“Before all this,” begins KC Misa, 35, owner of Catalina Woodland Café on the ground floor of Makati Cinema Square, “I drew comics. I have two books published already—I won a contest in Canada kasi. The third one will be out this year.” It was the illustrator’s idea that she and her staff wear elven ears—which she bought online, by the way. “I am a big fan of fantasy, of fairies,” explains KC. “I painted everything here to make it look like a woodland. The ears, [the idea is that] we’re like elves serving you tea and coffee.” KC says she’s always felt at home with nature. She tells us how she creeps out her cousin because she can talk to animals. “Sometimes, I’d call out to cats and they’d meow back.” KC put up the cafe after her dog died. “I got really depressed so my parents let me open up this cafe.”
Photo by Federico Cruz
Souls of Manila is a Coconuts series of street portrait photography inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York. Every human has a story and we intend to share some from the millions who call Manila home.
More Souls of Manila:
– Mang Jun at Heroes Hills, QC
– Eds Gabral at UP Diliman, QC
– Nhorie Cortes at Las Pinas
– Manny Francia at Ukulele Philippines
