Southern Living: 2015 October

October 2015 Volume 10 | Issue 2

NEW WAVE

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HEALT H

TRUSTING THE GUT FEEL

The requisites of planning a diet that influences your mood TEXT KAT PATIÑO-MARQUEZ ILLUSTRATION TRISTAN TAMAYO

If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that we can rely on food to pick us up during life’s stressful or daunting moments: ice cream for a bad break up, coffee and chips for an all-nighter, pizza when we’re feeling down. But despite the uplifting comfort our favorite food brings to our spirits, it might actually be doing the opposite. Just ask your gut microbiota.

Gut microbiota, or gut flora as it was previously called, are the bacterial organisms living in our intestinal tract that help digest certain foods that our stomach and intestines fail to do. But more importantly, as recent studies suggest, they can also send signals to the central nervous system, much like our organs do. From these findings, researchers have implied that the health of our gut microbiota has a significant impact on our mental condition—as well as on our gastrointestinal and immune systems—due to their ability to interact with our brains.

Even the slightest negative effect on our gut microbiota can cause mood switches and even depression; observe how the feeling of sluggishness sets in after we’ve eaten processed food. Our gut microbiota just responds better to natural food sources. Thus, to ensure good mood and the prevention of more pressing mental diseases, we must also ensure the optimal health of our gut bacteria. It’s best to consume food that balances them.

and heart disease, but it can also make us susceptible to anxiety and memory loss. Researchers have recently discovered that an alteration of our gut bacteria caused by fatty food can cause inflammation in our brains. This, in turn, can cause mental diseases such as depression, and is even linked to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Make probiotics and pre-biotics part of your daily diet They weren’t kidding; Yakult is good for your health.

Probiotics like Yakult help fight off bad bacteria in the digestive system that attack gut microbiota. Probiotic foods like yoghurt, kimchi, pickles, miso soup, and sauerkraut not only help protect our gut bacteria but also helps boost the immune and digestive systems.

Pre-biotics, on the other hand, feed the good bacteria already living in your gut, giving them the necessary boost they need to fulfill their functions. Asparagus, bananas, oatmeal, red wine, honey, and legumes are great examples.

Avoid processed food Processed food like processed grains, sugar, junk food, and the like kill off our gut microbiota and reduce their numbers by about a third. This could be a huge factor as to why people who consume more processed food are more susceptible to obesity—they just don’t have enough gut bacteria to digest what they consume. There is also Cut back on fatty food enough evidence to show that low gut bacterial activity is Not only does fatty food put our bodies at risk for obesity linked to autism and schizophrenia.

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BEAUT Y

GROOMING YOUR CARPET The return of the full-bush Brazilian wax

TEXT BEVERLY DALTON ILLUSTRATION MARTIN DIEGOR

In recent years, girls have chucked their razors, choosing instead the way of the wax when it comes to hair removal down there. Popularly known as the Brazilian wax, story has it that this waxing trend was started by seven sisters from Brazil sometime in the late ’80s. They opened a salon in Manhattan that offered this pubic hair removal process, and New Yorkers were shocked by it in the beginning.

But by the ’90s, it became de rigeur, as the New York Times put it, for the women of Manhattan. More than a decade later, in Manila, beach season or not, Filipina women have been more than welcoming to this Brazilian look on their girly parts.

Errant hairs are usually not a pretty sight, but with fuzzy armpit hair made cool time and time again (originally by the French and then by Americans like Julia Roberts in the 1999 London premiere of Notting Hill and now Miley Cyrus on Instagram), hairiness in the bikini area is beginning to look on-trend. Some women are already reticent about going full frontal and are choosing to leave more

hair behind—the full-bush Brazilian as it is called.

In this treatment, only the bikini line and the labia are waxed, and the rest of the top bush remains.

It looks more natural but without skipping the grooming routines. As au naturel as it looks (New York Magazine says it’s the normcore of pubes), it is still precisely orchestrated below while the top remains unscathed.

Contrary to the all-bare Brazilian, the full-bush skips some of the pain endured in waxing. A strategic schedule must still be kept to reduce the pain: a week or two after the monthly period. The same amount of maintenance also applies: lightly exfoliate before getting the treatment, and do not shower or wet the affected area right away after waxing.

However, the question is: is this let’s-make-hairfreely-hang trend from the ’70s back for good?

Ultimately, and we say this without beating around the bush, wherever women are in their furry or non-furry preference, they’re called “private parts” for a reason.

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FIXT URE

FROM TAGLISH TO BEKIMON

The death, rebirth, and infinite mutation of the Filipino tongue TEXT WINCY AQUINO ONG ILLUSTRATION MARTIN DIEGOR

“Riverine,” I answered. Our boss had thrown us a brainteaser, asking what the English translation of the word “Tagalog” was.

Much as I was beaming with nerd cred that day, my answer was more or less true. If you’ve Wiki-ed “Filipino language” or Manuel L. Quezon’s Executive Order No. 134, you’d learn that Tagalog comes from “taga-ilog.” “People who live by the river.”

(Time out. Let’s be politically correct here. Let’s not say Tagalog anymore. Let’s say Filipino.)

Here’s another story: When I was living in British Columbia in 2011, some Canadians—who were fans of Manny Pacquiao—asked me to talk in Filipino so as to sample what our language sounded like to Western ears. They made me translate a review of The Dark Knight Rises.

An observant one said, “Hmm…Like Malay had a threesome with Spanish and English.”

His description hit me like a sack of bricks. The guy accidentally described our nation’s history in one breath. Until then, I never realized how potent and mystical Filipino as a language was.

From there on, fascination about our native language bit me. Indeed, it was a strange language, and I thought more and more about it. It is one that keeps evolving on its own, one that has a confusing rulebook for syntax, but one that could not keep up with the advances of science and technology.

Pop quiz: What’s carbon dioxide in Filipino? Or patella? Or Uniform Resource Locator?

And who neutered our vocabulary? The Americans?

Quezon himself?

Still, certain words survived, words without an English translation. (I once wrote a listicle about

those. It got close to a million reads.)

Kilig. Kubo. Kulam. A language spoken by lovers, farmers, and warlocks?

The other day, I was at a children’s party. It’s funny how a 33-year-old tandercat, still getting used to being the oldest person in the room, can feel like an alien, being surrounded by the little people of the future.

Now, I grew up in the ’80s. At home, we spoke in complete Filipino. No one batted an eyelash about it.

These days, as I observe my nephews, nieces, and their friends, all of them speak in complete English, some with call center accents even. They roll their R’s like valley girls do in Culver City. Their S’s come out with extra sibilance, close to sounding like Z’s. Perhaps the parental logic here is: Train them while they’re young.

Could this spell doom for the Filipino language? This call center agent mindset? These Arrneow persuasions?

Here’s a happy thought: On the flipside, there’s child comedienne Ryzza Mae Dizon. She popularized the term “nosebleed.” It’s what happens when the humble, Filipino-speaking middle-class is exposed to strains of highfalutin’ English words. Blood dribbles down their nostrils.

Quite a biting satire, if you think about it—one that signals the survival of the Filipino language.

Could the nosebleed be our biological revolt against the English language?

So what’s next? Is the Filipino language futureproof? Or have the Internet, globalization, and brain drain rang the death-knell?

Says Ryan Villena, a former Filipino teacher in Ateneo High School, “A lot of words may be lost because the new generation may not encounter them anymore. For example, a kid living in a high-rise

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FIXT URE

“So what’s next? Is the Filipino language future-proof? Or have the Internet, globalization, and brain drain rang the death-knell?” condo may never encounter a house gecko or butiki.

Hence, the word may never be in his vocabulary unless he encounters them in a story he read.”

Ghostwriter and Palanca Award-winning poet Mikael de Lara Co begs to differ. He has high hopes for the survival of Filipino, “There are 100 million Filipinos and counting. Filipino is being taught in schools. We have telenovelas, tabloids and cornerstore conversations in Filipino. The President himself delivers his speeches mostly in Filipino. There’s not much to be worried about in terms of our language dying out.”

Could it be that Filipino is not dying, but is mutating into other forms? More palatable forms?

It’s all happening now. Go to the nearest ATM and you’d see an option for Taglish instructions. Visit a chat room and you’d see bacterial strains of Jejemon.

I kid you not, “Ligo na ü, Lapit na Me” is the title of a bestseller. Switch to any TV show with Vice

Ganda on it and expose your ears to Bekimon and its dictionaries-worth of puns.

So do these so-called mutations vandalize the mother tongue? Says Juan Miguel Sevilla, a screenwriter and novelist well-versed in both English and Filipino, “When you say ‘mutation,’ it’s often derogatory. But in fact, mutation is what makes evolution possible.

With language, it’s the same. As long as people use it to communicate, our feelings about it should not matter.”

Speechwriter-poet Rafael San Diego could not agree more. “Languages mutate over time for many different reasons. Jejemon, for example, is a product of many external forces. Young people create their own niches, like the Droogs from A Clockwork Orange or the Mutants in (the graphic novel) The Dark Knight Returns.”

Say what you must of the Filipino language and its future. To me, it’s a beautiful mongrel. The manysyllabled mouthings of a young people. The machinegun pidgin ratatat that reminds me of home.

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CR AF T

STRAPPED IN

Visit your closet to create this rustic shelving piece TEXT AND STYLING KAT PATIÑO-MARQUEZ PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

LEATHER AND WOOD SHELVING What you’ll need: 2 wood planks 4 leather belts Nails Hammer Measuring tape Pencil

Procedure: 1. Strap belts together to form 2 loops measuring about 60” in circumference. If necessary, punch in more holes using a drill or an awl. Loops must measure the same to avoid a lopsided shelf.

2. With your pencil, mark 2” from each end of the bottom of the first board. This marker is where you’ll lay the belts.

3. Lay the belts at the pencil mark; making sure to place the belt buckles where you want them.

4. Using your hammer, nail down the belt using 3 nails. Repeat on the other end of the board.

5. Once the belts are secured at the

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bottom, flip the board so it’s facing forward with the backside on the ground and nail the belt down at the front and back edges.

6. Place your second board, facing forward directly above the first.

Insert it in the loops.

7. With your measuring tape, leave a 10” gap between both boards. Try to get them as aligned as possible.

8. Once your second board is in place, nail it down on the front and back sides and again on the other end.

9. After both boards are secure, lift the shelving using the belts to see if it’s hanging perfectly. Nail it down on a wall to hang.

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SOUT HERNER

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Paulina Ortega’s artistry refuses to be contained within a single locale TEXT SEPTEMBER GRACE MAHINO PHOTOGRAPHY RALPH MENDOZA

Change, for a lot of people, presents terrifying prospects. Illustrator and designer Paulina Ortega, however, isn’t most people. Traveling to and living in different places around the world while in her 20s— she’s 25—has been a long-term dream, one she’s been fulfilling for the past few years, adjusting to tectoniclevel life shifts along the way.

An example: after a couple of post-college years spent working for advertising agency TBWA, Ortega moved to Singapore in 2012, armed with her portfolio, work experience, and a realistic expectation colored by optimism. “I thought if it works out, then it works out; I’d give it my best shot.” Far from the comforts of home, including a wide network of fellow creatives, she knocked on doors of Singaporean design firms, hoping that one of them “would take a chance on this girl from the Philippines,” she says with a laugh.

Soon enough, Ortega became part of design firm Tremendousness, where she worked for two and a half years as a senior designer and art director. On the side, she worked freelance; one of her first clients is the upstart Singaporean brand A Juicery, which tapped her to help them with branding. “There was nothing then; they weren’t even sure what to do with it yet,” she recalls. Now, A Juicery has a juice store on Airbnb.

“It was great for me as a foreigner to contribute to the local scene, help make something grow from scratch.”

She’s still working with the company, conceptualizing and designing product packaging. “To see them grow, do well, and see how the branding plays into that— it’s hard not to feel invested,” she affirms. Another international project is the branding she did for the Manhattan-based Argentinian bakery Sur, which she had worked on after leaving TBWA. A New York trip a year after she had started on the project had her seeing the end results on the bakery’s store front.

“These projects are rewarding because I know it wasn’t personal relationships that helped push me along. It was my work, how I presented myself.”

Still, differences in cultural tastes were something to adjust to. Coming from a different work environment and arts scene, Ortega says the Singaporean market is quite different from the Filipino’s. In contrast to the general warmth and vibrancy found in Filipino design, Singapore’s aesthetic is, as she puts it, “very graphic, very stark, very modern. There are so many brilliant Singaporean design firms recognized globally—just as

in here, though in Manila, it’s more of people going off on their own or starting small groups. There, big firms dictate the style of what the younger people are doing.”

As one of the few foreigners in the Tremendousness office, Ortega stood out even more with her preferred way of working: very tactile and reliant on the penciland-paper approach. “It’s hard for me to let go of hands-on, handcrafted elements,” she admits. Pencil sketches serve as the jump-off point for bigger designs, even just for composition, and watercolor images and collages are prevalent in her work. At one point, she thought of steering away from these methods to avoid the pitfall of coming up with the same look for every project. That handmade, handwritten look, however, turned out to be a big reason why clients seek her out.

“They like it, and since I can’t avoid doing them, I’ve learned to embrace them—which is great since I love to work with my hands.”

It’s also a reflection of her artistic maturity, as her younger self tended to throw every technique she knew into every project. “When you’re young, you want to peacock a bit. But as you get older, you realize what makes creative people stand out is how they can single things out and understand deeply what they want to achieve and communicate in their work.” Working consistently with a variety of clients the past years, Ortega has come to a better understanding of her own voice and perspective, which she says has remained consistently feminine.

Not a lot remains constant, though. After setting roots in Singapore, she once again packed her bags and moved to the next terra incognita: Sydney, Australia just last February. But instead of hitting the pavement, Ortega is taking in the local arts scene first, scoping out co-shared spaces and potential collaborators. After working in two full-time jobs in two different countries consecutively, she’s looking forward to going full freelance for a change, something she’s wanted to do for a while now.

“It’s a big leap of faith. I mean, am I going to be doing something? Would I get paid?” she wonders. Much like the optimism that fuelled her previous move, Ortega banks on the strength of her work and connections built through the years. “I have good relationships with clients I was working with regularly back in Singapore and even Manila. I think whatever happens, I’ll still be working with them even as I pursue new things. Plus, good design is good design, no matter where you go.”

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SOUT HERNER

“It was great for me as a foreigner to contribute to the local scene, help make something grow from scratch.”

HAIR EDDIE MAR CABILTES MAKEUP ANTON PATDU

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SPACE A mix of modern and traditional fixtures define the interiors of La Casita.

Finding heritage in the suburbs of Makati TEXT LEX CELERA PHOTOGRAPHY JILSON SECKLER TIU

Standing on the corner of Enriquez and Fermina Streets in the middle of Barangay Poblacion is a house painted in crisp white, lined with various potted plants around its walls. Any attention given to it is unwarranted, as there are no large signs, no noise coming out from the windows, no sidewalk spectacle beckoning you to turn your head and look.

Yet it still catches the eye. At the gate, relatively tiny lettering names the structure La Casita Mercedes, or Mercedes’ house.

Nobody named Mercedes lives inside, though.

Mercedes is a metaphorical composite character in the mind of owner Jon Ramos and the guide for the pre-war house turned bed and breakfast. “She’s wellto-do, she’s educated, and she’s well-exposed. Maybe she had a little money to get a small pretty house, but

it’s not a house that’s luho,” he explains.

Ramos’ meticulousness, paired with a care for preserving culture, makes La Casita Mercedes a space for both history and leisure. Still life paintings and drawings of Filipino culture, antique maps of the Philippines, and other knickknacks from Ramos’ travels make the space congenial and inviting.

The staircase is lined with a refurbished abaca rug previously found abandoned on a sidewalk. In the mini atrium/patio hang light fixtures shaped like stars, intended as a reference to the three stars and the sun of the national flag. The air comes in through the open space and, at night, the lights shaped like parols shine through entrances. “The thing about having a lot of light coming in is it’s something that makes you feel good. [The space] is bright and airy,” explains Ramos.

Built in 1933, the house had succumbed to decay and degradation over the years. Ramos found the home decrepit and dilapidated yet still occupied, rented out to five families by a relative of the original owner, who is now living overseas. The house was evidently a house of heritage, and Ramos recognized it. After learning that the house was for sale, he purchased it, and painstaking labor and millions of pesos in funding later, La Casita Mercedes came into fruition. The house retains much of its original

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SPACE The kitchen space is a mix of modern and old-world design (right).

A view of La Casita Mercedes (below). An antique wall clock and light switches in the sala (below, right).

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“I don’t want to make it feel as if your lola had lived here.

Instead, I want to showcase the Philippines.” architecture, the American and Spanish influences unfading underneath the paint. Under Ramos’ care, it was made anew, standing tall just as it was before.

But making La Casita Mercedes into what it is now was not an easy task. Under Ramos’ vision for the house, there were high standards to be met regarding the renovation. It had to be torn apart and then built piece by piece, with certain replacement pieces needing to be manufactured first—some parts were even stripped from another old house in Caloocan.

The house did have its own compromises: its orientation changed, and the structure lifted three feet above the ground. Ramos doesn’t think that affects the appeal of the building, though. “I think the reason why the house is well-received is because I know when and when not to compromise. Most

times I don’t, because it’s the ‘puwede na ‘yan’ mentality that gets us into trouble.”

Ramos intends La Casita Mercedes and its eight rooms to be a bed and breakfast showcasing what the Philippines has to offer. Its appeal would lie not on the idea of a historical getaway but a sense of place.

La Casita Mercedes isn’t just a success case of heritage preservation, but also a statement on the beauty and appeal of Filipino architecture. Stepping inside, you’re not supposed to be transported back to the past. Rather, you are just meant to enjoy yourself and enjoy the details around you. “I don’t want to make it feel as if your lola had lived here. Instead, I want to showcase the Philippines. [La Casita Mercedes] is proof that things can also go backward, not always necessarily forward.”

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FEAT URE

PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

CLOTH MAKES THE MAN

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FEAT URE Gang Gomez prefers to be called by his religious name, Dom Martin.

A priest’s devotion was never a hindrance to a lifelong creative pursuit TEXT WINCY AQUINO ONG

Old habits die hard, they say.

That adage can be no further from the truth when it comes to the curious case of one Dom Martin de Jesus H. Gomez, OSB. He was once better known to many as Gang Gomez in the halcyon days of late ’70s to ’80s fashion circles.

Gang Gomez was one of the top designers in the Philippines. He shared the spotlights with the likes of Auggie Cordero, Ernest Santiago, Inno Sotto, and Joe Salazar.

But like St. Paul on the road to Damascus, Gomez underwent a sea change—a major career change, if you may: of becoming a Benedictine monk.

He now lives the life monastic in the hinterlands of Bukidnon where, according to him, “Life there is quiet and simple. Priorities are different compared to life in the city.”

However, it is evident that the man of the cloth still harbors the fire for fashion design.

Growing up in an ancestral house in San Fernando, Pampanga, the young Gomez had fond childhood memories that soon informed his future creative pursuits. With a sparkle in his eye, he recalls, “As a young boy, I remember doing miniature sculptures using chalk as a medium. I even did a miniature replica of our house—complete with potted plants in the azotea.”

The creative spirit in his blood continued to thrive in his formative years. But it was when he turned 21 that he told his parents he would like to study Fashion Design at Mayer School of Fashion Design in New York. Graduating as one of the top students, Gomez was sent to represent the school and he trained with the New York Fashion Designers Foundation, where he won the prestigious New York Fashion Designers Foundation Award for Creative Design in 1971.

The impetus to greater heights grew. Gomez came back to the Philippines to start his career in haute couture design. For the first two years, he played assistant designer to Christian Espiritu. They designed the ternos for then First Lady Imelda Marcos.

Coming from a family with strong religious values foreshadowed Gomez’s eventual about-face turn towards the monastery. Describing himself as the pensive type, he says, “As a person, I have always been used to stopping from time to time to ask where life is going.”

When he was well on his way to turning 40, a strange feeling kept nipping at his heels: a feeling otherworldly, a feeling, at first, he could not understand. “It was this feeling of wanting more, a feeling of not being quite content with where I was, in spite of all the financial and artistic success. In the middle of the night I’d wake up, swearing I heard someone calling my name,” he says.

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PHOTOGRAPHY JIM PUNZALAN

Gomez made the proverbial leap of faith when he closed the Gang Gomez House of Fashion at the age of 41 and entered the Monastery of the Transfiguration to become a Benedictine monk. He says, “I trusted completely the God who called me by name. That was 25 years ago, and I have never regretted that decision.”

In an unstable economy, changing careers can be a scary proposition that most jaded professionals just soldier on with dead-end careers. Were there conflicts of interest when it came to Gomez’s career change?

Not at all, according to the ever-smiling monk.

It seems, as history would tell, that the monk and the artisan are inseparable roles.

He beams, “Did you know that, according to the Rule of St. Benedict for Monks, monks can continue practicing their art? Of course, for as long as they remain humble and remember that when they practice their art, it is for the greater glory of God.” As a passion project, Gomez through the years has championed a cause for the use of indigenous textiles for liturgical vestments. He designed pieces and exhibited the collections around the country and abroad. He cites “inculturation,” a movement that encourages the Catholic Church to respect the native cultures of people—and that includes a culture’s ideas of garb and native raw materials.

He believes that there is a strong market for our hand-woven indigenous textiles, not only for fashion, but also for housewares and interiors. Gomez says, “Some of our exquisitely hand-woven textiles are definitely world-class and meet the high standards of fashion abroad.”

According to him, government institutions like the Philippine Textile Research Institute and CITEM, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, and NGOs like HABI, the Philippine Textile Council, have been doing great in promoting these natural textiles.

Ever the busybody and quite the polymath, Gomez is currently clocking in the hours writing books.

At present, he is finishing his second book Hizon, Portrait of A Kapampangan Clan (to be published by the Center for Kapampangan Studies and the Hizon Foundation). Another book project of his is called Breakfast with the Monks, a recipe book of dishes served during the Bukidnon-based monastery’s monthly fund-raising project.

On the subject of fulfilling lifelong dreams, Gomez can only offer: “Anything is possible if God wills it.

Change is possible, even against all odds, by the grace of God.” Amen to that.

“It was this feeling of wanting more, a feeling of not being quite content with where I was, in spite of all the financial and artistic success.”

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MEASURES OF GRACE Folk dancers express everyday life through graceful and acrobatic movements TEXT DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA PHOTOGRAPHY JOSEPH PASCUAL

In every regal gaze, tap of a bamboo stick, or flick of a golden fan, a story is told. Stories of rajas and datus, of forbidden love and courtship, of battles of epic proportions, and even of ordinary daily tasks have withstood the test of time by way of dance.

With a nation comprised of and divided into several thousands of islands, our ancestors—from the Cordilleran highlanders to the valley farmers down to the lavish royals in the Muslim region—have found a common space to share their stories: through measured movements done to a syncopated tempo. The Bayanihan Dance Company, the country’s national folk dance group and oldest dance company, continues to preserve and strengthen the dance traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation.

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Maglalatik This all-male number hails from the province of Laguna, with coconut shells cut in half and secured onto the performers’ extremities. This exhibition of acrobatic movements demonstrates the battle between the Moros and the Christians over latik or coconut meat.

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Binasuan Binasuan means “with the use of drinking glasses.� Often danced at weddings and town fiestas, this dance from Pangasinan is meant to show off the balancing skill of both male and female performers as they do complicated movements, with a little gymnastics thrown in. This task is made more difficult by the liquid filling the glasses.

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Banga/Salidsid The word “banga� literally means pot, and the name of the dance is derived from the earthen pots stacked and balanced on the heads of Cordillera tribeswomen who move to the beat of the gangsa, a narrow-rimmed gong. As the women return from the well, the ordinary activity of collecting water transforms into an entertaining yet challenging test of skill.

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PAPER TOWNS

In the digital age, rows of forgotten, unopened books are waiting for their next borrower TEXT DENISE DANIELLE ALCANTARA ILLUSTRATION TRISTAN TAMAYO

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CCP Library and Archives The library stays true to its name with a miscellany of reference materials, ranging from arts and culture to history and the humanities. Their prolific Filipiniana collection is comprised of rare art books, film/theater photos and scripts, audio/video tapes, and other evidences of culture, serving as a treasure chest for researchers, artists, and enthusiasts.

3rd Floor, CCP Bldg., Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

Open from Tuesday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

832-1125 loc. 1513.

Filipinas Heritage Library Need a history refresher? Get access to over 13,000 volumes of Philippine history, art, language, religion, and social sciences here. The library has also ventured into digitized versions of rare titles, manuscripts, maps, and old photographs. For further research, you may also access their electronic database.

6th Floor, Ayala Museum, Makati Ave. cor. De la Rosa St., Makati City. Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 759-8288 loc. 36.

Goethe-Institut Philippinen Tucked in the busy streets of Salcedo Village is a library free for everyone to access. It is a compact library that houses a substantial collection of books on German culture and their nation’s social and political life. Its glass panel frontage lets in an ample amount of natural light for guests browsing through its heaps of books.

Ground Floor, Adamson Centre, 121 Leviste St., Salcedo Village, Makati City. Open from Monday to Friday from 12 nn to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

840-5723.

Miguel Hernandez Library This is another library that offers access to its motherland’s literary treasures. The Miguel Hernandez Library shares more than 20,000 Hispanic textual and audio-visual materials for the Filipino public’s use. Membership is P800 per year, P500 per year for students.

855 T.M. Kalaw St., 1000 Ermita, Manila. Open from Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 526-1482.

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The state of lost film archives retold through the lens of Luis Nepomuceno TEXT MEG MANZANO PHOTOGRAPHY ARTU NEPOMUCENO

“Which one of his descendants are you shooting?” asks Vicky Belarmino of the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA) upon mention of a shoot scheduled for the following day with Luis Nepomuceno.

Nepomuceno, a decorated filmmaker during the ’60s who made award-winning features such as Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak in 1967 starring Charito Solis, Ric Rodrigo, and the famed Paraluman as a convincing wicked inlaw; Ang Langit sa Lupa, also in 1967 (“Arguably my best film,” he says); and Igorota in 1968, to name but a humble few, was—or rather, to respectfully correct Belarmino’s misconception, is—Don Jose Nepomuceno’s living son. Tracing his lineage back to the infancy of Philippine films, the younger Nepomuceno’s father was also incidentally declared by local film cognoscenti as The Father of Philippine Movies.

It’s a gloomy Wednesday afternoon—the day after the meeting with Belarmino—and the Southern Living team is huddled inside the living room of Nepomuceno’s Tagaytay manor, a lodge-like structure the retired director calls his home. The warm and homey residence is not exactly what one would expect, given the auteur’s repertoire; none of the awards are lined up like relics in honor of his craft, it’s devoid of film posters to pay homage of his directing days, and there’s absolutely no trace of camera equipment, save for a gorgeous Leica R5 he’s bequeathed to his grandson.

The absence of remnants that usually populate a director’s residence was initially disconcerting. With an industry that relies on production materials, posters, scripts, and various props, the potential for memorabilia is endless. Yet the retired filmmaker makes no apologies for this alarming lack; neither does he make any conceived effort of addressing it. “Let’s go inside and watch the film,” Nepomuceno initiates as he gestures towards a little set-up of chairs, a leather sofa, and a La-ZBoy fronting a flat screen. “We’re watching Dahil today,” he declares to his audience of seven—eight, including the photographer’s assistant, who hurriedly perches himself on the stairs upon hearing it’ll be Liza Lorena’s debut film that would be played.

There is always an air of myth surrounding the films created during those years. Whether it was Charito Solis’, Paraluman’s, or Liza Lorena’s wardrobe, the actors’

impeccably coiffed hair, or the mellifluous dialogue that lent to that mythmaking, the films had certain qualities that made them august works of art. The appreciation doubles instantly once it’s realized that these were motion pictures created almost five decades ago, with all the impediments that plagued movie making.

“Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak was written by my father,” clarifies Nepomuceno. “But he never got a chance to make it because he wanted it to be [viewed] in color.”

It’s incredibly apt that Nepomucenos’ directorial debut would be one dedicated to both his father and that of Philippine movies. The senior Nepomuceno, a photographer credited to owning the then most expensive photo studio, the Electro-Photo-Studio Parhelio in Plaza Goiti (today’s Plaza Lacson), eventually segued into filmmaking and produced the first all-Filipino film Dalagang Bukid (1919) starring Atang de la Rama. “My career is because of my father,” intimates his son, minutes after watching Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak in his living room.

Still recovering from the suspense that consumed his eight-piece audience, Nepomuceno shares tales of cinema’s past, ranging from Nora Aunor being refused entry into a closed-door production while shooting Rod Navarro’s death scene (“Nora, masyado ka pang sikat; sa sunod na kapag laos ka na,” he says upon inquiry of when she would star in a Nepomuceno production) to Charito Solis and the direction given to her while reshooting her suicide attempt for a movie that would be the first Filipino entry to the 40th Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.

Nepomuceno has lived many good lives—none of which are exempt from his refusal to remain cocooned in nostalgia. As the retired director narrates his encounters with film aesthetes such as Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Wise, his visit with the director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick (“I believe she was involved in calling the statuette Oscar because she mentioned it looked a lot like her Uncle Oscar”), and his training under his father who had been shooting for Paramount News, it became clear why there was a resolute lack of relics at his home: there was simply no need for them, as they had all taken residence in the confines of his mind.

After nearly five decades away from the movie industry, Nepomuceno communicates a light despair of

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“Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak was written by my father. But he never got a chance to make it because he wanted it to be [viewed] in color.”

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COV ER STORY Luis Nepomuceno’s most successful film Igorota was in cinemas for nine straight months— outrunning The Graduate, which was released in the same week (right). He was also featured on the cover of American Cinematographer in 1967 (extreme right).

the negatives and reels of his and his father’s that have been lost. “I had to buy a copy of Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak for several thousand pesos,” he says. Asked where the films could be, the moviemaker mentions the possibility of it in a warehouse in Australia or Japan. “They told me there were over a million cans,” he says, referencing a correspondence with the laboratory in Australia. “[They said] if I wanted to sort it out and look through everything, I could go ahead.”

A number of films produced by Nepomuceno Productions, from those made by the father of Philippine cinema himself dating back to the early 1900s, are now lost. “I call it the horror of Philippine Cinema,” muses Belarmino of the staggering number of movies that have either not found a home or have been considered ultimately lost during a visit to CCP’s film archive. She leads the team into the room that houses the reels, the walls decorated with paint that had been peeling for several years. “That’s because of the high acid content of the films,” she points out.

Part of a commendable crew of volunteers who have been heralding a need to create a national archive for films and, of course, an appropriate facility (the room in CCP has a hole in the ceiling and perhaps another one in one of the air-conditioning units that refused to work), Belarmino cites the need for political will and “a lot of money” to find a better resting place for these works of art. While there exists a National Film Archive of the Philippines, its storage in P. Tuazon is still temporary and there are a number of pictures that remain unaccounted

for. “It’s been a continuous search since the 1990s,” she says, seconds after learning that Luis Nepomuceno is still alive and looking for films lost.

Resigned to purchasing a copy of the films he’s made himself from local television companies, it seems such a strange fate to acquire a piece one had worked tirelessly to create. “They left out a couple of scenes when they were editing the film for television showing,” says Nepomuceno of his copy of Dahil. “Just try not to mind it. I’m planning to write to the Academy and ask whether they could give me a digital copy.” Remembering his visit to the Academy’s archives, the filmmaker finds hope that with the facilities he’s seen, there may be better chances of retrieving a copy of much stellar quality—one that won’t come with a hefty price tag.

Whether it’s a retired director in search of old relics, an eager film major immersed in study, or a youngling looking to understand Manila’s old age of cinema, similar fates await those in pursuit of treasured film.

“It has always been our battle cry to have a national archive facility,” Belarmino reinforces. “Everything is [already] there…the papers and feasibility studies are there.” Faced with a supposed film archive in CCP that functions more as a multi-purpose storage room, a generation that seems to have forgotten Philippine cinema’s father (and his son), and an auteur whose only links to his charmed career are now irretrievable and likely obsolete, the need for a place to preserve cinema history seems more imperative than ever, with the race against time imminent on the walls.

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“It has always been our battle cry to have a national archive facility.”

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TRAINING THE SPOTLIGHT

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A theater finds talent in the most overlooked places TEXT GRETIL COLANZE PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

It’s easy to miss the things right in front of our eyes, especially if it’s in a place we choose to ignore. Such is the curious case that is the Payatas landfill, home to Manila’s urban poor who make a living off of the metro’s garbage. In 1988, it drew a group of Japanese filmmakers, one of whom was Toshihiko Uriu, cinematographer of the documentary Wasurerareta Kodomotachi—Sukabenja (Scavengers: Forgotten Children). In 2000, the group returned to live for a year among the families whose infants eventually succumbed to cholera and measles, the tragedy captured in Kami no Kotachi (God’s Children). Both documentaries gained acclaim in Japan and the rest of the world, with the latter qualifying for the 52nd International Berlin Film Festival.

But to Uriu, simply showing the world and waiting for it to be moved to take action won’t do. Also a successful businessman, he has the financial resources and the awareness of the power of his two passions, theatre and film, and thus an idea was born. Living

in the Payatas community made Uriu see the families as more than voiceless victims of the system and recognize that they too have talent. The community members have a rhythm unique to what he’s seen in his travels throughout the country, and he became fascinated by the cultural diversity of the Philippines, with some of its artistic aspects preserved only in inaccessible regions.

Hence, in May of 2014, Uriu re-established the Louie’s THX Cinema at the Mile Long Compound in Makati as TIU Theater. “Through art, everyone can communicate,” says TIU Theater’s Marketing Head Nesagi Hani. “TIU contributes to the Filipino art community by finding new artists and giving them the exposure and experience to break out on their own and find their own path.”

Uriu and his team of Japanese volunteers scout for talent around the Cordillera Administrative Region and the Smokey Mountain community in Payatas.

Hani describes, “Our artists are raw: pure, a little

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“The purpose is to make art and culture accessible.”

shaky. Like a bird taking its first flight, in the beginning, it’s scary for them and [they] never really know if [they’ll] fly or crash. But because of that, they’re exciting to witness.”

TIU Theater mostly discovers and hones its own talents apart from producing shows; some shows are free. Uriu generously backs the operations financially, plus the renting out of TIU Theater keeps the facility running. Hani explains, “The purpose is to make art and culture accessible.”

TIU Theater also showcases Japanese avant-garde performances. This month, Yamagata Atsuko will paint to music played by a rotating cast of pianists live onstage. “What we experience is their communication.

Yamagata-san must follow the music when she’s painting, so the painting becomes the expression of music,” describes Hani.

Highlighting cultural diversity, they recently brought

in punk acts from Indonesia, but Hani discovered that the young locals weren’t as responsive to them. “Filipinos are very traditional. [In theatre] the sound that’s been passed on from generation to generation resonates with the Filipinos more,” he says. “Classical, opera music, and folk tales performed by Aanak di Kabiligan and Gambang Theater Guild of Cordillera Administrative Region surprisingly click; they always get a full house.”

He muses, “After a long history of colonization, the Filipinos are now trying to find their roots and develop them to fit the modern sensibilities.”

Next month is another installment of BaKaTa: Battle of the Street Poets, a social commentary hiphopera done in the style of rap battles to be performed by the Smokey Mountain children, a result of months of training. It’s time people hear the vibrant, collaborative lyric among the urban poor children.

What do they have to say?

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FREE FLOW

Embracing the shifting seasons through the fall of the tides PHOTOGRAPHY JOHANN BONA STYLING MEG MANZANO

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ST YLE Top, P590, Beetroot, Beetroot.ph.

Skirt, P750, Forever 21, SM City Makati.

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Button-down polo, P1,450, Zara, Greenbelt 5.

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Bralette, P590, Beetroot, Beetroot.ph

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HAIR AND MAKEUP NICOLE CEBALLOS MODEL SVETLANA FOKINA

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Notwithstanding the digital era’s relentless forward march, ink and paper remain a luxury and a necessity, symbols of society’s timeless invention PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

1. Water colored floral print, P100, Craftsmith Living.

2. Blackboard sheets, P250, Craftsmith Living.

3. Linen placemat, P250, Craftsmith Living.

4. Stationery set, P299, Bleach, Greenbelt 5.

5. FineTec pearl colors, P1,495, Scribe, SM Aura Premier.

6. Omas ink, P995, Scribe, SM Aura Premier.

7. Alunsina leather-bound notebook, P1,380, AC+632, Greenbelt 5.

8. White bookends, P2,780, AC+632, Greenbelt 5.

9. Midori traveler’s notebook, P1,995, Scribe, SM Aura Premier.

10. Twine spool with scissors, P1,279, Crate and Barrel, SM Aura Premier.

11. Sticker tags, P49, Bleach, Greenbelt 5.

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EATS Causa appetizers are made with mashed potato bites topped with salmon, tako, and ebi (right). The Classic Ceviche offers a mound of white fish paired with grilled corn and mango (extreme right.)

TALE OF TWO KITCHENS

Nikkei finds common ground between the Asian and the South American TEXT PAULINE MIRANDA PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

Something’s creating a buzz on Rada Street, and if you blink, you’ll miss it.

The black canopy hanging over the glass double doors and the small, black chalkboard bearing the words “Nikkei” and “Now Open” give a low-key welcome, but venture in and you’ll be greeted by a refreshing warmth.

The buzz of diners chatting and eating, drowning out the barely distinguishable music in the background, makes a far more interesting bustle than that of the street outside, but it’s when you finally pull up a chair and take in the sights that you realize you are at home, yet still intrigued.

Large Edison lightbulbs hang from the ceiling, and the sweeping curves of the bar—cast in one part metal and most parts wood on top of a concrete base—direct your attention to the source of all this hullabaloo: the kitchen, where Argentinian chef Cristian Cejas and his team carefully craft the restaurant’s namesake JapanesePeruvian fare.

Nikkei, which in Japanese translates to “non-Japanese of Japanese descent,” is the cuisine that resulted from the immigration of Japanese to Peru in the late 19th century. And with both Japanese and Peruvian cuisine giving importance to fresh seafood as an ingredient, it orchestrates the union of East and West.

The restaurant’s menu runs the gamut from Japanese

nigiri and maki to the Peruvian lomo saltado, with Nikkei cuisine taking up the bulk in the center. The ceviches— raw seafood in leche de tigre—live up to their reputation as a must-try. The classic, featuring a mound of white fish, red onions, cilantro, rocoto, and canchita, served with grilled corn kernels on the side, is a good introduction to Nikkei cuisine, while its green iteration—coated in wasabi cream with added octopus and prawns—is also an interesting, albeit deceivingly mild take.

Meanwhile, the tiraditos, thinly sliced raw fish reminiscent of the quintessentially Japanese sashimi, doused with a sauce and sprinkled with crunchy black tea powder, or with lime juice, ginger sauce, and spring onions, show exactly what the cuisine is: food prepared with Japanese techniques and Peruvian flavors.

The drinks leave great impressions, too, with the Okinawa Lady being the sweetest of the bunch. The Spicy Sake Martini, on the other hand, is a crafty, cunning deceiver—the name intimidates, the cucumber scent entices, but then the wasabi hits strongly once you take a sip.

Japanese-Peruvian may sound intimidating for a firsttimer, but each bite is a mix of gentle familiarity and the kick of something new. Though the cuisine was born by the Japanese away from their homeland, Nikkei is a taste that proves to be welcoming, Japanese or not.

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EATS Clockwise from left: Nikkei’s facade; Wasabiinfused ceviche; The Okinawa Lady; A serving of Lomo Saltado.

Nikkei. Frabelle Building, Rada St., Legazpi Village, Makati City. 0927-273-0114. 880-0231. www.facebook.com/nikkeiph.

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EATS Guests acquire the luxury of cooking their own meat on the smokeless grill at Yokohama Meat Kitchen.

IN PRAISE OF MEAT

Barbeque knows no bounds, especially not in this little yakiniku nook along Jupiter TEXT PAULINE MIRANDA PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

“Ganbarimasu!” The staff’s voices resound throughout the restaurant, a chorus proclaiming that today, too, will they put in their hundred-percent best. At 11:30, they welcome the first customers for the lunch hour.

Sitting on the far end of Jupiter’s long strip of restaurants, this small yakiniku shop may be easy to miss. There are no windows to peer into to get a sneak peek of the meaty abode that waits to be discovered.

The facade is, in fact, unassuming to a fault: a bare sign with the words “Yokohama Meat Kitchen” on a white building, no frills, is your only cue. “‘Meat kitchen’ sounds like a meat shop,” marketing manager Justin Velasco says about their chosen store name. “Aside from our [Japanese] partners coming from Yokohama, at home, the kitchen is where you cook your food with family and friends. That’s the feel we want to give.”

But with the way yakiniku goes, perhaps Yokohama Meat Kitchen really is a meat shop. With all their ingredients sourced straight from Japan, it’s up to you to create your culinary magnum opus.

The smokeless grill, albeit small, is a canvas at your disposal. Each cut of wagyu—be it the harami (skirt steak) or the karubi (short ribs)—grills fast. Once you take a bite, the tenderness of the meat (harami more so than karubi) mixed with its juices and Yokohama’s

special sauce will leave you quickly scrambling to lay the next piece of beef over the grill.

A wagyu set (no rice) on its own can satisfy a single person—not that it’s meant for a solo meal, but that you might eventually fail to realize you’re hogging the entire plate of meat for yourself. So if you’re eating with a group, don’t settle for this as your entire meal, unless you want to be given the stink eye for taking the last bite of wagyu.

If you’re looking for a new yakiniku experience, ordering the yakisuki is part of the agenda. A Yokohama Meat Kitchen original, it features sukiyakicut meat, doused in the restaurant’s special sauce.

Instead of cooking it in stew alongside vegetables, as is the traditional sukiyaki style, grill the yakisuki before dipping it in a pool of raw egg. Many might have second thoughts of taking egg raw, but Yokohama promising only Japan-quality ingredients provides some sense of relief. That and the tempting piece of meat, dangling from the apex of your chopsticks, will leave you crying “itadakimasu!” in cheerful abandon.

To down all that meat, Yokohama offers fruit shakes—sweet, cool, and guiltless for when you have to get back to work after lunch break—or some beer or sake for a day-end unwind that the Japanese salarymen would definitely be envious of.

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EATS Clockwise from left: Yakisuki; Grilling at the dining table; Karubi (short ribs) and Harami (skirt steak).

Yokohama Meat Kitchen. 16 Jupiter cor. Antares Sts., Bel-Air, Makati City. 831-6546. www.yokohamameatkitchen.com. www.facebook.com/yokohamameatkitchen.

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September 2015 Volume 10 | Issue 1

September 2015 Volume 10 | Issue 1

UNDER COVER

OFFSHORE

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EATS Eggplant moussaka (left). H Cuisine serves pasta, rice, and salad (extreme left).

HOME IN YOUR BELLY

Hidden in the outskirts of Makati is a restaurant that serves no-fuss comfort food TEXT BEVERLY DALTON PHOTOGRAPHY PATRICK SEGOVIA

On a street at the less popular side of the city is a place people may not notice for its simple facade—a misleading indication of the food it serves. The atmosphere inside—the yellow-painted walls, dividers that look like a picket fence, and couch-like seats— proves infinitely more welcoming, homey, and quiet, with a little indistinct chatter of people dining together.

H Cuisine is one of those places you don’t search for on the Internet, especially for first timers, but rather a restaurant you go to because someone personally recommended you to try it.

“I think, for people, it means homey,” owner and chef Hannah Herrera-Bagatsing says when asked what the H signifies. Obviously, it stands for her name but for regulars, H is a hearty meal that makes them happy.

“My lola owned Tres Hermanas restaurant in the ‘50s but it closed down in the ‘80s. Some heirloom recipes, like the lengua or callos, are available here but most of the food on the menu is continental,” chef Herrera-Bagatising says. Customer favorites from the menu are the Loaded Taco Salad made with nachos, greens, ground beef, cheese and aioli, the Eggplant

Moussaka that includes ground beef and cheese in red and white sauce, the Cheesy Carbonara mixed with bacon and mushroom and drizzled with parmesan cheese, and the Chicken Mushroom Melt drizzled with béchamel sauce and mushroom and bacon bits. The popular dish that is always recommended by regular comers is the Most Awesome Angus Beef Belly. “This is my recipe, actually,” she proudly says of it. “It takes 12 to 14 hours to roast, depending on the size of slab we get,” she adds. True to its title on the menu, the beef is tender with a little charred finish, and the fat melts in the mouth. “If it’s not fatty, it won’t be that soft,” she says. A side of vegetables and fried baby potatoes come with it, too.

This is what homey food means: best enjoyed at a comfortable no-fuss setting like H. And because chef Herrera-Bagatsing understands that food can also be savored at the pleasure of your own space, she made the beef belly available frozen and ready to be prepped at home. She recommends this simple and easy recipe, “first, fry the beef in a pan, then mix in the rice, then drizzle the gravy.”

H Cuisine. 7427-B Yakal St., San Antonio Vill., Makati City. 887-2370.

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RECIPE

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RULES OF THE CATCH

Striking the balance between sweet and tangy in this new rendition of ceviche TEXT AND STYLING CHARLIE CARBUNGCO PHOTOGRAPHY GABBY CANTERO

TILAPIA CEVICHE INGREDIENTS

1/4 kilo fillet and skinless tilapia 1 purple onion 5 cloves garlic 1 tbsp. minced ginger 1/4 cup cilantro 1/2 cup vinegar 1 tsp. red chili 1/4 cup calamansi juice 1 small bell pepper Salt and pepper, to taste 1/4 cup coconut cream Spring onion and small size of pomelo, to garnish

PREPARATION 1. Slice the tilapia into bite-sized pieces and put them in a bowl.

2. Mince the onion, ginger, red chili, garlic, and cilantro. Place them into the bowl of bite-sized tilapia.

3. Add salt and pepper.

4. Pour the vinegar and calamansi juice into the bowl.

Place them in the refrigerator for not less than 2 hours.

5. Strain all the vinegar from the bowl. Then, soak the fish in coconut cream. Place it in the chiller and let it set for around 4 to 5 hours.

6. Transfer to a small plate and top it off with chopped spring onions and pomelo.

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T HE GET

FASHIONABLE CAUSE

When wearing eco-luxury goes beyond trends TEXT LEX CELERA

It’s ironic to think that something that advocates sustainability is a trend. It’s already 2015; being eco-conscious doesn’t mean you have to be fashion-challenged, and being labeled as exclusive and luxurious doesn’t necessarily have to mean a lack of concern for the environment.

Antonello joins this line of eco-luxury with their pick of clutches, totes, and other popular styles—a study in elegant design under the commitment of being eco-friendly. These bags are handmade in Sardinia; the manufacturing process involves using traditional looms and organic farming, and the production process uses recycled fabrics and ethically managed factories.

Sanj Licaros, who brought the brand to the Philippines, chanced upon an Antonello bag from a Zumba group mate. “I really got attracted to it because of its craftsmanship. In my pursuit to find this bag, I came across the Antonello bag sold in Tokyo, and I was hooked.”

Use this bag as the focal point of any outfit, and feel a deep sense of relief knowing that you’ve managed to be both chic and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.

Antonello bags. lifestyleaccessoryhunter@gmail.com

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