MVP'S summer program started off with a visit to the San Beda chapel and San Sebastian church. Although the overnight visit to Mount Banahaw, was cancelled members enjoyed a daytrip to Silang with a meal in Tagaytay. The 3rd excursion was as day of fashion and furniture in San Juan and Mandaluyong.
The first trip on June 7, was to the San Beda chapel in Mendiola, Manila. Because I am not very familiar with the directions and traffic in Metro Manila, I went to Sony's place where we assembled and from there we went by minibus to the chapel.
The San Beda chapel is not that old, but it is part of a Benedictin monastery and college established by the Spanish. It is a very beautiful place with a kind of Japanese garden, which is a place of quietness in the busy area of north Manila. The San Beda Chapel is a nice chapel, which fortunately was not destroyed during WWII. It is small and has beautiful paintings on the walls made by a famous painter. Father Bernardo Perez, Rector of the San Beda College gave a very interesting lecture tour of the paintings and architecture of the chapel and extended that with a tour through the monastery as well. The paintings in the altar part of the chapel were under restauration. That's why the chapel had been closed for several months for services. Even the monks could not use the chapel. By this time the work should be finished and the chapel opened to the public again. The monks have there services there every morning and every evening. After a short visit to the very near new gothic San Sebastian church, the group had a simple but delicious lunch in L'Eau Vive, the restaurant run by lady missionaries.
The second trip to the enchanted Mt. Banahaw was cancelled due to tensions in
the area. Instead a trip was organized on June 26 to the Ilog Maria Honeybee
Family Farms in Silang, Cavite (47 km from Manila). By minibus
and three private cars about 18 persons were transported
via the South Express way, South Woods golf resort (very
beautiful!) and several Barangays. Once again, Sony made
a perfect description of the route. After about a one
hour drive we arrived at the spot where we met with Mr. Joel Magsaysay, his wife Violaine and their staff.In the garden near their house about 50 beehives with colonies of bees were situated. This couple has raised bees for more than 20 years. Joel told us about their start and the development of their business. What I remember as the most interesting detail of his illustrative talk is that he is importing European bees because they area more productive "due to the climate here". The European bees work very hard, because they have to store the honey as a reserve for the cold winters. The Filipino bees have never experienced winter. After two years the imported bees have adapted to the climate and become less productive. Every imported queen bee costs the farm approximately $500.
Joel also told us about the products they make from
the honey and the wax. He showed us wax soap and shampoo (no
chemicals are used!), wax candles, honey (unfiltered and
unprocessed), honey wine, honey cider, bee propolis (has
antibacterial power), bee pollen (gives more energy) and fresh
royal jelly. The last ones are used as medicines full of vitamins
and minerals against allergies, asthma bronchitis, dermatitis,
psoriasis, excema, headaches among others.
Nowadays the family is constructing a laboratory to develop and check their products for which only natural raw materials are used from the bees. If you have a large garden or agricultural properties, Joel will bring you as much beehives as you want him to. For 1 hectare of land with flowers and trees or agricultural products four bee boxes will do. The bees take care of the cross insemination and that's good for the fruits and products. The transportation of the bees takes place at night so that the bees are used to the new environment when they come out of the hives in the morning. At the end of the morning we were able to buy the bee products and headed for lunch. If you were not able to join this tour but nevertheless want to visit this place, feel free to call Mr. Joel and Mrs. Violaine Magsaysay at cell phone: 0912-318 7517 or E-mail ilogmria@cav.pworld.net.ph
Lunch was scheduled at Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay, only 15 minutes from the
beehives and it was really an EXPERIENCE! In an unexpected
beautiful tropical English-look-alike exotic garden with trees,
flowers, fruits and vegetables, a very charming, intelligent
Filipina named Sonya, runs this very special restaurant. It is
open every day between 12 and 2pm and in the early evening
between 5 and 7pm. Everyday she makes her own menu from the
fruits and flowers she grows in her garden. Very special flavors!
Very special combinations. A real food paradise for vegetarians,
but she also served chicken and fish. RECOMMENDED if you go to
Tagaytay!
The first one was to fashion-designer Mrs.
Beatriz (Patis) Tesoro, 196 Wilson Street, San Juan. We
were welcomed by her brother Mr. Jose Miguel (Myk) Pamintuan. He gave us a slide presentation of the Katutubong Filipino
Foundation (founded
in 1992), which is a nonprofit organization devoted to the
strategic revival and promotion of indigenous Filipino culture,
arts and crafts in ways that are environmentally sound and
economically productive. The organization has several sites in
Luzon and Visayas, while one is underway in Mindanao. It employs
more than 5000 people in agriculture, dying, weaving, beading,
hand-embroidery and shops for marketing and selling the products.
It produces 8,000 mtr of cloths per month!
In the very exclusive and exotic PATIS shop Mrs. Tesoro designs--on personal order--beautiful evening dresses, wedding gowns, laces, embroideries and beading. In her atelier she employs about 70 people who make everything by hand with natural materials, even the dying process. It was a lust-for-the-eye to look around in her shop, where there is also a jewelry-department established by the well-known jewelry shop Eddie Cristobal and his daughter Maritess. You can order your own jewelry design. They also do repair and cleaning of jewelry.
After a delicious lunch
in the nearby Japanese restaurant Agika (312,
Shaw Boulevard), we left for the antique work shop of Mr. Buddy Lagdameo (703, Nueve de Febrero, Mandaluyong).
I never saw a bigger storage of old wooden shelves, doors, window
frames, and other pieces of old wood. He uses this for the
restauration of old antique furniture and wooden items. We saw
beautiful tables, cupboards, beds, chairs, and smaller items. He
is not cheap, but a real professional. Around 2pm our group left.
I added a visit to the nearby huge antique shop Jo-Liza (664, Jose Abad Santos, little Baguio, San Juan) and had a good coffee in the architectural very interesting Café Ysabel (455, P. Guevarra corner C.M. Recto San Juan).
photos (except Sonya's Garden--by Jennifer Lagdameo) by Dorothy van Bakelen.