Real Living Space

During the second part of the tour, we ventured into the armpit of Binondo—its labyrinthine streets whose names I do not remember. Along the way, I spotted more rundown but fab buildings. I love standing in the LRT because I enjoy seeing old buildings like these. Take a look at the super-retro façade of Ansons…

…and the art deco façade of the famous President’s restaurant. If you take a look at the rectangular panels, it has those trademark deco swirls and flowers.

We stopped by Salazar Street for amazing fried siopao. They also make extra-crisp bicho-bicho, which I totally enjoyed.

Then it was off to my favorite place in the tour, the Uy Su Bin building, site of the New Po Heng Lumpia House. It stands on a street that was one of the few places in Manila that wasn’t carpet-bombed during the Liberation, so everything’s original art deco.

Don’t you just love the building’s door? Check out the Streamline Moderne railings! It looks like a New York apartment entrance.

Here’s their famed lumpia. It tastes much better than it looks in the photo, promise. It’s packed to the gills with veggies, peanuts, ground meat.

Uy Su Bin building used to be a hotel in its heyday. I can imagine that, because it has a quaint courtyard with fountain (which I didn’t shoot because they had doormats drying on top of it), and high ceilings with vintage ceiling fans that stirred the air. Very much like those small, shophouse-style hotels in pre-war Singapore.

And the capitals of their columns are fab!

Terrie and I wanted to explore the area further, but the sky looked like it was ready to pour. Meanwhile, check out the other tours at www.oldmanilawalks.com. It’s totally worth it.

I took Ivan Man Dy’s Old Manila Walks’ Binondo tour during the long weekend. In spite of the fact that my friend and I felt absolutely ancient next to the bagetsaphonic college students who also went on the tour, I totally enjoyed it. This was primarily a food tour and was blogged about many times in the past, so this will be more about the cultural flavor of the area, and it sure is full of flavor—and architectural gems as well!

Our first stop was Binondo Church, seat of Catholicism in an area that still steeps in Buddhism and traditional Chinese superstitions. That’s Roman Ongpin, of whom the area’s main street was named after, and who contributed financially to the Philippine Revolution, and as a result was jailed. I’m sure you know this kind of practice (financial support of their chosen government officials) is still practiced today, and if you look closely at the statue Ongpin is holding an envelope.

Right across the church is the Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz (my dad still knows it as Plaza Calderon de la Barca), which still has these very beautiful fountains with Baroque-style detailing (probably to match the Baroque façade of the church). I felt sad because it seemed none of the passers-by appreciated it, and someone even chucked Styrofoam containers into the fountain!

Our next stop was a short walk to this decades-old chocolate store along Ongpin. They still make tableas the traditional way (hand-pounding and rolling), it was just too bad the factory was moved to Tondo. But what I liked best out of it is the vintage packaging, unchanged after all these years…

There were beaded corchos (felt slippers) along that street as well; I remember my lola wearing them 24/7, whether she stayed at home or went to church. An interesting note: in the past, this store sold slippers for bound feet!

Our first actual foodie stop was the Fireman’s Café above the Eng Bee Tin store. Owner Gerry Chua channeled his ube hopia windfall into putting up an incredibly efficient volunteer fire brigade, complete with their famous ube-colored firetrucks:

If you eat at the Fireman’s Café, all proceeds go to the volunteer fire brigade. Brilliant! The walls were decorated with amazing Robert Capa-style shots of fires in Binondo, as well as firemen’s hats…

We also had our first meal of the day, more of a simple brunch than breakfast; lovely Hokkienese rice with peanuts and mushrooms, paired with fishball soup and iced coffee, yum (this was actually my favorite food of the day since I love brunch)…

Afterwards, we walked towards a Chinese pharmacy with traditional Chinese medicine (dried lizards and herbs, that sort), which was fascinating since the only Chinese meds I knew was Pey Pak Wa. I also got my anonymous Chinese tea here; very simple and earthy tasting unlike the green tea-variation-sh*t we get in the mall cafes. Then it was dumpling time in a hole-in-the-wall shop along Yuchengco Street. It’s freshly-rolled by the window, and filled with pork, kuchay, and other lovely things:

I spotted a tenement-style building near the dimsum place. It may not look like much, but I hardly see these 1950s-60s buildings with concrete sunscreens anymore. Even though it’s dingy, I love it.

More Chinatown stories tomorrow!

Actually, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that this Domino magazine (September 2008 ish) has no girl on the cover.

Domino always placed girls on their covers (see above). I liked the fact that a lot of them were not celebs (they were interior designers, attractive homeowners, or not-too-sikat models); but they recently put a lot of A-list celebrities lately, which I didn’t like.

So what do you like? Girl or no girl on the cover? By the way thank you, Becky dear, for pointing this out.

Hunter Douglas Philippines held its EcoArt, EcoBuild, EcoWatch Design Competition awarding ceremonies recently. It’s a good thing that they held this competition, hoping that it may increase eco-awareness in the design field. The construction industry has long been one of the contributors to that thing that Al Gore doesn’t want to happen—factor in the countless trees cut down for wood, and the pollution-spewing factories for every building material under the sun. Now we can’t make all that jazz end in one go, so one way to counteract it is to build more structures that are not too taxing on our energy and natural resources.

The Hunter Douglas competition asked professional architects and interior designers as well as design students to come up with their own renditions of eco-friendly designs (commercial and residential). This Tagaytay resthouse is architect Albert Yu’s first-place-winning residential entry:

Hunter Douglas also does one better and presented its sun-shading products, meant to minimize solar heat gain (and to lessen use of costly, CFC-emitting air-conditioners):

Architects are trying to push the implementation of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards locally. But truth to tell, the mere implementation of these standards can be difficult, albeit costly when translated to construction materials and labor that is fraught with Pinoy inflation.

Why in the world does perennially eco-chic Dwell magazine make it look so easy? In the August 2008 issue, Eric Garcetti’s LA home is not only sustainable, solar-powered, recycled, and LEED-certified, it’s damn stylish as well:

Nakakainggit. Now if everyone jumps on the eco-bandwagon, then there is that distant possibility of having it all, eco- and design-wise.

I’ve been seeing so many boring and pangit products lately. Why, why, why is there still such a high local demand for these stupid boring things?? Sigh. Well because of that, I just have to feature something really, really good—Bodum drinking glasses.

For me, Bodum is the benchmark for good, practical design. Everything they carry is so straightforward and simple, so designer-sleek, yet relatively affordable (well, compared to those crazy-expensive European products). The Bodum items I’m so loving now are their double-walled drinking glasses. Now all the Bodum glass products are made out of borosilicate glass, which makes them heat-resistant and microwave safe.The double walls on their glasses however also ensure that your cold drink stays cold (your hand won’t warm it) and your hot drink won’t scald your hands. Simple yet ingenious!

There is the award-winning Bistro coffee cup,

The classic Pavina glass,

The sexy Euro-looking Rigi stacking glass,

And they even have a lovely sake cup (though I think this is only available in Japan):

Best thing about it is the price, most are below P1,000; and its availability of course—you can find it in my fave places SM Homeworld, at Rustan’s, and at that lovely new Dimensione store at Bonifacio High Street. You can drool over their other designs in their website.

Also, wish ko lang that Bodum would carry locally these super-cute kiddie dinner sets:

Otherwise, follow Bodum’s mantra: “Give up bad design for good.” And then maybe we wouldn’t see those stupid, boring home items anymore.

I got a message recently from Audrey, purveyor of wall art in the form of stickers. I had an old post about wall stickers a few months back about it being the new decorating thing instead of doing messy stencils, and a lot of people liked it, so I guess you’d be interested in these as well.

In her letter, Audrey relates that ever since she went abroad and discovered these stickers, she’s been so interested in this instant art she decided to sell these cute stickers here locally. And you’re in luck because she’s selling the Heart Art collection of stickers (first two pictures) at the Curio booth at the Rockwell Urban Bazaar this weekend (August 15 to 17) at the Rockwell Tent. Heart Art is from Japan and the designs are very young and whimsical.

She’s also bringing in Lavatelli later this month, an Italian line of wallstickers that are more sophisticated and urbane in design (last two pictures). Watch out for more of Audrey’s stuff at her website.

My friend Jenny and I always thought that a day trip to Antipolo, Rizal would be a perfect “wala lang” thing to do on a weekend. Aside from the fact that it’s a mere hour or less away from Metro Manila, Antipolo has this laidback, artsy-cultural vibe that isn’t pretentious at all.

So it was such a treat when my friends Marco and Grace took me on a tour one rainy afternoon. If you’d ignore the large, unattractive billboards of one of the town’s incumbent politicos, it’s such a lovely, interesting place. It’s also the home of a lot of known designers and artists, such as the noted wood sculptor and designer Benji Reyes. We featured his home in our Real Home Ideas book 1. His home is not open to the public, but we were lucky enough to get invited to tour his newly spruced up “backyard”, which was so lush and pretty:

Afterwards, we had coffee at Espresso Excelso along the Circumferential Road. It has cozy interiors, the coffee is actually good, and very affordable.

A must-see in Antipolo is Pinto Gallery, of course, at 1 Sierra Madre, Grand Heights subdivision. As mentioned in an earlier blog entry, you can take painting classes there held by artist Andy Orencio. But if you’re just in the mood for pasyal, do so in Pinto’s sprawling compound, which has several houses, huts, and a chapel that serve as galleries for a rotating exhibit of art. They recently held an auction of Julius Babao’s amazing collection of Albors, Bencabs, and Malangs. I also like the fact that Pinto changes its look every time I go back to visit.

Another must-see is pottery artist Lanelle Abueva’s Crescent Moon Café which is a lovely café, pottery studio and store all rolled into one…

And cap off your day with an early dinner at Vieux Chalet, located a bit near Hinulugang Taktak, going towards Villa Cristina. It’s in an old, quaint house, and serves European/continental cuisine that’s really good. Try the osso bucco, but if you’re short on cash, a cup of herb tea is fine, especially if you’re sipping it while looking at the lovely view from there.

It’s a weekend, so go na! Oh, and don’t forget to buy suman and cashews at the town church before you go home. Email me at editor@realliving.com.ph if you want a sketch going to these places. Photos of Pinto, Crescent Moon and Vieux Chalet by Dakila Angeles.

I’m sure all of you are so familiar with the Water Cube right now, especially with the Beijing Olympics happening within the next few days:

This amazing structure’s aquatic glow also comes from the LEDs (light-emitting diodes) within its plastic skin cladding.

While style editor Gwyn and I were hunting for LEDs to place underneath the floral centerpieces at former Real Living publisher Tina Kanapi’s wedding, he mentioned that he believes that LED is the light of the future. I so agree. I am not intelligent enough to explain properly how LEDs work, so just read it here, but I do know two things: LEDs produce more light per watt, making it ideal for energy saving lamps, plus it lasts 30 to 50 times longer than incandescent bulbs, making it practical and affordable in the long run, in spite of its relatively high retail price.

A lot of international designers know this, and are incorporating LEDs into their product designs. One witty piece is David Weeks’s Castlight candlestick/flashlight, available at kikkerland.com. Upright, it’s a traditional candlestick, but turn it over and it’s an LED flashlight! It’s old school/new school at the same time.

This, by far, is the cutest use of LEDs. The LED Dog Tail Communicator by James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau.

The LED device is temporarily attached to your doggie’s tail, and his WPM (wags per minute) will allow it to “broadcast” via LED how it feels about you—90WPM says “I really love you.” The device is cute but still conceptual, as it was recently exhibited at the MOMA. In the meantime, you can just use LEDs for your overhead light, and your canine can just make do communicating his love for you via barking or scratching at the door.

I just attended a11’s second year anniversary this weekend, and aside from the fact that I was sloshed by 9pm, I totally loved what I saw.

A11 is one of those home/lifestyle stores that visiting it is an event in itself. I blogged about it early last year, and to recap, it’s designer Eric Paras’s showrooms for the collective work of 11 Filipino interior and product designers, architects and artists (I think there are even more now) and all these are displayed in lovely vignettes within several 1940s houses in a beautiful Pasay compound.

Now a11 is two years old, and they have a new line as well, called Triboa Bay Living. It has the same elegant yet contemporary lines that are very a11, yet with more rustic texture, slightly resort-y details, that still can be used in an urban setting. Most of the furniture is made out of white ash, so that’s where the texture comes from—the raised grain, and the contrast of the dark grain against the slightly paler hues of the wood. Here are some of the pieces (sorry, it was incredibly dark!):

And of course, true to a11 form, on the ground floor pantry of the Triboa Bay house, they were selling everything but the kitchen sink. My friends snapped up these cute creamware water jugs for about P350+ each. They were also selling solid marble plate chargers, glazed bowls, and beautiful solid wood chopping boards.

Also, in the first a11 house, they were selling designer Ricky David’s pretty, country-Euro lamps!

As usual, my snapshots suck; so best to see it all in person. Visit a11 at 2680 FB Harrison St., Pasay City. A tip: don’t forget to drop by Avellana Art Gallery, also within that lovely compound.

I just posted my beautiful set of Charles and Ray Eames stamps from Jen, and today I just saw another beautiful collection, as spotted by Yummy magazine (read about Yummy here) editor Becky Kho—this lovely Alphabet of Design Classics poster from Blue Art Studio:

It’s got all my fave designers and their iconic creations, from letters ABC (Alvar Aalto, Harry Bertoia, and Achille Castiglioni) to XYZ (X3 by Marco Maran, Sori Yanagi, and ceramicist Eva Zeisel). I love it!

If you’re really mataray, put it in your child’s bedroom. But me, I’d just like to see it on my wall.