Books We're Reading

Kulinarya
A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine

By Glenda Barretto, Conrad Calalang, Margarita Fores, Myrna Segismundo, Jessie Sincioco, Claude Tayag




This is one of the reasons I am loving cooking these days. For beginners who are looking for a recipe book with the traditional Filipino food, this is excellent. I am in fact, enticed to cook because of the well thought out photos done by Neil Oshima. The styling is painstakingly done, and the ingredients well picked; they are at their freshest quality. So imagine me imagining my end product, visually comparing the color of my cooking versus the end result. The thing is, the photography stays true to the recipe, and I shall remain true to this book. I have never enjoyed such a recipe book.

Published by Anvil, this book is available in all Fully Booked stores.


Committed
By Elizabeth Gilbert
Author of Eat, Pray, Love



This book review mirrors exactly what I feel about this book. It's too chatty to be a research, and too researched to be personal. I was longing for Liz's perspective over a ton of factoids. Yet, I continue to flip page after page, and I am now in the last few chapters of the book. It will never be like Eat, Pray, Love because as a memoir, she has been there, done that, and Elizabeth is moving along.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/books/review/Sittenfeld-t.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=review


Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine and the End of France
by Michael Steinberger



Lusting for France, I have been preparing myself visualize a "wishful thinking" trip to Paris. I started by classifying my travel books and media into sections and allotted a corner for Paris. There sits my Lonely Planet Europe (viewed at least three times this half year alone), movies with Audrey Tatou, Julie Delpy, anything France, and of course my trusted Lonely Planet guidebook on Paris. Thinking and reading about Paris makes me closer to actualizing my dream. I dream of walking along its famed avenues, taking in La Ville Lumiere at night, finally exploring Musee D'Orsay, enjoying a warm spring or summer day at Jardin Du Luxembourg, brunch at the markets, browsing the shelves of a legendary Paris bookshop, checking out The Louvre, dreaming of taking a romantic promenade along Paris' elevated park, spending a sunday afternoon exploring Paris photogenic canal, eating macarons and sipping wine.

Dream. Believe!


"For anyone who cares about food, wine, or France... Au Revoir To All That is required reading. Steinberger has done remarkably thorough research to detail just what has gone wrong in French gastronomy. Drawing on astonishing tidbits like the identity of France's largest private sector employer (McDonald's), Steinberger convincingly explains why so many of its greatest chefs have grown complacent, its greatest gastronomic guide so off-track, and its winemakers just plain broke. In spite of all the bad news, the book is a ripping fun read and is even a little optimistic, as Steinberger points out a few key men and women bucking the trends." —FoodandWine.com

Norwegian Wood
by Haruki Murakami
Published in English September 2000



Next on my list. Bought a month ago, not yet started. I have just finished two Murakami books this year and I thought I might have another serving. His thinking, his setting makes me see the nuances of the Japanese psyche, which is weird. Which is probably the reason I like it.

And then I'd really like to read John Steinbeck's East of Eden, preferably at the beach, on a hammock or in a hut.



P. S.

L is reading the boxed set of Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Books and Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin.


What are you guys reading?

Rehab

The other day I was in rehab. My right knee was swollen from sports injury and I had to go through exercises to strengthen my knee. There the therapist found out and told me we also had to correct my right toe from perennially pointing out. I was not listening to the therapist however. I was busy gazing at the crowd at this particular facility. Most are in their 70s, men and women of Chinese ancestry, and about half were recovering from stroke.

"Ama," I keep hearing this from the therapists as they call out to their patients, "Wag kang uupo agad. Kakatayo mo lang tapos uupo ka na naman." This particular therapist was already berating the grandma who could not hurdle the stand bar - the simple handle bar where one is to re-learn walking. Assisted by three therapists, one on each side, a third at her front, plus a yaya who were all egging grandma to take a few steps more, she tries for just a second but then plops herself down to the comfort of the wheelchair. Frustrated, the lady therapist makes a face and decides one hour of this is enough, and she moves on to the next patient.

"Ama, we'll try one step at a time, one foot forward and move it up and down ten times, then let's do it the same for the other foot, ok?" . Grandma tries vigorously, and lifts, shakes her left foot. Grumpy therapist is pleased.

Passing in front of me was the stubborn grandma who probably heard what her therapist was asking her to do but was not able to comply. I saw her face as it whizzed by, and see that half of it was not moving. Stroke. My therapist, CJ, who is probably in Canada by now (an immigrant), goes to say hi to her and teases her, "Bakit pag mahjong Ama, ang galing mo, kayang kaya mo. Pag gusto mo kaya mo eh. Pag ayaw mo, ayaw mo." I saw half her face light up. I swear.

Then he comes back to check on my ultrasound. "Yang pasyente ko na yan, sugalera yan kasi nag-MRI sya dati and when we asked her about numbers you can see parts of her brain functioning, she was trying to compute." . I stood there motionless, trying to calculate the amount of therapy sessions these folks have raked up. P600 - P1500 per day for what, three times a week, for what, a year, two years, or the rest of their lives?

My friend Mike tells me that in occupational therapy's rehab sessions, you can more or less see a patient's prognosis right away. He tells me what I saw were perhaps the patient's treatment's post peak period. In other words, there is little more that can be done. The patient wants to do it, but clearly, because of old age, or the extent of the injury, the body no longer can. That probably depressed me, or at least hit me hard. Here we were in a very progressive facility solely for rehabilitation and therapy, in Greenhills, San Juan, surrounded with new equipment, freshly laundered towels and crisp, white uniforms, and yet the place hardly lifted me up. The aura of the facility was light and airy, yet surrounded by mortality, I got a little bit afraid.

First I thought about the health care expense. My medicare does not cover that ripe old age. Most of the Amas there are supported financially by their sons and daughters. That is not typically us. In fact, our society and employment does not cover that old age.

We don't market to the senior citizen. I know nothing about the senior citizen, and who will tell us what to expect when we get to that age? Is there a Dummies for Hitting 60? I sure would like to know what life's like at that point. But then again, we don't really care. We are such a young population that all we listen to are the voice of the youth. The screaming, screeching, photo-loving psychobabble of ...err, the likes of me.

The other day, when it dawned on me that sheesh, even though 40s is the new 30s, and I feel more akin to the 25 age bracket, how come I am thinking more and more about a retirement plan? And when I started going to rehab, I certainly thought about my health. How can I avoid a stroke? How do I make enough money to have medicare after 60 and funding for a retirement?

And so I find myself thinking along these lines at the stroke of midnight on the eve of my birthday.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I am going back to rehab.

I Do. I Did. Now What?

These days, everyone asks me how it is like to be married.

I haven't quite figured out a way to answer it. Each time I get asked this question, sometimes people answer it themselves, or they hang on every word. Sometimes L and I answer at the same time, sometimes with the same answer. Sometimes only one of us answer. Sometimes we just smile.

"Pareho lang ba?" (Is it just the same?)

Everyone wants to know if anything has changed. Maybe they don't really want to know and are just being polite, but I thought about it one night while I was busying myself with two books, a muted TV show at the background, and my stew quietly simmering. I still pursue so many things at the same time, I still have my own thoughts and endless lists. He has the same sense of humor and languid weekend disposition. We have bills to pay, stress from work, dreams of travel; we share chores and debts, as well as savings and ...long-term goals. Yes, we actually started sharing with each other our goals and are consciously spending more time between friends and families.

The truth is, it's been peaceful, light and more fun (ok don't kill me). We rarely fight, as if (finally) the score has been settled. We poke fun at each other for gaining weight and continue to shower each other with warm thoughts and kind words. (Cheesy ba?)We continue to support each other's goals and dreams as if life depended on it. We laugh out loud; we laugh more often.


Sometimes I forget, but I remind myself I have to think about what he wants before making a decision (Should I buy the shoes or just hide my loot in my bag? LOL. Actually more ordinary stuff like what kind of food will I cook). He swore he won't forget that I will be the first one he will share his good news with, and that he can't omit or hide big purchases (I know someone who hid his Macbook from his wife and kept it in the trunk of the car for months- of course she discovered it; someone with a big shoe collection, someone with a Vespa collection). I removed my Sunday badminton game to spend more time with him on weekends, and he was willing to sit through Eclipse with me (Eclipse was terrible, but he is NOW willing to try a chick flick every now and then instead of just watching only action movies on the big screen). There is a lot more of sharing that the only danger I see is losing one's self by giving in to what the other wants. But then we know that won't happen as we married late and we both love our individuality. He has his thing and I have mine.

We just have to get to it soon, as more often it just feels more comfortable to cuddle on lazy Sunday afternoons.



*Book title by Jenny Lee

Ever After

Here is a write-up from a former medical student turned movie critic/writer turned florist and event stylist. Dylan Gozum of Vatel Manila interviews me for his blog.

http://vatelmanila.blogspot.com/2010/06/photographer-focus-pat-dy.html



You guys probably wouldn't believe it when I say that as of this writing, I have not met Armi yet, our bride for this wonderful summer wedding in Boracay (our very first!). I think Armi and I started communicating some time late February. It started with an SMS inquiry. I immediately noticed that she spelled out every word and I felt some sort of immediate kinship because not many take the effort of doing that (SMS, methinks, says a lot about a person's character).

The bride had only one instruction for her bouquet: it must reflect the reggae colors of green, yellow, black and red. This was to reflect the groom being a rasta. I agonized over this for a long time because as is our aesthetic, we never wanted to do anything so literal as to actually use anything related to the reggae theme. I admit I was tempted to use a reggae bonnet as the bouquet's handle ribbon, LOL! In the end, good sense got the better of us and we stuck to the classic idea of a bridal bouquet without pushing the envelope. The bride's bouquet (above) used yellow Ecuadorian roses mixed with chartreuse Cymbidium orchids, red Hypericum berries, and ended with a base of seasonal Jerusalem berries. A black lace applique covers the handle, and is adorned by a brooch and a black tassel. The bride eventually described her bouquet as "joyful". :-)

Yep, yep. Joyful indeed was the mood for this wedding! One can almost feel the party vibe pulsate through the pictures. I suddenly miss the island - and binging on mojitos! I wish to thank you, Chris & Armi, for making our first foray into the Boracay wedding scene possible. You believed and trusted in me even if you haven't met me at all. For this I am forever grateful. I also wish to thank the bride's friends who brought the flowers to Boracay; I forgot who actually hand-carried the bridal bouquet (as the rest were in a box) & I am sure she didn't sleep during that dawn flight for fear of dropping her fragile cargo.

Below, Pat Dy's photos and the bride's thoughts on the preps & the wedding. Happy viewing (& reading)!




How did you two meet?

Wow. It was ten years ago when I began dating (a late bloomer!) and after several dates with different guys, I agreed to meet Chris after chatting and talking to him over the phone. (Yes, I met him through the internet - during the era of ICQ and when there were still no internet cafés yet.) There was something about him and me that clicked plus it also helped that I was telling the universe at that time that I was ready to go into a relationship. Ha ha!



Tell us about finding your wedding dress:

I looked at the internet and magazines for inspiration. In Style, Wedding Essentials, Style Me Pretty were my favourites along with the website of Jose Villa, a wedding photographer from the US who only uses film (really!). I narrowed down the look according to what I felt fit my height, body structure, skin tone, and the theme of the wedding. Then I looked for designers to see what designs appealed to me.

I saw Debbie Co’s gown in Wedding Essentials and liked her aesthetics-clean lines but always with an accent that make it very feminine and classic at the same time. I used to visit her shop in Astoria Plaza but I didn’t know she did gowns. I sent a pdf file of my overall vision for the wedding and over ten gown pegs with my annotations. I did this with three other designers - met with them and compared prices. The most efficient was Debbie and it was pretty much a smooth experience from that first e-mail. I ended up having my mother and the mother of the groom, the flower girls’ tutu dresses, the ring bearers’ kaftans plus the bridegroom’s outfits done by her as well. It was a very enjoyable experience.




My favourite memory of the day was:

Walking down the aisle. They were all telling me to take it slow, to waltz my way and to enjoy that moment which is the bride’s alone. I heeded the wisdom in this, and as I walked I remember all the beaming faces as I passed them by, the smile and the cameras all raised and hovering around me. All that love was powerful and it felt grateful to be loved. As you know, that’s when I got teary eyed, and my girls, too.

Another highlight is the reception when we were watching the SDE photo and video coverage. Here is what I wrote in my blog,“At first there was clapping, a lot of oooohhing and aaahhing, then peals of laughter, tears of joy...and then finally shrieks. The photos and videos totally captured the tone, the mood, the colors, the vibe, the loveliness of that special day.”

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Anything DIY for your wedding?

The entire planning was DIY. I only had 4 months to plan a destination wedding. It hinged on my Maid of Honor’s [experience with her] previous two-wedding coordination for her sisters and her stint as a wedding coordinator for a Boracay wedding sometime in 2005. However, Consuelo suddenly went MIA when she transferred to SG in the middle of the preparation. Good thing I planned everything from the start and had a lot of good help from family and friends (plus she did the coordination on the day!). Here is a list of our DIYs:

1.) Our Save the Date info was sent via MMS and email- a photobooth rendition of 4 shots seemingly taken from a photobooth but was taken at home using Chris’ Canon DSLR.




2.) Instead of monograms, we decided to use the photo taken by our friend in Serendra with Chris’ Vespa as a sticker for the invites and the misalette, which helped create the overall theme of the wedding.


3.) The Boracay sunset postcard, two photos of the famous sunset with the words Thank You and our names, date and location of the wedding inscribed at the back were also DIY- all we had to do was to send it to the printers. The postcard then became personalized thank you cards and souvenir at the same time.


4.) The directional signages with our names hand-painted on them using the same font as our stickers were also made by a friend. They were lovely!




5.) The flowers at the church were set-up by Chris’s relatives from Iloilo. The flowers were bought in Dangwa and were hand-carried by my family.

Because I only had 4 months, and this is a first wedding planning for me, there were many details missed but this is nothing compared to the joy of that day.



(VM: The dried starfish boutonnieres were DIY, too! Our first time to use a glue gun! Ever! LOL!)

What was your biggest splurge?



Choosing Discovery Shores and Pat Dy. The 4-month planning for a wedding was only made possible because Discovery took charge of everything when it came to the reception. I thought I could not afford Pat Dy, but girls, this is a sage advice: pictures last a lifetime. I would have gladly paid him more. (Rhetorically, of course. I brought him cake and serenitea when I visited him after the wedding, hehe).


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What was the design inspiration for your wedding?





With Boracay’s White Beach as a backdrop, we knew that our beach wedding would be a cinch. Initially it was a Sonya’s Garden meets Boracay theme but when Chris saw this, he said where was he in that wedding? Oo nga naman. My guy is a rasta; he was non-compromising on the beach wedding, on the rings, and wanted a reggae theme. This started the whole vibe and wedding look book. Of course all of it had to be done tastefully - no to shabby chic or rustic vibe.


How does it feel getting wed on the beach?









We were married at the Holy Rosary Parish in Boracay because we wanted the solemnity of the mass and the tradition that went along with it. But this is Boracay! As soon as one stepped on the island, the whole feel and pace changes you, and so it felt like everyone could let loose, be on vacation but instead of just you and the barkada or you and the family, it was you with ALL your family and closest friends. It turned out that way and more, as we were going to one party after another, our friends and families were having their mini reunions, and there was a lot of eating and partying that weekend. When I asked both of our parents to recount their weekend in Boracay, their grins were from ear to ear and there were many stories to tell. That was what we were going for!



What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?

The budget. We had to make do with what we could afford. Our entire decision had to fit the already over budget. In the end we had to cut down on some things, and had to prioritize our non-compromises. We could not serve beer even if we wanted to; it cost P120++ per bottle at Discovery Shores!


Tell us about your photographer:

What can I say? Pat Dy is among the best wedding photographers in the country, but he is also very nice. During the wedding preparation, I told him my friend wanted to have a photo shoot with him and he obliged (which made my friend really happy). He helped me find my best angle and guided me gently to pose “Love yourself” for the camera. (Those are the ones with the dramatic shots). When happy with his shots, he’d let me take a peek. He captured so many emotions of love and joy during that day - from my mother as she was looking at me with my veil on, to a father walking down her flower-girl daughter who was shy and sleepy, to the toothless grins of Chris’s Dad and our 3-year-old ring bearer. Some of the shots were directed, but many of my favourite shots were raw emotions captured as they unfolded. Bravo!





Tips to brides to be:

Enjoy the planning, but let go on your wedding day. As my BFFs wrote to me the on the day of the wedding, “All shall be well.” That was very heartwarming and made me smile for the rest of the day.

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Photos by

Pat Dy
2nd floor, Wilson Square Building,
Wilson St. corner P.Guevarra St.,
Greenhills, San Juan,
Metro Manila, The Philippines
Office:(632)727.4381
Mobile:(63)917.899.1275
Email: patdyphotography[at]gmail.com