Maximum occupancy

Palazzo Plazo reached maximum occupancy this summer with the arrival of not one, not two, nope not even three, but five guests!

My friends' post-wedding visit to Amsterdam was a huge deal to me and something I'd been looking forward to for months. It just so happened that during the week they were slated to visit, my sister ended her year-long assignment in Oslo and needed a place to rest and regroup before embarking on a new adventure in Portugal. 

Marlon and I had never hosted such a big number, and I'll admit I freaked out a bit at the beginning. Did we have enough bedsheets, towels, blankets, pillows, cutlery, plates and glasses for everyone? (Yes to everything except the glasses, a shortage solved by a quick trip to the nearest Blokker.) What would we cook and how could we make all the meals affordable? I was squeamish about asking everyone to contribute towards the grocery expenses; eventually I got over the discomfort of "charging" my friends by just having to accept that Marlon and I couldn't afford to feed everyone gratis.

We arrived from Mimi's wedding and went straight into a frenzy of cleaning and organizing—moving boxes upstairs, bringing down the spare mattresses from the attic, even fixing up the mess that is our hallway coat closet so it could accommodate the shoes we used to keep in the guest room. When we were done, I was pretty pleased with the way our house looked. We took a few minutes to just sit in the living room and enjoy it. 

This deluge of guests made me really appreciate all the hosts we had on our various Glee Club tours. It is not easy, and to think I was already hosting people who are quite close to me. To take on hosting duties for total strangers, while juggling kids and work, is nothing short of heroic.

It also made me realize how much extra space our home has. Space over location was a conscious decision we made when me chose the apartment and now I feel that our choice has been justified. We're lucky to have it! #blessed

The calm before the storm.

By the way, that's our new Nest beanbag from Sukha. I was terrified that Rogue was going to scratch it into oblivion, but she actually seemed scared of it. I suspect it's because the wool of the yarn may smell strongly of animal to her. It's taken her almost a month to even just sit on it, so I'm happy with its chances of survival.

My sister got first dibs on the daybed! We were able to borrow an extra air mattress from a colleague of Marlon's to complete the girls' "dormitory." All the suitcases were stored outside in the hallway.

On the day of their arrival, I was lucky to have an able assistant (a.k.a. sister) to pop lunch into the oven (and turn it over!) while I went to collect Pia, Jonel, Trina and Cathy at Schiphol. At the airport, we met up with Charlie, a Glee Club alum who's lived in The Hague for 13 (!!!) years and is now working as a chef. He lent them his spare OV-chipkaartjes, the reloadable passes that are used on buses, trains and trams.

Palazzo Plazo's welcome lunch consisted of chicken marinated in milk, lemon zest and herbs, with a Parmesan herb breading.

After lunch, we gathered in the living room to plan the next few days. At this point in their travels, my friends were tired from a rather punishing determined sightseeing schedule. While we tossed around quite a few ideas for outings and even out-of-the-country day trips, a lot more time was spent at home just chilling and taking it slow. This seems to happen to all my guests. It's the Amsterdam effect!



A stay at Palazzo Plazo is not complete without a meal by its resident chef.

For our one big sit-down dinner together at home, Marlon made a crackin' chili con carne, which we served with sangria, salsa (both homemade) and tortilla chips. It was the first time we had seven people seated at the dining table! Thankfully, there was enough food (and chairs) for everyone.

After getting used to living, shopping and cooking for two, it was a definite eye-opener to have lots of people at home. I told Marlon that my epiphany for the week was that I would be perfectly happy with a very small family, thank you very much! Haha.

But with lots of people comes lots of fun and laughter, and that's what made everything worth it. Not a single day passed without peals of loud, you-know-it's-Filipino laughter ringing out into our quiet street. Thankfully all my guests are considerate, responsible grown-ups trained over many Glee Club tours in the art of being gracious guests. And that gets a thumbs up from Palazzo Plazo!

It was wonderful having you guys over. Sa uulitin!

Oh no, knit again

It's hard to cultivate thoughts of summer and sunshine when this is what greets you every single day. Apparently, this is what passes for summer in this little corner of the world. 

If cold can make things shrink, then the temperature of 12℃ over the past few days has definitely reduced the square footage in my brain that's reserved for swimsuits, sandals, strawberry smoothies and other summery delights. Instead, all I can think of is staying warm.

I seem to have knits on the brain lately. Case in point: I'm currently lusting for a Missoni scarf. I saw my first one in De Bijenkorf (the Rustan's or Takashimaya of Amsterdam) today and fell in love. A few seconds later my eyes drifted over to another one, and now my heart is torn.

Soft and feminine, or bold and striking?

Unfortunately, it comes with a price tag befitting a Missoni, so this love will have to remain unrequited... at least until I can figure out a way to drum up a regular income.

Also in the realm of knits: a few days ago, Audrey of Googooandgaga tweeted me a link to Zilalila's hand-knitted jumbo Nest cushions.

It was another case of love at first sight.

It just so happens that Marlon has always, always wanted a beanbag. I'm not wild about shiny, shapeless pleather, so I've flexed my wifely veto muscles to keep them out of our home. But when I showed the Nest to Marlon, we instantly felt that another miraculous matrimonial compromise was in the offing... in the form of a beanbag both of us could love.

So, braving the rain and cold, we embarked on a Sunday afternoon mission to Sukha, a wonderfully curated home and lifestyle store on the Haarlemmerstraat, which itself turned out to be a lovely street dotted with interesting little stores and cafes. When we got there and sank into the Nest, our worst fears were confirmed.

The Nest indeed feels as enveloping, comfortable and warm as it looks in photos. Therefore, we simply had to have it. 

Good for the home, bad for the bank account... but wait! It turned out to be half the price that it was on the website. That was a big relief... as big a relief as this big cozy knitted beanbag will be in the winter. Or, come to think of it, in the summer.

Step in Chanel

image via thisisglamourous 

My mum had a custom made Hello Kitty marble tiles in her previous house and I thought that was silly. Not being a Hello Kitty fan myself, especially have it on my floor but I still think it's cute for girls under the age of 10.

May strongly disagreed by my mum and her crazy Kitty fans friends. haha...

I'd love to have Chanel tiles in my bathroom with No.5, Coco Mademoiselle, No.28 and all other Chanel perfume bottles display on shelves.

How great would that be!

Princess in Castle

Chateau Mcely Luxury Hotel

Address: Mcely 61, 289 36 Mcely
The Czech Republic

Tel: +420 325 600 000

Reviews from Tripadvisor

Images via ladylike

Pample Mousse Design

Pample Mousse Design

Welcome to Palazzo Plazo

The joke about running a hotel began a couple of years back in Singapore. Being so close to Manila and a regional hub for flights, Singapore was a frequent destination for a long list of friends, whom we happily hosted in our spare bedroom. It was Pauline who dubbed our one-bedroom "hotel" Palazzo Plazo, and the name has stuck. 

After our "soft opening" and first official guest this spring, Palazzo Plazo Amsterdam got busy. Mom came over after our Oslo jaunt in May, and Jon and Gutsy arrived within days of each other in June. 

Al fresco dining on Palazzo Plazo's charming terrace

There's something about Amsterdam that makes all my guests so chillax. Not once did we make it out of the house before lunch time! Luckily, the days have gotten so long that my visitors and I got to do and see so much even with our late starts.

While I've had far more than my fair share of visits to the Holy Trinity of Amsterdam tourism (the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum), I'm happy that I got to do a little something different with each guest. There's really so much to still do and discover in this city!

Mom was pretty low-key. She was content to stay home and share my domestic diva lifestyle. She also spent a lot of time bonding with Rogue.

In Singapore, she absolutely abhorred walking. But this time, the cool weather in early spring made a huge difference. It was a lot easier to plan her itinerary this time around because she didn't mind walking. So much of Amsterdam's charm lies in these leisurely strolls in the canal district. 

I also got to try my first rijsttafel ("rice table") at one of Amsterdam's numerous Indonesian restaurants while Mom was here. A rijsttafel is basically a meal that consists of rice served with a large-ish number of small side dishes (the usual satay, rendang and so on), which seems to be an entirely Indo-Dutch colonial hybrid; I've never had it at any Indonesian restaurant in Southeast Asia.

We also rented a car one Saturday to drive out to the Zaanse Schans, an open-air museum about twenty minutes from Amsterdam. Truth be told, I found it a little too touristy for my taste, but I think it was just Mom's speed... and made for some pretty pictures.

The best part of the Zaanse Schans for me was getting to see a functioning windmill from the inside. It's pretty amazing what people will think up to get out of having to work so damn hard.

On the way home, we decided to do a big detour and drive along the Afluitsdijk, a feat of Dutch engineering. It's a 32-km causeway that dams part of the North Sea and turns it into the Ijsselmeer lake; salt water on one side of the highway and fresh water on the other. 

Since Mom was such a big fan of the neighbors' roses, I also took her through the Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam's "floating" flower market. "Hindi ba talaga tutubo sa Pilipinas ito?" she asked, rifling forlornly through the flowers. "Malapit naman ako sa Tagaytay eh!"

With Jonathan, the agenda was completely different and can be summed up in one word: boys. Haha! So our first stop on a scorching Saturday was the Vondelpark, where everyone and his mother/girlfriend/barkada/boyfriend goes to take off his shirt and soak up the (rare) sunshine. While shirtless hunks were in attendance, so were bikini-clad babes.

Still, Amsterdam did not disappoint me us Jon in my our his search for Dutch, er, treats. We were particularly impressed with the array of waiters the city put forth that week. While customer service is far from being one of this city's strong points, we certainly couldn't complain about service from waitstaff like these.

 

Boys aside, we also meandered through narrow side streets...

... and along the canals, which never fail to amaze me.

Jon's visit was a cause for many firsts, such as our first barbecue on the balcony... which also became the last due to a prompt scolding by our upstairs neighbor. We took it to the pavement outside our building, in true third world style.

It was also my first time to hang out at Leidseplein, a big square in the center of town that every single tourist in Amsterdam seems to naturally gravitate to. I really don't get it: they just stand around there like huge flocks of sheep. It's a convenient (but certainly not the best) location to sit down for a drink, but other than that I don't know what's so great about Leidseplein.

Jon's interest in the social sciences led us to the Oosterpark...

... to visit the Tropenmuseum, one of Europe's leading ethnographic museums. It houses exhibits about non-Western cultures, and includes an excellently curated exhibit about the Netherlands' own colonial history.

The biggest surprise about the Tropenmuseum was also the most admirable: it very matter-of-factly stated that the Dutch colonial history was very deeply linked with slavery. No whitewashing (pun not intended), no sugarcoating: the simple facts of slavery and how it contributed to the Dutch golden age laid out for every foreign visitor, every schoolchild to see... and learn from.

An old drawing of slaves packed into a Dutch galley for trading

Just a day after Jon left, Gutsy arrived for a weekend. I wish we had had more time together! Still, we managed to pack in a decent amount of meandering...

... with a visit to Anne Frank...

... and even the Homomonument nearby.

Sunday brunch was at the lovely Cafe Belhamel on the Brouwersgracht, with its gleaming green walls and Art Deco interiors... 

... followed by another Amsterdam tourist staple, a first for us: the canal cruise.

We surrendered most of Sunday to a fog of kabangagan that can most adequately be summed up in this photograph.

Let's just say we were extra happy... because Gutsy was in town! Right Guts? Yay!

It's been weeks since our guests have checked out, and I miss them already. While playing hostess was tiring, it sure was tons of fun. And I hope playing tourist in this town never gets old.

So, who's next?