MEDIUM RARE

By his own count, it’s been 33 years since we stopped Leo from returning to Taipei, his home base – but not his home – because we could not imagine anyone else cutting and styling hair (like a barber whose services become something of a lifelong attachment as far as their clients are concerned). Whether Leo has regretted his decision is something I have not dared to ask him.

In the meantime, the talented Mr. Leo Espinosa has since branched out to interior design (which includes window displays for shops and their owners’ private spaces). Like some of his clients who are also his friends and owners of out-of-town cottages and private resorts, he swears he has found joy in living on less, living with less.  

Leo lives in a condo in Greenhills, which neighborhood is just perfect for him. “I live alone, but I’m never lonely. When I have time to be alone, and I really enjoy being alone, I just go down the elevator and the whole of the Greenhills shopping area is there, waiting for me.” When he comes back to his apartment, a huge portrait of Dr. Jose Rizal is waiting to welcome him home.  

He’s a closet Rizalista, and that portrait of the national hero wearing a European suit under an IP (Indigenous People’s) headdress is the perfect addition to a collection of antiques, modern art, bric-a-brac, and a stack of old books in European languages that he bought in bulk during a trip to Brussels. The handsome Dr. Rizal is positioned beside another portrait in oil, that of a Filipina beauty dressed in native dress.

Leo invited some of his oldest friends — Gigi, Tabby, Pat-P, Cris — to lunch for a special reason: to show them what he has done with this three-bedroom apartment. (The third room serves as storage for several boxes, still unopened, of his treasures since the last move.) Eager to learn how artistic people display their stuff in a limited area and still have room for the usual living room, dining room, bedroom, toilet and bathroom, etc. I joined the tour to see how bringing old and new, east and west together can be such an interesting challenge, just don’t forget the fresh flowers.