Bamboo

"Study the teachings of the pine tree, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. The pine is evergreen, firmly rooted, and venerable. The bamboo is strong, resilient, unbreakable. The plum blossom is hardy, fragrant, and elegant."

~Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969), Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido

I saw this bamboo hut on stilts behind Earth Kitchen. I don't know if it's theirs or if it belongs to the plant nursery beside them, but it would be a nice place to have a meal on a cool day or evening. It'll be tough on the waiters, though.

Healthy. Local. Sustainable.

"Why does no one speak of the cultural advantages of the country? For example, is a well groomed, ecologically kept, sustainably fertile farm any less cultural, any less artful, than paintings of fat angels on church ceilings?"

~Gene Logsdon, Living at Nature's Pace: Farming and the American Dream

Less than a year old, Earth Kitchen is a small restaurant operated by Got Heart Foundation, which helps marginalized farmers and indigenous communities all over the Philippines with natural and sustainable farming. Earth Kitchen is a showcase of healthy and delicious dishes which use fresh, all-natural ingredients, but it is not a vegetarian restaurant. "Fresh" and "all-natural" are words not limited to fruits and vegetables, after all.

Commonwealth

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not Guilty'."

~Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

This is a view of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, looking north, from the rooftop of a medium-rise condominium. The white, spiky building in the center is one of the bigger churches of the Iglesia ni Cristo, the third largest religious denomination in the Philippines. The bulky yellow building to the right is the Sandiganbayan, a special judicial court which has jurisdiction over graft and corruption cases against government employees and officials. I hear their backlog of pending cases is tremendous, and that it takes five years or more for them to try and decide a case.

Seriously?

"Shit happens. Doesn't mean you have to step in it.
But if you do I would buy a new pair of shoes."

~Kilburn Hall, American author

While he was in Manila, my cousin (see yesterday's post) stayed with us and spent some time walking up and down the main street of our neighborhood checking out its myriad small restaurants and shops. When he saw this sign, he had to take a photo just to prove that it really exists. It's in Tagalog/Filipino and says, "Throwing shit here is not allowed." Why the sign is necessary, I don't think I want to know.

The smaller green and blue sign lists the phone number of a tubero (plumber) named Rey. Someone told me that these tubero aren't really plumbers, though. They supposedly provide a wholly different kind of service—which I am not willing to describe here. Whether that's true or not, I will never find out. Even if they were real plumbers, I wouldn't call someone who advertises by nailing an ugly handpainted sign on a tree.  • PHOTO BY JOSE

The food's good, too

The quirky Old Oven Art Cafe is filled with paintings, photographs, and unusual knick-knacks. Alone? Grab a magazine. With family and friends? Grab a board game. It's actually a pretty cool place to hang out—if only it were more convenient to me.

The soldier

Today is the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. Before his spiritual conversion at the age of 30, Ignatius was a soldier, hence the common depiction of him wearing a coat of mail and breastplate, and carrying a sword. This statue is in the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila Grade School in Quezon City.

Wasted trip

When it comes to fashion, I try to buy local brands as much as possible. Many of the shirts and blouses I use at work are from Folded&Hung, so I finally visited their outlet store along Quezon Avenue. I was disappointed in the selection, though; most of the items on sale at the store were the casual stuff like jeans, tees and sport shirts. Oh well.

My guardian dear

There is an old story by Ateneo de Manila Grade School teacher Mr. Juan Javier which explains how the Holy Guardian Angels became the patrons of the Grade School and the special guardians of young Ateneans. The story takes place at Padre Faura, during the term of Fr. Henry Lee Irwin SJ as Headmaster.

Mr. Javier narrates how, on the evening of September 28, 1933, a group of Ateneo boarders were seated outdoors after having dinner. Nearby was a shrine of the Immaculate Conception. As they were singing and laughing, an earthquake shook the ground and a wall collapsed on them, but to the amazement of everyone, the students were not hurt. At the school assembly the following Monday, the Headmaster, Fr. Henry Lee Irwin SJ, declared that October 2 would, from then on, be the school feast day. This was because the community believed that it was the Holy Guardian Angels that saved the students from harm during the earthquake. The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels falls on October 2. Every year since then, the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels was celebrated at the Grade School with a procession, a school-wide Mass, and salu-salo (get-together). When Ateneo de Manila Grade School transferred to Loyola Heights in 1954, the chapel was dedicated to the Holy Guardian Angels. Images of the Guardian Angels were also commissioned for the chapel and the garden.

Every human being has been blessed by God with a guardian angel. They are messengers of God's love—our personal protector and guide. They lead us to God, helping us live a life of faith, excellence, and loving service. As patrons of Ateneo de Manila Grade School, they are forever our companions and friends in the Lord. May we be guardian angels to others—especially to those in need.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, 

to whom God's love commits me here, 

ever this day, be at my side, 

to light and guard, 

 to rule and guide. Amen. 

It is with deep gratitude to the Lord that this Holy Guardian Angels Park is blessed and dedicated on the 20th day of October 2010.

~From the plaque in the Holy Guardian Angels Park of the Ateneo de Manila Grade School

Dance!

The Halili-Cruz School of Ballet was established in 1985 by Shirley Halili-Cruz. This is the main studio along Quezon Boulevard, but they have four other branches in Metro Manila, three of which are within the campuses of academic schools.

Hide and seek

This is the side of TriNoma mall that faces North Avenue, taken early in the morning before its thousands of visitors (estimated at 180,000 to 200,000 daily) arrive and the streets get blocked by heavy traffic. There's a little boy hiding behind the palm tree in the foreground. Do you see him? I didn't until I uploaded the photo.

Knowledge and virtue

The coat of arms of Claret School of Quezon City includes the motto of the school, Scientia maxime cum virtute, which means "Knowledge is best with virtue." Their website explains that "This phrase has been adopted by the school as its own motto to embody the search for knowledge and the promotion of intellectual growth, which is made more sublime with the practice of virtue." The school is named after its patron, Saint Anthony Mary Claret, who founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1849 in the city of Vic in Spain.

Quonset hut

CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAY: FACADE • When the Jesuits decided to move the main campus of the Ateneo de Manila from Padre Faura in the City of Manila to the no-man's-land that was Loyola Heights in Quezon City in the 1950s, the first structure they had built was the gymnasium. It served as the storehouse of construction materials for the other buildings. Now called the Blue Eagle Gym, after the university's mascot, it continues to be the most visible landmark of the Ateneo de Manila—if only because it is currently the only building that can completely be seen from the road. And, yes, the design of the Blue Eagle Gym really is based on the lowly quonset hut. That inexpensive, prefabricated shelter served the Jesuits and the school well after World War II.

Internal glow

The evening Mass had ended, but the lights were still on inside the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, allowing us to see its lovely stained glass windows from the outside.

The windows are on the sides of the church and can't be seen from the street. You have to enter the church's compound to see them. They must be even more magnificent from the inside—where you won't see the metal grills—during the day.

Playful

I really like the bright and mixed up splashes of color used on the facade of Eastwood Mall.

Building blocks

One of the brick walks of Eastwood Central Park, flanked by the colorful Eastwood Mall and the 1800 Building (an office building), leads to the Excelsior (a residential condominium building) across the street.

No vendors allowed here!

Vendors outside the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish church selling peanuts, corn, dried fish, suman and kakanin (Filipino delicacies usually made out of sticky rice), and palabok (a rice noodle dish). I guess the church's rule against vendors isn't very strict.

Is it or isn't it?

For as long as I can remember, this was the location of the Infant Jesus Kindergarten School. There is no longer any sign, so I assumed that it is no longer here. But a Google search for the school still points to this address (or one in Hamilton, Ontario), so I'm in a bit of a quandary. Maybe I should ask my husband to walk there during a school day when he doesn't have a class to help me satisfy my curiosity.

"Official" graffiti

In a country full of politicians who slap their names and faces on publicly-funded projects every chance they get, Quezon City's politicians are probably the worst. They don't even wait for projects—if there's a blank wall, it'll end up with one local politician or another's name, in the guise of public reminders. Similar to Vincent Belmonte's sign, councilor Jessica Castelo Daza says that "Cleanliness is a sign of a progressive nation." I guess neither realize that cleanliness isn't just the absence of garbage.

Today, we troop to our voting precincts for national and local elections. I honestly still don't know which local candidates to vote for.

Day off

Trellis Restaurant, which I posted about back in 2009, has been in our neighborhood since 1980. The quality of the food has never changed throughout those three decades. One other thing about it has not changed either: it remains closed during Sundays. In a city where many families gather together for lunch out after Mass, it's quite surprising.

Body treats

Our neighborhood is full of small businesses located in converted houses. Aside from restaurants, spas are also very popular. One of them is Asyenda Beauty & Wellness, which offers different kinds of massages, facials, and salon services. Most of them are very inexpensive too. How does a one-hour full-body massage for US$8.50 sound to you?