Living in the same neighborhood where Susan Hassig’s Vieux Chalet (pronunciation: vyoō shalā) is located has its perks. Susan has graciously hosted a couple of breakfast meetings of the Taktak Road homeowners, including the one we had this morning.

I was among the first to arrive. Susan had prepared a long table setting for 14-16 persons and a smaller table laid out for 6 pax.

Most of those expected to attend arrived shortly and breakfast started at 8:30 a.m. We had coffee, basil tea, and mango shakes (sweetened with and darkened by muscovado) to go with a buffet of pancakes, sausages, ham, bacon, eggs (scrambled and sunny side up), bread and butter, and fresh fruits. Here’s T. Jeanne leading off for the ladies.

As we enjoyed the fare, the group talked about updates on community projects initiated by the homeowners and discussed proposals for new ventures.

One of the first establishments to open in this part of Antipolo (now teeming with resorts), Vieux Chalet has kept pace with the competition commercially, and one-ups them in the social responsibility department. It regularly sponsors child-feeding programs, and Susan (below listening to Fr. Manny) is also a member of the foundation that provides livelihood assistance and day-care services in Purok Sampaguita.

If you’ve been to Vieux Chalet more than once before, you’ve probably noticed that Susan - a part-time artist - loves playing around with the interior decor. The current set-up showcases a mother-and-child by Willam Yu on the window near the entrance …

… and, across the restaurant at the opposite window, a Sayman painting of two fishermen hauling in their catch…

… while atop the piano rests this intriguing mask-on-a-hand-pedestal piece amid loose music sheets …

Oh, just in case you’d like to check out today’s specials on the menu, here they are:

So, if you’re interested in going to Vieux Chalet for the first time or visiting it anew as T. Connie often does, contact the Swiss resto at 697-0396 and ask for Rico the maître d’.

Congratulations to Susan and the Hassig family for maintaining this gem of a place all these years!

Posted in: Props, A HEdCen Oldie's POV, Photo Gallery | Comments(0) | February 2009

One of the advocacies of HEdCen is religious tolerance and respect. Albeit non-sectarian, the school realizes that majority of its students are Roman Catholics. Thus, among the regular religious activities it helps commemorate is the rite of passage of First Communion.

Last December, the school sponsored the First Communion of members of the Grade Three class, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Antipolo. The celebration of the sacrament, officiated by incumbent parish priest Fr. Joel Victorino, with the choir of HEdCen Grade 4 students led by Sir Roi on guitar, captured the joy, solemnity and wonder befitting the occasion. Much to the surprise and pleasure of the parents, Teacher Emma and several faculty members attended the ceremony.

The communicants did us proud, proof of the hard work they put in during rehearsals under the guidance of the ever-patient Teacher Vivs. We marveled at the sense of importance our sons and daughters gave to every aspect they participated in the Mass, from the responses to the choreographed hand gestures of some songs, all the way to the reverence with which they knelt and received the Body of Christ for the first time.

From the church, the communicants, their parents and the other members of the HEdCen community proceeded to the school, where the communicants were welcomed with confetti as they entered the campus. Of course, to end the special morning, we had a munting salu-salo of pasta, dinuguan at puto, Baby Claravall’s velvet cake (which was gone in a matter of seconds), and a host (pun intended) of other dishes, plus cold drinks courtesy of Ruel and Ruby Terry, and we all went home well-nourished in body and spirit.

Thank you HedCen, for making our children’s First Communion Celebration truly memorable!

(Photos courtesy of Ms. Sarj Protacio, mom of Mico and Gio, and Mr. Derek Brugada, dad of Kaze. And my apologies for the somewhat belated nature of this post. Better late than never!)

Posted in: Props, A HEdCen Oldie's POV, HEdCen Special Events, Photo Gallery | Comments(0) | January 2008

Below is a post I wrote last month for the seniors in the Year IV students’ blog for Internet Education Class:

Our dear Y4s,

It’s been four months since we first embarked on this experiment called Internet Education. With you guys, Teacher Connie and I have been exploring ways not just to to help you become better at surfing, but to share with you the nearly limitless possibilities of transforming your internet skills and forays into a humanizing experience.

The idea of an elective in internet education and law, sparked by T. Emma’s invitation for us to teach, was something entirely new for the school. We knew we couldn’t resist the challenge. Soon enough, we realized that our class (like our HEdCen.com site) meant offering ourselves up, this time together with a dozen unsuspecting Y4s, as volunteer test subjects. Thus, we’ve been meeting twice a week in the new computer lab, glorified guinea pigs trying to make sense of the maze of cyberspace.

From our feedback session last Wednesday, it looks like Teacher Connie and I have a bunch of truly appreciative guinea pigs! As I was listening to your comments about what you enjoyed as well as disliked about our course, it struck me that we’ve got something worthwhile going on here. And to hear that you wanted to meet more often and have longer (but earlier) class sessions warmed my heart, even though I wasn’t sure if you guys weren’t just sucking up to the teach.

Keep up the good work peeps! We’re creating a legacy here for future batches.

Sincerely yours,

T. Eric

Posted in: Props, Exit Stage Write | Comments(0) | October 2007