Real Living Space

I’ve been doing a lot of retail stuff lately, judging stores for a major retail group. It’s been fun going around the shops, but so sad I could hardly snap up anything—because I’ve been so broke lately.

So instead of griping to the high heavens, I shall instead indulge you, dear readers and blog lurkers, with unpublished photos of some of the stores we featured in our October Best Home Stores list. I shall only feature 3 entries, from lo to hi, starting with lo (actually, mid-lo) —everyone’s favorite, Ikea, found in that not-so-secret store with the cryptic name, Mayflower 1620. Here is one of their shelves, full of small, affordable products, yum!

Lampan and Lykta lamps, all affordable. Love it!

…Storage, storage, more storage (oh why can’t they bring the actual depot here?!)…

…and a chair that looks suspiciously like something Ross Lovegrove already made…

..and of course, the kiddie section. If you’re looking for no-frills furniture and super-cute kiddie accessories, make a beeline to this place.

Hard to find, but masaya. Check it out at Mayflower 1620, 4977 Enrique Street, Palanan, Makati City; URL: http://rooms101.multiply.com. (Photos by Jun Pinzon)

I like the fact that most of Shanghai’s major museums are located within or right next to the center of the city, Renmin (People’s) Park. There was, of course, the hulking Shanghai Museum. If you want to see a capsule of China’s traditional art and culture, head straight here. Aside from galleries devoted to painting, pottery, weaving, sculpture, and jade artifacts, their reproductions of traditional Chinese houses like this:

Next stop was the Shanghai Art Museum just off Nanjing West; we wanted to see that because they were just holding their Shanghai Biennale, and also because of the beautiful building—it used to be Shanghai’s horse racetrack back in its colonial days. The installation of giant ants outside really got our attention. But the snaking line of museum visitors outside was equally frightening!

What really impressed me, however, was the relatively small Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), discreetly hidden right within Renmin Park.

I hardly read anything about MOCA online, but it is a gem of a museum, and the perfect, modern building to exhibit China’s emerging and highly energetic contemporary art scene, and people should visit it. Here are some of the works:

And this is my favorite—an art installation showing all of the toys made in China—a telling social statement indeed!

Upstairs is Art Lab, a restaurant/bar that comes alive at night, where art exhibits take place, a DJ plays lounge music, and patrons can dine indoors and out (the terrace uses Kenneth Cobonpue chairs).

Visit MOCA for more information. Worth a look!

I spent most of the time during my trip waiting in line. Queuing up at a bank at lunchtime on a payday in Manila does not compare to the lines in Shanghai. There’s a long (oftentimes hours-long) wait to get into a museum, a viewing tower, the metro, to get a seat in a restaurant, and to even go to the bathroom. I think it isn’t anyone’s fault; it’s just the sheer number of people. Take a look at the subway stop at People’s Park, not even rush hour here:

But there’s one quiet place in Shanghai, at least before 3PM: the trendy wining and dining spot Xintiandi. It’s a rather pricey area, but I love the whole feel of the place, with its moody alleys, cobblestone streets, and cosmopolitan restaurants filled with ex-pats and English-speaking waiters.

It used to be an old residential area filled with Shikumen houses, and they tore down the insides a few years back to create this commercial space. A Shikumen house is a narrow, stone-gated house with three or four floors, akin to the shophouses in Singapore. In one part of Xintiandi is the Shikumen Open House, and is furnished as how it would have looked like in the 1920s. Here it is (from www.xintiandi.com):

The rest of Xintiandi’s lovely alleyways are dedicated to chica dining spots and boutiques. This is where you’ll find the famous Shanghai Tang in Shanghai:

Hip bar Luna and chichi Ye resto which is popular with the tai-tais:

And my favorite—more quiet spots:

Oddly enough, the place where the Communist Party of China was formed is also right smack in Xintiandi. They have a small museum, and the actual spot is right behind this simple door:

Wouldn’t Chairman Mao be turning over in his grave if he knew that just a few steps away, dressed-to-kill girls with their iPhones and LV Speedies are sipping cocktails?

I found myself in Shanghai a few weeks back. For reasons I can’t explain here, I have mixed feelings about the place. But it is a incredibly dynamic and colorful city. And I kinda get why it figures in a lot of movies (Lust, Caution; The White Countess; and ironically, The Great Raid, with Shanghai subbing as 1940s Escolta!)—so many contrasts between old and new. Look at the Pudong skyline, unbelievable that this was mostly open field around ten years ago:

And The Bund with its long stretch of classical-revival buildings, some of which have been around since the late 19th century. Lovely. It’s nice to see the contrast between the old and new districts from Huangpu River, which divides it:

This is the Peace Hotel at the corner of The Bund and Nanjing Road; so beautiful even tho it’s rundown (actually,it’s awaiting restoration):

And my favorite spot is by the lions at the Hongkong Shanghai Bank building, one of the best ones along the Bund (sadly, HSBC was not able to buy back the building in the 90s). According to feng shui customs, you’re supposed to have two lions guarding the entrance of your financial building; but instead of putting the usual Chinese lions, they put western-style ones to match the neoclassical facade and named them after the bank managers in the 1920s. Age-old tradition is to rub them for good luck—I followed suit and patted one as I passed by.

More Shanghai diary entries tomorrow!

We got good feedback on the home of our first ever Best Real Home grand prize winners, Sheila and Jorem Catilo! Here are more photos from that shoot (see more in Real Living October 2008):

This is the kitchen with the kitschy fruit tiles that Jorem hated at first (we loved it!)…

…and Sheila’s jewelry stand from Ikea. I believe she makes some of them herself…

…and their lovely backyard. We were totally charmed by how nice, provincial, and siesta-inducing this area was…

Big thanks to our Best Real Home sponsors, too! Here they are (all carry nice stuff, by the way; our winners will totally enjoy it):

(Photos by Ocs Alvarez, styling by Gwyn Guanzon)

Dropped by Manila FAME the other day, and of course, I had to check out their lobby. I’m guessing this setup was designed again by Al Caronan Tes Pasola—gigantic planters made out of stacks of old newspapers, apt for their eco-friendly theme.

Here it is in closeup:

The lamps on exhibit were pretty cool, especially the ones from Papelan, made out of newspaper laminated to look like capiz shells. I’ll show you photos of these in a future entry.

I wanted to grab a bite to eat afterwards, but was wary of sitting at the Travel Cafe under the SMX escalator, where you’re exposed to all and sundry, and you have to wave to people you know while you’re digging into your sandwich. I went instead to the quiet and discreet Rizal Dairy Farm cafe inside the wellness and spa exhibit at the second floor, and had a latte with a smoked ham sandwich and organic greens in whole grain pandesal with dates; the combination was rich, earthy, and clean at the same time. Yum.

Their milk, yogurt, and cheeses are from their own farm in Antipolo (so no melamine scare there), and they make their own smoked ham and other deli products. I promised the owner, Tito Tony, to check out their stall at Market! Market! I so missed their erstwhile cafe in Antipolo; Marco used to take me there and it was so charming and sunny with its walls filled with drawings done by Tito Tony’s children.

More photos of this season’s FAME coming up soon. In the meantime, you still have a chance to check it out tomorrow at SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia–it’s open to the public by then.

It’s that time of the year again, and no, I’m not talking about Christmas. Manila FAME jumps on the eco-friendly bandwagon in time for its 25th anniversary (yes, they’ve been around that long; I remember visiting it in my college days, and now I’m practically…ancient).

The fair goes on an eco-friendly route with products made of sustainable materials like abaca, rattan, bamboo, etc., as well as various recycled materials. The reworked, recycled products are so funky. Take a look—love this chair:

This FAME’s designer consultants include Reimon Gutierrez, Tes Pasola, Milo Naval for furnishings and accessories, and Ivarluski Aseron, and Joey Samson for fashion. Take note, venue is now at SMX Convention Center, Pasay, right next to the Mall of Asia. I’ll be going there in a bit, but you can drop by too. FAME runs from October 16 to October 18, 9am to 6pm for industry insiders and trade buyers, and is open to the public on October 19, with a minimum entrance fee. For more info, check out www.manilafame.com. (Photo courtesy of CITEM)

I had an entry about patchwork/silk upholstered pieces a few weeks ago, and I found more. This one-of-a-kind chair is not available here, but it sure is an inspiration—here’s how to do chic recycling—designer Suzan Fellman made this out of silk Chanel scarves:

And our staff recently stumbled upon a patchwork sofa akin to that from Squint:

It’s at the I Love You store at Cubao X; the shop sells mostly clothes and fashion accessories, but there are a few surprises like this one and their vintage dressing table, where you can find all the shop goers mugging in front of the mirror. The sofa has the same funky, reworked magic of the store. I have no idea if it’s actually for sale, but you can just ask. (I Love You store photo by At Maculangan)

I attended the heART for ARKI auction last night at the Rockwell Club and was impressed—instead of the minor pieces usually expected at other fundraising events, this one even had works by a good selection of Filipino National Artists such as Napoleon Abueva, Cesar Legaspi, Ang Kiukok, and Arturo Luz.
It was pretty well-attended by designers, architects, art enthusiasts, and UP Arki alumni (with UP Arki dean Dan Silvestre working the room). I didn’t even have 20K to my name last night, so I just checked out the pieces on the Silent Auction selling floor. Here are some of them:

I love the Florencio Concepcion abstract “Spiritual Image” at left…

…and this beautiful, large, mixed-media Virgilio Aviado…

…then someone bid for this Vicente Manansala pastel for P500,000!

And then there was this Alcuaz abstract. I’ve always wanted an Alcuaz, love his works, especially his visceral portraits. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was a bit starstruck when I saw him wander quietly inside the San Agustin church last Christmas season.

The auction was for the benefit of the UP College of Architecture. Hope they sold a lot! For more information and to see what other works on offer, check it out at heartforarki.multiply.com.

…Sheila and Jorem Catilo of Imus, Cavite! The moment RL and our guest designer judges saw the colorful, quirky house of this equally colorful couple, we couldn’t help but fall in love with it. And all of this was done on a 5-figure budget! Here’s a preview of their home (lovely pictures are by Jorem Catillo), you can see the rest in the October issue of Real Living. Oh, and Sheila recently gave birth to their daughter, Sky, as well, so this is quite a happy month for them! Congrats!