My Shangrila: Plantacion Montana Fuentes

Dotted with mahogany trees and mangoes…an intriguing interplay of light and colour of greens  imbued a feel of placid state, the flavor of course is my  personality that is reflected as  fashion designer, a freelance writer and a blogger  interacting  a lifestyle about living in a dream ‘paradise’.

                   

Montana Fuentes  is my state of mind, built precisely from my kind of visuals …I have found a home.

And, amongst this intriguing mix, is my choice to shift the idyllic  piece of tranquility that nestled amongst the trees into a tightly private playground that gives little clue about the personality of its occupant. A  place where I unwind far away from the excitement and applause of the catwalks, the limelight and the highs of the fashion world.

The home is eco- inspired  with the feel and flavour of the country sides. It is also naturally endowed with the personality of its dweller.

Speaking about my symbiotic relationship with the eco-system and my decision to make this place my abode, it is a land blessed by God in many ways and it's my duty to protect the habitat and nourish it, above all, Montana Fuentes  is my own shangrila, frankly, I knew the moment I laid my eyes and it was one of those great life altering transitions.”

Although  we can be inspired anywhere, but living in Montana is to live with nature. Most people see a mango and take it for granted. I smell the perfumes of the blooms in December, I warm the blooms with mini bonfires in February to keep them warm. That is what being close to nature is about. You learn to respect unconditionally when you live with it.

I have travelled literally to the corners of the world…to  Europe, the countries of the East, lived in the world’s most luxurious hotels, dined with high cuisine, but my favourite place is still home.

 The Plantacion Montana Fuentes  houses me. It directs and channels my personality!”

“I’m a taga-bukid, first and last”

A Tricky Trek to the Montana Falls

Walking through winding riverside imagined road, we walked with weary soaked smile, knowingly that our destination means sweat, rugged and unpredictable way ahead.

Dramatic landscape was  the first visual exhilarating attraction, drawing strength from within to continue with our destination: The Montana Falls. The mountains are always our call to explore an adventure, but to weary minds, they offer a different unrestrained glimpse of inner peace and tranquility. Set amidst glorious foliage that ranges from timeless evergreens to the delicate blooms of the wild flora, the panorama recreates an untamed luxury, an inviting atmosphere.
                                                              

After my short stint at the Philippine Fashion Week last May 19 to 23,2013, what more refreshing to me is an escape from city life like Manila and Dubai. I need a rejuvenating escape, a sort of an idyllic holiday…that was I thought till I joined this tricky trek.

As the cliché goes, it’s an adventure once in my lifetime…or maybe twice if I succeed, at least I’ve tried. The Montana trek
 is more than just scenery, the deafening  silence of the inner sanctum radiates eeriness and mystified my physical presence….what is more-to- it- than- just- meets- the- eye?

  My adrenaline pumping and I was near exhaustion when the team photographer Marvin “Manong “ Mejorada waved his hand and started to prepare his camera. The stylist and the make up artist started doing their job on our model, my nephew Amixter Fuentes Emol, a gold national swimmer from Pagadian,

The thick foliage from the banyan tree known locally as balite was our first stop. The soft cold breeze from the thick canopy of the trees gave us the necessary boost to our tired legs.

 My up-close and personal encounter with nature came in the form of the untamed flora and fauna, my ultimate way to experience the green habitat of my farm. Whoever said, that was right, because I can’t think of anything more fun, exhilarating and personally enriching.

 There is something extraordinary about admiring the pristine beauty of the falls– an overwhelming rush of emotions takes over, as the vast expanse of swirly, turquoise green and glittering water fringed with lush greenery opens up before our very eyes. I’ve travelled the world, but Montana landscape for me is perhaps one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen.

Maybe for some it was so passé, so trite and so cliché, but the experience of my cranky desire to hold back again and I had given it a shot, but then if it wasn’t worked for me suddenly seemed inconsequential. I reached the location and stood grudgingly…alas I made it, I love you Montana Fuentes, au revoir! Surely I will miss you.

the team:

photographer: MARVIN MEJORADA

mauh: JONIE CALAINAN

stylist: GLEN DE LEON 

model: AMIXTER FUENTES EMOL

PLANTACION MONTANA FUENTES: SOON......

About forty five minutes  drive from Pagadian City Airport – through small towns and hamlets, down palm-fringed roads and alongside clumps of  trees – takes you to the relatively undiscovered Plantacion Montana Fuentes. It is home to the newly-minted oasis of serenity in the near future, located on a picturesque expanse  nestled in a rustic environment, of dense trees and mango orchard…. the property is a luxurious soul sanctuary that is waiting to be experienced soon.

Satiate your senses in a multitude of ways from the instant you step into its environs. The architecture is inspired by a mix of Balinese and local ethos in almost every aspect of its design, recreating a quintessential Asian experience amidst the bounty of nature.

The key word is relaxation. A private retreat – that  raise the luxury and intimacy quotient with infiniti pool, private dining areas, a rain shower and soak tub. A refreshing way to experience peace in the midst of pampering!

Organic and natural rituals are imparted in spaces infused with energy and holistic balance. Here, signature experiences are enough solace for the soul.

The property follows a host of green practices,   employing alternative energy resources like rain-water harvesting and solar heat plants to save energy. Their green initiatives like the tree plantation drive and helped create awareness and education amongst the environmental conscious few.  The Plantacion’s dream invested on a long range plan and its minimalist and urban designs, luxe rooms and sumptuous world cuisine make it an ideal retreat for the discerning taste.

Tucked away in the scenic and vivid vistas of a mountain range, the site encapsulates the  merged of indigenous local craftsmanship.

EAT TODAY..DIET TOMORROW

Dining is no longer about long and tiresome preparation in our kitchen. And it is not really about eating to satisfy our stomach, it is more about the dressing up, the conversation and the getting out from the normal routine. Hunger is for the cravings …palate tasters are what dining is all about.
Fine dining are in, or haven’t you heard?....”Do you cook?” somebody asked. “Of course not!” I answered back. Great parties are not  about knowing how to cook, but all about finding good and fabulous caterers and restaurants!!!!!!



Now, you visit a friend’s home during special events like Christmas or New Year who is bragging gourmet excellence with his  recipes snitched from one of the mushrooming gourmet restaurants in the internet….yay!  I believed – and every meal is judged on the outlandishly clever gourmet competency of the home-maker-turned-chef., but does his salmon salad come laced with chevre? Has it been garnished just so? If not, it’s not good enough to be plated up! Lol……..



And it’s not just the chic young men and women flaunting their culinary skills, it’s about ensuring that you have a system in place to replicate this sensational food – anytime and with the least bother. And to that end, my cravings struggling with understanding my desire to have my grilled cod from ZUMA , my Mediterranean bread  on multigrain herb focaccia in Armani where I simply adore grilled zucchini and eggplant  with mixed Italian  paste! And who cares I don’t know the difference and the meaning of ‘au gratin’ and parmigiana..? I just love to savor the good life.


 All along, the conversation tinkles with very profound discussions on fashion politics, who is in and the totally outs, and whether the food on your plate would work better with the coconut soufflé or the champagne tart. It’s the easy way out of pretentious course and is somehow that crass, Med-Italian  sort of thing one can do, to remain cool after all that soul-searching food.



Talking about soul-searching food, the chef- next-door believes in cooking from your heart, and with ingredients of love. How much can you cook from your heart, when your stomach is empty and how much love can emanate from that drop of extra virgin olive oil ? then, eat your heart out!
The thrill lies in the pleasure-seekers. After all, can you really be eating shawarma or plain looking dishes in your neighborhood resto  in your Jimmy Choos, Christian Louboutin and Herve Leger?


 But frankly? it is worth sharing , if merely to prove that the world is your personal oyster and you have an international, exclusive and very über-chic cooking in a state-of-the-art kitchen, er, not yours gorgeous....…but in that  five star hotel overlooking at your window!!
So if your new year’s resolution( as if) is about wishing you having a 24 inch waistline,...behave, eat today and diet tomorow!!!!!!!!!!

missing a place called HOME

  It's my travelling back home once again, at least on my homesick mind... another bewitching  time on my emotional snaps down memory lane. It is some sort of my recharging journey to connect once again my innerself  to a place called..home.

Why going home is still very emotional moment  for me then.....It's like me in a period movie...something sepia...some edgy cinematic pictures almost an entry to a vintage film festival.

  Dusky frame with monochromatic  shades of brownish gold landscape while an impatient sun perched in a corner of mountain trees waiting  in the wings of Mother Earth for its exit cue. It's my own version of "The Way We Were"  reverie. But back in time was just a year ago, where I saw trees, animals, my farm, mountain jeep, horses and water buffalos.

I don't dwell in the past...I am a present/ future tense in a sentence, yet here I am with confused emotions. After a longish spell lost in my thoughts, I know the answer...I simply miss all the good things in my life....my son and  Home.
 

My   travel back home involves more than just being there at the Philippine Fashion Week on May, exploring cuisine at Morato and sipping coffee at Greenbelt, landscape, nightlife, art, fashion, music.
More even enjoying the breath of fresh air in the mountain mist..it's my embraces to my love ones, a bonding moment  deeply catalogued in my memory bank,  so looking back, it will be another sepia coloured Kodak moments in some vintage  film festival on my mind.

 As a fashion designer and artist  I often travel for inspiration, or to find myself. Or even to change  by load-shedding previous inhibitions and ways of being. Sometimes using  other journeys  as mirrors to the ones I  have left behind. Here, my  destination gives me  a new relish of life  to look at the world, and perhaps myself, differently.

So  who needs  Paris to give my  imagination a free reign, let me  put it cogently: ‘One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of connection.”

photos: all from PAGADIAN CITY

BUCOLIC CHRISTMAS: IT'S MORE FUN

The morning mist filled the Montana with fog that seemed surreal, a landscape of clouds as if I was floating in the sky. White and cotton-like, it enveloped the whole Plantacion and the visibility is zero. I took my cup of brewed coffee from the kitchen of my farmhouse and went to the extended pavillion overlooking the river. I felt the December coldness, and I  covered myself with thick blanket over a comforter last night.

Which one of us doesn’t get nostalgic around Christmas time? Personally I slip into ‘fantasy mode’ as the aroma of  season is floating in the air with Christmas songs, carolers stroll around villages and parols hanging on windows.

Enveloped in festive fervour my mind reminded to my last Christmas holiday in the misty cold Plantacion Montana Fuentes.
From Manila International Airport I took a transfer airport vehicle bringing me to a domestic flight to Pagadian, a good one week before Christmas. My idyllic rural life is my bucolic sense of therapy  away from the metropolitan chaos and strenuous city life. High spirited, took me to an hour and fifteen minutes to reach Pagadian and my flight was smooth as silk. It was quietly my rejuvenation and relished while I inhaled the unmistakably native air as I beeline on luggage check out counter.

 Mark Sebastianne my 5 year old son was waiting eagerly outside the airport building so as my nephews and other family members. The traffic ouside was minimal, a very sign that at last I reached my distination. A quick drop at Jolibee for lunch made my baby smiling all- over, knowingly it is his favorite restaurant. I felt short of a fake Bohemian Zamboanga style with cornucopia of my Louie Vuitton mixed Hermes scarf and juggling my Hermes bag that I brought along my la provence holiday.

 I marveled as I watched orders of French fries,burgers and chicken joys strucked down on our long table. I can’t still believe I smelt a lifestyle change from my Gothic environment and fashion playgrounds abroad to this unbelievable sway of change, de rigueur 360 degrees.

But see, the spirit of a holiday is that of an intrepid backpacker is definitely not me…realizing that, it’s like waves of nearby sea, accepting and consuming. It doesn’t repudiate the wannabes, the unsophisticated that the ‘real vibe’ imbibers say is corroding my destination. Sipping an orange juice, I prepared myself to leave behind chauffeured stretched limousine and jump into my military typed mountain jeep in top-down like going to a Rambo.

If you are a Carrie Bradshaw-like cocktail chaser, follow what I call ‘Pagadian’s Beverly Hills – a trail that begins from the downtown Avenue up to the top of the Hiker’s Plaza, dotting the main road with beer joints and cafes.
For those seeking an aventurous nights, Django’s is your hotspot, bling-bling young crowd meets jungle Janes and cute Romeos.
Now if these places neither suit you, then ask some snotty boys to go far down to a quirky check and meet Tony near the pier for some barbecues and balot.

As I fill my lungs with the moist Yllana Bay sea, I concur that nightlife in Pagadian is an assault to the senses and the peculiar flavor of the city’s fascinating attempt  to uplift itself to quality nightlife. Discerning tastes must be adjusted and slip into the flow as a veteran night owl told me, “Either you get it or you don’t”….there’s no middle ground. So if you are toeing to classic, jazz  and other bars to fit your chic/hip bars make a graceful exit and go to Plaza Luz and listen to  Opera music that compliment the dancing fountain.