By this time, quite a number of people already knew that I am crazy about plates. My daughter asked me a few weeks ago while we were in NY, where I got the influence. One Sunday, she accompanied me to scour for plates somewhere in Manhattan. She threw me that question– how come I am so into plates?
I think I was partly influenced by my mother, Ka Felicing. She had a few pieces of bandejado that were kept inside a locked aparador. We only got to use them during town fiestas, Noche Buena or Media Noche.
The influence was further sparked by my twenty years of exposure attending formal sit down dinners for heads of states and dignitaries here and abroad. I was lucky enough to get invited to several state dinners hosted by royals. I fell in love with the Noritake plates used at the Royal dinner hosted by the Prince of Brunei for the Philippine president at that time, Joseph Ejercito Estrada.
The fine porcelain used at the five and six star hotels I had stayed and visited during my travels with the business delegation attending formal functions also had a big influence on the kind of plates I want served.
Never mind if our ulam is tilapia or kangkong, basta, I want it served on a nice plate. My mother also abhorred the use of plastic drinking glasses. That’s also the reason why I prefer glasses and crystals over melamine or plastic. Maybe it’s psychological.
I don’t know if my passion for nice porcelain would change as I get a lot older. Or I would just lose my interest, or masawa na ako. But for now, my sister said I have pingganitis. Give me $2,000. Instead of getting a Louis Vuitton bag, I would most likely spend it on Lenox, Royal Albert, Royal Doulton, or some fine porcelain from Bavaria.
I don’t know if I should be embarrassed, but I have no intention to influence my readers. There was no intention on my part to show the world how I love plates but it just showed, and I discovered that I am beginning to influence a lot of people. Ahhhh, ladies, I do not want you to have a quarrel with your husband. Edmund did not become this tolerant overnight. He used to say “pinggan na naman, di ba marami ka na nyan?”
Yours truly at the Homegoods store in Brentwood, California, July 2013.
