macau two years ago and knew it was exactly what I wanted for my sliding kitchen doors. I stood up from the dinner table just to take a picture of it. Over the next months, I searched high and low, scouring even the internet for something similar. 

Of course I  visited many  hardware stores in Manila, but everything here is very sleek and modern (and either chrome of stainless). I really had my heart set on that ornate thing I saw in Macau.

This is a selection they had in Belmont Hardware in Palo Alto.

Then on a recent stopover trip to HK, I saw a similar pull in one of the hardware stores in Lockhart Road, HK. I wasn't sure because it looked to small for the doors. I didn't buy it. But I kept thinking of it! 

On my second trip back to HK a month later , I just went ahead and bought the pulls because I couldn't find anything else I liked. It was also the closest I got to the image I had in my mind.

Lo and behold, looking back at my iPhoto files, it's the EXACT same pull! Of course! Macau is next to HK--why would a restaurant look farther than that! (unless they are as OC as me?). I don't even know why I thought it was too small for my doors? 

I should just trust my instincts and stop second guessing myself.

When Are You Moving In?

I Hate this question. Why do people always ask if the house is done (well it SHOULD be by now!) because it just adds to the stress. It's like when you are not married--"so, when are you getting married?", then "so, when are you having kids?", then "so when are you having a next one?". I guess it's just a conversation starter but it's so irritating.

Because I DO want it done! But you don't want to hear my story about workers who can't seem to get things right, or subcontractors who do such poor work, or perhaps my obsessive-compulsiveness that keeps me fussing about every little thing which may not matter once I move in.

Then there's the actual "moving" that's stressing me out. My current place is full of things that should've been sorted out years ago. Now, just decluttering is overwhelming me.  My hair is falling out in fistfuls and I just read in some blog that it would be good to take prenatal vitamins to keep it from falling out.

Move is this week (if you MUST know). Wish us luck!

My Details

Antique grill which is installed in the foyer. When I got it, it had layers of old paint--white, on top of green and on red. I had it delivered to the site and one morning when I got there, I found an eager painter scraping off all the paint! He said he was cleaning it. I almost strangled him!

Above, design of the catch basins around the house. (it'll be painted black, this is just the primer). I finally found an ironwork contractor who knew what I was talking about. This design emerged from my doodling.


This is the front door. Battered narra double doors with a curly detail at the top.

Carved adobe will be on the wall--with fountain to the pool in the middle of the carving. There are 3 of these.

Curly ironwork detail of the balconies.

The staircase grills are from Bingo's lola's house. I'm going to use it with the old paint peeling off--will just remove the flakes that are loose, then wax it down.

The Greens are In!

While I was gone, mom offered to have the garden done even if the house wasn't completely finished. "It will make the workers go faster",  I was told by two other friends. So of course I accepted. "Offered" as in she would organize and make arrangements. I already got Ponce to agree to do the garden in between mom's garden and another one.

I was all set to get someone else, but after I got to know Ponce well, I decided I like him a lot personally and I think he is very talented. A natural talent who knows his craft by instinct.

What I like about his style is his massing, his choice of leaf shapes (texture), and the way he layers his colors--cooler greens at the back, warmer greens up front. Gives his gardens lush depth. And he does this all by feel.

At first, he loaded the garden with tons of plants. I was overwhelmed when I first saw it. I knew plants had to be reduced by half. He still used the plants I liked such as calatheas and bougainvilleas.

This garden is a departure from his usual Asian style. and his first time to specify flowers too, so let's see how it will grow out. It's not done yet. Still need to ground the bougainvilleas and the pink vine.

These photos show the overwhelming amount of plants. It doesn't show the front wall lined with Podocarpus Maki, and other plants. However,  it's much less than this now. We diverted some plants to the outdoor shower of the den, and returned some plants to the supplier.