Manila Impressions

Hitching a ride on the back of an already full Jeepney in Manila

I recently got back from a five-day trip to Manila for work and it being my first trip to the Philippines it was an eye opener.

Before I went, I was told horror stories about the notorious traffic jams -- an acquaintance recalled being stuck in a car for two hours and it hardly moved. He gave up going to his destination and instead asked the driver to take him back to his hotel.

Another friend warned me to bring reading material and download a bunch of podcasts to listen to to while away the time stuck in traffic.

But on the whole we were lucky because the distance between our hotel and the conference venue was not too far -- it wasn't close enough to walk, but it took say 20 minutes by car when it probably took 10 minutes without traffic.

On our first day, a pair begging for money from cars idling

We were ferried everywhere by car, and the main reason is safety. A woman who escorted us has Chinese relatives living in Manila. She told us their house is surrounded by a two-storey tall fence and her uncle packs a gun with him every time they go out.

She says that many years ago things were worse -- her two young cousins were almost kidnapped while their chauffeur was driving them, but luckily knew he was being followed and managed to shake off the shady characters.

I asked if Rodrigo Duterte had anything to do with the country being safer, but our Filipina fixer said it was more because the economy was improving and people were earning more money.

Nevertheless, I saw many cars and Jeepneys -- pimped up long vehicles where people sat in the back -- a kind of cramped minibus -- had Duterte stickers on them.

They would like to believe that he represents them, and not the super rich.

When I was in high school in the 1980s, I had a few Filipina friends. At first they didn't explain why they were in Vancouver, but later I found out one of the families was anti-Marcos and was waiting for him to go. The others probably had the same political leanings.

In the business district, Manila is sleek and modern

I later found out on this trip that when Marcos came to power, he immediately started going after the powerful families that lived in the south who made their money through sugar cane plantations.

I heard that these families run the plantation like fiefdoms, paying their workers low wages so their children couldn't be well educated, but always making sure they give each family a turkey for Christmas.

This uneven development and the wealth gap is very similar to China's, though the Philippines have democracy, and China does not. In both cases, however, corruption still hasn't been eradicated.

Philippine culture is a mixed-up one, thanks to the colonization of the Spanish for over 300 years. As one Fliipina put it, the Spanish only pushed religion on the colony, and so the Philippines is the largest population of Roman Catholics in the world, thanks to birth control being illegal...

After the Spanish, the Americans came for about 50 years, and gave them American English, rule of law, Spam and democracy. It is only in the last few years that the Philippines is starting to figure out its own identity and move away from its colonial mentality and become proud of its heritage.

This is reflected in the food, that has a combination of Spanish, American, Japanese and Chinese influences. And now some progressive chefs are looking to indigenous ingredients to find new flavours.

A craft beer bar in Poblacion with friendly staff

It's interesting to see young Filipino chefs keen on coming back home after having learned abroad, and wanting to start a restaurant, cafe or a bar. Perhaps it's because rents are cheap and so is labour. But perhaps those are the best conditions to be able to experiment and take some risks.

In Hong Kong the start-up costs are so prohibitive that it's way too risky to even try.

The ironic thing is that rich Filipinos like to go to Hong Kong to see what the trends are, when we ourselves look elsewhere!

So I am well aware that my trip was the sanitized version of Manila, and that we haven't even seen how the other side lives. But we managed to try a few trendy places in Poblacion, a red light district that is becoming more gentrified, and the food was not only delicious but very cheap compared to Hong Kong.

Therefore if someone has a decent-paying job, they can afford to eat relatively well.

The people are nice on the whole, but not very bright at times. And things do go on Philippine time -- ie. at least 30 minutes later. It requires a lot of patience and gentle pushing to get things done -- berating them does nothing.

Another thing is that during this conference, I saw a lot of women making high-level decisions. They seem to be the ones getting things done. A Filipina explained to me that it's because the Philippines is a matriarchal society, and so things are done from a practical standpoint because the men are too lazy, and also women make decisions behind the scenes, which is totally acceptable.

It's fascinating to watch these movers and shakers, and I wonder if I'll be back again to discover more of this city and its people.

The First Monday in May

Remember that Guo Pei dress Rihanna wore to the Met gala?

On my flight back from Beijing to Hong Kong, I watched the documentary The First Monday in May, which follows how the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour put together the 2015 exhibition and gala, China: Through the Looking Glass.

It's a huge undertaking, combining Chinese-inspired fashion with museum pieces from the Asian Art collection, pairing outfits inspired by or look similar to actual works of art in the museum's archives. But it's not just about ancient China, it's also about Communist China, and contemporary China, featuring today's designers.

Andrew Bolton is the Costume Institute curator at the Met, his dream job since he was young. He strongly believes that fashion is an art form, something some of his colleagues in other departments don't necessarily accept, but the massive gala is a big fundraiser for the museum, something they can't ignore or look down on.

However, many heads of other departments take the opportunity, as the exhibits shape up, to express their concerns that they don't want the clothes to overshadow the museum pieces.

One exhibit showing the inspiration from Ming vases

It's a telling insight into the politics at the Met, and watching how Bolton navigates through it all.

Meanwhile clothes are already arriving at the museum for the costume department to carefully document and decide how they will arrange them in the exhibits. Different designers are interviewed, and Jean-Paul Gaultier admits he has never been to China, but in a way doesn't want to go, because he wants to have a fantasy in his mind of what China is to him.

John Galliano's fantastical dresses are also featured, Coco Chanel's vintage pieces of gold and black sequinned jackets remind you of sleek lacquered cabinets, and Vivienne Tam's homage to Imperial China and her pop-art tribute to Mao Zedong.

It's disappointing Tam wasn't interviewed in the documentary, as she would have given an interesting perspective about how her clothes shape her identity as a Hong Kong designer.

Vivienne Tam's fun Mao dress

While Wintour argues that art moves people, fashion can as well, though Gaultier says he never imagined his clothes would be in a museum.

The petite woman is a powerhouse, fierce, decisive and meticulous. Wintour is in charge of the invitation list and features all kinds of people from philanthropists, to actors, singers, artists, businessmen and politicians. Imagine having to figure out where everyone sits! Her assistant tries to keep her cool the whole time, but there's a huge snag when Rihanna and her entourage are going to cost much more than they budgeted for...

And then there are many mini crises along the way in setting up the exhibition, making deadlines even tighter and working around the clock...

There are also concerns the exhibition is a gweilo perspective of China, and the only Chinese person working directly on the project is film director Wong Kar-wai, who doesn't seem impressed by how things are panning out. He is rightly concerned that the exhibition isn't authentic enough, and also how everyone seems to want to have a hand in things.

Wong Kar-wai is concerned how the show will turn out

To an extent Wong must be familiar with these kinds of situations, or perhaps as a revered director, he is used to having everything his way?

The exhibition generated a lot of interest, and a lot of coverage of the gala, thanks to Rihanna showing up in a yellow gown by Guo Pei that many immediately pronounced it looked like an omelette or scrambled eggs, and criticized Sarah Jessica Parker's hideous headdress that looked comical.

It's a documentary that keeps your interest throughout and if anyone is interested in event planning, fashion, museum curation and art, then The First Monday in May is for you. It's a riveting eye-opener...

The First Monday in May (2016)

Directed by Andrew Rossi

90 minutes

Picture of the Day: Beijing Subway Map

So many subway lines make Beijing more accessible to more commuters

When I arrived in Beijing in 2007, there were maybe three subway lines -- Line 1, Line 2 and Line 13.

By the time I left three years later, there were perhaps seven lines.

Now there are some 15 lines.

This is the most updated map that's found in the city's subway stations.

When you go in, you still have to put your bag through an X-ray machine and they make sure everyone does this. However, those not carrying bags can bypass checks completely in some stations, so if someone did have a bomb or weapon on their person, they would not be discovered...

But I digress...

I met a friend for lunch whose office is near Beijing West Railway Station on the new Line 7. She asked me to meet her at Wanzi station, the stop before the railway station.

So from Dongsishitiao, I went south on Line 2 until I reached Chongwenmen, then transferred to Line 5 down one stop to Ciqikou, then transferred again to Line 7 going west.

Transferring from one line to another can entail a pretty big trek that could be over five minutes long, going down a long tunnel then up some stairs and then down to the platform.

Examining the subway map further, you can see many of the lines are actually a few stops just so that a commuter can transfer to another line. Imagine having to transfer from one end of town to the other -- the maze of passageways to go through everyday must entail a lot of exercise to say the least!

After lunch with my friend I went back down to Wanzi station and was surprised to find that not only did my bag go through the X-ray machine, but I was also being checked over with an electronic paddle!

Guess this is the next step in subway security...

Cheap and Cheerful

Two catties of the signature Man Lou boiled dumplings

A trip to Beijing is not complete without eating jiaozi, or boiled dumplings, and one well known local place is called Xian Man Lou (馅老满).

When I lived in Beijing, a German chef friend of mine came to visit with Chinese master chef, Liu Guozhu, as they were going to open Golden Flower in Wynn Macau.

They were in Beijing to do some research, as Liu used to be one of the chefs at the famed Beijing Hotel, where he cooked for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

The filling inside has minced pork, chives, egg, and shrimp

Liu told me in his strong Beijing accent over the phone to meet them at this restaurant and I amazingly found it in Andingmen.

It's a two-storey restaurant and I found the two of them on the second floor at the back at a giant round table, and Liu had practically ordered every other dish on the menu. He warmly greeted me and told me to just try as much as I could!

The two chefs were leaving Beijing the next day and I was left with three bags filled with boxes of leftovers. It was insane!

Fast forward to this trip, my friend and I ended up in Andingmen after we wandered through Wudaoying hutong and I suggested we go to Xian Man Lou.

About a 10-minute walk later we were there, and after a short wait we had a table, also upstairs. I was surprised to find the restaurant wasn't as busy as it used to be, but perhaps because of the Qing Ming public holiday, there weren't as many students patronizing the restaurant at this time.

We'd had a late lunch, so we only had a few dishes. We ordered a cold appetizer of "crispy seaweed" (20 yuan), which wasn't crispy, but thick strips of seaweed that were rolled up and then sliced.

The filling here features a mackerel paste and chives

Then we had two different kinds of dumplings. While the restaurant says you can order yi liang (or one cattie, which equals 500 grams or 5 dumplings), they would rather you order er liang or two catties.

The signature lao man jiaozi (21 yuan for 10 pcs) was delicious and hearty -- it was filled with minced pork, chives, eggs and shrimp. The shrimp was a bit crunchy, and we liked the combination with the chives to brighten the flavours.

For a bit of experimentation, we tried the dumplings filled with mackerel and chives (31 yuan for 10 pcs). The mackerel was made into a smooth paste and combined with chives, though coriander would have worked just as well. I'd never had fish dumplings like this before and neither had my friend and she quite liked it.

We both downed a bottle of Yanjing beer (9 yuan) and we barely finished the food.

Nevertheless I'm glad Xian Man Lou is still there, and the dumplings are just as I remembered them! And as you can tell from the prices, it was a cheap and cheerful dinner!

Xian Man Lou

Anhu Beili Yayuan, Gulou

Andingmen
(+86) 6404 6944