A uniquely Malabon resort - Villa Vicencio Garden Resort

It was a discovery I was not expecting.  A balikbayan couple invited us over to VILLA VICENCIO GARDEN RESORT in Barangay Dampalit owned by a relative, and I was just expecting to go to an ordinary resort with a swimming pool.  I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

At first it was just like entering a typical resort one would find in Antipolo or Los Banos. There's a big swimming pool with eating areas beside it. And then there are clusters of small bamboo huts with a much bigger one (a gazebo) in the middle.

But wait. This was not like your typical Antipolo or Los Banos resort ...because the huts are all built on a fishpond. And the fishpond is vast.

Now that's one of the most welcome sights ever for anyone who calls Malabon his or her hometown!  

Just your typical resort entrance....

...until you get to the huts built into the fishpond.  And then you realize you're in a uniquely Malabon resort!

Picnic huts where you get to sit and relax and enjoy the breeze.

VILLA VICENCIO GARDEN RESORT was opened in 1996 by Lucio and Lily Vicencio.   It started out with two smaller swimming pools in a garden setting.  Five years later, according to their son Jing, they bought the adjoining lot where they built a much bigger pool and added the bamboo huts built into the fishponds at the back.  Now, it's the bigger swimming pool that's used the whole year round, and the two smaller pools are used only during summer when there are more guests.  Guests bring their own picnic food;  snacks and soft drinks are available at the resort only during the summer.

With such surroundings, I could sit in this hut all day...

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The netting that serves to compartmentalize the ponds make an interesting accent in the water along with the caretaker's house in the distance.

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Another place where it still feels like Malabon -- once you get past the typical resort sights and sounds of laughter and fun in the swimming pool area.

Thanks to balikbayan couple Mr. and Mrs. Andre Salvador for this wonderful discovery! 

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Andre' Salvador for this wonderful discovery!



VILLA VICENCIO GARDEN RESORT
303 M. Sioson Street
Barangay Dampalit
Malabon City
Tel. No. 351.5197

Open everyday for swimming and picnics.  (9:00am - 10:00pm)

To get there from Monumento:
Take Governor Pascual Avenue, turn right to General Luna Street.
Go straight on Gen. Luna, then turn right at Don Basilio Bautista Blvd. in Barangay Hulong Duhat.
Go past Dampalit Bridge.  Before you reach the Dampalit Church, turn left at M. Sioson Street.
Go straight on M. Sioson.  Villa Vicencio will be on your right.
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Our neighborhood bakeries

Thank heaven for neighborhood bakeries!  They are wonderfully simple no-frills bread stores where we could go for our fill of warm, freshly baked bread and other goodies.     

Really, I don't know what it is about freshly baked bread and any good bread for that matter, that's so comforting.  But me and my family - and possibly several hundreds more of Malabon residents - we are just so thankful that there are two neighborhood bakeries that we grew up with and still get to enjoy today.


LA ILUSTRE HOUSE OF BREAD

Even before the more commercial Pullman loaf breads became available at the supermarkets, Malabon residents were already enjoying high-quality tasty bread from LA ILUSTRE bakery since it was opened in 1969 by Cecilia Noble-del Rosario.

Although their store was located in Barangay Hulo, some distance away from our house, their tasty bread was always readily available at the visita (the market at Barangay Concepcion).  Soft, fluffy slices that, especially when newly baked, you could eat and enjoy even without putting any spread or filling.  In 1974 LA ILUSTRE also came out with Nutribuns, which they supplied to the USAID for its feeding program.  Aside from their tasty bread, LA ILUSTRE now sells other baked goodies.

 

It's obvious from this spread that the Beehive, a soft cupcake with luscious merengue topping, is a bestseller.  It's one of my favorites, too.

The old CONCEPCION BAKERY

CONCEPCION BAKERY was put up by the Gregorio family in the late 1940s, according to the staff who was minding the store when I dropped by.   The store sign now says "R. B. Gregorio Bread House," but it is still being run by one of the sons of the original owner.

Located at the corner of General Luna and Bernardo Streets, CONCEPCION BAKERY was right within our block and so convenient whenever we were in the mood for freshly-baked pan de sal for breakfast or merienda.  The bakery became popular for their pianono, a small sponge roll with yema filling.  We also buy their camachile to go with pancit Malabon. 

A fresh coat of paint, new name and signage, and glass and aluminum counters gives the bakery an updated look.  But the store interior and the pianono and camachile on the shelves are an old familiar sight.

la ilustre

LA ILUSTRE HOUSE OF BREAD
30 Naval Street
Barangay Hulo, Malabon City
Tel. No. 281.6540


R. B. GREGORIO BREAD HOUSE
(formerly CONCEPCION BAKERY)
General Luna corner Bernardo Street
Barangay Concepcion, Malabon City

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Angel C. Cacnio, preeminent Malabon artist

In a fitting conclusion to "art week" of my discovery tour of Malabon, I visited Mr. ANGEL CACNIO and his gracious wife Mrs. Mely Cacnio in their beautiful home in Barangay Hulong Duhat. 

Mr. CACNIO is known for his chronicles of Philippine heritage - historical events, heroic deeds, Filipino legends, traditions and values.  He also paints people and scenes from his hometown Malabon that immediately evoke feelings of nostalgia in townmates.  His deft strokes are brilliant and bold - leaving no doubt in the viewer's mind about the passion that the artist suffuses into his work.

This photo taken during Ma'Arteng Malabon exhibit.

ANGEL CACNIO was born in Malabon on June 6, 1931, the youngest of eight children of Flaviano Cacnio and Telespora Cruz.  Angel showed his creative inclination when he was still small, as he liked to play with mud by moulding the mud into artistic shapes.  Being the most sickly of the brood, he could not help much in his father's line of work - fishing - which may have led him even more to pursue his talent in art.

He graduated in 1954 with a Fine Arts degree at the University of the Philippines.

Photo from the artist's scrapbook - with his classmates at U.P.  From left:  Alcuaz, Abueva, Concepcion, Cacnio, Joya and Evangelista.

In 1953 his painting "Tatlong Sabungero" won first prize at the Third Shell National Student's Art Competition.  "The Capture of Mabini" won the Apolinario Mabini Centennial Art Competition in 1964.  He won prizes in the coin design contest of the Central Bank and his designs were used for the 25 and 50-centavo coins circulated in 1982-1983.  He also designed the 20-peso and 100-peso bills that are still in circulation.  He has garnered more recognition over the years here and abroad for his creative work.

 

 In the later years of Martial Law, he was commissioned to design the new 500-peso bill that would have had the image of then-President Ferdinand Marcos.  But when the EDSA Revolution took place and Cory Aquino became president, the image placed on the 500-peso bill became that of Ninoy Aquino.  CACNIO's design, which was not chosen, would have been more colorful.

CACNIO was a Gintong Parangal ng Malabon awardee for Art in 1981, and a Gintong Ama Awardee for Arts and Culture in 1996, among other awards and recognition.  His current involvements include the Sining Tambobong Foundation, Malabon Tourism, the Tuesday Group of artists which he co-founded, and the Iglesia ng Diyos (NPB) kay Cristo Jesus.

He has been married to Amelia Reyes Cacnio since 1959 and they have four children:  Ferdinand, Mabini, Michelle Pilar, and Michael Allen.  Ferdinand and Michael are both artists who specialize in brass sculpture.

The CACNIO residence is a gallery/museum not only for his work but also for those of his sons. Mrs. Cacnio also has her own collection of paintings by other Malabon artists.

An artist lives here.  This imposing bahay na bato-inspired house was constructed in 2004 and is both gallery and haven for Angel and Mely Cacnio.  The couple live in art's midst in a quiet garden retreat setting.

Brass sculpture  by sons Ferdinand and Michael

Work-in-progress still life

 

Brick and brass among the foliage.  

Read more about ANGEL CACNIO in the Manila Bulletin:  Angel Cacnio: Strokes for the Folk



Angel C. Cacnio
Artist/Painter
62 Don B. Bautista Blvd.
Barangay Hulong Duhat, Malabon City

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