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Thursday, January 19, 2006
Magsaysay: Living graciously
By Jo Magsaysay
Whatever
Developing Lifestyles, Fulfilling Dreams – are catchy phrases that promise reality. The reality of gracious living in a comfortable budget. There are those people who are not comfortable with the word "budget", a word as bad as "affordable!"
Take the nouveaux riches (plural for nouveau riche so please don’t make any changes as chanteuse for chantootosie!!)
Anyway, needing to acquire the status, the luxurious lifestyle of the rich and famous, the newly rich who are generally known for their tasteless ostentation would rather enjoy the oxymoronic contradiction of "understated extravagance". Whatever, they’d do well with gracious living…
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Be that as it may, what can be more gracious living than the lifestyle in Maria Luisa Homes, the epitome of luxury, comfort, prestige, and excellence. What more gracious living than Mahogany Place, the name alone flows softly, gently, sweetly, on the tongue, say it: Mahogany Place, than say, Narra Place which sounds solid and nationalistic but nah! harsh and brusque! Well then: lush green foliage of reddish brown mahogany trees providing cool shade along a mountain valley of Maria Luisa in Banilad, Nivel Hills, Busay.
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A phase 10 project along Paseo Esperanza of the prestigious Maria Luisa Park is the two-hectare development designed for a "privileged few". Meaning, there are only 15 houses and lots offered for the high end market and only five residences available for pre-sale. The custom-built luxury package of house and lot is definitely top of the line and Balikbayans who have worked hard abroad, as well as immigrants and retirees who have been stashing precious dollars, should find they have earned a perfect place in Mahogany Place to settle down in a well-deserved luxury. What, indeed, is more gracious than a Mediterranean style private residence and garden home, what more luxury than spacious rooms, a courtyard, lanai, a European or American or Asian kitchen (your choice), a two-car garage, Kahler bathrooms, whirlpool bath, swimming pool (your options).
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But let’s not foam in the mouth some more, one only has to call (3468880 – 3462626) or drop in at the Maria Luisa Homes office and ask for Mary Anne Arculli, or any one of the wonder belles manning the office, for more info. Of course, I am dropping the name of Mary Anne who like her lola, Mary Renner Osmeña and her mother, Annie Aboitiz, is deeply involved in and completely dedicated to this project. The Mahogany Place is her baby, after all, hers and her husband’s, Derek Arculli, who has captivated me. He is warm, earnest, savvy, and friendly, confessing to a love for "lechon and crispy pata" and a "living and breathing" real estate in Hong Kong having grown up among the prime properties in the Crown Colony. Hand in hand, Derek and Mary Anne are promoting Mahogany Place and together, I have no doubt at all, they are going to the top of Maria Luisa Homes, making every dream come true for those who dare to invest in a dream.
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Speaking of glorious food, (don’t I always?), venue for the presscon was La Marea, a reflection of Mary Anne’s fine taste for top quality. Bernadette Gallego, as all Borromeos are, blessed with an exquisite taste for gourmet cooking and baking and let’s add, eating, has invested her talent in La Marea turning her customers on with her pastries turning them into gourmands like me, indulging themselves more and more on her desserts. Noting my longing look at the mini burgers, fruit salad and bibingka that spelled no-no for me, Bernadette brought over a small plate of thin, crisp, chocolate granola cookies "with splenda!" which I demolished, of course; but when Mary Anne came over with a couple of churros and hot chocolate, so thick you spoon
it like a sauce, I was completely devastated putting an end to all my new year’s resolutions. Oh well, try again. But wait, a sugar cookie meticulously painted with a colorful icing to replace the Mediterranean style house looked too beautiful to eat, I think I’m going to frame it and let the ants get diabetic!!
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Painting! That’s it!! Ato gyud kini! Sugbo: Gahapon ug Karon. The visual art exhibit by two generations of artists of Cebuano origins was unveiled last week by Governor Gwen Garcia who cut the ceremonial ribbon. Rightly so, this one being sponsored by SM City, Marissa Fernan’s realm, with the support of the Arts Council of Cebu for the benefit of the Garbo sa Sugbo Foundation being one of the several proud accomplishments of my favorite governor. Proud Cebuano names like Aviado, Briones, Cinco, Ching, Fermin, Jamir, Junyee, Lofranco, Mansueto, Picornell, De Pio, Rivera, Velez, Yap and Ybáñez, stand out in the exhibits. Knowing at least one in person, I zeroed in on Gig de Pio. He was only a struggling student artist in a studio on Ramos street when my one and only dearly beloved requested him to do a portrait of our three daughters.
They were simple charcoal sketches, a little rough and amateurish. "I look ugly’, one of my daughters pouted…but they looked beautiful to me. That was more than 30 years ago and Gig de Pio has since matured into a fine artist, so exceptional in fact, he has acquired a name and fame in Manila. About his art, Gig de Pio's philosophy: "Life is a sea of disorder; it’s your task to gather together the elements of your own order and create your own gestalt. Yeah, life is what you make it. So goes with the community, the country and mankind as a whole." His painting of a nude was what interested Father Ernesto Javier, S.J. most. Viewed from the top, the nude – sprawled, curled, recumbent on a smooth sheet, creates an element of peaceful rest after perhaps a night of love or maybe the sleep of the vulnerable and weary. Should give the boys in your school a bit of food for thought and beauty, I kidded Father Javier who seemed to laugh in agreement. A "musical frenzy" is what Ernie Ybañez of Bantayan origins had to say about the Sinulog festivities…vibrant colors, figures in motion so alive they seem to spring out of the canvas, Kimsoy Yap’s vivid and graphic detail of squatter children aroused the sympathy of Chit Arcenas while Ivy Marie Alfon Simon was fascinated by Anthony Fermin’s colorful impressionism of European sights of his travels abroad.
Dom Briones, a native of Bohol, relative of the late Congressman Joe Briones and former resident in Cebu now a professor in the Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts in F.E.U. in Manila, has a professional insight to share. "Philippine Culture with its indigenous and traditional concepts and symbols, shows our cultural links with an increasing larger context, that of Asia as a whole including China with its centuries-old interactions, the archipelagic world of Southeast Asia, the original matrix and source of our culture." Admiring his collage of seashells, I asked if the gold characters on red banners were Chinese. Oh no!
This was "aphata", the original Pilipino dialect, Prof. Briones elucidated. Now, more than ever, we should have more exhibits like this to enable us to appreciate the art and talent of our very own Sugbuanon. Ritchie Landis Quijano, who has opened my eyes to the works of Cebuano artists, has always said so, didn't you Ritchie?
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 19, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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