It was a hectic Saturday morning for me last 27, April, 2019. I was invited by some friends to have a market visit to the Manila Fame Show that assembles manufacturers and exporters of exquisite Philippine products geared for the international markets.
However, the Manila Fame visit coincided with two other events so I decided to have a go of it all in one concentrated effort. My first stop was at the Department of Tourism sponsored TRY SOX at the activity area of Robinson's Place Ermita. I was at the area around mid-day to experience what the regional event has to offer its visitors. SOX is a diminutive for Region 12 comprised of three areas: South Cotabato, Saranggani and General Santos.
TRY SOX was a surprising exposition. They had actual members of indigenous communities doing their arts and crafts demonstrations in the center of the exhibits. On sale in the booths were T'nalak cloth, Inaul malongs, tubaws, T'boli beads and belts, B'laan clothing, etc. I meandered around to see what items I could get my hands on. I managed to get some contact numbers from the exhibitors in the event I would not be able to come back to finalize my purchases. In these expos, it would be wise to roam around for good bargains before you shell out your hard earned cash. I did find very finely beaded tops but the seller had gone for lunch and I had to leave for my meet up with my friends at the Manila Fame show. It was nearly lunch time so I decided to get a bite to eat before proceeding to World Trade Center..
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| Obra Nicolas basket with leather trim |
When I got to the lobby of the Manila Fame Show, I saw Annie Obeya who arrived earlier than me. At an event like this, it isn't unusual to see celebrities and luminaries in the art, design, showbiz, fashion and even the paralegal industry. Before we even got inside the exhibits, I bumped into Ito Kish, whose home decor has already made a mark in the global market and Atty. Lorna Kapunan, with whom I conducted tour guiding activities as she hosted international lawyers in the past. Our first stop was at the booth of Tina Campos, jewelry designer and friend of Annie where she gets her fashion accessories from. I purchased a leather trimmed basket from good friend and bag designer Marcelo Alonzo, whose Obra Nicolas booth was swarmed with buyers. His items were a steal owing to the fact that it was the last day of the affair and they didn't want inventory left.
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| Marawi fabrics and beadworks |
A few minutes later we were joined by Ace Burwell and Lloyd Anthony Nuestro Raffols and Pheeyah Salones. We went roaming around the huge expanse of WTC to soak in all of the lovely items on sale. Unfortunately, I didn't have an unlimited amount on hand to purchase everything I want. It would be a bit of stretch to say I wanted it all... I actually did! I just couldn't afford it let alone have enough space in my house to store them. I also met Sabrina Artadi whose show, Sabrina's Kitchen I used to follow on TV. I also had a glimpse of Tweety De Leon Gonzalez, Dzee Gervacio and Marie Martinez whose acrylic bags were quite interesting. By the time we had had enough of shopping, my friends had bought clothes, bags, indigenous fabrics, home ware and what not. Davao based fashion designer Edgar Buyan had very eye-catching separates done in digital prints of tribesmen and women and turn of the century paintings emblazoned on shirts, jackets, skirts, pants and shorts. Nothing fit me, unfortunately.
The sun was setting and we decided to drop by the Aliwan Fiesta next door at the Star City complex. The Aliwan Fiesta is a yearly event which brings together all of the regional festivals. Contingents from all regions congregate in Manila to present their Reyna ng Aliwan Candidates, their parade floats and their street dance performers culminating in a coronation ceremony for the year's winning beeauty queen. There are also food concessionaires and regional handicrafts for sale in the Aliwan Market area. We got hungry and decided to go for an early dinner at the Harbor Square area. We tried the food at Orange and were fairly surprised that the food was pretty good despite a friendly price range.
It was still quite early so our group decided to go out for dessert. we decided to try out the new restaurant operated by Tesoro's aptly called A Mabini's. On our drive towards A Mabini street we chanced upon the ongoing street dance parade of Aliwan Fiesta and was captivated by the array of color and glitz of the ongoing parade.
Tesoro's converted their Mabini outlet into an unpretentious restaurant. They have a satellite store in the ground floor but more of the space was for the restaurant. We tried the ensaymada stuffed with mantecado ice cream, the salty melted cheese was a perfect foil for the sweet ice cream, such a perfect dessert. The Leche'ng Flan (yes, you read it right) was more like a creme brulee with its caramel top slightly burnt. Before we decided to call it a day, we went up to the Namayan restaurant on the roof deck to check out the outlet operated by a bed and breakfast operated by a lessee. After that I decided to get home and come back another day for the entrees.
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| myself on the foreground, Anna, Acey< Annie, Lloyd and Pheeyah |
