Baguio redux

It has been three years since my husband and I went up to Baguio City. Located in the Cordillera mountain range, it is known as the Philippines' summer capital because the American colonial government would move there during the summer months to escape Manila's heat. Casa Vallejo was Baguio's first hotel, though originally built as a dormitory for government workers. It survived Japanese bombing during WWII and the devastating 1990 earthquake, and after laying in disrepair for many years, it was finally restored and reborn as a boutique hotel—with a restaurant, bookshop and spa—last year.




The main reason for the vacation was our 15th wedding anniversary on June 1. One of my husband's former students, who lives a few kilometers away in the town of La Trinidad, sent us a beautiful bouquet of roses and lilies which I arranged in a vase I borrowed from the hotel, wrapping it in the sinamay (woven abaca fibers) and ribbon that the flowers came in. They brightened up our room wonderfully and made our stay even more special. Thank you, Sari.

Open steps

If I studied in either Ateneo de Manila University or Miriam College and had to cross this footbridge everyday, I would never wear a skirt!

Bridges around the world: Sunday Bridges

Colonial

The lampposts at the Rizal Park have two decorations which are reminders of our colonial past: the kalesa of the Spanish era…




and the eagle of the American era.

Empty cups

Inside the Eastwood Mall branch of my favorite Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. We were the only ones without laptops.

Light show

The building across Eastwood Mall—which looks to be specially made for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies if the staff dining areas in the round tower are any indication—has multi-colored lights running horizontally across its entire facade.

Land under construction

THEME DAY: UNDER CONSTRUCTION • The Cultural Center of the Philippines (including Sofitel Manila and Harbour Square which are in the same complex), SM Mall of Asia (currently the 4th largest mall in the world), and many of the luxury residential condominium buildings in Pasay City with fantastic views of Manila Bay and its gorgeous sunsets, all stand on land reclaimed from the sea. And it looks as if the sea is still trying to get some of it back.




What is man constructing all over the world? Let City Daily Photo bloggers show you. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Modern Maria Clara

Since I mentioned Spanish colonial era clothes yesterday, here is another modern interpretation of the Maria Clara—a style of women's dress now considered formalwear named after the fiancé of the main protagonist of Jose Rizal's novel "Noli Me Tangere." Maria Clara would have loved the elaborate lace and pattern, but I doubt if she would have been comfortable with Eddie Castro's slim fit and starkly graphic colors.

Mixed up eras

The mural of a jeepney, an invention after the Philippine-American war, on the wall of the park fronting the Quirino Grandstand has Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal as the driver, and men and women in Spanish colonial era clothes as the passengers. I am sure that they represent other historical figures of the Philippine Revolution, but I wasn't able to get close enough to see.

The worker

Saint Joseph, the carpenter, the worker and the earthly father of Jesus, lends his name to San Jose Major Seminary, a diocesan seminary located inside the Loyola Heights campus of Ateneo de Manila University. It is under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao but many of its teachers are Jesuits.

Green on green

The open-air pavilion beside the pond in Rizal Park's Chinese Garden.

See what's reflecting what at James' Weekend Reflections.

Heart's beat

Kontra-GaPi, short for Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (Contemporary Filipino Gamelan), is the University of the Philippines' resident ethnic music and dance ensemble. I am always happy to see young ones taking an interest in preserving our cultural heritage, whatever the form and whatever the influence. Gamelan music also happens to be one of the few musical genres that will get me running out of my office no matter how busy I am.

Crunch, crunch

Tokwa is what we call firm tofu, and when I was a child, it was the only kind of tofu that I knew. Because of its firmness, it can be fried without it crumbling. Pino Resto Bar's vegetarian Tokwa't Tokwa (Tokwa't Baboy is tokwa and pork, which is popular as bar chow in Manila) is exceptionally crunchy and served with fried rice, a leaf of pechay, chili mayo, and a dipping sauce made of soy sauce and vinegar into which you can squeeze the calamansi and add the onion bits.

Third

The son of Francisco Ortigas (Don Paco), Francisco Jr. (Don Paquito), was the president of Ortigas and Company from 1935 to 1998, and it was he who led the development of Hacienda de Mandaloyon into what is now some of the busiest areas of the cities of Pasig, San Juan, Mandaluyong and Quezon. Don Paquito's son Rafael also became a president of the company and he established its corporate social responsibility arm, the Ortigas Foundation. I couldn't find anything about him, but I assume that the third person in this third relief at the Ortigas Park, Joaquin Ramirez, was also a president of Ortigas and Company.

Limited partnership

The company that developed Hacienda de Mandaloyon (see yesterday's post) into what is now Greenhills and Ortigas Center was incorporated as a limited partnership named Ortigas, Madrigal y cia., S. en C. (sociedad comanditaria por acciones) in 1931. There were several changes in the partnership between the 1920 sale and its incorporation, and in 1931, the company's partners were Francisco Ortigas, Vicente Madrigal, B.C.M. Johnston, Fulgencio Borromeo, Clyde A. Dewitt and Manuel L. Quezon.