Northern Living: 2016 June

June 2016 Volume 10 | Issue 10

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CONT ENTS 28 EATS A new taqueria offers global flavors

14 COVER STORY Natalya Lagdameo maintains an all-Filipino philosophy in her designs

Cover photo by Joseph Pascual

26 STYLE Everyday appeal

JUNE 2016 04 FIXTURE Life made easy with online platforms

10 FEATURE Conducive work spaces for creatives

05 HEALTH Benefits of paying it forward

30 RECIPE Make your own healthy munchies

06 BEAUTY Health concerns can manifest on your tresses

32 THE GET Maison Margiela tells time

EDITOR’S NOTE Sustainable art Gone are the days when all fresh graduates hunt for full-time jobs.

According to an article by Fast Company, “In the past few years, a new favorite career choice has emerged, which eclipses any other form of traditional employment— working for themselves or launching their own business.”

Being wired to create rather than to work up a corporate ladder is a fate only for the weird and the brave. Many creatives today have penetrated the world of entrepreneurs because selling one’s craft does not always equate to becoming a sell-out.

As for jewelry designer Natalya Lagdameo, she prefers to work quietly and let her work speak for itself. “I really don’t do events or social stuff,” she admits.

Beyond rows of cubicles in high rises, we’ve featured three young creative minds on what their ideal workspace should be like. Also in this issue are local startups that solve our common woes through online sites and mobile apps.

The end goal is to live to create not to create to live. Learn to grab opportunities as they come without sacrificing your integrity.

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Northern Living is published by Hinge Inquirer Publications. 4F Media Resource Plaza, Mola corner Pasong Tirad Street, Barangay La Paz, Makati City. Visit www.facebook.com/ northernlivingmagazine now. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @nlivingph.

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This magazine was printed responsibly using recycled papers with biodegradable inks.

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FEEDBACK

ON THE ROAD

NORTHERNliving GROUP PUBLISHER BEA J. LEDESMA MANAGING EDITOR DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS PRISTINE L. DE LEON, RENZ NOLLASE CREATIVE DIRECTOR NIMU MUALLAM GRAPHIC ARTIST MAYSIE LECCIONES STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER PATRICK SEGOVIA INTERN CARLA DELOS REYES

Hi Northern Living!

I love that Northern Living provides ideas that people wouldn’t commonly notice. Thanks for featuring helpful beauty and health topics.

CONTRIBUTORS WRITERS CHARLIE CARBUNGCO, ILLUSTRATORS REESE LANSANGAN, TRISTAN TAMAYO STYLISTS EDLENE CABRAL, MELVIN MOJICA, CHARLIE CARBUNGCO HAIR AND MAKEUP JET BABAS, CARELL GARCIA, CLAIRE DIOKNO PHOTOGRAPHERS GABBY CANTERO, CENON NORIAL III, JOSEPH PASCUAL COPY EDITOR PATRICIA ROMUALDEZ PROOFREADER SEPTEMBER GRACE MAHINO EDITORIAL CONSULTANT RIA FRANCISCO-PRIETO

- Jacqueline Tom

BOARD CHAIRPERSON ALEXANDRA PRIETO-ROMUALDEZ FINANCE ADVISOR AND TREASURER J. FERDINAND DE LUZURIAGA LEGAL ADVISOR ATTY. RUDYARD ARBOLADO HR STRATEGY HEAD RAYMUND SOBERANO VP AND CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER IMELDA ALCANTARA SVP AND GROUP SALES HEAD FELIPE R. OLARTE AVP FOR SALES MA. KATRINA MAE GARCIA-DALUSONG SALES SUPERVISORS JOY SANTOS-PILAR KEY ACCOUNTS SPECIALIST ANGELITA TAN-IBAÑEZ SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES SARAH CABALATUNGAN, ABBY GINAGA, THEA ORDIALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES ANDIE ZUÑIGA, CHARM BANZUELO, LIZA JISON SALES SUPPORT ASSISTANTS RECHELLE ENDOZO, MARA KAREN ALIASAS CUSTOM SALES SUPERVISOR POLO P. DAGDAG MANAGING EDITOR ANGELA VELASCO ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR PAM BROOKE CASIN SENIOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT PAULINE MIRANDA EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS KHEENA ALELOJO, PAM CARLOTA, CHRISTELLE TOLISORA SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE SHANNA MALING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE INA MATEO, GRAPHIC ARTISTS ROI DE CASTRO, RACHELL FLORES, KATRICE MONTES, YAYIE MOTOS, JAYCELINE SORIANO

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PRODUCTION MANAGER JAN CARIQUITAN PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MARICEL GAVINO FINAL ART SUPERVISOR DENNIS CRUZ FA ARTIST KRISTINE MAY PAZ MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER TARA VALENCIA EVENTS MANAGER BIANCA DALUMPINES MARKETING ASSISTANTS RUBEE FAUSTINO, ERLE VIRGILIA MAMAWAL EVENTS ASSISTANT KIM MARIANO GRAPHIC ARTIST JANINE DELA CUESTA, ROI DE CASTRO

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FIXT URE

VIRTUAL REALITY

Local startups are mixing online platforms and apps to make life more convenient TEXT RENZ NOLLASE ILLUSTRATION TRISTAN TAMAYO

The Internet is a borderless space.

Although a life lived online may not appeal to everyone, some entrepreneurs and Internet wünder kids have adapted efficiently to

life under its influence. Across the invisible airwaves where this digital world exists, online platforms and mobile apps are offering innovative services and solutions to real-life

problems. And within the techie backyards of Metro Manila, local startups and online platforms are thriving, offering new ways of experiencing every day.

SAKAY.PH If you are one of many who rely on public transport, this online platform and app can help lessen the complexities of finding a public utility vehicle (PUV) going to your destination. Simply enter your origin and destination and Sakay.ph provides routes, either on foot or by PUV, to get you to your next stop. www.sakay.ph

STORM BENEFITS The minds behind Storm Benefits understand that not everyone maximizes the general employee benefits most employers offer. The startup’s Flexible Benefits program allows employees to convert their benefits into points that can be used to buy products (from gadgets to travel packages) from an online benefit store. Employees can customize benefit packages to fit their and their family’s needs. www.storm.tech

BANTAY.PH

ORANGE APPS Orange Apps aims to ease the burden of managing a school by offering online and app-based platforms that can make school transactions more efficient, ranging from enrollment and tuition

payment to class scheduling. Their goal is to make operational tasks easier to allow schools to focus on providing a better education for students. www.orangeapps.ph

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Our say in government does not end with the recently concluded elections.

The team behind Bantay.ph wants you to actively monitor your local government offices to lessen graft and corruption. On the site is a convenient list of rights and services that citizens can expect from their local government units (LGU), a scorecard of the LGU’s efficiency complete with warnings about fixers, and an option to volunteer for their government-watch program. www.bantay.ph

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HEALT H

THE GOOD LIFE

Examining the perks and pitfalls of being kind TEXT PRISTINE L. DE LEON ILLUSTRATION REESE LANSANGAN

There’s hardly any reason for doctors to promote the lifestyles of Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie, except of course when philanthropy enters the picture. “Helper’s high” pertains to states of euphoria triggered by doing good deeds, probably those experienced by no less than Abraham Lincoln himself or fictional French girl Amélie Poulain.

Stimulating the production of endorphins in the brain, doing good apparently induces a subtle, natural iteration of a morphine high. The Atlantic cites a study conducted at Washington University: “Older adults who began tutoring children demonstrated improvements in stamina, memory, flexibility, depression.” Research from the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the U.S. further states that thoughts of giving money to charity activate parts of the brain stimulated by food and sex. Kindness, apparently, is a pleasure on its own.

Physically, what we can call the added perks of being kind stem from the relaxation of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Studies prove that helping someone face to face reduces blood pressure and improves the activity of the vagus nerve—the longest nerve in the body—to keep the heart in shape. There are even studies that say regular volunteering prevents early death much more effectively than exercising.

According to past medical explanations, there’s a more apparent reason why donating, caregiving, and

volunteering probably give a more elusive existential pleasure: do-gooders perceive the tangible results of what they do—improving lives, making a difference— and likely become closer to fulfilling a more abstract change-the-world agenda.

“Charity is really self-interest masquerading under the form of altruism,” says Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello. While philanthropists and volunteers enjoy the merits of recognition, self-validation, building a legacy, or simply attaining peace of mind, prescribing kindness for health reasons, if not a bit ridiculous, can be somewhat paradoxical. It casts charity simply as a means for one’s own sense of satisfaction. Sara Konrath, a researcher at Indiana University, further observes that people who volunteer for more selfsatisfying motives had mortality risks similar to those of the average individual.

The fact is that altruism, rather than philanthropy or volunteering, requires a certain state of mind rather than a mere calculation of money donated or hours spent in the field. Selfless attitudes bring about an inner balance otherwise achievable only through intense meditation. Moving past navel-gazing or one’s personal hero narrative, an individual can focus on building stronger social ties, in effect reducing a crippling sense of dissatisfaction and isolation. Even Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooge lived longer by thinking of others for a change.

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BEAUT Y

ROOTS OF THE PROBLEM The rationality behind a simple hair dilemma

TEXT CARLA DELOS REYES ILLUSTRATION MAYSIE LECCIONES

Hair loss—or excessive shedding of hair in men and women—is probably one of the most common (and unnerving) scalp conditions today. Human hair grows approximately one-fourth of an inch per month; 50 to 100 strands fall out of the scalp per day. Thanks to the handful of strands on our pillowcases and shower drains, we are reminded of this rueful reality every day.

Then again, hair exists for reasons way beyond the scope of vanity. It is, for the most part, also a lifeline: a health indicator that issues a fair warning when something is simply not right with the body. Below are three surprising causes of hair loss that may be side effects of other health issues.

Crash Diets When you suddenly strip your body of the nutrients it needs to function normally, it switches to survival mode: to sustain itself, it

redirects its remaining proteins to more important tasks (such as preserving your organs), instead of repairing hair tissues. Your hair is generally made of protein, so you can imagine how the lack— or absence—of it can affect your lustrous locks. Protein deficiency may lead to telogen effluvium, in which hair roots are prematurely forced into resting phase before shedding entirely.

Tip: Maintain a healthy diet with high-quality protein such as eggs, meat, seafood, and soya. On its own, a medium-sized egg comes complete with 20 amino acids that your body requires.

Major Surgeries General anesthesia and certain medical procedures can actually cause hair loss three months after being administered. While anesthesia may only temporarily relax the muscles or cause loss of consciousness, its effects on the

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hair follicles are longer lasting.

Surgeries send the body into an extreme state of shock, so hair fiber activity stops completely and goes into a resting state.

Tip: Your hair will repair itself only when the body finds its balance, so take time to heal and replace lost nutrients after surgery.

Steamy Showers Your hair is never more prone to breakage than when it’s in the confines of your own bathroom.

Just like it does to the skin, hot water dehydrates the strands and instantly makes them brittle by washing away protective oils and forcing pores to compensate with oil production. This, in addition to combing wet hair and aggressive towel-drying, is a perfect formula for hair fall.

Tip: Use lukewarm water when washing your hair and avoid too much friction by patting (instead of rubbing) it when towel-drying.

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CEBU LIVING

May 2016 Volume 10 | Issue 9

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FRANZ IGNACIO

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KRYZ UY

Shifting from trends to a brand of her own Page 15

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FEAT URE

LIVING QUARTERS Creatives find order and inspiration in this chaotic city through their ideal workstations TEXT DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA

Wide Eyed

By Tokwa Peñaflorida “The city noise and humidity stress me out quickly, which makes it hard for me to concentrate on working,” says painter and illustrator Tokwa Peñaflorida. He takes inspiration from open spaces and floor-to-ceiling windows so a greenhouse-like structure—not too big but enough to house his art materials and to entertain guests—is his dream art space.

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FEAT URE

Vicarious Space

By Anina Rubio Aside from working on her watercolor illustrations, calligraphy, and, more recently, street art, Anina Rubio is a self-confessed adventure seeker. “My ideal workspace revolves around black, white, and wood, bombarded with inspirations from the mountain and sea adventures.� An ample desk space, classical or Zen music, and a glass of iced coffee are the three things she could never work without.

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FEAT URE

Moving Stills

By Judd Figuerres Videographer Judd Figuerres’ work entails tons of legwork but when it comes to the real grind-video editing-he yearns for a simple yet cozy sanctuary. “I don’t like the feeling of being inside a boxed space. I need big windows to bring in more light and also to give me an illusion of an extended space,” he says. Two other crucial things necessary for productive desk work are a big monitor and a really comfortable leather couch for that much needed power nap.

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COV ER STORY

OLD WORLD CHARM

This page: Tunic (worn underneath) and overshirt, Studio Nueve. Jacket (used as waist wrap around) and clam digger pants, Comme des Garรงons, Homme et Femme, Shangri-la Plaza Mall.

Opposite page: Jacket and drop crotch pants, Comme des Garรงons, Homme et Femme, Shangri-la Plaza Mall.

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COV ER STORY

In the dynamic and eclectic business of design, Natalya Lagdameo convinces us it’s good to be old-fashioned TEXT PRISTINE L. DE LEON PHOTOGRAPHY JOSEPH PASCUAL

“Welcome to my office; it’s easy to get lost here,” says Natalya Lagdameo. She’s standing in a jumble of stacked wooden planks, empty paint cans, and discarded metal sheets. It’s a maze of scraps at the Lagdameo workshop. “This is where I hide,” she quips.

Every three months, she receives about 12 balikbayan boxes containing scraps from Elements Fine Furnishing Fabrics’ discontinued lines. “That’s for the bears,” she says, pertaining to her charity project. She’s been working with the Gifts and Graces fair trade foundation, producing the Yakan teddy bears together with a community of toymakers.

To say the least, her office is overwhelming—much like a museum converted into a workspace, crammed with fabrics, papers, books, horned animal heads, and innocent teddy bears peeking out of sacks. “That’s where I sit,” she points to a corner, “over there where the little weird things are.”

As a furniture and jewelry designer, Natalya works

with everything from antique tables to bangles to toys. The furniture business is helmed by her and her father, known furniture designer and antiques dealer Buddy Lagdameo. One of Natalya’s side projects, fashion collections co-designed by Ina Estancio, evoke a style that she describes as simple, quiet, and carefully detailed. She isn’t considering a full venture into fashion soon, but she explains, “I think it’s good to try new mediums when in a design-based field.” The simple motif of each fashion piece provides a blank canvas for the jewelry, which she reassures, is still the main focus of her work.

It was two years ago since she launched her last jewelry collection, yet for the latter half of this one, her growing cult of tribal jewelry aficionados can look forward to a new Mother of Pearl line. “And hopefully, if I can get my act together,” she adds, “we’ll be launching Black Diamonds also,” which sports her palette of black, white, and gold.

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COV ER STORY

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COV ER STORY

Dress (used as blouse) and skirt,Comme des Garรงons, Homme et Femme, Shangri-la Plaza Mall. Cardigan (used as waist wrap around), Studio Nueve.

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COV ER STORY

STYLING MELVIN MOJICA HAIR JET BABAS MAKEUP CARELL GARCIA STYLING ASSISTANT MIGUEL MANZANERO

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COV ER STORY

Natalya never advertises her jewelry. “I really don’t north and around 35 bangles that she hasn’t taken off do events or social stuff,” she says blankly. Neither her wrist for the last nine years. “I work a lot with does she answer the phone on weekends or after 5 p.m. the Ifugao,” she says. “Even if they’re out to plant, Most would comment that this practice is to give the they’re all wearing their headdresses, their beads. creative mind the liberty it’s due, while some would Ornamentation is part of them. There, their status counter that it’s simply bad for business. “I like to just isn’t really monetary; it’s how many terraces you quietly do my work,” she says, admitting that at times take care of, how much ancestral land you have. It’s a when her phone rings, she simply flips it over. “My completely different mentality.” She adds, “The beads environment is so overwhelming in itself—so much are sort of like currency. Their heirloom pieces are stuff, so much energy. I learned to focus on things that passed on, going through several generations.” need to be achieved.”

In the beginning of the business, only the older Her first collection of ornaments made its rounds market patronized both the furniture and the jewelry. in specialty boutiques: first in However, as her father adds, Whitespace, back when it still Natalya “has made the business conducted Sunday markets, and younger.” From selling antiques then in Firma, AC+632, Cura and offering traditional styles, “My whole life V, and Bungalow 300. By word old pieces are modernized to suit of mouth and by the power of present tastes, while retaining is old. I grew up online posts, the pieces found an aesthetic that harks back to a around antiques. their way to designers’ Twitter and native lineage. “We have created Instagram accounts (“Beautiful,” a niche market for ourselves. We My dad inherited his don’t look for business; business tweeted interior designer Nix comes,” he says. “We have what Alañon back in 2012), parading grandfather’s house, people don’t have.” traditional designs as though it which was built in “The whole thing’s been were still the 1800s. overdone,” Natalya says of the “My whole life is old,” says the ’30s. We still have industry. “I guess because my Lagdameo, her deep voice influence is more of the past, it’s betraying something almost as capiz windows and nice how people are beginning lighthearted as a shy laugh. “I heigh ceilings.” to be conscious of our own grew up around antiques. My dad inherited his grandfather’s house, traditions now. About five or six years ago, there was this national which was built in the ’30s. We pride explosion. All of a sudden, still have capiz windows and high ceilings. It’s filled with mostly the focus was on everything local. wood and artifacts because my dad collects. He had I don’t know if it’s just this generation realizing ‘Oh his own collection of jewelry in the beginning.” my God, we’re Filipinos.’”

Buddy Lagdameo, whose work desk is actually In a tired landscape of changing designs—the her favorite antique, is arguably Natalya’s greatest constant shaping and re-shaping of ideas, wood, influence. “I never sell anything that’s not Filipino,” he brass, and stones—it can get a little messy. It’s easy says, and the mentality was passed on to his daughter to get lost here. In an industry continuously seeking at an early age. “I have been going around the country the latest trend, this family’s business proves that since the ’60s,” he continues. “The first time I brought history is arguably one luxury that cannot be forged Natalya to Sagada, she was seven years old. Up to or fabricated. The Lagdameo’s works rise above the now, she goes up by herself. That’s why she loves the clutter of reinventions and changing contemporary styles, staying instead on the democratic ground where Filipino culture: because she understands it.”

She culls inspiration from indigenous women who the past is preserved, and tradition can flourish. Or as capitalize on the luxury of their heritage. On her she puts it most simply: “Over there, where the little arm are a ring given to her by one of the ladies up weird things are.”

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ST YLE

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EATS Triangulo offers Mexican fare that’s admittedly not Mexican in taste. Instead, its menu consists of familiar Asian flavors like chicken teriyaki and kimchi, perfect when paired with a drink from the bar.

UNDER GROUND

A new taqueria defies the call for authenticity and injects its own heat and flavor TEXT RENZ NOLLASE PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

Triangulo is not a Mexican restaurant. That’s what Sam Lim, one of the partners behind Triangulo, assures me when probed about the restaurant/bar burrowed within the Diliman Commercial Center’s lower levels. Between the Starbucks upstairs and the surrounding banks and businesses, the bare concrete and dark interiors of the space render a visual disjunct against its environs.

Yet despite this stand-offish air, Triangulo invites you to be casual, to grab a beer and pair it with one of the variations of the three main items offered: wings, soft tacos, and burrito bowls. In coming up with the restaurant’s theme and menu, Lim says they wanted to build on the three main dishes and the trifecta of hot sauces he concocted for Triangulo.

“The thing is with a lot of Filipinos, we don’t know how to use chilis for flavor,” says Lim. Take the green chili typically found in sinigang and sisig, for example.

In Triangulo, it is used as a mildly spicy sauce, chemical green in appearance and felt only as it tickles the tongue. The siling labuyo is rendered as the acidic Chili Rojo. For the aptly named Suicide level of spiciness, though, Lim employs a chili that’s higher up on the Scoville Heat Scale. Habanero peppers mix with sweet mango in a pungent liquid that smells almost like a spiked version of a favorite childhood candy, masking

the sinister wildfire that spreads on your tongue from contact. Punishingly good.

As for the dishes these sauces are reserved for, Lim says they did not want to stick to the typical Mexican cuisine. Instead, they offer chicken wings, and in place of the usual Mexican fillings, an assembly of different meats in their tacos: from Asian-style chicken teriyaki to slow-roasted beef. “Mexican restaurants always offer tacos like carne asada, which for me is rather boring and too familiar,” says Lim. For once, departing from the pursuit of authenticity proves a delicious thing. The Korean Beef taco is a gingery mouthful cut by the acidic taste of salsa and kimchi, while the Triple Pork is a necessary degustation for pork lovers: the tender pork belly, with slivers of sweet fat heaped on top of a taco cushion, offers no resistance to the bite. The soft mouthfeel is only slightly punctuated by crisp cabbage and salsa.

If the hearty meals demand anything other than a cocktail or a beer from the bar, it’s a spoonful of the brownie à la mode, that has a chewy sugar cookie taste. After a few more drinks, emerge from the underground of the commercial building to the wide concrete surface of Commonwealth Ave., full of good food and drinks, and already looking forward to your next subterranean visit.

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EATS

Clockwise from top: Triangulo stands out amid commercial establishments; Buffalo Wings and Honey Mustard Wings; Garlic Shrimp with Capers Burrito Bowl.

Triangulo. Lower Ground Floor, Diliman Commercial Center, Commonwealth Ave., Batasan Hills, Quezon City.

0917-7182163. www.facebook.com/TrianguloPhilippines.

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RECIPE

LIGHT FARE A cheap yet healthy alternative to couscous

TEXT AND STYLING CHARLIE CARBUNGCO PHOTOGRAPHY GABBY CANTERO

CREAMY CURRY CHICKEN AND CAULIFLOWER COUSCOUS

INGREDIENTS

4 tbsp. olive oil 2 cups cream 1 red onion, minced 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp. ginger, minced 2 tbsp. curry paste 1/4 kg. chicken breast 3 cups cauliflower, chopped 1 tbsp. lemon 1 tbsp. parsley, chopped

PREPARATION

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. 2. Sauté red onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent and golden brown, respectively. Add ginger and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Add the curry paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes over low heat.

Then pour cream into curry paste mixture. Set aside.

4. Sear each side of the chicken breast for around 2 minutes or

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until golden brown.

5. Bake the chicken breast for 10 to 12 minutes.

6. Using a blender, add the cauliflower and blend until the texture resembles couscous. Transfer it into a bowl and add lemon juice and chopped parsley. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Put the cauliflower couscous on a plate. Top with chicken breast and drizzle with curry sauce.

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T HE GET

CURIOUS ENCOUNTERS A hand-embroidered clock’s lack of kitschy ornamentation is its own allure TEXT PRISTINE L. DE LEON

In the universe of empty snow globes, eggs stuffed with fortune messages, and notebooks that never really open—that is, the stranger world of Maison Margiela’s Ligne 13—it’s natural to be suspicious of a humble little clock.

Though decidedly the more sensible piece in a family of eccentric objects, you’d still expect it to perform some trickery of sorts—say, for instance, its hands turning backwards when you’re not looking.

Maison Margiela, the French fashion house notorious for its iconoclasm, carries designs that range from quirky and trippy to downright disturbing. Here, the cotton sheet covers the clock’s many complicated mechanisms and the wood that forms its body. It’s more of a ghost clock than anything else—less like intricate machinery recording time’s relentless forward march and more like an unassuming corner decor hand-embroidered by your aunt. The piece can stand on a table or, if you prefer, hang on a white wall.

Maison Margiela Ligne 13. Homme et Femme. GF East Tower One, 3F Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

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A home where it all comes together.

VISIT OUR SHOWROOM AT TOWER 3, ROCKWELL BUSINESS CENTER, ORTIGAS AVE., PASIG CITY

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