Framed

"Set wide the window. Let me drink the day."

~Edith Wharton, Artemis to Actaeon and Other Verses

Other than the enormous floor lamp in the middle of the room (see yesterday's post), the interior of Earth Kitchen is simple and even quite spartan: raw cement floors and walls, and tables and chairs that are very utilitarian. The big window which looks out onto the street is beautifully screened by the bamboo and palm trees outside, however, making it look like a painting from inside. The real paintings which currently adorn the otherwise bare walls were created by students of Cabuynan Elementary School in Tanauan, Leyte who survived Typhoon Haiyan. They are for sale for PhP500 each and all of the proceeds will be used to rebuild their school.

Art light

"There is one fundamental fact about lighting:
Where there is no light, there is no beauty."

~Ruby Ross Wood (1881–1950), New York interior decorator

The largest piece of decoration inside Earth Kitchen is a natural fiber screen designed with their logo, which can be seen on the sign outside the restaurant. It's a lovely piece of art and also happens to be an enormous floor lamp.

Baby's breath

"One person's weed is another person's wildflower."

~Susan Wittig Albert, An Unthymely Death and Other Garden Mysteries

This is another decorative detail at The Breakfast Table which I only noticed during our latest visit there: a denim curtain with embroidered pockets used as containers for dried flowers. The curtain screens a small wash basin for guests from the rest of the restaurant.

Quadrants

"What we call chaos is just patterns we haven't recognized.
What we call random is just patterns we can't decipher."

~Chuck Palahniuk, American novelist

The "Machuca tiles" in the previous post require sixteen tiles for each pattern. However, they also have patterns which require only four tiles, and that's what we saw on the floor of the 1925 Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, the chapel of San Beda College.

Scrappy

"He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist."

~Francis of Assisi

Natural, stained, and white and blue washed wood scraps make for a unique and fun wall at The Breakfast Table.

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.

Uncommon

"Learn to do common things uncommonly well; we must always keep in mind that anything that helps fill the dinner pail is valuable."

~George Washington Carver (1864–1943), American scientist and botanist

More creative pieces of decoration from The Breakfast Table (see previous post): a chandelier made out of metal pails, and tin cups and mugs used as planters.

Between the pails and the cups, I half expected to see a cow for some really fresh milk.

The stars, like dust

"Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

The star-dusted ceiling of the Universe Gallery of The Mind Museum in Taguig City. With a handful of planets thrown in for good measure.

Rising from ashes

"Disasters work like alarm clocks to the world,

hence God allows them.

They are shouting, 'Wake up! Love! Pray!'"

~ Criss Jami, American poet and essayist

The Basilica de San Martin de Tours, located in the town of Taal in the province of Batangas, is the largest known Catholic church in Asia, standing 88.6 meters (291 feet) long and 48 meters (157 feet) wide. Designed by Spanish architect Luciano Oliver, construction of the church started in 1856 and finished in 1865.

The history of the Taal Basilica, as it is more popularly known, and of the town itself, is much older, however.

Taal was founded by Augustinian missionaries in 1572, in what is now the town of San Nicolas. The first church was built in 1575 by Padre Diego Espina. Then in 1754, the entire town was destroyed during one of Taal Volcano's largest eruptions. The town was then relocated to its present site and construction of a new church began in 1755. That church was destroyed by a strong earthquake in 1849, but the town survived, thankfully.

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.

Industrial

Yet another addition to my collection of lamp and chandelier photos: π restaurant's unique and creative chandelier using wire cage lamps.

Sparkling

CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAY: DETAILS • One can spend an entire day at Cafe Juanita examining all the knickknacks which make it one of the most crazily decorated restaurants in Metro Manila. Whoever thought of draping a sequin shawl over a milk glass chandelier (and dumping some blue LED lights in the middle, too) is either a genius or a madman. Probably both.

Preparing the way

I've featured the 1896 St. John the Baptist Parish Church (better known locally as the Pinaglabanan Church) quite a few times, but mostly its exterior, which I love. I finally had an opportunity to take a photo of its interior from the main aisle. I confess that I'm not crazy about it since I've never been fond of dark wood, and all the wood in the church is dark, from the retablo (reredos) to the pews. I do like the stained glass windows flanking the crucifix, showing St. John the Baptist preaching, and baptizing Jesus.

The church's unique chevron-shaped and intricately-detailed stained glass window, which I posted back in 2010, is worth revisiting.

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?

Stark

The Bayleaf is a boutique hotel which opened two years ago in Intramuros, the oldest district in the City of Manila. Stepping inside its modern and minimalist lobby after seeing 17th-century walls and buildings can either be jarring or soothing depending on your frame of mind.

One-stop wedding shop

The Wedding Lounge (see previous post) is a boutique which gathers all the services one needs for a wedding—or any large party, for that matter. Invitations, gowns, jewelry, cakes, flowers, photographers, videographers, makeup, chocolates… about the only thing you need to provide yourself is a bride or a groom.

Modern Filipino

The interior design may not be traditional Filipino, but Café Via Mare serves some of the best Filipino food in Metro Manila (and in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone). This is their branch in the University of the Philippines - Diliman GT Toyota Asian Cultural Center.

Single story

The retablo (reredos) of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church along Pinaglabanan Street in San Juan City is unusually low for a more than one century old church in this country. It only has one level of niches for statues of the saints.