Baguio all aglow

Baguio is one of my favorite places in the world. I usually go up to Baguio after attending Mass in Manaoag.

Nanay, when she was still able to travel, loved visiting Baguio. Many Holy Weeks were spent in Baguio City by the whole family. We would rent a modest house somewhere in Legarda for a week, do marketing ourselves, cook our own food and the rest of the days, we would spend going around the City of Pines. Nanay would always go to the Lourdes Grotto, the Cathedral, the Pink Sisters Church, Good Shepherd for the ube and strawberry jams, the fabulous Session Road and Nanay’s favorite ukay stores.

TPLEX was not yet in the horizon. Land travel to Baguio would take seven to eight hours considering the traffic during holiday seasons. Nanay never complained. She would peacefully sleep in the car. Baguio was worth the horrendous traffic maze while all of us swore to joining the revolt in Central Luzon in protest of the hellish traffic jam.

At Session Road was Volante with its delicious pizzas, pasta and fried chili peanuts. It’s actually still there and there’s Tea House with Chona’s delight that’s sold out as soon as it hits the store counter.

Many years ago, I was with Nanay and the whole family when good friend Rico Yan passed away. “Let’s pray for him at the Grotto,” Nanay instructed all of us, “and you’re not going down to do a report or interview people.” It was an order. Nanay knew that I had to go back to Manila to cover the story. We stayed for a few days, went down with her and the whole family as scheduled.

Nanay loved being photographed in front of The Mansion, at Burnham Park, Wright Park — all this properly marked in photo albums; Baguio — 1996 Session Road  — 3:30 p.m. Monday — 1998. She enjoyed telling friends in Samar stories behind these photos.

“One day Nanay, when I’m able to save enough, we’ll get a place for you in Baguio,” I promised her in one of our conversations.

After traveling to Baguio for quite some time, I began entertaining the idea of getting a small property in the City of Pines. My dream for Nanay was finally realized when I got a unit at Bonbel which is one of the best condominium developments in Baguio. It was built by a South Korean developer and located near the Botanical Garden and right across the gate of St. Louis High School. It is just a stone’s throw away from the main road and the Teacher’s Camp.

I tapped the expertise of Andrew Galutera and top jeweler Celi Sy Sarabia (owners of Home Makeovers) for the interior design of my two-bedroom unit. They did a magnificent job in transforming a simple space into an elegant yet homey unit. It is indeed home away from home.

Andrew said, “In Home Makeovers, we make sure to transform our client’s home from an empty space into an exquisitely designed space. It is a one-stop shop where you can buy local and imported furniture, lighting fixtures (like chandeliers, pendant lights, wall lamps, table lamps and floor lamps), home decors, fabrics which are carefully selected by both of us.”

Andrew and Celi have been partners for three years now. “We celebrated our third anniversary last Oct. 2. The idea of having a store only started with a joke since we always go abroad to buy accessories for Hotel Celeste and Boracay Tropics (which Celi’s family owns). We love to shop home decors, furniture pieces, accessories and anything connected to interior design. Then one day, Tita Celi called me and asked if I want to open a store that offers everything from interior design to home decors. It all started there and then we saw a place and that’s it. Hence, Home Makeovers was born.”

It has been more than 20 years since Andrew started designing and decorating. Andrew loves his job. It was his passion in designing small and large houses, condominium units, restaurants and boutique hotels that helped him carve a formidable niche in the interior design industry.

Andrew describes his makeover style. “Anything goes as long as our clients are happy. It’s always a two-way relationship between us and our clients. We do modern and classic interiors and other sorts of design to make one’s home a beautiful, livable and practical lifestyle.”

He shares that his work is exciting because he gets to meet new people and ends up being friends with clients.

When you visit Home Makeovers, you will be amazed at the display collection that includes lighting fixtures, furniture pieces and other products related to interior design and interior decorations. Andrew shares that his favorite items in the store are their lighting fixtures.

“My dream for Home Makeovers is to have at least one more branch to help people in designing and decorating their homes and other projects,” enthuses Andrew.

Home Makeovers is located at 107 EDSA, Mandaluyong City. For inquiries, call 234-9175 and 0919-6555212. Like the store on Facebook at www.facebook.com/home.makeovers. Log on to www.homemakeoversphilippines.com or email [email protected].