Leaders for Heritage Stamp Exhibition to Commemorate National Heritage Month at PHLPOST

The exhibit entitled “Mga Pinuno Para Sa Pamana” (Leaders for Heritage) at the Manila Central Post Office main building will showcase Filipino leaders as essential guardians and propagators of culture. In line with this, PHLPost shall also be featuring the 2019 Heritage stamp issuance entitled “Women as Heritage Keepers”.

The Philippine Postal Corporation, in coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), will conduct a Philatelic Exhibit featuring Special Stamps from notable philatelic collectors in celebration of the National Heritage Month for the entire month.

This issuance aims to give emphasis on the work Filipino women have done as leaders and/or contributors to their different fields.

The Philatelic Exhibit will be launched on May 9, 2019 at 3:00 pm at the Manila Central Post Office main building, Liwasang Bonifacio, Ermita, Manila to be attended by philatelic collectors, partner government agencies, among others. The exhibit will be open to the public from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, from May 9 to May 31, 2019.

There will be a special postal heritage walking tour, stamp talks, stamp bazaar, stamp swap meet and viewing of stamp exhibition schedule on May 18, 2019 ( SATURDAY ) from 8:30 am until 12:00 nn.

For inquiries : Please call Ms. Abigail Tarroza( researcher and tour specialist ) 524-87-71 / +63 9777189690 email : abi.phlpost@gmail.com

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All You Can Eat Lunch Buffet at Aberdeen Court at Great Eastern Hotel

Aberdeen Court is offering both breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet for several years in Makati and in Quezon City branches.

It had been a while, since we have visited the restaurant and hotel premises for a buffet lunch.

buffet table area

We reach the hotel premises past 12:30 pm. We were able to get plates and got our desired seating place in just matters of minutes! That is a plus point for a restaurant which offers a buffet lunch and eat all you can dishes.

dining area

The sitting capacity of the restaurant is between 80 to 140 people at any given time. Some portion of the place is well lighted especially near the main entrance.

framed old photos

table setting

The dining area needed some uplifting and lighting up. There are some old photos at the wall which serves as nostalgia pieces. The tables at the dining area need some changes since the different mosaic pattern looks distracting.

fried rice and steamed white rice

green mussels in oyster sauce

deep fried lechon kawali

There were about a dozen or so dishes neatly presented at the buffet table- This consisted of ordinary steamed white rice, yang chow fried rice, noodles, mixed meat with vegetables ( chopseuy), assorted cold cuts, green mussels in oyster sauce, roasted chicken, pot rod beef with potatoes and sweet potatoes, sissig, lechon kawali, dimsum and sweet spicy dalag ( snake head).

siomai

roasted chicken and green mussles with oyster sauce

Dipping condiments like liver sauce, ketchup, sweet and sour sauce, chili sauce among others.

hototay and pumpkin soup

dessert table

The desserts includes fresh slices of pineapples, watermelon, cantaloupe, chocolate and strawberry flavored waffer sticks, mochi balls, marshmallow, a chocolate dipping saucer, gelatin, vegetable salad and do it yourself halo-halo mix.

vegetables, halo-halo and leche flan stored in a refrigerator

What makes this nice and hygienic is each halo-halo is individually separated and the slices of fruits, gelatin and leche flan were placed in a refrigerator a plus point.

halo-halo

mochi balls in grated coconut

I was given 1 ice tea and an unlimited filtered cold water by the waiter. Overall, for Php 350 buffet lunch is just a slight upgrade from a typical Chinese style fast food restaurant. The staffs replenished the buffet table only for a few times. Popular dishes like assorted cold-cuts meats, green mussels, roasted chicken and lechon kawali were not refilled during our entire stay at the restaurant.

mixed meat with vegetables ( chopseuy ) and stir fry noodles ( pancit canton)

In our 1 hour or so stay at the restaurant, there were only a handful of people despite it falls on a weekend. The management must try to upgrade the dishes and try to refill the dishes as much as possible.

group photo

You cannot eat as much at any restaurant with only Php 350? There are some better restaurants/ hotels within Quezon City which serves better dishes at the same rate or just slightly lower in price.

pot rod beef with potatoes and sweet potatoes, assorted cold-cut meat

Overall, we would give this place a 6.48 rating out of the maximum of 10 highest.

Policy- No sharing, no leftovers and no take-out of food.

Eat all you can breakfast Php 203/ person , Php 350 buffet lunch/ dinner , Php 250 children below 4 feet

Schedule: breakfast buffet : 6:00 am to 9:30 am, lunch : 11:00 am to 2:30 pm , dinner: 6:00 to 9:30pm

Address: Ground Floor, Great Eastern Hotel, 1403 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City

Landline  Tel No: +63 2 3718282

Cactus and Succulent Convention Philippines 2019

Cactus and Succulent Convention in partnership with Manila Bulletin, Agriculture Magazine, UN Square Mall and Manila Prince Hotel.

The 1 day Cactus and Succulent Convention had moved from Sequioa Hotel in Quezon City to a more commuter friendly Manila Prince Hotel in Manila. This was due to the clamor of by the participants to have bigger venue and more convenient in commuting. The convention places is near LRT line 1 UN avenue, passenger jeepneys , buses and auv express which ply the Taft avenue route. Special participation is Mr. Zong Li a breeder of Haworthia from Taiwan.

“When Art Emulates Life“. A whole day seminar featuring the renowned plant staging and pottery artist, Keith Kitoi Taylor from the USA.

Participation fees is Php 1,500 per day for those attending convention, This also comes with free snacks and each ticket gets you a chance to win a Keith Kitoi Taylor pot and cactus and succulents from the sponsors.

Conference will be held at the Manila Prince Hotel on May 19, 2019, the whole day conference will have local guest speakers included Mr. Lino Rom, Mr. Butchi Romero,Mr. Nonoy Sionosa, Mr. Chong Pasion, Mr. Dan Saclangan,Mr. Ron Apostol, Mr. Joey de Castro and Mr. Wilson Simuangco Angel.

Limited slots are available at the convention. There will be bazaars , talks and exciting raffles items at stake at the 3 day bazaar from May 17, 18 and 19 from 8:00am to 5:00pm which will be held at UN Square Mall in United Nations avenue corner San Marcelino street, Ermita, Manila.

See you there at the convention and trade bazaar!

Big Crowd and Exhibits at Aquafiesta 2019

Philippine Arowana and Louhan Society ( PHALS ) in partnership with Dymax and other fish association conducted a successful  fish exhibit, lectures, talks , competition from April 25 to 28, 2019 at Robinson’s Magnolia.

The event was dubbed Aquafiesta 2019 which celebrates friendly competition, exhibition, fish keeping, small pets, pet food and live carnivorous plants were sold.

Record Crowd

Big crowd had attended the show indicating the huge success of the fish show. This also includes on the spot aquascaping competition which was sponsored by Dymax.

There were 36 different aquascape exhibits which is the craft of wisely arranging rocks, stones, cavework, driftwood, water plants in an aesthetically pleasing manner within aquarium together with small fishes, snails and small shrimps in natural setting.

This aquascape also features some aerial plants like Tillandsia ionantha and Tillandsia usneoides ( Spanish moss ).

Dymax Aquascaping Results

Dymax posted at their FB page the list of the winners and the corresponding points.

Tank # 11- First Place : Mr. Edrian Corpuz Espiritu ( Root of Emotions) 176 points

Tank # 23- Second Place: Mr. Kristopher Gagarin ( Tranquility) 173 points

Tank # -13  Third Place : Mr. Lenard Bareng ( Viñas Familiares)  171 points

first place winner ( aquascaping competition )

aquascape winner

aquascaping second place

aquascaping third place

arowana

The participants were given a couple of hours to finished their aquascaping and the winners were proclaimed on April 27, 2019.

betta competition

black chicken for sale ( Php 8,000 a pair)

One can enjoy the hobby by interacting with fellow fish keepers plus the exchange of ideas and knowledge. There were some booth which sold some interesting merchandise like key chain, refrigerator magnets and t-shirts.

An on the spot was also held during the duration of the show in which lucky visitor or hobbyist have a chance to win a fish or a pet. There is no entrance fees at the annual show.

crayfish

Exoterra

gold fishes, koi and red ear slider turtles

guinea pigs

hamsters for sale

hamster and guinea pig cages

Ms. Marge Hermoso together with Mr. John Laterna from Cebu

rabbits for sale

Terrarium and Vivarium

Aside from aquascaping, there is growing community of terrarium and vivarium lovers.

Vivarium was derive from the Latin word “vivere,” to live. In a broad sense, a vivarium is a habitat for a pet.

Terrariums was first used in the late 19th century.  The term came from the word aquarium substituting ” terre”  (meaning “land”), because the empty aquariums were used to house terrestrial animals or reptiles.

One does not need a large growing area for space to have a vivarium or terrarium.

Organization

PAHLS has grown to be one of the biggest fish club in the Philippines, and is now a non-stock, non-profit organization whose aim is to promote the hobby of responsible fish keeping and to educate the public regarding proper and responsible pet owners thru their seminars, public talks, forum sites and FB page.

The event is well- attended with thousands of visitors, hobbyists, mall goers, students and children admiring the exhibit.

Unlike other fish shows, there is no entrance fees.

Stunning Array of Religious Display at Talleres de Maximo Vicente Exhibit at Rustan’s Makati

Talleres de Maximo Vicente’s 100 known works is currently on exhibit at 5th level of Rustan’s Makati.

The exhibit was promoted several weeks even prior to the said opening on April 11, 2019.

The opening was delayed for a few days because some of the items were not curated, hence the opening of the exhibit was moved from April 22, 2019 to May 6, 2019.

This attracted some high profile collectors of religious works, some had already made reservations of the items even before the opening date.

sacred heart of jesus

Despite the slight movement of the exhibition date. There is no stopping religious Catholic collectors and santo experts in visiting the exhibit.

Exhibit and SALE

The exhibit was first posted in several religious groups and FB pages. This is the biggest exhibit-sale of Maximo Vicente sculptures in the country in recent years.

Most of the icons were already sold, save for the life-size Our Lady of the Assumption, the last original work of Maestro Maximo Vicente, who died in 1964, and a few smaller pieces. All the sculptures are between 50 to 70 years old.

Maximo Vicente Works

Christ the King wood sculpture ( standing holding globe)

Christ the King

Maximo Vicente was born to Antonina Vicente, and a Spaniard, in Malabon in 1885. The young Maximo stayed with an uncle who worked as forest ranger. It was during this time that he picked up woodcarving as a hobby.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacred Heart of Jesus statues as wall decor

Our Lady of Fatima

Risen Christ

Some accounts say he was self-taught, with no formal training in the craft. A bio printout Francisco provided us, however, says Vicente graduated from the “UP School of Fine Arts” in 1909 (though the University of the Philippines was founded only a year before, in 1908).

Saint Anthony of Padua

He set up his workshop in 1908, first on Calle Hidalgo in Quiapo, with his half-brothers.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Statues, wall decors made at the Talleres de Maximo Vicente live on in the homes of wealthy private collectors, as well as big churches, like San Beda Mendiola and San Beda Alabang, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in New Manila, Assumption Convent in San Lorenzo and St. Alphonsus de Liguori in Magallanes.

 Pope Pius X bust

A Sto. Niño made by the taller was also given to Pope John Paul II, which was later installed at the Pontifico Collegio Filippino in Rome.

Mater Dolorosa bust

Holy family

Our Lady of Cararin or Santa Maria Kamalen

An Our Lady of the Barangay was also sent to Rome. Other notable restoration works done by Mr. Maximo Vicente includes Santa Marian Kamalen also known as Our Lady of Camarin in 1948. There is a small icon of this image at the exhibit area.

Saint Jude Thaddeus

last supper wood carving

Stanislaus Kostka

Invited Guests

Patrons like Former first lady Imelda Marcos and philanthropist Danny Dolor, of the Talleres de Maximo Vicente, were invited to cut the ceremonial ribbon, with Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. and his daughter Nedy. Tantoco’s other daughters, Marilen Tantoco and Maritess Enriquez, were also present during the opening.

 

Our Lady of the Assumption made from hardwood narra

The earthquake which struck in Luzon late afternoon last monday did not deter guests in attending the exhibit.Do not forget to visit the exhibit.