In the 'Bu
MANILA, Philippines - Cebu is a fascinating mix of the old and the new. Stone churches and infrastructure dating back to the 16th century co-exist with business parks and stretches of relocated highways, and the Cebuanos’ international-caliber talent and creativity are rooted in traditional wisdom and techniques that have been passed down for generations.
Given the richness of what Cebu has to offer to tourists, it’s a disservice to bring home just a measly shirt after a trip to the Queen City of the south. Cebu’s dried mangoes are not its only world-class products — though they are great contenders for the distinction of being the region’s tastiest export. Let yourself be amazed further by Cebu by visiting these stops on your next trip.
Enter the Avatar
Upon entrance to Avatar’s first-floor display, any girl would be hard-pressed not to go a little nuts over the amount of accessories available for perusal — and that is just in the overruns room. Accessories may sell easily in the upwards of thousands at the Atelier Avatar boutique in Greenbelt 5, but here in the company’s Style Center in Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City, a brightly colored geometric-cut resin cocktail ring sells for P100 and a cuff made out of cylindrical pieces strung together in a wave pattern is priced at less than P300.
We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore, if Kansas were a run-of-the-mill accessory boutique in the middle of Everymall: though the only items for sale to drop-in visitors are the ones in the overruns display room, tourists are welcome to take a look inside the Avatar Style Center’s big showroom, which is a visual feast of earrings, rings, cuffs, bangles, necklaces, and even bags that are ready for presentation in European fashion shows. While the Avatar brand is not that known locally, its accessories have reached the runways of Paris and Milan; in fact, Avatar won the Etoile de Mode des Stylistes in 2006 in Paris. Avatar products are also sold in department stores and specialty boutiques in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. In the showroom, the different lines for the company’s spring/summer 2011 collection have their own mood boards, ready for their European invasion. As an Avatar employee puts it, “Our target is the international market, not really the domestic one, which is why the brand doesn’t participate in local fashion shows.” Ouch, but true.
Avatar Accessories, Inc. founder and managing director Gil Zaire “Butch” Carungay is the creative source of the company’s myriad of designs. A thing to take note while touring the Avatar Style Center premises is the use of materials not often identified with costume jewelry-making: neon-hued yarn wound tightly over a base material form ethnic-looking necklace strands, rolls of folded colored paper are turned into pendants, and ordinary thread spun into webs dangle from earrings. Of course, there are also the requisite precious stones and Swarovski crystals sourced from Singapore and resin pieces from local suppliers. Each design is realized by hand, crafted meticulously by Avatar’s 300 workers. Fact: The accessories company produces three million dollars’ worth of accessories every 15 days. No doubt, Avatar Accessories, Inc. is a powerhouse of fashion and money.
Kenneth Cobonpue’s hive
The Yoda. The Hague. The Wave. The Sketch. The Bloom. The Tilt. The Voyager. In the luxury eco-chic design market, these Kenneth Cobonpue designs are already modern classics (pardon the oxymoron). A tour of the Kenneth Cobonpue brand’s showroom in Cebu City will not result in visitors picking out beautiful and functional pieces for taking or shipping home; the company, which has furnished the Nobu restaurants in New York and Dubai and has graced the inner sanctum of the Jolie-Pitts, has a quite rigorous client profiling process and what is rumored to be a six-month-long waiting list. It is a global brand, after all, which has been built not just on ingenuity but also on exceptionally high standards. But tourists will definitely go home with dreams of having even just one Cobonpue creation gracing their houses someday. Though the vast production area has 10 quality control sections where every single furniture piece goes through, the end results are always deceivingly simple-looking and even transparent, the design flow as organic as the materials made to create them.
Cobonpue has made his initial mark by stretching the possibilities of using rattan in creating furniture. Now, the designer and his progenies — design students from the University of Philippines in Cebu — have experimented with coconut fibers and shavings, paper, microfiber, and bamboo, among others, to create furniture pieces and lighting fixtures. Bringing the designs to fruition are the skilled Cebuano craftsmen in Cobonpue’s workroom, who make each product by hand from start to finish. Fact: World-renowned designer Marcel Wanders, creator of the iconic Knotted Chair, had gone to Cebu specifically to learn about weaving. That is how well-regarded the Cebuano craftsmanship is internationally.
While guests cannot have their pick of the loot from the showroom, they are very much welcome to sit, slouch, and lounge around and get to know themselves how different it is not just to see but to feel a Cobonpue piece. Tours are made by appointment, however, and the Cobonpue team selects the visitors who can enter the premises. More people will get to see and experience the Cobonpue brand, though, as it has expanded into lighting fixtures with the Hive line and soon, into sustainable lifestyle with Kenneth Cobonpue Energy. An ongoing project is the development of 100 percent sustainable streetlamps made from bamboo, which will be installed first in Panglao and then, we hope, in more cities around the country. There is also the partnership between the Kenneth Cobonpue brand and Lexus Hybrid Living to create a carbon-fiber bamboo car, a development that is sure to excite the ecologically conscious folk.
Yes, such a progressive mindset and vision that has wowed the world has its roots in this corner of Cebu.
Profood, pro-food
It’s a taste of the south that is always requested for pasalubong: the chewy tanginess of dried mango.
Profood International Corporation, established in 1978, makes 80 percent of the dried mangoes sold in and out of the Philippines. With quite a number of brands under its name, Profood’s most famous products are the in-demand Philippine Brand and Cebu Brand. Though the company also processes food products from other fruits like pineapple, banana, papaya, guava, coconut, passionfruit, jackfruit, guyabano, lemoncito, and dalandan, their mango products are their biggest draw. Fact: 200 metric tons of mangoes, sourced from Luzon and Bohol, pass through Profood’s production area in a day.
Though no picture-taking is allowed inside the company’s 15-hectare premises in Mabolo, Cebu City, visitors can see for themselves the cleanliness and efficiency instilled into the production process. A look into the main production area where the mangoes are washed, peeled, sliced, syruped, and air- then oven-dried is like looking into an enlarged ant colony: The bright yellows of mango flesh contrast with the cherry red plastic bowls used by the Profood workers, and everyone in every station works in sync with each other, all 1,500 of them in one shift; the peelers can skin a mango within six seconds at a maximum, a feat of human efficiency. Profood is proud to be the only food manufacturing company in Cebu to be open to tours and be transparent with their production processes, a practice that other food companies could well adopt.
To appease the salivation whetted by the sight and smell of ripe mangoes, Profood has its own shop at the first floor of its building where customers can buy their fill of dried mangoes, coconut-and-mango balls, coconut strips, dried guyabano, and the highly recommended dried green mangoes at a fraction of what they would pay at the airport pasalubong kiosks. At around P40 for a 100-gram pack of dried mangoes, these treats make it impossible for a tourist not to hoard bags and bags of them.
Pricey finds
Sure, their price points are friendlier to those with a lot of shopping money: Trinkets made out of shells have four-digit price tags while some wooden carvings sell for as much as P15,000. But the Artevalman Handicraft Market in Mandaue City is an ideal stop for visitors who would like to bring home a little bit of the Philippines, from Luzon to Visayas and Mindanao. From the Ifugao bulols to the Cebuano straw hats, elements of both traditional and ethnic Filipino artistry and craftsmanship can be found in this souvenir shop, perfect for those who would like to island-hop around the country but without the time to spare. Those who simply want to look around are also welcome; the merchandise may be pricey, but giving friendly pats to the owners’ two massive but friendly dogs are totally free.
High and dry
A kilo of danggit at the Tabo-an Public Market at the Tres de Abril Street in Cebu City is said to cost as much as P500. Well, given how good it tastes at breakfast, the steep price for this dried fish is worth it. Tabo-an is touted by Cebuanos as the best place to buy danggit, as well as hibe or dried shrimp and dried squid. Bargaining when buying in bulk is encouraged, as well as bringing an extra shirt; the pungent salty scent of all that dried seafood is tenacious enough to accompany you home.
Laag, layag
This unique tour of some of Cebu’s finest shops has been organized by one of the must-stay places in Mactan, the Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort. Promoting Filipino-inspired island living, Maribago took the essence of the Cebuano word “laag,” which means “to tour,” and integrated it into the resort’s aesthetic and activities.
Maribago is unique in its collaboration with other Cebuano businesses to show visitors a deeper look into the Cebuano culture. Vice president for sales and marketing Marge Munsayac expounds, “We want our visitors to see up-close another side of Cebu, and to bring back new experiences after staying here.”
Laag doesn’t just apply to the resort’s special tour; even the design elements of the resort itself give tourists new things to discover and explore. “We saw the need of today’s travelers to find a place where they can experience everything —from interaction with nature to discovery of Philippine culture. Maribago’s new features endeavor to promote Philippine arts, culture, and traditional practices,” Munsayac says.
The resort’s collaboration with artist Benji Reyes has resulted in the fusion of comfort, functionality, and distinct local charm. A look that Reyes calls “Filipino Zen”, the relaxing aesthetic of the Maribago Bluewater’s 157 rooms and its other amenities — the Amuma Spa, The Cove seafood restaurant, and the Allegro Restaurant, among others — incorporates details that represent Filipino artistry from different regions: Framed T’nalak tunics from South Cotabato serve as artworks in the Deluxe rooms. The cantilevered beds, a design and architectural feat, feature carvings that call to mind the intricate Muslim aesthetic. Table runners and throw pillows were commissioned from a family of traditional weavers from Northern Philippines.
Sustainability was also a main point in the refurbishing of Maribago Bluewater. The concept of found objects was applied in providing focal design points for the reception area and the Hilot Pavilion, and all the wood used for either architectural or design purposes had been sourced from old infrastructure in Manila and Bohol. Maribago even has a bamboo nursery, in anticipation of the resort’s further growth and continuous streamlining of its aesthetic.
Emphasizing Maribago’s commitment to Philippine culture and the arts is the resort centerpiece, so to speak: the mixed metal sculpture of the legendary Seven Dolphins by Daniel dela Cruz, which greets visitors after checking in at the reception.
It is a growth that is centered on creativity, tradition and nature. The new “Filipinized” Maribago Bluewater is just the first phase of the resort’s vision to provide guests with a luxe Filipino experience and a distinctly Cebuano hospitality.
