Sustainable Living

Tile inspiration along the Sta. Rosa road

Green Design and Architecture,

Our happy find yesterday: Beautiful tiles in such fun, fun patterns and colors!

\"Malaga

\"Malaga

\"Malaga

\"Malaga

I\’ve long been a fan of these \”painted\” tiles– which I mistakenly thought of as Vigan tiles– and first re-encountered them in a boutique shop in Cambodia last March 2011:

\"Tile

My friends and I fell in love with that place  (we put up Estela Shop right after that trip) — all the colors and mishmash of lines and curlicues were just a feast for the senses!

More recently, I visited a friend\’s home in Manila, redesigned with an Industrial-Homey mindset (sounds familiar :P).  Lo and behold he had these pretty handmade tiles lining his foyer, and looked surprised when I had no idea they were called Machuca tiles.

Turns out Machuca tiles are locally-made cement tiles by the Machuca family, with clients such as Antonio\’s in Tagaytay:
\"Antonios

These tiles from yesterday, found just along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay road, are Malaga Tiles (in Spanish: Baldozas y Azulejos de Cemento), handcrafted designer tiles made by Habitiles, also a Filipino company:

The Malaga Tiles we are presenting here are handcrafted cement tiles. These types of cement tiles were introduced, and subsequently produced by the Spanish colonists in the Philippines during the 18th century. Large scale production of these tiles continued until the 1930\’s.

We have rediscovered this old craft and have started producing tiles based on the old methods.

Our wide array of designs includes those of Spanish origin, Islamic influenced patterns as well as antique tile designs from the other European countries. We also execute customers\’ own designs.

\"Malaga

\"Malaga

…

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Nuvali bazaar in Solenad: new location

Life in Nuvali Philippines,

Saw yesterday that the tiangge in Solenad is now located at the parking lot:

\"Around

\"Around

Good decision to move it away from the main Solenad area — there\’s now more space for sellers and shoppers, and also more peace and quiet for restaurant goers and those who just want to enjoy the lake.

Also spotted yesterday: our very own Nuvali security car. 🙂

\"Around

Other Binondo finds: garden set + ceiling fans

My Nuvali Home

Sharing for interest 🙂  Saw these at the same lighting shop in Binondo.
\"Binondo
Garden sets are my least priority, but mom said this one is already cheap at P6,800.

\"Binondo
Does anyone know where to get nice, reasonably-priced ceiling fans?  This one\’s a bit bulky for my space.

My brother said he saw nice steel-wood ones in Home Depot, will check those out, but they already go for about P5,000 to P6,000 each.

Would be grateful for any help!

Bargain hunting for lighting

My Nuvali Home

Took a trip to Binondo with my architect-contractors, Paul and Rommel, to once and for all see the bargain finds for the house that they\’ve been raving about.

We went to a lighting shop on T. Alonzo Street…
\"Binondo
…where Rommel excitedly showed me the LED pin lights he planned to use for my house. \"Binondo
Each set, casing and bulb included, comes out to about P380, which he says is just slightly higher than a standard pin light. \"Binondo

Because I\’ll have LED pin lights, it\’ll be more efficient for me to use them as my everyday lighting, and save the cove lighting for entertaining. Yay.

Here\’s Paul waiting for his light bulb moment:

\"Binondo
Ang kulet!

As far as light bulbs go, this one below was by far our favorite.  Made of cut up steel pipes, it certainly is a curious piece:

\"Binondo

\"Binondo
Downside, apart from the price, is that it uses halogen lights– not very green 🙁

If you\’re more adventurous you can go for a red bulb, maybe to help ignite those passion projects– it\’s a great find at P1,020! \"Binondo

Other pieces I found interesting: …

Bargain hunting for lightingRead More »

Interior Vertical Gardens

Farming and Gardening Green Design and Architecture Sustainable Living
I’ve asked permission from a friend if I could post her research on indoor vertical gardens as a guest post here.  We had such a lively discussion about them over lunch a month ago– it was great finding a kindred green spirit right in Nuvali itself!  Am sure many others out there will resonate with these.  Thank you again, Duanne, for sharing your ideas and research:
___________________________
Interior Vertical Gardens
by Duanne
You’ll see from below the form and built of the standing vertical garden.
(I was thinking of rollers installed at the bottom of the platform so it can be moved around.)
You’ll see from here how they use the standing vertical garden as a wall partition between living areas.
(I actually intend to do this at our future bedroom in Parkway Settings since the 2nd floor doesn\’t have any partition.)
I was very inspired and loved the play of colors on the fully grown wall mounted plants on below photo.  It’s truly a living, breathing, green space.
And ang kulit ng concept ng photo with the bed of plants and the [wo]man figuring out how [s]he will water the plants on top.=)
Or if you happen to like a hanging vertical garden, then check the image below.
(By the way, I believe they used the Woolly Pockets in here.)

Another good green wall partitioning concept below with stacked potted plants.

Love green decorating, ‘no! =)

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Pictures from various online sources.  

Solar garden lamps for P488

My Nuvali Home

\"Binondo

Found in Binondo last Saturday!

\"Binondo

Price was slashed from P850. Such a steal.

Got four for the roofdeck and two for my front porch. Will be good for ambient lighting at less than 1 watt per lamp.

More on lighting and fixtures shopping Binondo later.

Inside Robinson\’s Supermarket Nuvali

Life in Nuvali Philippines

\"Robinsons

On our way to a family dinner in Tagaytay last Saturday, my brother asked us to get butter (he was making his well-loved prawn bisque), so we took the chance to swing by the newly opened supermarket in Nuvali.

Was nice to finally step inside the brightly lit space of Robinson\’s Supermarket.  I always enjoy looking at food displays and markets in general– most especially when I\’m traveling abroad.  Apart from getting full or busog just from all the eye candy,  I get a glimpse of the local culture / neighborhood\’s tastes and habits.

\"Robinsons

Wasn\’t at all surprised to see this in a Nuvali supermarket:
\"Robinsons

…

Inside Robinson\’s Supermarket NuvaliRead More »

Nuvali logo lamps

Life in Nuvali Philippines

\"Nuvali

Saw a line of these lamps lit up along Nuvali Boulevard recently– looks like we\’re seeing the beginnings of an Ayala Ave. Christmas display counterpart in Nuvali!

These logo lamps are probably here to stay though. What do you say to the bright lights of Christmas all-year round in Nuvali? I say yay. 🙂

Hurry to Megatent– last day today for 36 mos 0% installment!

My Nuvali Home

\"Appliances

A quick post to give you all a heads up on a super sale at the Megatent in Ortigas– we went there last night (2nd to the last day!) and were so happy with the promo terms we got.

\"Appliances

Refrigerator, aircon, washing machine all checked off my list now.

If you\’re looking to buy appliances for your house, make time for this sale– our bill was a little over P110,000 but our cash out is P3,000 a month for the next 3 years.

Can\’t be beat.

P.S. Purchases must be made via HSBC credit cards.

Appliances at 0% interest anyone?

My Nuvali Home

Normally I ignore promo emails, but any ad on buying appliances on installment at 0% interest will make any homebuilder stop and listen.

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Big ticket items on my appliances checklist:

  • Washing machine
  • refrigerator
  • airconditioners

Gadgets particular to raw food:

  • vitamix

\"\"

  • dehydrator
\"\"
Now you know what\’s on my Christmas and birthday wish lists.
What\’s on yours? 🙂