Beauty of the Philippines

By Elga D. Reyes

You know what I like about traveling? It can take the worst week and transform it into something magical – even if the trip turns out to be only a couple of hours. In this season of frenzied Christmas shopping and attending yuletide parties left and right, the wish to momentarily escape is one treasured rarity, and one that I was surprisingly granted.

Tucked in the inner streets of breezy mountain city Antipolo is one little North Pole to the perennially traffic-jammed metropolis of Manila. Just as that white-bearded jolly man is hard to catch on 25th’s eve, so unimaginable that such a place of his spirit could exist here.

Inside Jardin de Miramar, a peach-walled compound with three hectares of rambling grounds, I feel like Alice in Wonderland, that is, winter wonderland. There he is, and not just one, but an infinite battalion in differing sizes, shapes and forms. Santa Claus. He has a house in the tropics after all. Although, the façade does have a snowy mural simulating the desire of almost all Filipinos to have a white Christmas, complete with barren trees laden with frost. And as childish as it may seem to some, I am delighted upon seeing a life-sized Santa rappelling down to the side carrying his sack of presents.

Casa Santa is the prime example of the phrase ‘mi casa, su casa’. Edna del Rosario opened her rest house to the public five years ago, sharing the joy she finds in collecting the man in red suit. She is of the philosophy that Santa and the season ought to be celebrated year around, that even a room of it is enough to erase the worries.

Sourced since 1994 from her travels in 63 countries, she currently has a whopping total of 2,543 items. As I enter the cozy abode, at first dark with sunlight streaming in, then quite suddenly with all the lights turned on its glittering brilliance, I get that giddy feeling that can only come from the unmistakable sense of the holidays. Surely the most jaded or bah-humbug of Scrooges will let their inner child come out and play.

Every nook and cranny is indeed filled with Santas and other related decorations, most side by side on tables, ledges, shelves, and including the bathroom. In fact, he sits smack on the toilet bowl. Similarly on a marble top, a naughty Santa announces that he has a treat in store and without warning he moons the awaiting spectator.

Majority of the pieces are acquired locally, especially the larger figures, while the US and Germany come second and third. Del Rosario strives to buy in every country she visits. But she laments that there are limits, like in Antarctica or in Buddhism-believing Myanmar. She located a representational figure instead: their heavenly gods with a beard and attired with a cap and red coat.

According to Lalaine Sepnio, site manager and who may be the head elf (by the way, Santa I was nice this year, believe me), told me that Ms. Del Rosario’s favorite piece in the house is the hip-hop Santa. Like several in the variety, this jersey-clad and high tops-wearing old guy moves and grooves to the beat. On the same fireplace mantel, one of his look-alike homies plays the drums, and on the floor by the Christmas tree, a Santa wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

Going up the second floor I was shown one of the more interesting curio – a mini United Nations ho-ho-ho style. There is a Spanish Santa holding a red cloth, not a sack for gifts but to face an imaginary bull. Also, there is a Pinoy version in barong Tagalog, a chinky-eyed Santa donning a red suit with a Chinese collar, and lastly, a dark-skinned African Santa shedding the red for earth-toned raffia wear. So even if Christmas is mainly a Christian tradition, this array highlights how the practice has spread worldwide, bringing smiles everywhere.

I also find it significant that the owner addresses both the religious and commercial aspect of this beloved personality. Above a doorway, a carved image of Saint Nicholas, the original generosity-personified is placed. And elsewhere, a chef-like Santa stands with a tray on one hand and an ice bucket on another, where they have placed a can of Coca-Cola, responsible for marketing the Santa we know today.

Upon reaching the second landing, I am afforded on the high ceiling another grand scale painting by renowned muralist Alfred Galvez, one that is universal in any kid or kid-at-heart’s mind: Santa riding his sleigh through the starry night. Inside the bedroom, the thought makes it all the more inviting to sleep in the four-poster bed and cuddle the stuffed toy Santa with assorted Santa pillows.

As I leave the happy place, and roam the seven venues and gardens of Jardin de Miramar, I plead internally. Please Santa, really, I have been generally nice. Give me my wish please. No longer just the short-term goal of going away, but…secret. It’s bad luck you know.

TRAVEL TIPS

Casa Santa is open every 1st or 3rd Saturday of the month, with a fee of Php 120/person. To check on schedule, call (02) 817-1589 or visit www.miramar.com.ph

To get there, take Sumulong Highway or Ortigas Extension, turn to Sen. L. Sumulong Memorial Circle (northside) and turn left to 276 San Jose Ext., Antipolo City

 

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