Mosaic tiles

"Pay attention to the intricate patterns of your existence
that you take for granted."

~Doug Dillon, American author

Machuca Tile Inc. has been making Mediterranean-patterned cement tiles, called baldozas mosaicos, since the American colonial period in the early 1900s. The company founded by Don Jose Machuca y Romeo was a pioneer in the industry, and patterned tiles—no matter the manufacturer—are generically called "machuca tiles" by Manileños. This is the wall outside their showroom in the district of San Miguel in the City of Manila.

Pointing to the heavens

"A real building is one on which the eye can light and stay lit."

~Ezra Pound (1885–1972), American poet

Just as its doors surprised me for their lack of religious iconography (see previous two posts), the exterior of the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat also surprised me for its lack of a cross. I wouldn't have known this was a church if it weren't for our guide, but its lovely neo-Gothic architecture would have caught my eye nevertheless. I especially love the arched rooftop patio.

Psychedelic

"Love was a feeling completely bound up with color, like thousands of rainbows superimposed one on top of the other."

~Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist

The interior side of the bronze doors of the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat (see yesterday's post) are made of panels of stained glass which glow brightly during the day. They kind of look messy and incomplete without the bronze, though. I would love to see the doors from outside at night when the lights of the church are on.

Secular

"Most of the time, doors remain closed simply because they have not been tried to be opened!"

~Mehmet Murat ildan, Turkish novelist and playwright

The bronze doors of the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat (also known as the San Beda Chapel) in San Miguel, Manila surprised me for not having any religious iconography on them. I really like them, though, and I regret not asking who the artist was.

Benedictine diary

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

~Pablo Picasso

After eight years painting the interior of the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in San Miguel, Manila (see previous post), Dom Lesmes Lopez and Brother Salvador Alberich left the back wall blank. There may have been a reason for it, but whatever it was, contemporary Benedictine monks did not like "the ugly white wall." So they commissioned the Italian painter Francesco Giannini to create a mural for it, one showing the story of the Benedictines in the Philippines. Working from his hometown of Peschiera del Garda, Giannini spent one year drawing detailed drafts and another year for the actual painting. The mural was inaugurated and blessed in June of 2012.

Benedictine masterpiece

"When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece."

~John Ruskin (1819–1900), English art critic

The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat was built in 1925 to serve Manila's Benedictine monks. It is more popularly known as the San Beda Chapel because of the college which the monks operate on the same grounds. The Spanish monk-artist Dom Lesmes Lopez, assisted by Brother Salvador Alberich, spent eight years from 1931 to 1939 painting the chapel's vaulted ceiling and arched walls.

Steel Neo-Gothic

"Negligence is the rust of the soul,

that corrodes through all her best resolves."

~Owen Feltham (1602–1668)

The Basilica Minore de San Sebastian, better known simply as San Sebastian Church, is believed to be the only pre-fabricated steel church in the world. Designed by the Spanish architect Genaro Palacios, it was built in 1891 using steel sections made in Belgium after earlier churches built on the site since 1611 by the Augustinian Recollects were destroyed by earthquakes in 1859, 1863 and 1880.

Though it may be earthquake and fireproof, the all-steel San Sebastian Church—which was designated a National Historical Landmark in 1973—suffers from another problem: rust. It is humid in Metro Manila no matter what the weather is and it rains almost half of the year. The City of Manila, where the church stands, is also very near the sea. After more than a hundred years in those conditions, the steel's integrity is threatened and the church is slowly undergoing restoration.

Afloat

"We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations."

~David Brower, environmentalist

After fifteen years, the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission is finally beginning to justify its existence. We walked by this clean estero (which means estuary but has come to be used for all creeks connected to the river) in the district of San Miguel in the City of Manila. If I wasn't with a group hurrying to a particular destination, I would have liked to take a walk on that neat floating sidewalk.

The Pasig River stretches for 25 kilometers through Metro Manila, and its banks are lined with the shanties of informal settlers and factories with poor waste disposal practices. Its rehabilitation will take a long time, but this idyllic scene in the middle of the teeming city gives me hope that we might actually be able to do it.

War in heaven

"Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back."

~Revelation 12:7

In the courtyard of San Miguel Church (see yesterday's post) stands this 12-foot cold cast bronze sculpture of Saint Michael slaying the dragon, which symbolizes the devil, created by Florante Caedo.

Proxy

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Church of San Miguel, in the district of the City of Manila with the same name, traces its history back to 1603. The current church, however, was only built in 1913. From 1946 to 1958, it became a pro-cathedral when it served as the seat of the Archdiocese of Manila after the Manila Cathedral—the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception—was destroyed during WWII. In 1986, the church was designated the National Shrine of St. Michael and the Archangels.

Academic center

"You educate a man; you educate a man.
You educate a woman; you educate a generation."

~ Brigham Young

Centro Escolar University was founded in 1907 by two women, Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna, who had dreamed of establishing a center of learning for Filipino women. Originally called Centro Escolar de Señoritas, it became a university in 1933. They also educate young men nowadays.

Sharp objections

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process,
gradually changing opinions,
slowly eroding old barriers,
quietly building new structures.

~ John F. Kennedy

Despite the presence of the Mendiola Peace Arch (see yesterday's post), barbed wire barricades are still clustered around the gate leading to the district around Malacañang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines, ready to be deployed at any time.

Hope for peace

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible
will make violent revolution inevitable."

~ John F. Kennedy, Remarks on the first anniversary of the Alliance for Progress,
13 March 1962

Mendiola Street in the City of Manila has been the site of many protests—some of them violent and bloody—against the government because of its proximity to Malacañang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines. It is also within the informal district known as the University Belt, so named because of its high concentration of colleges and universities. In 2010, the schools around Mendiola Street, including Centro Escolar University in the background, pooled their resources to build the Mendiola Peace Arch. The consortium hopes that the arch will remind protestors that the area is also the home of many schools and will encourage them to conduct their rallies in a peaceful manner.

Manila skyline

This view of the City of Manila is exactly like the night shot I posted on August 26, taken during the next (very overcast) morning. Aside from the two creamy yellow neoclassical buildings of the National Museum of the Philippines, one can see the water hazards of the Club Intramuros Golf Course, and parts of the 16th century walls of Intramuros on the lower right.

Green

The Club Intramuros Golf Course is located just outside the Spanish colonial era 16th century walls of Intramuros, which are barely peeking between the trees to the right of the golfer. The green and white building towering over the course is the 1977 expansion of the Manila Hotel, which first opened its doors in 1912.

#ScrapPork

It all started with the shocking discovery earlier this month of a scam headed by one woman involving fake non-government organizations (NGOs), ghost beneficiaries, and the pork barrel funds of our lawmakers (officially called the Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF) which resulted in the theft of billions of pesos of Filipino taxpayers' money. As details of the breadth of the plunder were released, normally lackadaisical middle-class Filipinos suddenly couldn't sit still. A no-organizer Million People March to Luneta (Rizal Park) event was created in Facebook, scheduled on National Heroes Day, the last Monday of August. People were simply asked to gather in front of the Quirino Grandstand with family and friends—maybe even have a picnic—to show the government the number of citizens who want the pork barrel system scrapped, and to demand that lawmakers involved in the scam be investigated and prosecuted.

So, gather we did, despite the threat of rain.
  In fact, it rained over the weekend and the field was very muddy. People just avoided the muddiest parts.
  In the two weeks that the event page was up, people got a bit more organized. The leaders of the biggest groups joining the protest met and agreed that the center of the field would be reserved for those without affiliations. More militant groups—with their banners and chanting—would stay at the periphery. My ground-level photos don't do the crowd justice; see this photo from Paulo Alcazaren, who uses a drone for his aerial photos.
  I think that organized groups were the minority that day, however. More people came with their families and friends, and despite the seriousness of the issues being discussed, the atmosphere was very relaxed and even—dare I say it—fun.
   Someone was even flying a kite. I must admit, the wind was perfect for it, especially since Rizal Park is just beside Manila Bay.
  Many people came with their "abolish the pork barrel" t-shirts and banners, like these three young students with their "The evolution of pork" banner.
  There was ample media coverage, of course. ABS-CBN's Korina Sanchez set up an elevated platform with a tent so she could interview famous personalities who showed up at the rally. Juana Change (actress Mae Paner) came in her signature red lingerie and a Miss Piggy mask and wig.
   Musician, writer and activist Jim Paredes refused to be interviewed on the platform, saying that he wasn't an organizer but just a participant. So ABS-CBN found a way to interview him on the ground, where he was surrounded by other participants who stopped to listen to him speak.
  Unlike the issue of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, religious and lay persons agree about the pork barrel—it has to be scrapped if the Philippines is to progress beyond patronage politics.

City lights

This is the skyline of the City of Manila as seen from the 9th floor patio of The Bayleaf Intramuros. The two neoclassical buildings just beyond the trees are the National Museum of the Philippines. The National Art Gallery is the building on the left, which used to be the Legislative Building. The Museum of the Filipino People is the building on the right, which used to be the Finance Building. Both were built in the early 1900s during the American colonial era, suffered extensive damage during WWII, and reconstructed soon after.

Evening lights

9 Spoons, the 9th floor restaurant of The Bayleaf Intramuros, overlooks the Club Intramuros Golf Course and has commanding views of the historic, neoclassical government buildings along Padre Burgos Avenue. Our table had a lovely view of the Manila City Hall and its distinctive clock tower. Aside from the lights and bayleaf-patterned screens of the restaurant, also reflected in the window is the keyboardist who provided the evening's pleasant dinner music.
 

Modern elegance

The lobby of The Bayleaf Intramuros isn't quite as stark as my photo the other day makes it seem. That is simply the sight that greets you as soon as you enter the doors. Off to one side of the lobby is this warm and cozy corner with tables and chairs, and a baby grand piano, though no one was playing during the weekend we were there. The lovely curved stairway leads up to the function rooms on the second floor.

#FF8C00

The rooms of The Bayleaf Intramuros are as modern as their lobby (see yesterday's post). Except for the suites, they are all decorated in black and white, and one of three unique colors.
  Ours was very, very orange.

The two other colors are lime green and aubergine. Which would you prefer?