Manila F.A.M.E. Show (Part 1)

 

I had a great opportunity to meet some of the buyers of Philippine made products at the Manila F.A.M.E. Show. It's actually a trade show that brings to the fore only the best of Filipino manufacturers and their products in one venue. The idea was the brainchild of former CITEM director and Tourism secretary Mina Gabor and then the idea clicked and eventually foreign buyers started arriving yearly. The event grew bigger each year and now they have exhibits twice a year One in summer and another towards the last quarter.

I've had the the marvelous chance this year to be invited to guide for a tour of Manila with an emphasis on the art and architecture and the design aesthetic of the Philippines. Naturally, the group on my first day  had a keen sense of style and cultural awareness. Buyers know what they want to purchase and they instantly know if an item is potentially going to sell or not. Two representatives from CITEM were with us, Jenny and Weng, who were evaluating the merits of the activity in relation to the event.

The tour organizer is Charisse Aquino Tugade, who introduced me to the group and we did some spiels before the bus started rolling. Our first stop was the National Museum History of the Filipino People. Enroute to the first stop of course, I had to introduce our National hero Jose Rizal to our guests. We finally got to the Museum and met our guide Carol who lost no time in showing us around the halls. 

As in any other tour, there always seem to be not enough time to cover the ground. Before we knew it, we were at San Agustin. Unfortunately, weekends at San Agustin are usually packed with weddings. I failed to make them linger in the church to admire the World Heritage Site. But admire, they did, even if they stayed only for a short time.

Then, it was a visit to Casa Manila. We toured the rooms even if there was an on-going ceremony at the patio of the archetypal house. We went to each and every room and spent a good forty minutes at the site. We even had to exit via the stairway to White Night Hotel which is another house in the Plaza San Luis Complex. 

We then visited the last stop which was the Bayleaf Hotel. As expected, the Skydeck's 360 degree view took all the guests breaths away. If you haven't been there, now's the time to go since not a lot of people have discovered it yet. This was where Charisse introduced the guests to Philippine tobacco,San Miguel beer, and Filipino food!

The guests were sold on the idea of trying the food: Quesong Puti fondue with crostini,

Pinakbet,

Caldereta,

Laing,

Torta'ng Talong

and Sisig.

To cap off the meal, a bottle of Tanduay Rum was opened. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to SMX. 

A long day it was... but it was great sunset view as we motored to the Mall of Asia Complex.