Baguio scene comes to the Penguin, Manila

I've heard so much about Baguio, Sagada and the mountainous regions to the North. Rice terraces, misty mornings, the tribes....chilled, laid back, arty scene... I've been wanting to go, but the 10h bus ride makes me think twice (might opt for the 1h flight to white sands and palm trees).

Well last night, Baguio came to Manila. A bunch of artists hosted a show at the Penguin in Malate. The papier mache sculpture of Jose Rizal is by Kawayan de Guia. He has donated a small work to go in my Suitcase show, very cool.

Drum circles, margaritas, and even something called a beetle nut: lime, a nut and a leaf. Stick it in your cheek, spit out the red juice, and you get a small rush. Apparently the rice workers use this and it's popular from India to Japan, they tell me. That's me with the nut in my cheek...

I had Hughes and Nathalie's Etat d'une Reflexion on me, so we used the excellent projector to show some of the Suitcase show are here at the Penguin.


















As Carlos said: "For you they are hippies, but for us they are tribal." Yeah, I'll take a drum circle and beetle juice any day.