Habitat

Gwammy's kitchen is finally operational, and I must congratulate Michaela and Anita for their painstaking work of love in the three-month long renovation project.   Both have been  so efficient in clearing out the construction debris at the main house, and the items they have uncovered bring back so much memories of our youth.  For instance, they found a paper bag from Habitat, the furniture store of Uncle Alex, and Gwammy went on to point out that our current dining chairs were supplied by the said store. That brought back memories; Uncle Alex was the cousin of Gwammy, and he grew up in pre-war Shanghai.  After WW2, he was a radio announcer for DZRH for a while.  He went on to become the head honcho for P&G's South American operations and came back to the Philippines after retirement to set up Habitat.  He taught us how to play trumps, he was a particularly strict game-master!  He got me started on colognes; I distinctly remember he gave me my first bottle of Aramis in the late seventies--I was so happy and proud to have that bottle.  He was a brilliant marketing man, and you can see above that Habitat was a "Lifestyle Center" rather than  just a store selling furniture.  He had a mind of his own, and was very vocal about the way things should be run.  I even remember him appearing on Channel 4 during the glory hours of the EDSA revolution, welcoming the change of administration on national TV.  He passed away several years back, due to lung problems (I guess this runs in the family).