For my first ride with the gentlemen of the Manila Coffee Cycling Club this year, I was treated to something decidedly different this time around.
Photo credit: Lito Vicencio.
Photo credit: Lito Vicencio.
We convened at San Antonio Plaza along McKinley Road, as before, then rode along Pasay’s streets until we arrived at Casa de Memoria. Located in Baclaran, this is a palatial old house built back before World War II hit the Philippines – one of only a handful that remains standing to this day.
Photo credit: Geo Galisim.
On its sprawling yard are a few fountains, a garden, and perhaps the ultimate back yard accessory: not one, but two entire decommissioned propeller airplanes, parked in a gravel-covered clearing.
Photo credit: Lito Vicencio.
After waiting for our host, Camille Lhuillier, we entered the house itself, taking off our cleated cycling shoes and walking around in socks so as not to ruin the house’s marvelous floors. Currently, Casa de Memoria is in the middle of a restoration, and now acts as an auction house for many antique artifacts and curios, a number of which are stored in the property under consignment.
Fascinating how they fashioned a bird out of a nautilus shell.
The cultural riches of an olden time are on full display here: huge wooden cabinets inlaid with ivory detailing; various figurines and sculptures in the round; literature from the end of the Spanish occupation at the dawn of the 20th century; and many, many paintings. Our tour of the inside led us through the bottom four floors; we were told that there are at least four more, but the ones we shuffled through had the bulk of the sights to see.
If this doesn’t scream “rich,” I don’t know what does.
Photo credit: Lito Vicencio.
Photo credit: Lito Vicencio.
Having thoroughly enjoyed our stay, we then set out to Single Origin Osteria, a cafe along Tordesillas Street in Makati’s central business district. There we had coffee, some late breakfast, and much chatting.
Photo credit: Roxy Ibrahim.
Photo credit: Lito Vicencio.
Our merry group eventually splintered, and one by one we said our goodbyes. Due to my breakfast order arriving late, I was part of the last group that left the cafe, which ended up returning to Bonifacio Global City before I turned off toward Lawton Avenue on my way back home.
This was a very different ride, but a welcome one to have and a great change of pace. As my friend Lito Vicencio told me, “who says cycling and culture can’t mix?”
Casa de Memoria. 95 Roxas Boulevard, Los Tamaraos Village, Tambo, Paranaque City. +63 2 253 3994 | +63 917 822 6544
Single Origin Osteria. Tordesillas corner Bautista Streets, Salcedo Village, Makati City. +63 956 3015267
the accidental randonneur 