A play within a play

The last play that we watched in 2010 was a musical called Dragon Tales, the first production of Asia on Stage, which was set up in 2009 to develop and stage Asian productions for Asia. Dragon Tales is based on a story and characters by the company's chair, Hong Kong Chinese Michael Chow, with music and lyrics by Filipino director, actor, writer and composer Vincent A. de Jesus, and directed by Singaporean Jeremiah Choy, here receiving a bouquet from the cast. I laud the mission of Asia on Stage and hope that it will be able to harness the talents of more Asian artists for other collaborative productions.

Another hobby

Aside from being an avid photographer, Dr. Alejandro Legarda was also an amateur radio operator and a member of the Philippine Amateur Radio Association. He had a room specially built for his radio equipment on the third level of their house and when he got too old to walk up the stairs, everything was moved to a room on the ground floor, where they remain on display. However, the equipment that you see here are actually his newer ones, the older equipment having been donated to a museum. Because of his hobby, Alejandro once saved a boat from a storm at sea and received an award for it. • LEGARDA ANCESTRAL HOUSE #5

Hobby

Dr. Alejandro Legarda was an avid amateur photographer. He kept his own dark room in their home and was one of the first members of the Camera Club of the Philippines; he remained a member until his death in 1993. His now-antique cameras and other accouterments of early to middle 20th century photography are on display in their own room at the Legarda ancestral house. According to the guide, most of the photos in the house were taken and developed by Alejandro. • LEGARDA ANCESTRAL HOUSE #4

Fiesta!

During the opening of the Timog Avenue branch of Buddy's restaurant (see yesterday's post), the owners recreated some parts of the Pahiyas Festival. It was a fun treat seeing higantes (giants)…




and a brass band. Of course, both attracted quite a lot of attention from passersby, including a vendor hoping to sell some balloons to guests with little children.

Pool party

A new discovery that I have made about Metro Manila is the presence of small private party venues within residential subdivisions. Shanghai Garden Resort (named such because of the street it is in and not because of its design) in Better Living Subdivision in Parañaque City is really nothing more than a swimming pool surrounded by patios with pretty plants and a small koi pond. There are bathrooms, of course, a preparing room for the caterer, a concrete area for shooting hoops, a small private room, and that's it. It's actually a pretty good option for those who want to avoid the formal stiffness and possible boredom of having a party in a hotel or a restaurant, and for those who live in communities that don't have its own clubhouse. Swimming, eating, playing board games, chatting and napping made for one very relaxed and relaxing party. I hear there's a similar place for rent near our own house, but I have yet to find out where it is.

It's just a job

Working in a university with so much youthful energy can be a source of many surprises. I stepped out of our building one afternoon and came upon these two clowns having lunch under the small bamboo grove beside our office. One of the student organizations had organized a show and party for the children of the poor community that they work with. I wonder what the clown on the left is thinking. He looks quite pensive.

Local

Manila has a local version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame: the Eastwood City Walk of Fame, located in the mixed use complex that is Eastwood City in Quezon City.

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Calling all City Daily Photo bloggers yet again! Time flies by so fast and it's less than a week until our next theme day. The theme for February 1 is Wood. (I'm going to like this one again. I love the many textures of wood!) The poll for the March theme closes on January 31, so please vote and spread the word!

Kapamilya

ABS-CBN is one of the largest radio and television broadcast and entertainment networks in the Philippines. It owns The Filipino Channel, an international broadcasting service whose two million subscribers are mostly overseas Filipino workers and their families. Its head office is located in Quezon City and the ELJ Center, one of the buildings in its huge compound, houses the executive offices and a few cafés on the ground floor. It also has a very good restaurant on the 14th floor named 9501 and I took this picture from the roof deck just off the restaurant. And if you're wondering about my title, "Kapamilya" is the network's slogan and it means "a member of the family."

The dome

Finally, I managed a photo of the Araneta Coliseum which actually shows its dome. Previously, I've shown photos of one of its entrances and the curved footbridge which connects it to several malls in the area. Nicknamed "The Big Dome," this multipurpose stadium in Cubao, Quezon City is one of the biggest indoor stadiums in Metro Manila. Its biggest claim to fame is the 1975 Thrilla in Manila, the final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World. The glass building on the left is the part of Gateway Mall which stretches across a public road.

There was a crooked man

Ballet Manila (see yesterday's post), aside from principal ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, may not be as technically proficient as Ballet Philippines but it has done more to make ballet accessible to the masses. They choose pieces with strong story lines, tickets cost a fraction of Ballet Philippines', and when you do buy a ticket, you also get a free all-day pass to Star City, the indoor-outdoor amusement park right beside the Aliw Theater. I confess though that I've never been inside. The most I've done is walk down that sidewalk and if it weren't for Arabesque, I would never have noticed just how funky their doorways are.