The Foyer

Immediately after the front yard comes the façade of the entire memorial kubo. This kubo is divided in two parts: the foyer and the main hall.

Originally, the memorial kubo was designed just to have a single hall with no foyer at all.  But I decided to put a foyer. Sometimes a foyer can be called a lobby or an ante room. I have also decided to make the foyer a little larger, measuring about 30 sq. meters. Now if the front yard was to show how mommy’s early life was, the foyer was to tell her story as a mother and wife. This space was to tell her story with her beloved family. 

As you enter the door of the foyer, your eye will immediately be caught by a big portrait of her on the left rendered in sepia. In older days, photographs were either rendered in black or white or in sepia. Sepia has a brownish tone which gives it an old  classic feel. There she is with her beautiful profile, a young beautiful woman. Mommy was beautiful. I am not saying this because I am a family member. She was indeed beautiful. She became a beauty queen in a local college in Guagua when she was in college. She had so many suitors when she was young. When I was young, I thought she was just bragging about the number of suitors whom she claims fell in line at their house in San Antonio. Later, as I grew older, I did my own inquiry at San Antonio and found out that indeed, she was telling the truth about those suitors who had to schedule their visits to her since a number of them came to court her. Despite of this, I never got the impression that she was vain. She was so beautiful that her beauty needed no accompanying sophistication from either make-up, jewelry or dress. She was just beautifully endowed with her Chinese mestiza looks. 

Opposite her portrait are the paintings of Cindy, my sister. When I told her to paint for this memorial, she immediately painted what inspired her about our mom. The biggest painting she did was a painting of a tree with several branches which represented all of us. But on the tree’s main truck was a bright fuchsia flame, burning bright. For Cindy, this bright flame symbolized our mother. There was another painting of Cindy of a blue butterfly flying towards the light. She painted this long before I told her to paint for this memorial. She painted it right after Mom’s cremation. This butterfly describes our hope as a family, believing that mommy’s life has now been transformed (aptly symbolized by the butterfly) and is now heading towards the light, God’s pure light of everlasting happiness. The third painting was a mother and child theme. The colors of this painting were inspired by Henri Matisse a French artist who used bold bright colors to paint his subjects. Lastly, a colorful painting of a butterfly amidst flowers of zinias. 

Below Mommy’s portrait are framed pictures of the four boys in the family. Each of us with mommy. On the other side are the framed pictures of the three girls, each of them with my mom. 

The entire foyer is designed like an old Filipino Spanish house with its rich intricate “callado” or “dinukit” in kapampangan that are set against amber – colored glasses. These decorative elements of glass and carved wood give it a strong Spanish feel. At the same time, the traditional elements of the capiz windows and the lights still give it a traditional Filipino feel. The large sliding windows with clear glasses open the foyer to the rich greenery outside. 

In a way, the design of the foyer indeed describes my mom’s family life. The room tells her life in the family – happy, beautiful and indeed filled with wonderful colors. She gave color and meaning to our family life. It also speaks of the artistic talents of her children who have developed wonderful talents in music and the arts. 

The facade of the memorial. 

Mom’s picture on the left wall of the foyer

On the right side of the foyer are Cindy’s paintings about my mom. 

A full view of the foyer with the capiz windows in front and the intricate callado on top of the capiz windows. Mommy’s portrait at left and Cindy’s paintings on the right. Vigan tiles used for the flooring.