Bahay Nakpil-Bautista, Quiapo

This old house oozing with character and our Museum Volunteers of the Philippines (MVP) (link) tour destination for the month of November is the Bahay Nakpil-Bautista. Bahay is the Filipino word for house and Nakpil and Bautista are the names of the families who lived in the home. The original owner, Dr. Ariston Bautista bought the home in 1914. He studied for his medical degree in Spain (link), and was a contemporary of the famous author José Rizal (link) and painter Juan Luna (link).

But the main attraction of the house lies in the fact that it was resided in by the woman featured in the photograph above, Gregoria de Jesus. She was the second wife of Andres Bonifacio (link) the founder of the revolutionary movement called the Katipunan and shown in the copy of the engraving below. This group fought for the independence of the Philippines from Spain at the end of the nineteenth century. Gregoria was closely involved in this struggle to achieve freedom and she wrote later of her experiences (link).

Bonifacio died in battle at the tender age of thirty-three. Gregoria re-married a year later. Her second husband was Bonifacio's general Julio Nakpil (link) (and also the brother-in-law of Ariston Bautista), and they went on to have eight children of whom only six survived, which must have been an adventure of a different kind.

The current generation of Nakpil family members are very pro-active in the maintenance of their treasured ancestral home. They have created a foundation and a website (link). Plus, it is open to the public and is one of the few historical sites I have seen in the Philippines that provides guides and detailed signage outlining the significance of what is on view. On the ground floor of the house, there are a large number of panels on the walls explaining the history of the neighbourhood area of Quiapo, the architectual style of the house (see above photograph), and the family tree. It is a really informative place to visit and well worth your time.

Throughout the house there is a noticeable amount of geometric design like you can see in the staircase shown in the pictures above and below. The house was built when the Art Nouveau style which eschewed surface decoration was popular in Europe.

The wall dividers at the top of the walls near the ceilings have distinctive patterns that resemble flowers.

The design on these chairs (below) influenced the design of the walls, staircase ...

... and the ventallila grills (below).

The painting below is called, "The Parisian Life" (link) was painted by Juan Luna in 1892. It was originally owned by Ariston Bautista and he is depicted in the painting as the man who is looking towards the woman. The man in the middle is José Rizal and the man on the far left is the painter himself. The posture of the woman is said to have been posed deliberately to represent a map of the Philippines.

The chair below is from a different home which was due to be demolished. The owners donated it to the Bahay because they wished to preserve it as it had been used by Rizal during a visit to their home. The style of carving is distinctively ornate and differs considerably from the rest of the Art Nouveau furniture in the house.

We were fortunate to be personally guided around the home by one of the family members, Ms. Bobbi Santos-Viola.  

The house has some beautiful items on display. 

It is easy to imagine it during its glory days. Here is an early photograph...

And here is the "now" photograph.

It is a shame that the waterways look like this now, particularly as the name, "Quiapo" comes from the water plant "kiyapo". It is a testament to the family's hard work that the house remains intact under such difficult conditions.

But perhaps they had a little help?

Or maybe it is the spirit of Gregorio de Jesus looking over them? The picture below shows the entrance to the room dedicated in her honour.

I am sure she must be very proud that her family has worked so hard to keep the memory of her achievements alive. It was a privilege to visit such a place. I hope it stands for another hundred years!

Hats off to Marikina, Manila

It is not often that you will see me wearing a hat, but I am now the proud owner of an elegant concoction of midnight-black feathers and abaca. 

Abaca is also known as Manila hemp and I find it interesting that this material has played important roles in the Philippines, Japan, and Australia. Prior to WW2, there was a sizeable population of Japanese people living in Davao involved in the cultivation of マニラ麻　（hemp）. I also remember passionately arguing the question, "Was Australia intended as a hemp colony?" in the affirmative when I was a fresh first-year student. My view at the time was a minority one, but it seems that perhaps I was right after all. Better late than never.

I am all set for the major racing event of the year now (and no, I am not talking about the Melbourne Cup). Our Mr Moet is running again in the Railway Stakes in Perth on November 22nd and I decided to go crazy and splurge on a bit of frippery to honour him properly as he runs for glory. I shall be catching the broadcast from home in Makati. 

Going to the races has become a rather splendid affair in Perth. I was really impressed by the Myer Fashions on the Field final at Ascot a fortnight ago. There were some exquisite outfits being paraded on the day. See here for some Facebook photos (apologies if you are not on FB and cannot view them) of stunning outfit after stunning outfit. I particularly liked the blue dress you can see in the first shot, and I love the package inside. Congratulations to my beautiful sister! I would find walking on a runway terrrifying but she is a real natural.

Returning back to my reality, my tour last week with Museum Volunteers of the Philippines (MVP) took us first to the Lucban Hats factory in Marikina. 

Here you can see the dyed abaca being hung out to dry near the entrance to Lucbcan Hats factory which has been in business for more than forty years. Lucban is the name of a the owners' hometown in Bicol, which is located fairly south of Manila.

And being laid out for cutting. I was intrigued by the weights they used. I wondered where they originated from?

The woman in the foreground was the fastest of the sewers. You could see her instinctively judging by touch where to sew.

The shaping of the brim.

Cutting it back to size.

Moulding the crown of the hat.

Attaching the trimmings.

Lots of coloured thread (this was my favourite photo of the day).

Sewing the brim to the crown.

There were piles of hats in various corners and nooks.

... and more striking colours.

Here is our group wearing their new purchases. I took this photo and since I was not in it, a friend was sweet enough to take me aside and take the photograph you can see at the beginning of the post.The owners of the factory arrived as we were preparing to leave (they are the couple standing dead centre) and we felt like VIPs for a short time, until we found out that they had really come to meet a group of Ambassadors' wives. That was kind of the story of the rest of our day as the timing of our visit also clashed when we visited the Shoe Museum to see Imelda Marcos' shoes later also. But that might have to be a post for another day. Time for me to hoof it out of here.

Bustos, Bulacan tour with the Philippine Heritage Conservation Society

I joined this tour last Saturday and it was very interesting. We travelled by minibus from Quezon and arrived in Bustos about an hour later. The people of Bustos are very proud of their town and are keen to promote it to increase tourist numbers. To this end, the mayor welcomed us in person, joined our tour and lunched with us at the dam (no restaurant there, it was a catered lunch). It was a good day!

 Bustos Municipal Hall

Bulacan Military Area

Minasa are cassava cookies shaped with old wooden moulds

Lopez House, Bustos, Bulacan

Another old house near the Mercado House (can you spot Sydney?)

Mercado House (stonework on first and second floor)   

Angat Afterbay Regulator Dam originally built in 1926, (reconstruction work done in 1997 and 2001)

 Bahay at Yaman ni San Martin de Porres orphanage. Houses are inspired by the Ivatan style of houses seen on Batanes Island (which is far north and often hit by typhoons).

"The Mango Bride" by Marivi Soliven

Today our monthly  Museum Volunteers of the Philippines (MVP) book club meeting was a little more upmarket than usual and took place in a board room in Ortigas. We had a video conference via Skype with Marivi Soliven, the author of, “The Mango Bride”. She took this photo of us, and you can just see her holding her camera in the bottom right side of the shot. Now I am pleased that I chose to sit next to our MVP president. On her right is the woman who contacted Marivi and made all the logistical and technical arrangements. She was nervous that something would go amiss with the hardware, but it all ran very smoothly. It was extremely kind of her to organize for us all to enter her family’s place of business for our meeting.

Marivi was very generous with her time and answered all our questions fully. Her novel was a page-turner and I was compelled to read until the end to find out “what happened”. It turns out that her American editor had suggested a change in the order as originally it had been written with the “secret” being revealed within the first hundred pages, and I would have to agree this was a wise decision.

The narrator of the tale, Amparo, appears to be an autobiographical character and this is probably why her depiction rings the truest in my view. It was interesting to learn that Marivi herself works as a telephone interpreter in Berkeley and her book draws on her own experiences while interpreting for various clients. Some of the events sounded too horrific to be true but sadly it seems there is a solid basis for inclusion in her novel. The novel, via the telephone clients and Beverly, details some very harsh situations suffered by immigrants in the U.S. and while it is common to “hear” stories passed on by third parties, I have always wondered how accurate the re-telling of events has been. Now I know.

We also learned she had shared the writing process of her book with a writer’s group of whom only one person was familiar with the Philippines. Additionally, her editor suggested revisions to her novel to make it more accessible for an American audience. This helped to explain why some of the characters appeared larger-than-life and a little over the top. Having said that, several of us requested Marivi to read excerpts featuring the formidable Senora Concha who definitely has an awe-inspiring presence. And hearing Marivi read a scene, we all could visualize the Senora clearly and were swept completely away.

I must confess that the book’s coverage of mail-order brides had made me feel reluctant to comment on the novel and I had been ambivalent about attending the event. Needless to say, I am pleased to have been present and I was further impressed by how seriously Marivi feels about the issue of domestic violence encountered by immigrants when she mentioned her involvement with the non-profit organisation called Access (see here). She will be attending a fundraising dinner on October 2^nd in San Diego called “Saving Beverly”, (see here for more information).

Marivi was very lovely and gracious and I was touched by how much she appreciated us as her readers. See her blog here for her account. All of us were very uplifted by the experience and there was talk of approaching other authors for future book hook-ups. I find that reading regularly is more of an effort these days with many distractions close at hand, but today reminded me once more of the singular power of a good book. 

Viva El Libro!

GK Enchanted Farm Summer trip

This is an article I wrote for the Museum Volunteers of the Philippines magazine.

On the first of July and braving uncertain skies, a busload of curious Museum Volunteers of the Philippines (MVP) members left bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from Santuario de San Antonio to visit the GK Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan. GK, i.e. Gawad Kalinga, is an organization that has received considerable attention in the Philippine press over the years. I initially heard about it several years ago when I attended a MVP study group presentation given by a former MVP member, and I was thereby quite interested to view one of the jewels in the GK crown.

For people unfamiliar with GK, let me add some background here. It is described by Wikipedia as a poverty-alleviation and nation-building organisation, which first emerged nearly twenty years ago with youth camps and house-building activities being held in Caloocan City (an area with a large squatter population). One of the founding members was Mr. Antonio (Tony) Meloto, who was a member of the Catholic lay community organization Couples for Christ (CFC) at the time. After being formally established in 2003, it more recently parted ways with its parent CFC in 2009, and now stands independently alone.

We arrived at the Enchanted Farm shortly after 9 a.m. and were herded into the Hyundai Center for Green Innovation. Here we were welcomed by Tony, who had just returned from speaking engagements in Europe. He greeted one of our members and expressed his gratitude for the help he received from her family when he was a young boy and he expounded how this had given him a leg up in life. However, he remained so troubled by the suffering caused by poverty in the Philippines that eventually his subsequent success started to feel hollow. It was at this point that he felt impelled to act to change the status quo and he founded GK. Please visit the website here  where you can read further about the GK mission to end poverty for five million families by 2024.

Tony brimmed with charisma and overflowed with enthusiasm as he promoted the GK vision for the Enchanted Farm to be a farm village university, a Silicon Valley for social entrepreneurship, and a social tourism hub. With obvious pride, ‘Tito’ Tony introduced the large and ever-expanding cast of smiling youth who are responsible for the implementation of this dream. These included volunteer graduates from the best universities in the Philippines, business school interns from France, and high school boys from Angat.

Following this we started our walking tour with our Ateneo Graduate School of business guide: we were shown around part of the 34-hectare farm and saw row after row of thriving vegetables, fruit trees, as well as pigs being raised compassionately. The abundance of the produce was especially impressive given that the area was originally a quarry site for Lafarge and the fertility of the soil had been lovingly restored via a lot of earthworm soil and much hard labour. Our passionate guide shared his war stories and answered our questions about their farm university model and course accreditation goals. Our last stop before lunch was to visit the tranquil stone gardens.

The fresh vegetables and meat that were presented to us for our meal were delicious and served as a true testimony that the farm has triumphed over its history. Everyone filled their plates and heartily tucked into the crisp and crunchy fare. There is accommodation available at the farm and a new wellness centre is due to open in the next year, which is sure to transform it into an even more popular tourism destination rapidly.

We stopped by the souvenir stand which was popular as much for its air conditioning as for the various items available for purchase such as soap, shampoo, lotion, coffee, peanut spread etc.

Our afternoon activities commenced with a stop at the earthworm soil centre. It was a very good example of a key tenet of Tony’s, which is that success will occur when the “genius” of the farmers is combined with the “genius” of the business graduates. We listened to a joint presentation of the two camps, which demonstrated clearly they have pooled their resources to produce riches for the farm.

Next, we went to the Plush and Play stuffed toy workshop where a group of women were sitting at sewing machines and making toys. This was the province of a young man from France who had come to the farm for six months and ended up staying two years. He told us his goal had been to produce a stuffed toy representative of Filipino culture, and judging from the cute wares on display with names like Ann Kamatis and Manny Pakwan, it would appear that he has achieved this goal. Frankly, I was impressed with his ability to talk over the deafening sound of the rain that had started to pour down after we entered the workshop.

We were lucky to have escaped the rain until this point, although high humidity had made its presence palpable throughout the day. Working in this kind of weather must take a certain amount of dedication and zeal and the volunteers are to be highly commended for their intense efforts over the years. Likewise, undeterred by the elements, we unfurled our trusty umbrellas and made our way back to the bus to take us home again.

I had a lot of questions to ask my seatmates about the day, but by now the bushy-tails had lost some of their bushiness and surrounding heads had started to slump. I was eventually left alone with my own thoughts and reflections, and I drifted in and out of slumber myself until we reached Makati. It was definitely a thought-provoking tour and I would like to take a final moment to thank our MVP tour coordinator for smoothing out all the arrangements and ensuring that we “beat” the traffic home.

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And some more food for thought here, this is an interesting article from the Aeon magazine outlining how higher consumption can contribute to a fairer society.