Real Living Space

We realized we hadn’t done an RL Christmas special in quite some time. Last I remembered was that of Apol Lejano’s time (Christmas balls done by artists and designers! That was a fun feature), and Fran’s 2004 issues (Christmas, Christmas, Christmas stuff galore!!!).

So to avoid being called Scrooges this year, we went all out for the holidays. Here’s what to expect in Real Living’s December 2009 ish: Coni Tejada’s 5-minute tabletop Christmas decorations…

…Gwyn Guanzon’s non-trad Christmas decor…

…Tisha Angluben and Issa Villar’s new take on Noche Buena…

…and last-minute gifties under P2,000.

All in December’s Real Living, available at newsstands and bookstores for P140. Also, follow Real Living on Twitter at https://twitter.com/reallivingph and check out our daily Tweets. (Photos by Ocs Alvarez, Miguel Nacianceno, Toto Labrador, and Louie Aguinaldo)

Real Living goes all-out Christmasy this holiday season in our December ish, with fun and affordable Christmas decorating tips, noche buena ideas, and more.

Out on newsstands and in bookstores this week for only P140. Ho-ho-ho!!! (Cover photo: Ocs Alvarez. Styling: Gwyn GS Guanzon)

Go on, accuse me of being so 5 years ago, but I am still loving my Tord Boontje Midsummer Night Lamp…

So I am also loving Boontje’s new HP mini.

Boontje, who heads his Netherlands-based design group Studio Tord Boontje, is known for his delicate, ethereal, nature-inspired forms (he is fond of flowers, birds, butterflies, and deer—appropriate enough for a superstar designer who is known to be as meek and as shy as a deer). As with the other designer notebooks—most recent was the one created by Vivienne Tam—Boontje embellishes this HP with his trademark white tracings of flora and fauna, but in a 3d imprint, with endangered animals nestling amongst the vines. You can see it more closely here:

Read more about HP Mini by Studio Tord Boontje here.

Our fave little eco-store Echostore has finally opened a branch in The Podium in Ortigas. Finally, a more accessible, easily-navigable store other than their anchor store at Serendra. Aside from organic beauty products and gift items made out of recycled materials, they also carry Messy Bessy’s line of eco-friendly kitchen and cleaning products. Call 470-6888 for more info.

I’ve been on a shopping spree lately, buying all sorts of coloring instruments – markers, paint, craypas. (Doodling is one of the ways I relieve stress.) And while at National Book Store, I found this:

Isn’t it great?!
They’re plastic crayons from French school/ office instruments company Maped.

These crayons are triangular in shape so they’re easier to grip and to sharpen. Since they’re made of plastic, they don’t stain hands and easy to erase. Maped also claims that their plastic crayons are long lasting that one Maped crayon is equivalent to three regular ones.

Leave it to the French to challenge the standard and succeed in making it better.

To the moms, maybe you could hand this over to your children. With these, your kids might realize how easy and fun coloring is and that they’d unglue themselves infront of the computer. Well, maybe for an hour… at the most.

URL www.maped.com

If you’re thinking of going to SM Makati for your weekend shopping, you might as well check out the re-launched Kultura at its second level. Known for its uniquely Pinoy merchandise, the new Kultura more than doubled its size and now has more space for more fashion, home and decor, and souvenir items, and of course, more shoppers.

Check our these pretty home finds:

New brands like Diretso and Acento Coleccion are also in store for you at the bigger, better Kultura. You can also visit other Kultura stores in SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM North Edsa – The Block, and selected SM Department Stores.

Together with Uncle Ho’s mausoleum and the opera house, one of my must-sees in Hanoi was 87 Pho Ma May in the Old Quarter. It is an authentic traditional ‘tube house’, restored to its 19th century condition.

Tall, narrow, and long, the tube house was designed such to lower the property taxes. The ancient system computes one’s property tax in proportion to the property’s width.

The house opens as a shop to the street while the living areas are situated at the rear and upstairs. In the heart of the house is a courtyard, a source of ventilation and illumination.

We paid a 5000 dong entrance fee (approx. P13.) and had Vietnamese ladies tour us around the house and later serve us tea. It was nice yet since it was sort of a museum, the place seemingly lacked life. Good thing, Hanoians still live in tube houses thus the internet cafes and eateries were able to give us an idea of how it might have been in the past.

One of my fave shelter mags Metropolitan Home will close its doors to the world this year, with December as its last issue.

I feel bad because Met Home was the first home magazine I’ve ever read, and it actually piqued my interest in interiors. I was nine years old, and I snatched a copy of my dad’s 1980s Met Home (fresh from Erehwon in Makati—remember that place? If you do, you’re old) and the first article I saw was a feature on fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg’s country home, which seemed so beautiful, rich, and glamorous.

So many good shelter titles have folded over the past two years—House and Garden, Martha Stewart Blueprint, O at Home, and Domino, to name a few. Blame it on recession, the falling rate of building and construction in the US, and the 21st-century business model of ad-sales-based magazines. At the rate this is going, we may end up with no shelter at all.

Its publisher, Hachette Filipacchi, will now concentrate on its current cash cow Elle Decor. Read more about it here.

Found myself (and a handful of friends) strolling the streets of Hanoi a couple of weeks ago. I expected the usual from this trip- cheap hostels, good food, and cute backpackers. What I didn’t expect was to be enchanted by the Vietnamese capital.

I was mesmerized by Hanoi’s hold on its past while it fearlessly forges towards its future. Unlike Manila that was leveled to the ground during WWII or other Asian cities that unmercifully annihilates any sign of its past, Hanoi is a live show of its architectural history. Wide tree-lined boulevards and French colonial buildings still stand (and are being restored) in the French Quarter. A stark contrast to the tall, slim vernacular ‘tube houses” within the web of alleyways in the Old Quarter.

But don’t get the impression that Hanoi is a quiet town. Quite the opposite really – with motorbikes whizzing past, sidewalk and fine restaurants filled with chopstick-armed diners, and people displaying their wares in shops that open to the street. And since the six neighborhoods of Hanoi are within walking distance of each other, the whole city seems to be in perpetual motion.

Best still is the unmistakable pride that Hanoians seem to have for their City. It was in the way that they enjoyed it – playing games at the park on a lazy Sunday afternoon or gazing at the charming lights from a lakeside park bench at night. And a bit dusty Hanoi might have been, but it was relatively litter-free.

In hindsight, I believe my longing for Hanoi stemmed from the hope that Manila could’ve been Hanoi. Our Spanish and American colonial buildings should be peacefully standing next to our local architecture. Even our beautiful structures built in the 50s, 60s, 70s should be respected. Our Manila should be standing proudly as its self, instead of incessantly trying to be American.

Manila would always be my beloved home.
But as any Real Living reader would know, any home can still be improved.

Hanoi Opera House

“tube houses” along Ma May in the old quarter

a cyclo

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in the Ba Dinh district

a statue of Lenin

Roundabout at the end of Hang Dao and Tien Hoang in the old quarter

one of the Vietnamese posters around the city

The air is getting nippy, the holidays are definitely here, as well as that long list of friends and foes to give presents to. And what about those difficult, crazy friends who work in avant garde and/or creative jobs? What to give those folks?

Thank God Ricky Toledo slipped me these gift ideas from Firma. Check out these decidedly surreal confections like these Ibride trays…

…and how about a twist on the popular Ming vase? The Ming Progression vase can be displayed as a whole or broken down into several different pieces which can be used as serving plates and bowls, etc. So clever!

Check out Firma at g/f Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati, or at Level M3 TriNoma, Quezon City. Thanks, Ricky!