Rizal: Nemiranda and the Blanco Family Museum

After lunch, we visited the Nemiranda Art House which houses the Angono School of Arts. Of all the galleries we visited today, this is the one I've already been to during the Higantes Festival in 2006. In fact, we had a sumptuous fiesta lunch courtesy of the artist himself.

There were several paintings on display in his gallery. But one painting called Isang Kahig Isang Tuka struck me because of the powerful symbolisms used. It's a woman giving birth to her sixth child. Behind her on the left are her five other children holding cigarettes and garlands of sampaguita which they sell on the street. In front of them is a plate with a single piece of galunggong. Behind her on the right is her husband drinking. While beside here is the statue of the Sto. Nino and placed under it is an unused condom. Sad but true, this painting tells us about realities here in the Philippines don't you think?

Our last stop was the Blanco Family Museum. The family of Jose "Pitok" Blanco and his wife Loring is so unique because they and their children namely: Glenn, Noel, Michael, Joy, Jan, Gay and Peter Paul are all master painters in their own right. And they all follow the school of Realism, depicting subjects as they appear in everyday life.

Walking around the museum was a wonderful experience because of the beautiful images of the country and beyond which they have captured in their paintings. This is indeed a must visit for everyone.

I had to leave early since I had to catch my class. So I was not able to join the group when they visited what is probably the oldest existing artwork in the Philippines, the Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan. But since I've been there already, just check out my previous entry on it.

Part 1: Art gallery overload in Angono, Rizal
Part 2: Lunch at Balaw-Balaw Restaurant in Angono

Related entries
Viva San Clemente! Higantes of Angono, Rizal
Angono is the Art Capital of the Philippines
Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal

Rizal: Lunch at Balaw-Balaw Restaurant in Angono

As part of Havila's tour of the Angono area, we visited the Balaw-Balaw Folk Art Museum of the late Perdigon Vocalan for lunch. It's more known as the Balaw-Balaw Restaurant which serves both local specialties and exotic foods. For the brave, try ordering uok (larva of beetles that are found in coconut trees cooked as adobo or steamed in tamarind fruit and tomatoes just like escargot), nilasing na palaka (frogs marinated in wine and cooked as adobo), kamaru (a popular Kapampangan cricket dish), Soup No. 5 (cow butt and balls), bibingkang abnoy (aborted duck eggs cooked in banana leaves) or palos (freshwater eel cooked as adobo).

There are also unusual salads such as rose petal salad, rose petal tempura, bougainvillea salad, or crispy alagaw leaves (like crispy spinach or kangkong). But for today, they served us the traditional foods.

If you're a group, you might to their Minaluto which is a little of everything such as chicken and prok adobo, various seafoods and vegetables, steamed with a heaping mound of rice and served in a large bamboo container lined with banana leaves. Minaluto is another term for binalot or a meal with rice packed in banana leaves. It's a little over PHP1100++ if I remember it right.

Above and around the restaurant are paintings and sculptures of Vocalan, a lot of them! Indeed, the place was a feast for the eyes, mind and stomach.

Part 1: Art gallery overload in Angono, Rizal
Part 3: Nemiranda and the Blanco Family Museum

Related entries
Viva San Clemente! Higantes of Angono, Rizal
Angono is the Art Capital of the Philippines
Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal

Rizal: Art gallery overload in Angono, Rizal

Angono, Rizal is indeed the Art Capital of the Philippines. It's actually the center of an artists haven which includes the neighboring towns of Binangonan and Morong, an area which abounds with art galleries, museums, shrines and studios.

We went around Angono today courtesy of Havila since they wanted to show us the wonderful and conducive environment their communities are built in. So after a brief tour of their various developments, we went to Angono.

Our first stop was the house of Carlos "Botong" Francisco, National Artist for Visual Arts, along Dona Aurora Street. When Botong was still alive, his house also served as his studio. In front of it is the gallery of its current occupant, his grandson Carlos "Totong" Francisco II named The Second Gallery.

Dona Aurora Street is actually famous for its concrete street murals, contemporary works by artists Charlie Anorico, Gerry Bantang and Ebong Pinpino depicting the different paintings of Botong Francisco. Almost every house has at least one mural. And we were lucky to chance upon Charlie Anorico working on a new mural.

At one end of Poblacion Itaas are the busts of the towns national artists namely Botong and Lucio San Pedro, National Artist for Music. At the opposite end, the notes of San Pedro's immortal lullaby Sa Ugoy ng Duyan are inscribed on the walls of one of the houses. Indeed, a walk through Dona Aurora Street in Pobalcion Itaas gives us a glimpse of Botong's paintings.

Part 2: Lunch at Balaw-Balaw Restaurant in Angono
Part 3: Nemiranda and the Blanco Family Museum

Related entries
Viva San Clemente! Higantes of Angono, Rizal
Angono is the Art Capital of the Philippines
Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal

Cebu: Oslob Church gutted by fire

It was depressing news for me. The 178-year old Oslob Church was destroyed by a fire which hit at dawn today. The church was was a very important element out the Southern Heritage Trail of Cebu. A landmark of the town, it was one of the few churches with an intact clay tile roof convento.

This incident highlighted two things. The first and most obvious is that fire fighters in these remoter parts of the country are ill-equipped and not prepared. Imagine, the fire station was just 50 meters away. But fire fighters and residents had to push the fire truck to the church! Second, it shows the importance and need for architectural documentation for all our heritage sites. In cases like these, if the site was documented, we could easily refer to the diagrams to restore the church.

The Archdiocese of Cebu plans to rebuild the church within the year. I hope that they restore the church to its original form, just as other countries do when their heritage sites are gutted by fire.

Manila: World Pyrolympics 2008 postponed again!

This was supposed to be my first time to watch the World Pyrolympics. I was sure people will be scrambling for tickets. And I also did not want to endure hours and hours of jammed up traffic or looking for a parking spot. Also imagine the crowds and the race to get a decent view of the fireworks display. No way! So I was all set to watch it on a dinner cruise around Manila Bay. But the World Pyrolympics 2008 was postponed again to May! And it sucks big time since it's the nth time they moved it! Since I'll be out in May, I'll have to wait until next year.

Here is the new schedule. The organizers said the dates are already sure since they will be selling tickets next week:

May 3	China and Germany
May 10	Japan and Canada
May 17	Italy and Venezuela
May 24	France and Korea
May 31	Australia and Philippines