Good food, finds and a wedding

Ever had one of those weeks when you feel like nothing goes your way? Well, I’m glad tomorrow is a Saturday. All the calm and happy vibe of the past few weeks (Happy New Year!) have been sucked out by the past few days. So let me use this post to look back and be grateful for the week before for all happy things big and small–when I saw two good friends get married, when I got to finally try this cafe and bakery near the office, and when P and I discovered something new in an old haunt.

The wedding was held on a Tuesday, which was a welcome break at the start of the work week. It was also out of town and if you are looking for a place to get married outside crowded Manila, Tagaytay is a favorite choice. One of the loveliest churches there (well, just outside of it, technically it’s already in Nasugbu, Batangas) is the Transfiguration Chapel in Caleruega. The chapel with its beautiful brick facade (supposedly reproduction of the original chapel in Caleruega, Spain) sits atop the highest point of Caleruega, a hilly and sprawling area that’s also a favorite venue of folks going on spiritual retreats and photo hobbyists. (My friend Terrie wrote about the beautiful ceremony and party here.)

Transfiguration Chapel in Caleruega. It’s really beautiful though you might not appreciate it so much when you’re wearing really high heels.

The happy couple! Their joy was contagious

Two days later, a few office mates and I made our way to Wild Flour Cafe + Bakery instead of having our usual lunch at the pantry. We’ve all heard so much about the restaurant, which is a short walk away from where our office is, we decided to finally schlep our way there. It’s within the business district of Fort Bonifacio and attracts (at least at the time we were there) a throng of smartly-dressed professionals and young ladies who lunch. But the atmosphere was casual, the service brisk, and the food, at least the ones we ordered (Croque Madame, Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Tomato Soup, and the Shortribs Sandwich), were really good. The flavors were rich, and the bread, oh the freshly made bread made me want to go out, buy my own oven and harass their baker for the recipe.

Shop for a cause

KaEskwela, the group I volunteer for, has entered into a partnership with Sole Project, a flip-flops store located in Cubao X, to provide some of our beneficiaries with slippers by December (just in time for Christmas).

KaEskwela is a non-profit organization that aims to help school children and public schools in depressed communities. (I wrote about it here last year.) This year we worked together with National Bookstore’s Project Aral and brought school supplies to several schools in Pampanga, Laguna, Bataan and Rizal back in June.

Aside from donating and/or delivering books and school supplies, we’ve also done footwear drives as many of the children we meet in our beneficiary public schools don’t even have slippers to wear.

Sole Project’s “Sole with a Soul” pledges that for every pair of flip-flops you buy, it will give a new pair to KaEskwela for the benefit of school kids. It’s a simple thing really, but it can help.

The Sole Project is located at Stall 64-C Cubao Expo, Araneta Center Cubao, Quezon City. Store hours are at 4-9pm, Wed and Thurs; 4-10pm Fri and Sat; and 1-5 pm Sunday.

KaEskwela will also be getting a portion of the profits from Fashion Rev, a fashion and lifestyle bazaar happening on November 19 and 20, from 10 am to 10 pm at the Megatent (Meralco Avenue, Ortigas Center; beside ULTRA). Entrance fee to the bazaar: PhP100. Drop by and shop!

Arts and crafts along Alabama St.

Currently in Singapore now for work and last night my friends took me back to the Ann Siang Hill area for dinner and a few drinks. It’s a really lovely area with the rows of charming shophouses, many I was surprised to find out are actually bars and restaurants (at least along Club Street).  (The first time I went there was in the morning so I didn’t notice the closed bars.)

Anyway, in the spirit of lovely (and quirky) things, here’s a place in Manila that’s worth a visit if you find yourself looking for somewhere to go besides the mall.

In Alabama Street in New Manila, Quezon City there’s an old bungalow that’s now home to this wonderful furniture store and little gallery. Resurrection Furniture  & Found Objects Gallery takes old furniture and all sorts of  ‘junk with potential’ and makes them over to something better or (the term many shelter mags like to use now) upcycles them.

The store used to be located along Maginhawa Street in Quezon City (another must-see in Metro Manila for the many different restos and little hidden shops), but its new home seems to suit it better with the furniture arranged in the living room and spread out throughout the house. 10A Alabama Street also has the tiny RAW Art Gallery and a tea bar that looks like your school’s old science lab.

If that isn’t enough to make you schlep there, on the weekend of September 3 and 4, 10A Alabama will hold Handmade Art Fair featuring the works of designer Binggoy  De Ocampo, architect Leah Sanchez (the two people behind Resurrection), artists Robert Alejandro, Jazel Kristin, Sinag De Leon, Lizza Gutierrez, Arlene Florendo Barbaza, and Erika Bustamante Avancena.

Last month, they held 10A Alabama’s Arts and Crafts Fair, where different artists including Alejandro and Ginny Alcaide (love her use of thread for portraits) sold their works. There were also a lot of costume jewelry and other pretty accessories, notebooks, and organic soaps; and of course the cleverly refurbished furniture and home items from Resurrection. Here are a few photos of last month’s fair.

The white and blue gate along Alabama Street is hard to miss

Cute notebooks and clips

Pretty rings and necklaces

The ‘living room’ of Resurrection Furniture

The room where artist Robert Alejandro has some of his works

Journals by Robert Alejandro

Refurbished card catalog cabinet

The house’s ‘kitchen area’ or Hausbesetzer Laboratory of different sorts of tea

Where’s the wolf pack?

Artwork in the backyard

Let’s support local arts and crafts See you in Handmade Art Fair!

Where: 10a Alabama Street, New Manila, Quezon City

Stops at Siam

With a few more travel notes to share on my trip to Bangkok with my sister, here’s another entry on what became our favorite stop of the BTS Skytrain: Siam.

View from Siam Paragon: The trains of Sukhumvit and Silom lines make a stop at Siam

Siam Station is where the two lines of BTS (Sukhumvit and Silom) intersect. One side is lined with some spanking malls, from shiny Siam Paragon to Siam Discovery, while the other is a maze of small boutiques, cafes, restaurants, multiplexes, tiny alleys of shops, and tinier galleries that is Siam Square. Throughout our vacation in the Thailand capital, my sister and I found ourselves returning to the station and to the square, where there were always shops, restaurants and corners to explore.

We were introduced to the place on our first night in Bangkok. Coming straight from the airport, we headed to Siam Square to meet two friends for dinner before their flight back to Manila. Over our first Thai meal of Pad Thai noodles, Tom Yam soup, and other local dishes, our friends who regularly go to Bangkok, shared their favorite places to wander around in the city and Siam Square was one of them.

Hunting for something pretty

Furniture store Space Encounters launched its latest line last night. It was something I was looking forward to all week as designer Wilmer Lopez creates the loveliest pieces with a playful style. It was also a chance to meet up with friends and have a few drinks (before the onslaught of deadlines and out-of-town shoots next week).

Dubbed, “Hunting Season,”  the latest collection is more Nordic-inspired (clean lines and soft colors) compared to the dark and dramatic Asian-pop inspiration of the “Indochine Remixes” collection.  With the new collection, Space Encounters looked like a completely different store. But just as pretty.

I love this corner, particularly the desk and the big mirror on the side

Interesting prints, framed quotes (that reveal one of the owners' love for Star Trek, among other things) and a lovely green couch

Looking for a different kind of chair? This sheep is surprisingly comfortable