A discovery on Pioneer Street

The lady at the counter of this cafe said they've been around for over a year, but I who lives nearby, how come I never noticed it? Perhaps I've been more concerned with getting home in one piece after going through the occasional Pioneer St. traffic to even note how a new hangout had risen beside a small National Bookstore branch inside the Quad Alpha building.

Before the rains we've been experiencing this weekend came, it felt like summer had changed its mind and decided to return, with its heat affecting people who are already natural hotheads. Ice coffee for me was called for with passable ensaymada (is it brioche in English? someone help me on this one). There were tables with a view of the street, and the decorator chose well to have amber bottles lined up, a touch of green and some pebbles in a tray.

No, I haven't been bitten by the adult coloring book addiction that afflicts my eldest daughter. I bought this at the cafe's mother company, National Bookstore. This is meant as a gift to my husband Rolly who's turning 65 in less than a month and who has found new fulfillment in tending a pocket garden that has remained a work in progress. Pretty much like our marriage, I hasten to add. Photos by Babeth Lolarga

A poet lives here

When the first early morning rains of June fell, I found myself in a crowded neighborhood in Mandaluyong City on my way on foot to a friend's house where we like to exercise together, meditate, then sit down for an unhurried breakfast of cereals with fresh fruit, yogurt and coffee.

I miss that friend now because she's out in London representing the county in a literary Olympics of sort called the Parnassus. It's the Greek mountain where the muses reside.

Manong Ed Maranan posted a link to a YouTube video showing what was dubbed a "poem-chopper" showering people below who were gathered in a London park with poems on paper. The same people went wild about the "confetti" as though it was money being thrown at them.

Anyway, about that June walk. I spotted these refreshing sights on my way to this friend's apartment. Even her small yard she has turned into something that reminds her of her Bohol roots--the evergreen countryside. The little touches she has arranged on her front yard alone declare gently that a poet lives inside.

Fire tree's last blossoms?

These buds must've have bloomed by now.

Bamboo, potted plants and mobile

Fairy and contra evil eye guard the place.

Detail from an outdoor mosaic table

Photos by Babeth Lolarga