A dozen eggs

After already a week in, I find myself still battling with jet-lag-from-hell (at least that’s my excuse). Coupled with lack of sleep from excess of work and a monster schedule, I hurried to dress for a 9am breakfast meeting last Saturday. Barely functioning with just 2 hours sleep, I wound up mistaking Lysol for hairspray. That sure woke me up!

It was a crazy day of rushing about or thinking on my feet, a mirror image of everyday before. So when the opportunity to take a breather fell into place, I snuck out to attend the exhibit of designer/furniture maker/sculptor of recycled Philippine Hardwoods Benji Reyes’ exhibit in Antipolo.

Although many are talented, not all artists are recognized, few are respected, and certainly even less are successful. But because Benji is the man he is, he is all of the above. He and wind-beneath-his-wings-wife Careng are two of the warmest and most generous out there. The presence of patrons, family and friends at their mountainside residence were tribute to this power couple.

Loverne Suratos, a very close mutual friend and one of our most staunch supporters, commissioned me to replicate Benji’s signature BARAKO coffee table in celebration of his 50th birthday and 26th year in the industry. I learned to ‘make’ Kamagong and Molave in sugar.

The night sky was clear and the breeze cool, a perfect night to be at their 3-level home and gardens, conceived and handcrafted by the master himself. It was the premier setting for Benji’s latest works, retrospectives of his classic pieces.



A surprise treat was Careng’s spontaneous jamming with old friends from Acoustic Jive, led by May Bayot and Romy Jarolan. All I can say is, that woman CAN SING!

And at the end of the evening, when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the crowd held breath as Benji rifled through the bowlful of business cards to draw for the last raffle prize—The EKLOK, a dozen eggs fashioned from 12 kinds of indigenous local wood. I silently whispered, “Nice and shiny card, nice and shiny card, nice and shiny card…”, until, I WON!!! Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoot! I hobbled down stone, gravel and soft topsoil, ignoring that each step sunk my NEW 4 INCH NORDSTROM SALE HEELS deeper into the garden. You can picture how embarrassing I was in my glee. But I didn’t care, I am the proud mama of these babies! Winning them… and on this occasion, makes them mean so much more.