Tuesday’s walls of fame

“The essence of photography is to immortalize a moment,” says comic Tuesday Vargas, whose three-story home in Fairview, Quezon City, features what she calls a “lomo wall.”

Tuesday and her husband, Session Road guitarist Coy Placido, have been lomographers for six years now.

Lomography is a type of art photography in which colors are emphasized, and is characterized by blurry images, random subjects and non-adherence to rules.

“Everywhere we go, we bring at least six cameras each, minus our DSLRs. We think that pictures taken with analog cameras are warmer, more realistic. You really capture the emotion,” she explains.

The pictures posted on the wall are those the couple have collected through the years. “Travelogue namin ’yan: photos taken in Europe, the United States and most parts of Asia,” she says. “I cried when I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower (in Paris). It was a spiritual experience.”

Each year, they mount exhibits either in Manila or in Coy’s hometown, Baguio City.

Their interest in lomography began when Tuesday, Coy and their band, Top Junk, played for the group Lomo Manila at the Magnet Café in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

“The group had 40 members. At the exhibit, cameras kept flashing. They all looked like they were having fun,” she recalls. “Since then Coy and I never quit lomography. We probably own over 20 cameras, apart from those that we’ve just refurbished.”

Another interesting part of Tuesday’s home is her “wall of shoes” on the second floor.

The actress, who owns about 300 pairs of footwear, is a self-confessed shoe addict. “I’d get sick if I fail to buy a pair that I want,” quips Tuesday, who’s a regular in “Talentadong Pinoy,” “Lokomoko U” and “Katok sa Cusina” on TV5.

The family transferred to their 128-square-meter townhouse in 2006. “From the six homes we visited, we chose this place. It’s simple, di maarte and, most importantly, I already envisioned where my shoe collection would be placed,” she says.

Tuesday only made minor renovations before moving in (she replaced lights and bathroom tiles). “A year later, I finally had the storage for shoes and bags built.”

It’s like living in the province, she says. “If you drive around the village, you’d see goats and hens. At night, when it’s not raining, you’d see fireflies dancing,” Tuesday says.

It reminds Tuesday of her childhood in Lipa, Batangas, her parents’ hometown. “There I climbed trees, played in the rain and had so much fun. I want my son (10-year-old Kaya) to experience that, too.”

Tuesday describes the home as “tropical and Zen.”

“My family and I love going to the beach,” she says. “After our trips, we like returning to a house that’s like a spa. On Sundays, you’ll hear the sound of flowing water in the background and smell incense burning. When it’s raining, Coy sometimes plays the ukelele.”

Whenever free from show-biz commitments, Tuesday invites friends over and cooks for them. “I’m really OC [obsessive compulsive] as a homemaker. If I don’t get my way in the kitchen, I get upset. I’m very particular about how a vegetable or meat is sliced. Although I know there are no set rules when it comes to cooking.”

The six-seat wooden dining set proves that Tuesday can be a “practical shopper.”

“I first saw it in a furniture shop and thought it was too expensive.” When she returned to the same store two days later, the price was slashed 70 percent.

“It was because the glass had a tiny crack. I bought it and simply had the glass replaced. I was so pleased with my savings,” she says. “Shopping for furniture takes patience. How I wish I can say the same thing about my shoe addiction.”

The family is having another house built in the same village, only four streets away, Tuesday says.

“The new house is bigger, about 400 sqm; I think the Zen look is already passé so our new home will have a modern minimalist feel. It will be made of steel and concrete, to make it more timeless. It will look like an art gallery, but not too ornate. I want to be able to live there until I’m 70,” she says.

Life hasn’t changed much since the couple’s highly publicized Boracay wedding last year. (They lived together for six years before tying the knot.)

“We’re more relaxed now,” she says. More than husband-and-wife, they’re like barkada. “One minute we’re quiet and not talking. Then the next, we’d break into song-and-dance. Our son would hear us, come up to our room and, suddenly, we’d find ourselves jamming with Kaya on drums.”

Now that Kaya is 10, the couple is hoping for another child. “I’m giving myself three months (to get pregnant),” says Tuesday who recently suffered a miscarriage. “One more child is good enough. I want to be able to raise the kid well. I want to focus on my future child, just like I did with Kaya. ”

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