Monday, August 24, 2009

A Colonial-Era Manila Experience

Ever wondered how the rich and the famous lived in the colonial-era? I just had a sampling of that when I visited the Legarda Mansion in the patrician district of San Miguel, Manila. This well-preserved mansion is the ancestral home of Dr. Alejandro and Ramona Legarda and showcases age-old furniture and fixtures as well as priced paintings, vases and wares. This place is like a mini-museum where heirlooms of the family who used to live there were displayed... from the photography gadgets, medical equipments to the wedding dress of one of the mansion's daughter.

At present, Legarda Mansion has evolved to a fine restaurant called La Cocina de Tita Moning (named after Donya Ramona) . They are now approaching the tenth year of preserving the ancestral home and they welcome friends and family for a unique dining experience of heirloom recipes. Please check their website here for more info. For now let me share to you some of the photos I have taken at the place:


The Wedding Room



Fine Dine



Before Cellphones, this Communication Gadgets were the "In" thing back then...



I am glad Camera nowadays ain't this huge...



Piano on a Living Room



Ivan with his Guests



Ironwulf, Ivan, Dong Ho, Lawstude, Lagalog, Just Wandering and Byahilo


All photos were taken in Legarda Mansion which is included in the "Power, Palace and A Shot of Beer" tour offered by Ivan Man Dy. For more details, inquiries and schedule of the tour please check out Ivan's website here.

21 took the journey:

Janelle said...

haha, i like how you tinted all your pictures in sepia, really adds to the "old" feel

sheng said...

Sana ako din i can have a walk with Ivan Man Dy, kaso mahal daw ata tours niya eh.

aiLee920 said...

wow... ang saya naman... hehehe though kinda creepy, kz, parang pumasok ako sa dimension na yan... hahaha

like the sepia tint!!!

the donG said...

i like that mansion/resto. one of the best!

Everlito (ever) Villacruz said...

lumang set-up..maruja asan kana?

Superman said...

Nice pictures and nice places. I like the film like photos.

MY HOMESTAY said...

Hi Mr..me Deen from Golden Sand, Malaysia. Nice pictures and nice places. Amazing. Greeting from Malaysia.

Deen

cebu pictures said...

well travelled ka pala

Photo Cache said...

very appropriate ang sepia toning sa post na to. nice to see a group pic too at thanks for labelling the names of those in the group.

fortuitous faery said...

wow, what victorian opulence! vintage treasures with so much history in them! the box camera is a hoot!

after seeing ivan on anthony bourdain's show, it won't be hard to recognize his face. :)

Chris said...

really traditional feel~

witsandnuts said...

I liked the sepia effect in this set. May approval ba ni Dong yung last photo (to be posted)? Joke. =) Ivan Man Dy is one of the nicest tour guides.

Gata Verde said...

Lindo!
Adoro antiguidades!

bw said...

very nice, antique looking shots !

Esther Garvi said...

Talk about stepping into another era! Thanks for the tour!

dodong flores said...

Excellent post processing of the photos. It really suites well with the theme "Colonial-Era Manila."

**sigh** Sana nakakasama ako sa inyo...

vinzent said...

wow. the house is so elegant. great shots.

Twin said...

sepia looks nice on old, historical images

Vanessa said...

So there are the creme of the crop in travel blogging. Very Good.

Jenn said...

Nice... your sepia tone set the mood as well. Must do this one of these days. Only did Ivan's Binondo "eating" tour a few years back and enjoyed it a lot so I'm pretty sure this was enjoyable as well.

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