I didn’t recall her smoking when I first met her so I asked if she really smoked and she said, "Oh, I am back to it after I returned from my recent holiday in Paris." "My," she said, "they were all smoking their galouise, and I thought I can do this too, so I decided to light up again. Norbie is concerned that I am smoking yet again. But I told him that I can always snap out of this," declared this feisty Burmese charmer who goes by the name of Wynn Wynn.
Moving to her living room, she invited me to perch on her white divan while she ordered me a fresh kalamansi juice (with or without sugar, she kindly asked). She was musing about how she recently assured her concerned husband of 23 years, Norberto Ong, that her smoking was no vice and was not going to be a bad habit. (All smokers unite and agree on this one.) "I have always maintained this attitude that when I want to quit smoking, I can and will quit, here and now," she said confidently. She’s my kind of woman, I thought.
We sat in her lovely two-story house in upscale Makati recently, surrounded by her objets d’ art, curios from all over the world collected from her travels, objects of desire here and there, and sprays of flowers and greenery in and out of this sanctuary. I actually forgot I was in the hub of smog city.
We talked about raising a family, the movie Unfaithful (Gad, how could the philandering wife be so complicated, we agreed), being a friend and lover to your hubby or partner, doing only the stuff you want to do because life is too short for compromises and finally working the 9 to 5 shift again. (That was me.)
Wynn Wynn (a Burmese name which means radiant and bright) Ong is among Manila’s most interesting international residents. She is married to a Filipino investment banker and is one of the original ADB babies. Her mother, the first female officer hired by the bank, was the librarian of the ADB from the beginning. This probably explains Wynn Wynn’s passion for books. Her father was a nuclear physicist who was deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna in the ’60s, where the family was based until they came to Manila for the ADB assignment. (Talk about good genes...) She remembers a country where most, if not all the people, were hospitable as she grew up mingling with Filipinos and international kids like her. Upon graduation from high school, Wynn Wynn took up a Business and Finance course in the all-girls’ college of Assumption Convent. Later, she attempted a year of MBA at the Ateneo University, but love beckoned.
She got married and Norbie was assigned to Singapore, so Ateneo lost a potential MBA star graduate. After that Singapore sling, Wynn Wynn earned an MA in Education and Curriculum Development at the Michigan State University.
Back in Manila, Wynn Wynn sat on the board of the International School and at the same time heeded the call of her vocation to teach. In the meantime, she and her Norbie bore and raised two brilliant children: Michael who is at present in Massachusetts, USA, pursuing his college degree; and Stephanie, 15, who is hard at work here, finishing high school and also preparing herself for a US college education.
Wynn Wynn describes herself as a writer, traveler, cook, mother and wife. She affirms her creativity in everything that she does rather than tout the technical know-how she has acquired from all her years of higher learning in the academe.
As I savored the rich but simple flavors of this fabulous Burmese lunch, I also enjoyed the beautiful surroundings of a home well-lived in. Her style is truly her own: She likes to mix the old with the new, the antique with the modern stuff and the pricey with the sale items. The result is a never-ending surprise as she experiments and plays around with this style and élan.
Later as I break my perpetual diet chomping on her carrot cake done the Burmese way, I discovered that she is into designing jewelry, which she claims is a "passion and not a profession." Unfortunately (or fortunately for my check book) all her pieces had been sent to a buyer and I had to settle for a rain check on this part of the program.
What can this woman not do? I thought. Her simplicity and charm are evident all over this beautiful and relaxing home that she maintains and I exclaimed boldly that I was looking forward to another invitation. (The food she prepares is to die for.) Perhaps next time around I can probably handle those precious beads and baubles she creates and maybe acquire at least one – price permitting.
And that would surely be a Wynn Wynn situation.