Heard It Through the GripeVine: Our New Abnormal
Just by sheer coincidence, I was invited to a Monday lunch at the newly opened Nono’s at SMaison, and I was visibly surprised by the number of people at the mall that day. Now, I should remind you that Monday was Valentine’s Day; but this was noontime, and it was literally the busiest I’ve ever seen this mall. SMaison is popular with a niche group precisely because the foot traffic is relatively low, and it’s easy to traverse around the two floors of the mall, without having to negotiate through crowds or facing bottlenecks of shoppers. So this was something truly unexpected.
Mind you, I’m really happy to be reporting this, as it means that I’ve witnessed first-hand the growing confidence in venturing out and mall-ing by that segment of the Metro Manila populace who you’d surmise, would be among the last to head out - the older, more mature market, and the high-income demographic. Let’s face the truth, in the case of this high-income demographic, they would ironically find it safer to get on a crowded plane, and head for San Francisco, Paris or Los Angeles than to venture out of their luxury subdivision, and head to our local malls. Even if the numbers of new cases and infection rate are higher in these cities/foreign destinations, they’ll make that luxury trip abroad their first priority.
The Valentine’s Day IG corner at SMaison.
So it was encouraging so see so many people milling around SMaison on that Monday afternoon. And when I checked with Palacio de Memoria on Roxas Boulevard, where a special Valentine’s dinner was being offered, prepared by Chef Margarita Fores, I got the report that they were sold out, with all tables accounted for. Yes, these were socially distanced tables for two, in their expansive front garden; but sold out is still sold out.
There was entertainment provided by an acoustic duo, a female vocalist and a guitarist. And the meal was something truly special - a five course meal that consisted of artichoke & sun-dried tomato tarlet, a zucchine passato with parmesan flan, a red beet raviolo with shrimp & squid ragu and lemon cream. Those were the starters, and the main course was a tenderloin tournedo rossini, topped with pate de fegato and with vegetables on the side. And the dinner ended on a sweet note of lavender panna cotta, with honey & almonds. So once again, this wasn’t some economically priced evening snack; but a full-blown gourmet dinner, with musical entertainment.
The expansive ‘Al fresco’ dinner tables, situated in the Palacio de Memoria garden grounds.
I mention all this because it’s truly indicative of how we’re responding to the current alert level status, and the strong belief that things are truly looking brighter. And yes, I’m still wary, as we’ve all been ‘fooled’ by what happened in December. We thought that the COVID-end was in sight, only to be hit hard in early January by the Omicron variant.
Luckily for us all, Omicron came earlier than expected, and it seems that the worse of it has already passed - at least, that seems to be the case here in the NCR. Unlike with previous variants, it’s only been a little over a month, and we’re now optimistically and confidently talking about further lowering the alert level by March 1st.
I know my youngest of three sons, who’s in his last year of Industrial Engineering at the University of the Philippines, is still hoping against hope, that face-to-face classes can resume this semester. He’s really missed that, the interaction with professors and fellow students, and he’s often bewailed how different it has been with his particular course when it’s done exclusively online. Even his study habits had to be retooled, as he would often head to a coffee shop after classes to complete his assignments - keeping home as a haven where schooling would not intrude.
If that’s the scenario of my youngest, who’s all of 22 years old, I shudder to think what it’s been like for those in the five -11 age range, and for those even younger. I’ve often observed that the ones I’m most afraid for are those in the two to four year old group - as they’ve practically had no experience of face-to-face at all.
These young children have no concept of interacting with a group of children the same age as them. If lucky, they have cousins they’ve still been in contact with during this pandemic. But other than that, it would just be parents and older siblings, if they have them. Sharing, and other social skills would not have been something they even have to encounter or learn; and how that will impact on them as they grow older, we can’t even begin to prognosticate or evaluate.
So yes, it may just have been coincidental, but Valentine’s Day 2022, may turn out to be the first occasion we celebrated, where a true sense of emergent normalcy could be enjoyed. We can only pray and hope that there’s no turning back; that it won’t be a case of two steps forward, then three steps back.