(MANDY) MARINO BY THE LAKE...
It has been a few years since I heard about Mang Mandy's Cafe Lago by the Sampalok Lake in San Pablo City in Laguna. I saw a few pictures posted somewhere but I never imagined how beautiful and serene it was till I actually set foot in it.
A few weeks ago I was invited by Mang Mandy to visit him, and if possible, to have Zen Master Pat Morita tag with him the diminutive Minimax which as I had documented, he can easily carry and 'balance' with 1 hand.
Morita's reply was affirmative, and when he assured me that he will take me to Cafe Lago safely in his 'bullet proof' (in looks) Revo, the game was afoot. While I had ridden with the 'Evel Knievel of the Philippines' to Paranaque a couple of times, I am now entrusting my life to him in the longest trip down south I have ever taken. 
And it helps to know that the man had driven in a German autobahn many years ago in a rented Volvo whose speed setting was limited to a lowly 80 kph which he found out only when he was in the autobahn. Happily, we arrived at Cafe Lago without a hitch. Mang Mandy was there to meet us and when we entered, we found a beautifully landscaped place which fits the description of a greenhouse paradise with a view of a lake to boot. Upon entering, we saw these 'scenes':
The view opposite Cafe Lago is Sampalok Lake:
Gastronomy101:
Fresh Green Fern Salad with salted eggs and chopped tomatoes
Utterly delicious Binagoonan Pork
Pancit
Suman from Liliw, Laguna
Far East (Morita) meets South East (Mang Mandy)
They were discussing 1950s audio, noong wala pa akong malay at wala pa rin naman sa mundong ito.
Mang Mandy was telling Morita that it all started while he was working in a Zenith factory in Chicago. And the rest of his audio building passion was history.
After lunch, we proceeded to the music hideout of Mang Mandy. Here looking for a record to play.
Setting it all up.
Volume Control.
Presto! Morita in the 'hot seat'.
The speakers - Lowther single cone/single voice coil loudspeakers from England. Enclosure was made by MM locally.
Pat testing if the center image is accurate. What better test of dead center imaging than to use his own body!!
2 'WHITE DOGS' spotted behind the speakers, no 'shaded dogs' found though.
YIN - A warm view of the soundstage.
YANG - A brighter view of the soundstage.
The all-too-familiar creation of Mang Mandy - his DIY turntable active record clamp and tonearm made by his own hands.
The Minimax sitting on the bench, literally,
as it waits for its number to be called to 'serve' its phono amplification chores, kung baga maging 'starter' in basketball parlance. 
We all had a very enjoyable afternoon yesterday. My dislike for long long rides and horrendous queue at the toll booths all diminished after visiting a place where the Chinese would regard as possessing good 'feng shui'. Feng, literally meaning WIND, and Shui, meaning WATER. Both were in abundance from the air above the lake and from the lake itself, respectively. Plus the natural green landscape, full of trees and plants, make the surroundings a man-made paradise in the mold of a classic ecological park.
Our main purpose of the visit was audio, and good sound was what we got. At the first drop of the needle, Morita looked at me with a smile, and I responded with the same. Our minds spoke without words that the sound we heard was music to our ears. All tube electronics mostly DIY'ed produced a warm and lovely sound but what surprised us was that coming from a single 8" cone 'full range' pair of speakers, the sound was amazingly big and all frequencies were covered well without any hint of deficiency. There were sparkling highs when there was no tweeter present - ribbon or dome. Many times Mortia would look at me with a smile and raised eyebrows in approval at each pluck of the guitar, crash of the cymbals and whack of the drum. The system left a good impression in our minds. Vocals were sweet and alluring and one comment that stood out from Morita to me when Carol Kidd sung, 'O! Nasa gitna pa rin si Carol Kidd kahit nakabukas ang sliding door sa likod niya. Bilib ka ba? Hindi lumabas sa Carol Kidd sa likod kahit nakabukas ang pinto sa likod ng speakers!'
And it was true. The image stayed firmly in the sound field although the open door to the lanai seemed to suggest a suck out effect. No such thing happened. 
We played some more albums till Mang Mandy wow'ed us with a passage of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring wherein the dynamics and drum whacks belied the physical appearance and size of an 8 inch driver. Incredible. After that, I begged MM's indulgence to leave earlier to escape the Saturday traffic. When I went home, I had to google LOWTHER immediately. Our heartfelt thanks to Mang Mandy for a beautiful audio session. It will be something to remember for a long while. Thanks too for the fantastic lunch served at Cafe Lago, and hopefully, when I finally take up my father-in-law's long time offer to drive down to Daet, I can visit your lovely place of serenity again.
) now I know where 
