Amorsolo Paintings in The Vargas Museum

First time I went into Vargas Museum was when I was a freshman back in UP Diliman. Since I was a student, admission was free, and every now and then, I found myself going to the museum in case I had a free period, I was lucky because it was just two blocks away from CSSP. 

The museum has quite a collection of Amorsolo paintings. Yesterday, after going to Mark Justiniani's Reverb exhibit, Kim and I went up to the 2nd floor, I wanted to look at the Amorsolos. 

I confess, I also went up to look at the collection of paintings because I wanted to get inspiration for the frame that I wanted to have made for the painting I had commissioned. 

Here are some of the paintings by Fernando Amorsolo, all part of the collection of the Vargas Museum:

How I wish I get to afford an Amorsolo in the future!

Mark Justiniani's Reverb

Yesterday, Kim and I found ourselves gravitating towards Vargas Museum in UP Diliman. Mark Justiniani had an exhibit at the ground floor called Reverb. 

I was introduced to Mark Justiniani's works from Pinto Art Museum, so I was expecting paintings to dot along the ground floor gallery of the Vargas Museum. What greeted was just beyond description. They were like giant light-boxes, which had amazing dioramas. But the dioramas had so much depth, it seemed as if I was looking at a tunnel, due to his play on lights, and mirrors. It was simply amazing, you have to go and visit the exhibit to experience it for yourself. 

The exhibit is only until May 6, 2016. Best to catch it. 

The Vargas Museum

Roxas Avenue, UP Diliman, Quezon City

tel no. 928.1927

Weekend Reflections

To be honest, I was expecting breathing space when I left One Serendra. I was recently transferred to another property - Park Terraces. As it it turns out, I had more room to think and be independent in One Serendra.

I haven't been able to write as much as I had been doing in the past year - I'm about to reach my boiling point. Factor in the heat wave we're experiencing in Metro Manila, and it made me just want to drive away from everything and wander off.

Kim and I have both been feeling the stress from the past few weeks of work.

Yesterday, we drove around and did errands. I dropped off a pair of pants I bought from Marks and Spencer and had it repaired at my mother's seamstress. I had them take off a couple of inches - my pants length should just be 32, which Marks and Spencer didn't have at the time. Didn't want to let go of the pair since the fit was immaculate so I bought it.

We then went to Estancia because of Debenham's Blue Cross Sale. Yes, merchandise was at 70% off, and I was able to buy underwear, 10 pairs of socks, jammies, and a John Rocha shirt all for PhP 3,300.00. I'm glad that they still text me information regarding their sales.

I was supposed to meet up with my high school friend who's a painter to pay him for the commission work that I had done. He joined Metrobank's painting competition last year, and he's joining again this year. Last year was at my behest, and he got through the semifinals, which made me so proud of him. I really hope this year he wins! I'm super excited at the painting I had commissioned. I have to find a copy of my poem though, the inspiration for the painting.

Back when I was in first year high school in the Ateneo, I was a writer for Hilites Magazine. I wrote a  poem and submitted it to my editors. The poem talked about my experience on a rainy afternoon on the way home from school. I was sitting comfortably at the back of the van, the driver was up front. We were queued up to turn left at Aurora Boulevard, we were in the Katipunan service road.

A street child approached the van, he was drenched. He tapped at my window, his hands held up, asking for change. He was rather small - just a toddler, almost a boy, his arms barely made it up to the windows of our Nissan Vanette (I suppose it was the Hyundai Grand Starex of its generation, all the rich families had their children driven around in it, that was before the SUVs became all the rage).

It made me question so many things at that time. Having grown up a bit sheltered, I thought my classmates and I were all normal, that everybody was just like us. And here was this little boy, perhaps no older than my baby brother who was in Prep, sleeping next to me in the van, and he was exposed to the cold, to the rain - while we sat in our climate controlled van, not feeling the heat, in fact enjoying the cold crisp and fresh air, oblivious to our surroundings.

I could not imagine my brother being so derelict. When I got home, I wrote.

What I wrote got featured in the magazine. It was placed in the back page of the magazine, with an image of a boy with his hand open, palm up, asking for alms.

Lately, I've been noticing so may street children, every time Kim and I would drive on our way home.  It breaks my heart, because I cannot imagine how their parents can bring them into this world without thinking of how they should be cared for - do the math, and you will realize how expensive it is to have kids, which in itself should be a deterrent for many, and yet here we are with impoverished heterosexual couples just churning out babies and leaving them to fend for themselves.

Kim and I decided that we will adopt. I remember a discussion I had with my mother when I was about 11 or 12. She asked me if I wanted kids of my own, and I answered, "I would rather adopt a neglected child than bring one of my own into this world. I feel I could make a bigger difference in this world if I were to change at least just one person's life for the better." (Yes, my response would have won the Miss Universe competition, but I digress)

One of these days, I will go back to the high school, and see if I can go to the library to check if they were able to save a copy of the magazine. I'll copy the poem I wrote, and have a plaque made to go hand in hand with the painting that I had my friend create.

Art in the Park 2016

I visited Art in the Park 2016 with a mission in mind. Last April 3, 2016, Kim and I braved the drive from the suburbs of Quezon City and Antipolo to Makati, and looked for parking. Quite a challenge to find a good parking spot yet again, and we ended up parking in Paseo Center, which was a good block away from Salcedo Park. I was insistent on going to Art in the Park because I wanted to visit the booth of Ang INK and purchase more magnets for my reminders board in the office. I was able to purchase quirky magnets last year for PhP 70.00 each.

When we got there, I headed straight to Ang INK's booth, but they didn't have any magnets. What they had though was my Ateneo batchmate's, Jomike Tejido's, Sanctuaries coloring book. It features about 30 coloring plates based on his banig paintings.

His banig paintings by the way were sold out before lunch.

Jomike was also there so I asked him to sign the 2 coloring books that I purchased. Yay!

Kim and I went around - I'm quite relieved that they have multiple cashiers this year. Last year, we had a challenge waiting in line for the painting, canvas bag, and magnets that I purchased.

In support of Museum Foundation of the Philippines, I purchased a nice fan from their booth. Keeping it in the car in case I have to wait in a parked car with the windows down.

We also passed by the booths of Vinyl on Vinyl where I looked for paintings of Anjo Bolarda. I was never able to move on from being unable to purchase Anjo Bolarda's Harmony of Change from the Silent Auction in Greenbelt last 2014 - and all because my car broke down on me in EDSA. How hateful. Unfortunately, Vinyl on Vinyl had none of his paintings for the event.

Two stalls down was Cevio's Art Haus, and they had paintings of Keith Paras which were priced rather good. A small painting of his was around PhP 12,000.00++ with 5% discount of the list price. I was particularly interested in a larger piece which was at PhP 19,200.00 without the discount.

I have been wanting to own a Keith Paras painting and I would have purchased the larger piece, had Kim not stopped me. He wanted me to purchase a watch that I have been looking into buying for 3 months already.

He hurriedly dragged me out of the park, and practically pushed me to drive to Glorietta to go to Meridien to purchase the watch.

Sourcing Ikea in Manila

When is Ikea going to set up shop here in Manila? When am I going to be able to just stroll into one of their 40,000 sqm warehouse shop and just shop? I am begging Ikea to please, please open a store here, and I promise I will be shopping there every weekend - even if they were to put it in Nuvali, I would drive all the way to Laguna just to give them my money!

I have been busy fixing my office before we get conveyed to the condominium corporation in Park Terraces. I'm currently concentrating on finalizing my office's receiving area, my Head Concierge's office, and, of course, my little office-oasis.

Organizing and decorating is starting to become such a fun past time lately, and I've been quite happy finally having discovered a shop that sells Ikea furnitures at reasonable prices in Metro Manila.

I really, really wanted to place a Lerberg shelf in my office. I was so looking for a red Lerberg shelf, but was willing to work with the dark gray or even white variant.

Going through Facebook, I was able to contact Furniture Source Philippines - they sell mostly Ikea furniture. They had Lerbeg shelves for PhP 1,800.00, so one workday, I gladly traversed the 2 hour drive from Makati to Quezon City just to be able to shop in their store before driving home.

The sacrifice was well worth it. Sharing below my Lerberg shelf, and a little bonus I was able to pick up also a set of Lennart drawers.

Let me share also pictures of the items in use, plus a sneak peek of my 3-month old office. Please don't mind the carpets, I'm still trying to have them replaced because I'm afraid that shade of blue has a tendency to be mucky.

The floor lamp is also Ikea which I ordered online - it was a gift from Kim.

The orchid I purchased from Market! Market! from when we were buying orchids for my lobby's reception area. It was quite affordable at PhP 125.00, the pot is actually more expensive at PhP 200.00. Since I was challenged to not use Selloums as office plants, I sought out alternatives to this, and it looks I will be going the orchid route. On Sunday, my Head Concierge will be purchasing arrangements of orchids to put in the administration office's receiving area.

I got so inspired fixing up my office, especially since I only have one wall left to jazz up, that I ended up fixing my Head Concierge's space. Well, fixing is a bit of an understatement. I practically dragged him out of the dingy storage room he insisted holding fort in, and dragged out some of his beautiful furnishings which were garbage about to be thrown out by one of our residents because they were "damaged", even though the desk is Crate and Barrel and the wooden side tables are West Elm -  and then I transferred him to a cubicle that isn't being used yet, and forced him to transfer.

After I fixed up his furniture and gave him a proper area for his visitors, he ended up falling in love with his new office. His office is a nice halfway point, to be honest, from my door to the pantry.

I know the styles for his office are a bit mixed up right now, just making do with the furnishings that we found about to be trashed and saved them. It is a rather good quality table and set of drawers. The lamp I got from home, an old lamp I purchased from the bazaar of One Serendra, and dressed up with a new shade.

If you're interested in purchasing Ikea products, pay the shop I discovered a visit. Give them a call and ask if they've got what you're looking for!

Furniture Source Philippines
Open Mondays to Sundays, 9:00AM to 8:00PM
38 Granada St., Villa Ortigas II, Brgy. Valencia, QC
tel. no. 410.7159 and 404.1141

Owndays in Estancia Mall

One of my favorite haunts currently is Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons. Kim and I absolutely love it there because there isn't that much people milling around. Most of the stores are SSI - they have Pottery Barn, Marks and Spencer, they have Old Navy, and Debenhams.

Kim and I also love eating in Jipan in Estancia. Parking is easier compared to Megamall or Glorietta, easily accessible to Jipan from the parking area, which makes walking to the restaurant easier for me.

One of the most recent shops to open is Owndays. I wasn't quite familiar with the shop - it sells sunglasses and prescription eyeglasses. Since I was due to purchase a new pair of eyeglasses already (I replace my eyeglasses annually) I checked out the place. Prices ranged from PhP 2,990.00 to upwards of PhP 10,000.00. The price, however, is inclusive of the prescription lens already. They also guarantee that the eyeglasses will be done 20 minutes after payment.

Now, usually, I don't get my prescription, it just isn't readily available, even in the most established optical shops that I've purchased from, so I wanted to see if Owndays could guarantee that I would receive my lens within the day.

Kim and went there last Saturday, I brought an old pair of eyeglasses I had so that it would be the basis for my grade - lo and behold, they do have my grade available. It took me longer to choose what frame I wanted to purchase, and I ended up grabbing a pair of Wellingtons for only PhP 3,990.00.

I was so happy with my purchase. Who would've thought that my unique grade would be readily available!

Owndays is a Japanese eyewear brand that was recently established. Their first shop was opened in 2009, and their expansion to other Asian countries in the past couple of years can only be described as aggressive. They don't sell branded eyewear, the glasses that they have are all original designs, manufactured by them, including the lenses. They also collaborate with eyewear designers for some of their pieces.

It's been a couple of days that I've been using my glasses, and I love its weight. It isn't as heavy as my older prescriptions, which may be seen as a con for others, but not having additional weight on my face is definitely a plus for me. Even if it is light, though, the build is just solid. They really have a good manufacturing arm, and the Japanese quality is prevalent in the end-product.

Don't take my word for it though, feel free to visit them in Estancia Mall, and try some eyewear for yourselves.

Owndays Optical Shop

Level 1, Shop 132 Estancia Mall, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City

tel. no. 02.9973061　

Swatch's Lucky Monkey

I'm focusing my watch collecting on Swatch commemorative watches for the time being - while I'm still young and its still excusable. Like my mom always tells my sister, don't be afraid to wear color while you're still young.

I also made a Facebook page on Swatch collecting in the Philippines, hoping to touch base with local collectors if there are any. But, as I said prior, for now, I am limiting my Swatch collecting to commemorative watches. Items on my bucket list, to name a few, are the Ateneo Swatch, the Philippine Centennial Swatch designed by Jaime Zobel, the Year of the Horse Swatch (SUOZ169), The Legend of White Snake (SUOZ158), and the Goat's Keeper Watch (SUOZ189).

For Valentine's Day this year, Kim gifted me with Swatch's Lucky Monkey (SUOZ203), their watch commemorating 2016. the year of the Lucky Monkey.

The box is designed with ornamental mandalas made to resemble intricate paper cuttings, which is also continued and incorporated into the design of the watch.

The watch is a New Gent, so expect it to be a bit small for people with somewhat thick wrists like me, then again, its not as if I'll be wearing them - they're kept safely in storage. That doesn't mean, though that it's a ladies' watch. The design is quite unisex, and I've seen pictures in Instagram of men wearing this size also. And if it weren't a collectible as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't mind wearing it on rotation with my other watches.

As early as the first weekend of January I had the opportunity of buying it already from Swatch in Glorietta, had I not been with my sister. She exclaimed that I was too old to be buying funky watches, so I refrained from purchasing it, and said to myself I'd buy it when I wasn't with her.

On subsequent mall trips, however, whenever I'd visit a Swatch store, they'd always tell me that they were sold out already. Glorietta, Greenbelt, Trinoma, Sta. Lucia, wherever I asked this watch wasn't available. I asked to be put on the waitlist in case more stocks were to be delivered, and I was getting desperate as the Chinese New Year was drawing nearer.

One afternoon, while I was longingly reading up on reviews about the watch, I received a call from the Swatch Trinoma informing me that one Lucky Monkey had arrived, and it had my name on it. I bravely drove with Kim through hellish rush hour traffic that Thursday evening, from Makati to Trinoma! The waiting and drive was well worth it, because, Kim bought it for me as a Valentine's Day gift!

Having purchased it in Trinoma, we also entered a raffle contest. One of the reasons why stocks of the watch easily ran out was because Trinoma purchased 20 watches to raffle off. We didn't win.

Going through my list of online selling sites to check on Swatches for sale, I already saw listings for the Great White Snake, the Goat's Keeper, and the Philippine Centennial Swatch. Refraining from making any purchases now because I just finished some car repairs and am looking into buying a 2nd car. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the sellers won't be able to find people purchasing these models any time soon. With the statistics on my Facebook page, though, I'm quite confident because there does not seem to be much Swatch collectors locally.

Happy Chinese New Year, and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!