So my friend Maureen, who practices at BYM, is a creative director at Philippine Tatler magazine, and her boss is a partner in a sweet new bar called Establishment. Tonight was the "soft opening," and it was a blast. I'm glad I decked myself out in the sexy new purple dress I got last week and my big clunky yellow patent leather platform sandals, as I felt barely dressy enough as it was amidst the fun-and-well-heeled crowd. Between Maureen's boss and his partners, they seem to know all of Manila's see-and-be-seen crowd who showed up to christen the place till the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Not that I recognized any of these folks, but Maureen, her friends, and folks I met there pointed out CEOs, politicians, fashion models, etc. etc.. What was particularly nice was the combination of swankiness and friendliness ... an A-list crowd that was friendly and mingly (maybe all such crowds are like that, in my limited experience I wouldn't know, but I suspect it has a lot to do with the friendly, mingly Filipino culture), yummy cocktails, and gorgeous design. Upon walking in, the entry bar was decorated with a velvety/damasky black wallpaper accented by elegant white flowers. The main bar/dining area with its triple-height ceiling had big, comfy chairs, some arrayed around low coffee-table like tables and others around more traditional dining tables and a dramatic black geometric, tree branch-inspired pattern against light walls. Overall, the light was not-too-dark, not-too-bright in the restaurant and the bathroom was more generously lit and mirror-lined so as to afford us fabulous babes the necessary light to tweak our lip gloss and such. I had a great time hanging with Maureen and her friends, some from work, many from around town, and I really hope her co-workers are able to hook me up with a gig writing a column about exploring Filipino food!
Establishment is located at The Fort, a hyperdeveloped area just outside Makati City in Taguig City. Apparently it used to be US Military land, and was turned back over to the Philippines within the last decade or two. Since then the area has been the site of major, no-expense-spared development, 21st-century style. Enormous glass-curtain-walled luxury condo towers, an impeccably-landscaped, designer boutique-lined pedestrian mall, and a fun mall with interesting bazaar sections called "Market! Market!". I am not a stranger to Market! Market! ... after learning from an American friend that you can actually buy tampons there (tampons are not very popular in the Philippines - fortunately I remembered their scarcity from my visits to Cebu in 1998 and 2000 and came equipped with a six-month supply) I decided to head over and check it out last week. Locals don't seem to like to walk much here, but I love walking and the walk to The Fort area being an extremely safe-looking walk I decided to hoof it for the roughly 3-miles from my neighborhood, Salcedo Village. So I schlepped down there and after a long walk down the parkway-like McKinley Road the whole dazzling development shimmered before me like an oasis in the desert. Very incongruous - it was a bit like encountering Las Vegas for the first time, though without the neon, just lots of clean, shiny, new buildings and carefully planned public spaces. It was a little disappointing actually when I got my first glimpse of The Fort development. I had somehow been expecting a rowdy, farmer's market kind of atmosphere and this was too hypermodern, almost too clean and shiny, and yet every here and there undeveloped parking lots were covered in a depressing gravel like miniature scree. I got into the pedestrian mall and matters initially seemed worse - had I traveled all the way around the world to visit a replica of the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade, complete with a Lush, a cupcake bakery, and a Starbucks every few hundred meters? My mood was brightened when I found Xocolat, a chocolate cafe
next door to the cupcake place that serves Burdick-like hot chocolate as well as churros con chocolat (pictured). I remembered that I actually LIKE the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade, touristy though it may be, and hey, this version has killer chocolate! Then at the end of it, I found my bazaar -Market! Market! is indeed a blast. Maybe a little like Pike Place Market in Seattle. It has a permanent farmer's market featuring fresh produce, carts selling local specialties from all the major regions of the Philippines, and kiosks selling local delights like bibingka, schwarma, balut (no I haven't tried it yet), empanadas, and more. It also has a five-story mall with not just the usual stores but three warrens of bargain booths named the Gift Market!, the Fashion Market! and the Furniture Market!. I couldn't resist picking up the the abovementioned purple dress, the cutest boatneck purple shirt with a 1" border silver sequins at the neck for P350 (haggled down from P380, I'm sure I'll get better at that...) and ribbon-belted plaid shorts in navy and pink for P200/pair. Then in the mall, I found a white elephant I've been looking for for ever, and with the best twist. I have wanted a polo shirt dress for the longest time but have never quite found the right combination of of sleeve dimensions, length, tailoring etc that did it for me. But I found my dress at a boutique in Market! Market!, and instead of a horse, sheep, alligator or some other overplayed emblem (sorry polo-wearing friends) on the chest it had a huge embroidered map of the Philippines! Such fun!Home from the party tonight at 1:45pm I took a cab with one of Maureen's friends (ok, my friend now too) who lives in my building... but the first time I came home from Market! Market! I took a Jeepney.
Warmly,
Carol
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