Although I have a pretty massive backlog, I’ve hit a brick wall with my travel posts, so here’s an interlude. On the first weekend of January, Sarie and I managed to catch the last day of the round of shows over at Finale. I’m pretty bad at keeping track of which shows are going on, so I’m pretty thankful my parents were talking about dropping by Finale that same day over breakfast.

Finale is one of my favorite art spaces in Metro Manila because their space is huge and open. I think it really adds to the shows, but that’s just me. We were able to catch Amy Aragon’s Amy is Here, Lyra Garcellano’s Sweep, and Ranelle Dial’s Adsciety.

Amy is Here • Amy Aragon

A beautiful spread of Amy Aragon’s paintings grace the biggest area of Finale, the Tall Gallery. This is such an intimidating space, but I think Aragon filled it up really nicely. I previously only encountered her cutouts/paper work so I was pretty surprised (in a good way) at what I saw on this day. Although I am able to appreciate many kinds of art, sometimes I don’t connect with their visual language. I absolutely connect with Aragon’s. I think the style is so wonderfully playful without crossing over to cutesy or over-adorned. The unforced mixture of styles was really admirable to me—I’ve developed a crush on it—as it’s something I like trying out but never really quite pull off.

Sweep • Lyra Garcellano

In the upstairs gallery, we were met with swathes of paint and a long piece stretch of verse called Sweep. Garcellano’s show is comprised of two “series,” paintings on separate canvases that are meant to be taken in as one unit, and a video of Sweep being read over footage of several rolling landscapes from France and Bacolod, taken from the passenger seat. Apart from Garcellano’s beautiful brush work (and vision!), the whole experience was made even more satisfying by the video. I truthfully rarely understand video art—what makes it art?—but this one moved me so much, I nearly cried (lol) and I lied to Sarie when she asked me if I was teary-eyed.

Adsciety • Ranelle Dial

Ranelle Dial’s show Adsciety is a commentary on advertising in society, featuring a series of paintings of blank advertising spaces, described by Lena Cobangbang in her exhibition notes as “coffins.” The pieces are beautiful in their stillness and seeming repetition—boxes that appear to be void of any signifier. Spending time with the pieces reveal nuances in each of them, a detail or a shadow that sets one apart from the rest.

After that jaunt to Finale, we headed on over to Century City Mall for some Hole in the Wall—which I had not tried at that point—and to see the exhibit of Leica Club Manila. I’m not sure what the space is called, but it’s a gallery at the roof deck.

(Ha, hi parents!)

We were in the mood for some Bad Bird, but the line was soooo long. (No shit, Sherlock, it was a Saturday evening!) We decided on Liberation Shawarma and ended up breaking or “no pork together” rule on the third day of January…

As far as the flavor goes, I’m a big fan. However, the meat was just way too seasoned. I don’t mind my food spicy—in fact, there are times that I prefer it with a little kick—but this was just too salty. The fries were good, but its seasoning coupled with my too-salty meal was not a great mix. I wish there were more greens in the bun, at least! I do love the pita and baba ganoush. If I order from Liberation Shawarma again, I’d probably get a shawarma with a side of more pita and hummus.

Then, of course, Scout’s Honor was a must-try for me mainly because I see it all over the damn place. I was not in the mood to make my own cookie, due to salt overload, so I settled for a piece of Samoas Dreams. It was good, but nothing I’d go all the way over there for. I liked my sister’s cookie concoction. However, we were all in agreement about the kind of atrocious coffee. I’ve been taking my coffee black for a few weeks now, but even with the sweet cookies, their coffee was way too burnt. Not a food blog, just saying. :)

I’ve been having a pretty good year so far, though most of it has been spent indoors. I have been steadily working and trying to organize stuff so that my 2015 will be a bit more streamlined and focused than the last year… which was pretty much just a hot mess.

I hope yours is coming along great as well!