Real Living Space

When I was young-er, the future looked like this:

This was in the film ‘Back To the Future, part 2′, circa 1989, when Micheal J. Fox was the coolest guy on the planet. (Well, he still is one of them.)

This was supposed to be Hill Valley, California in the year 2015. In the center is, and has always been, the courthouse. In front of it is a pond (or is it a lake?) where an open-parking lot used to be. Holograms replaced billboards and cars fly around town. (and amazingly, these cars are powered by biodegradable and recyclable trash. Thanks, Mr. Fusion!)

Lately as Sci-Fi movies hit theaters, the future takes on new forms:

Here’s San Francisco in the Future, as seen in J.J. Abram’s rebooted ‘Star Trek.’ Buildings look like spires jutting toward the heavens, connected by skybridges. The world looks as advanced as we have ever hoped it to be and that every human is ruled by a need for order and peace.

Meanwhile Los Angeles lie in ruins, year 2018, in ‘Terminator 4: Salvation.’ The machines are now hunting down humans, annihilating them from the face of the earth and cities become casualties of war. They are leveled to the ground and become mere ghosts of what they once were.

Back in the real world, a very optimistic and dreamy future is being built in Santa Rosa, Laguna by Ayala Land. Presenting, Nuvali:

Hoping to become the country’s first ecopolis, Nuvali is designed to have people and nature exist in harmony.

” 1.) Its streets use bioswales that help filter groundwater and permeable paving that helps reduce the effects. 2.) It will also have sewer treatment plants enhanced with green wetlands for more efficient sewer management. 3.)Nuvali’s homes will include earth-friendly features like double piping which allows water to be recycled. Outside are tree-lined pedestrian and bike lanes. 4.) Residents can ride in the privately managed transit system circulating within Nuvali and linking to Metro Manila and other regional hub like Alabang and Batangas that uses only environmentally friendly vehicles.”

Look at that! Buildings will be equipped with Solar panels! Isn’t that great?! (But I hope they’d take further steps to get Nuvali entirely off the grid. )

Though I’ve always felt that we should preserve our agri land (being food security as the number one reason) and stop the urban sprawl (being pollution of every kind as the second reason), I cannot help but hope that Nuvali would pave the way for sustainable property developments in the future.

Toy company LEGO has gone beyond the basic family-with-house-and-tree sets and has been creating more fantastic, more conceptual Lego-land ideas lately. Out now: Frank Lloyd Wright Lego Sets. These two are of his more famous projects, the Falling Water House and the Guggenheim in New York.

Other Lego iconic architect sets I want to see: Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, and Frank Gehry. Read more about it here.

Spotted recently at Dexterton at Greenbelt 5: designer Fabio Novembre’s Him & Her Chairs for Gallery Frezza for Casamania. Behold the female version:

No surprise it came from Novembre; this designer just loves controversy and thinks nothing of ruffling the design industry’s feathers. After all, he posed naked for his own promotional photo. These chairs are his own interpretation of the beloved Panton Chair (thus provoking outrage amongst the Scadinavian design purists), and Novembre claims that the Book of Genesis was his inspiration. He says: “They assume sculpted forms like naked models of seduction…but they feel no shame.” Enough said, Fabio.

I just got back from my weekend, and when I opened my inbox, I was jarred back into reality. I got a few hate letters from some readers (strangely enough, all in the same week, but from different addresses).

Now I know that receiving hate mail is but part and parcel of working in a magazine, but all of my hate mail this time stemmed from the Makeover contest. The letter-senders were upset that they couldn’t join since they weren’t even residing in Luzon, and one even stated: “Hindi ko alam kung bakit kami dini-discriminate, mas may karapatan pa kaming manalo sa mga taga-Manila na nag-re-rent lang diyan, kami, sariling bahay namin ito…”

Meanwhile, another letter-sender was quite civil, but afterwards, she asked me to purchase an appliance for her that was featured in one of our issues and LBC it to her, asap.

If you’ve read our ad for our ongoing Ultimate Makeover contest, the “Metro Manila only” disclaimer is immediately stated in the first paragraph. I apologize for the fact that the mechanics of this contest applies only to MM residents as of this time; the main reason for this is that, aside from editorial, different departments within our company work on getting the cash and product sponsors for the makeovers, and all this is tightly controlled. Also, we do not choose makeover winners based on whether they rent or own their homes; we choose them based on how much they really need the makeover, and if the sponsorship and designer can cover the scope of work entailed in the renovation. It is my wish to have a nationwide makeover contest, and I believe that it will eventually happen.

Also, I can give you store info if it wasn’t mentioned in the mag, but no, I will not purchase it for you even if I want to.

My two cents’ worth. 

For those who already have their copy of the May 09 ish, you would’ve spotted by now the lovely Appollo TS 1505 Tub with Ground Faucet ( P32, 000; HomeStore) opening our Get Inspired section this month. (This tub makes me long for hour-long baths or until my fingers go prune-y. Aaaahhh. )

A few months ago, I had the privilege of visiting the Appollo factory and showroom in Guangzhou, China. (Many thanks to Appollo’s local distributor, Homestore.) Located a few minutes from the City, it is a sprawling complex made up of several buildings the size of warehouses.

The people from Appollo walked us through the tub-making process. See those two yellow lines? We stayed within them so we were literally right in the middle of everything. I was expecting a fully-mechanized assembly line like the way they make cars. (Why I expected that, I don’t know.) But as you can see, a substantial part of the whole process is still by hand.

They also took us to their showroom where we got to see countless of bathroom set-ups, from old-world-looking (like the clawfoot tub) to the ultra-modern (with sensors and all.) I would like to think that we got to see almost every kind of bathroom fixture imaginable.

At the Appollo corporate office, we got to meet the heads of Appollo China. From the left is Ms. Winnie, Appollo Vice-General Manager, Ms. Lynette Lee of Homestore, local distributor of Appollo and our host; and Mr. Chen Zhi Xiong, Appollo General Manager.

*Get to see other Appollo products at Homestore, Ortigas Home Depot in Pasig City or call them at (02) 635-5149. You may also visit their other branches located at the Balintawak Home Depot, MC Home Depot Fort, and Westgate Alabang Home Depot. Or log on to their website at www.homestore.com.ph

I had the pleasure of being a judge (along with Johnny Hubilla, John Herrera, Romina Urra and Ria Mananquil) for the Ayala Malls Merchant Rewards last year, and we attended the awards night about a week ago. The Greenbelt 5 store AC+632 won in the Visual Merchandising Excellence category. Yay! Congratulations, Ricky and Chito! You guys deserve it.

Their shop (above)—equal parts Beatrix Potter, French Boudoir, and 18th-century taxidermy studio—is quite a novelty with the conservative Zen-Asian Pinoy shopper, and that’s what makes it special.

I also found out that there were other categories to the Merchant Rewards. Awards were also given out to best marketing, promising retailer, and best store operations. They took tabs on who maintained their store well, followed merchant rules, and had good customer service. Wonderful! I really value customer service in a store. My all-time pet peeve is when you pay a five-figure sum for a product and the store treats you like crap! That’s why I love Rustan’s—even if you buy a dinky P100 candle, the salesladies treat you like a queen, wrap up your purchase lovingly, and send you off with a smile.

Shoppers, never settle for bad customer service! Always speak up, ask to talk to the manager, and demand the service that you pay for. Set up your own internal “merchant rewards” meter, and keep tabs on the stores you visit. Even if you can’t give them an “award,” the deserving stores will be rewarded with good karma!

I remember 70s shopping in Makati with my folks (yes, I’m that old): while dad waited for us in the old Greenbelt, mom did her groceries at United Supermarket then weaved her way through the different Quad buildings, Bricktown Arcade, and then the ground floor Philippine Handicrafts section of the old SM (pronounced the old-fashioned way: “ShoeMart”) to buy presents for her endless string of balikbayan friends. I’d be fascinated by the multicolored capiz chandeliers (so baduy then, but so Elle Decor-cool now), and the ubiquitous man-in-the-barrel. But mom would disappoint me by buying something tasteful, like a carabao horn letter opener or embroidered placemats.

Well if you haven’t been living in a cave, you must know that SM’s old handicrafts section has since been transformed into Kultura Filipino. Gone are the pasalubong items that look like they belong in Quiapo’s Il de Tuls (not that I have anything against Il de Tuls—it’s just that you shouldn’t get Il de Tuls items and then mark it up 500%), Kultura has finally edited the balikbayan staples into stylish and upbeat pieces you’d want for yourself. The Kultura branch in SM Mall of Asia has gotten a serious reboot and had its re-opening last week, and check out their new section of modern Filipino decor:

I spotted a lot of pieces I’ve seen in the local design fairs, like these woven abaca candlesticks by Tadeco:

And I love these multicolored reed accessories too. I especially love the price, P599 and up:

Same goes with the rest of the items, organic-modern stuff at friendly prices—sculptural floor lamps in the low thousands, woven ottoman seats for below P1,000! Visit the Kultura branches at SM Mall of Asia, SM Makati, and SM Megamall.

I’ve had many meals with RL contributor Mabel Pilar since we first met way back in 1998 during her Good Housekeeping days, so I know that she knows—and loves—her food, that’s why we get her for our Kitchen News section every month!

Mabel does a lot of kitchen shoots for this page, but some of them have to be shot outside of the kitchen, like the “Snack Attack” story she did at the Summit Studio for the May 2009 ish. Needless to say, it was fun to do. Look at all this chichirya that were props for the shoot! (Props that we ate afterwards.)

Of course, Mabel HAD to include a John Cusack image somewhere!

Here’s the final result—check it out in the May 2009 issue of Real Living.

Here’s some really good news:

Dexterton, the local distributors of Kartell, Artemide, and Simmons (to name a few) , is having a month-long sale this May. Check out the goods at their store on level 3, Greenbelt 5  (phase two), Makati City.

i am into gadgets as much as the next guy. while most of the gadgets are downright amazing, there are others that i find a bit… interesting. in particular are the gadgets plugged into USB ports - USB refrigerator, USB paper shredder, USB aquarium. (you can’t put real fish though. only plastic fishes may float around.)

i was going around the mall last week when i spotted this:

www.coolest-gadgets.com/.../usb-lamp2.jpg

its a USB lounge lamp!

it is a small plastic lamp that has a shade with a velveteen black finish ( the lamp measures 25.5 x 10 x 10 cm.) it’s powered by a USB port so its not as bright as a desk lamp. it just basically adds more task lighting. but unlike other cheesy-looking USB powered gadgets, this retro-looking lamp is actually pretty.

So if you’re one who needs a light next to your computer but suffers from a shortage on outlets or you just really like small pretty things, get this USB lounge lamp for P995 at Debenhams @ Rustan’s Department Store Makati.