heima

we should really check out this new store in CubaoEx! remember i was telling you about this homestore that added me as a facebook friend? haha! i don't usually accept people i don't know, but this couch was their profile picture.... so i couldn't say no!

i love it! don't you think it is soooo my me?! and it has a matching bench too!

they sell other stuff like wall art....

and they carry the "sun jar" (which is also on one of my favorite sites for "stuff", elsewares)


when do we go?!?

errport 2

still on design...

the facade of our (not so) newest airport terminal 3 is as good as it gets...

inside is a complete bore...

couldn't we have done something as cool as singapore's?

or interesting as KL's?

or as timeless as Paris's?

after all that time and money, (and since we're so proud of our creativity), this is all we could come up with?

something with more design aesthetic like even greenbelt or trinoma would have been better than this...

disappointed.......

no way!!!

speaking of design details...

the vivienne tam hp mini notebook.... in peony!!! NO WAY!!!!


bundled with a bag and scarf.... NO WAY!!!


i soooo want one!!!

BUT.... its a PC... boo!

island mother

what i love about mangenguey is helena, and vice versa.

through food and design, you can already see her genuine love for everything filipino.

she sees the beauty in everything... like in this traditional sari-sari window she uses for her kitchen...

or this church pedestal for her guest book...

this console table she designed with a filipino artist -- the legs are actually alibata letters!

this traditional filipino weave as the backdrop of the bathroom mirrors.

and perhaps my favorite element in her house, the decorative blocks that you and i both love.  these things are traditionally looked down upon by others -- but we've always liked 'em, and helena does too!

but i think it's her relentless passion, against all odds, to create her unbelievable vision -- a self-sustaining utopia for artists and internationalists on a remote island in a country that she has adopted as her own -- that i absolutely adore.

kind of like leo de caprio's 'the beach' with a bit of more taste, dontchatink?

island eating

one of the highlights of mangenguey is interacting with the island's mother, helena -- and this interaction usually happens around food.

she once ran 3 restaurants in new york -- 2 in the hamptons.

these matchbooks are from helena's tapas bar on lafayette street.

twinpophub chatting with her as she prepares our first dinner.

seating us...

having spicy cream of vegetable soup.  soooo good. twinpophub (surprisingly) loved it.

main:  mixed grilled food -- veggies, beef, sausage, chicken and mashed ube!!!

for dessert, some sort of sweet chocolate sandwich.

every morning she would serve us fresh buko juice (from the island), fruits and pastries.

for lunch, we had jamon serrano and tomatoes on bread,

with kangkong salad (that tasted like arugula!) and spanish tortilla -- a traditional catalan meal with the pinoy touch via the kangkong.

for dessert:  homemade mango and buko ice cream.

for dinner:  pate...  (eye spy pusing)

seafood bouillabaisse with garlic alioli...

dessert:  mascarpone with pine nuts and honey.  mmmmm......

more later!

island living

what we did:

hang out at our fave spot:

this is twinpophub reading his magazine.

we did yoga on it too (whatever!).

also swam -- sand is great, water warm.

or just hang.

we took the boat around the island drinking cava...

at night, after beaching, we would do our own thing.

twinpopfren writing...

twinpopbro writing...

twinpophub playing...

twinpopfren taking photgraphs...

helena cooking...

gina helping helena...

gina spinning the salad the old-fashioned way...

joel setting the table...

drinking...

pusing the cat resting in her basket...

we did a lot of eating too -- more on that later!