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.”

---

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).


---
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.

----
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

Wedsite

check out my new website
www.mywedding.com/chrisarmi

Hope to see you there!

At Last!

Boracay Bound

A geomancer once told me I'd live to be 67. If that's the case I'm hitting midlife crisis. As the cool breeze calms my spirit,I couldn't fathom why they dubbed it as such, when I have absolutely no worries at this point in time. Oh,but I am in Boracay, and my only thoughts at this point reverberate: one can't,absolutely,must not, walk out on a Bob Marley song in this island.






The Caucasian lady bobs her head to Sweat, and my brain focuses on her silver hoop earrings which sway to the music as she swings to the beat; the other young ladies clad in black dresses look relaxed and having the time of their life, albeit in a very slow-mo speed. Maybe it's my brain processing these scenes as it takes in the Bora vibe. Thoughts are dimmed,much like the candles wrapped in plastic around me. I didn't flinch when I paid 600 for my french tip manicure and pedicure with some glitzy silvers and a sweaty-palmed manicurist, nor complained too much about Gasthoff's super sweet iced tea to accompany L's baby back ribs. I loved the Hey Jude deal I got on this peak season, and the fact that I get the chance to revisit one of my favorite places in the world (Tokyo,watch out for me in 2010!).


Maybe it's the Christmas air in Bora touching me for the very first time; maybe it's the combination of margarita,Marley and the worship of the sea making me feel heady and in touch with the NOW. Whatever it is, today seems a great day. And no one is complaining.



All photos by: Anna Ylagan

..and This Made Me Proud

Anna is a high school classmate from Immaculate Heart of Mary College. She quit her dayjob and took a paycut to be the director for Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=510499&publicationSubCategoryId=63

This Just Broke My Heart

Dad’s lament: ‘I wish I had died with them’
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Miguel Asuela's world ended on the night of September 26 when in a matter of hours, he lost everything and everyone he held dear to tropical storm “Ondoy:” His mother, wife and their five children.
How do you measure a man’s grief? In his case, it seems impossible. “I wish I had died with them,” he said in Filipino, his eyes a study in anguish.
As Asuela stood at the El Capitan Memorial Homes in Marikina City, the 33-year-old looked like a man defeated. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes sunken and his cheeks gaunt. Silently he beheld the enormity of his loss: Six white gold-trimmed caskets lined one after another.
At the center was the casket for his wife, 29-year-old Desiree Bonifacio. Tucked into her left arm was their youngest son Lucky, who had been born only two weeks earlier.

Water-filled bungalow

Asuela’s entire family perished in floodwaters that had filled his bungalow on Patola Street in Concepcion I, Barangay Tumana. They were found in a heap inside the house, apparently trapped as strong currents prevented them from opening the door and fleeing.
Desiree was clutching Lucky to her body with one arm and one-year-old M.J. with the other. Beside them lay Asuela’s mother Ma. Flor Bonzo, 55; and Asuela’s other children Ma. Flordeliza, 11; Trixie, 9; and Miguelito, 7.
“Every night I can’t stop thinking about them. I keep thinking I should have been with them. I wish I had died too,” he said, almost in a whisper.
The Asuelas were a family of vendors selling religious items like rosaries, religious icons and sampaguita garlands and doing other odd jobs around the Immaculate Conception Parish Church.
That Saturday, Asuela had been working as a barker for jeepneys plying the Montalban and San Mateo route.
“At first, it was just a light drizzle. I didn’t really mind the rain. I never thought the water would rise so much,” he recalled.
Soon, the flood was knee-level and then waist-deep. Asuela began to worry. He rushed to the neighborhood and found that the waters down the ridge were almost up to his neck.
Senior Police Officer 3 Nonie de Belen of the Marikina Police Community Precinct 6 remembered how Asuela had tried to dive into the rampaging waters.
“I stopped him. I told him he’d drown, that he might end up dead while his family turned out to be okay,” he said. But De Belen was wrong.
Asuela said that when the floods subsided, he searched for his family in local schools that had served as impromptu evacuation centers for the flood victims.
“I didn’t go to the house. I was still hoping they were safe,” he said. When he found them nowhere, he returned to his house, accompanied by De Belen.
What Asuela found was more than he could bear.

Heartbreaking sight

He just sat in one corner and started crying, De Belen recalled. The policeman said, “I also couldn’t help but cry. The sight was heartbreaking.”
Asuela said his last moment with his family was over breakfast of hot pandesal and coffee. He said their happiest moment as a family came on July 12, 2008, when M.J. celebrated his first birthday.
“We shared a simple meal. We were all happy,” he said.
Asuela’s mother-in-law, Remedios Bonifacio, 54, said Asuela’s family was not completely gone. He actually has a remaining child, 3-year-old Leonardo, whom Asuela’s in-laws adopted after Desiree had given birth.
“He does not understand yet, Bonifacio said, referring to Leonardo. “When we ask him what happened to his siblings, he’d answer, ‘Sleeping,’” she said.


http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20091001-227778/Dads-lament-I-wish-I-had-died-with-them

Taipei Beckoning

It is my nth time to visit Taipei, and although this is not even in the 1000 List of Places to See Before You Die, I have grown to love it like learning to love sushi and miso soup, or in this case, learning to love ...stinky tofu.





This time, BFF Cie will be accompanying me, her first time to Taipei, and I kind of feel giddy about the trip, wanting her to love it, because I do, I really do. And when I think of Taiwan I think of

the night market (where I get my shoes),

Guang Hwa electronics (I wonder if they already have a 1 Terabyte external hard drive, and if I can already afford the digital photo frame),

Ikea
...
and the food.

Let me tell you about the food.

Oyster noodles,they are so good people line up to get them in the middle of the afternoon and eat them standing up.





Din Tai Foo's shao long pao (handmade soup siomai), oh these are the best, especially after a long day of walking and touring!



Pearl milk tea, I am not a milk tea drinker but this I appreciate!



the best beef noodles. I've tasted Japan's, Malaysia's, Hongkong's. Taiwan is up there on my list.



and so on!


But my appetite has a limit. For example I don't find these delectable at all. And the smell, oh the smell is so pungent you fear you'd take it home with you.





We have an itinerary but I keep getting distracted by lists popping right out of my head:

-how about getting a real chinese wok? (my gash, this won't do with my econo-light ticket limiting my luggage to 15 kgs)
-I am definitely hitting Giordano ladies (they have the latest selection without the overpricing in Rockwell)
-how about a tea set as a souvenir? I always bring my parents tea from Taiwan.
-I think I know what to get as Christmas gifts for the girls- how about cocktail rings huh?
-I wonder if I can get original Mizuno badminton shoes in Wen Lin Road? If the prices are good I will buy and sell to my badmin Sunday group. Oh drat. I have a 15 kgs limit. LOL!

My Vote.My Turn.

Woke up to Facebook, McDonald's sausage mc muffin with egg and The Inquirer.

I sent in my text to this nice market research.

My Vote. My Turn.
HOW I WILL DECIDE

The Inquirer keeps me informed. The 2010 election is really about ________(hot topic).
Our next president needs to be someone capable of _______(character trait) like
__________(political hero), and not capable of _______(political scandal).

No one knows for sure what will happen. But I will make my vote happen.


SMS: Type 2010 Name/Address/Hot Topic/Character Trait/Political Hero/Political Scandal and send to 0918-898 5566.

Here is what I drafted as my answer.


The 2010 election is really about choosing the best leader who can visualize and steer the nation from poverty and corruption into development and to raising Philippine pride (Pinoy ako!). Our next president needs to be a visionary, leader, someone who can execute his vision and inspire people to work together on this vision, someone honest, noble and simple, like Ninoy and Cory Aquino, and not capable of corruption.
No one knows for sure what will happen. But I will make my vote happen.












Photo credit: P500 peso bill designed by my FB friend Rev Naval.
www.peaceloveandrevolution.com

Salamat, Tita Cory

What else is left I asked myself?

While watching the requiem mass for President Cory Aquino on TV, twittering, facebooking, reading feeds from blogs I follow and texting and crying with my mother on Tita Cory's life of suffering, I finally heard the message of Tita Cory to the Filipino: a message of hope and for me, for all of us, to choose the noblest of them all.

Tama ang sinabi ni Kris, Ma, kaya tayo umiiyak, kaya tayo nalulungkot, ay dahil kay Tita Cory nakikita natin ang sarili nating ina, na naghirap, nagbigay ng sarili nila para sa kanilang anak. I love you Ma, and I thank God for you.

Teddy Locsin Loved Her The Most

Teddy Locsin's Eulogy for Cory Aquino


Throughout thirteen years of martial law, until I laid eyes on her again, I never thought that I would ever see the end of it. Least of all that my father would survive it. I am not much given to prayer or pious reflection but when I could set aside my anger, I prayed my father would see democracy again.

Late one afternoon, in San Francisco, I got a call. It was from Cory Aquino, for whom I had written one speech after her husband’s assassination. She said she had accepted Marcos’s challenge in a Snap Presidential Election. I put down the phone, and packed my bags, and reported to her at the Cojuangco Building.

I knew then she was the answer to my prayers. What I did not notice was that the closer we came to victory, which is to say the farther the prospect receded that the Marcos regime would survive, the less I felt the anger inside me. As each day passed, bringing me closer to the day I could get even, the less I felt the need for it as I spent more time with the woman who alone could make it possible.

I did not notice, but I was no longer looking back in anger, or looking forward even, to victory and vindication. Only now do I see. I had lived with my anger so long, only for the day to come when it no longer mattered to me. The only thing that counted was that I was living every day to the fullest, bringing out the best in me—for someone else. A dream I hadn’t had since I was a boy, feeding on stories of chivalry, had been achieved. I was serving a woman who was every inch a sovereign, all the more for scorning the slightest pretension to the role.

I did not realize it, even when I was already in the Palace, by the side of the President—among all her advisers, I like to think, the one who loved her most.

It never again occurred to me that I had scores to settle. And not until today, that I had passed up every chance to get even.

From the moment I came in from the airport and reported for duty, and she gave me in return the same smile she gave me on her deathbed, I never noticed… Not when I was with her in the campaign when she corrected me for not looking at the people I was waving at… Nor when I was with her in the presidential limousine looking intently, for her benefit, at the crowds at whom I waved… I never noticed anything. Except that I was with the only person that I would ever want to be with.

I certainly never noticed that I had left my anger behind. I don’t know how it happened. Except that Cory Aquino ennobled everyone who came near her. I have tried to say it publicly but never could finish. If you saw me as I felt myself to be, anyone would fall in love with me. I saw myself in that hospital room, a knight at the bedside of his dying sovereign, on the eve of a new Crusade, oblivious to the weight of the armor on his shoulders for the weight of the grief in his heart.

And because she always doubted my ability to be good for very long… Indeed, when my wife told Ballsy that I prayed the rosary at Lourdes for her mother’s recovery, Cory said, “Teddy Boy prayed the rosary? A miracle! I feel better already.” Because she doubted my capacity for self-reformation, she made it effortless for me by being herself. I did not notice that I was doing right by serving a woman who never did wrong. I am not sure how to take this moral self-discovery. It is so unlike myself. But if it will bring me before her again, I am happy.

Prayer for a Happy Death by Corazon Aquino

Prayer for a Happy Death (2004)
By Corazon Aquino

Almighty God, most merciful Father
You alone know the time
You alone know the hour
You alone know the moment
When I shall breathe my last.

So remind me each day, most loving Father
To be the best that I can be
To be humble, to be kind,
To be patient, to be true,
To embrace what is good
To reject what is evil
To adore only You.

When that final moment does come
Let not my loved ones grieve for long
Let them comfort each other
And let them know how much happiness
They brought into my life.
Let them pray for me
As I will continue to pray for them,
Hoping that they will always pray for each other.
Let them know that they made possible
Whatever good I offered to our world
And let them realize that our separation
Is just for a short while
As we prepare for our reunion in eternity.

Our Father in heaven
You alone are my hope
You alone are my salvation
Thank You for Your unconditional love. Amen.

Check Them Out: Park Jun's Beauty Lab

She is Park Jun's creative director, Maiyah, who's as thin as a rail and looks much younger in person. Entering Park Jun's was the same experience I had a year ago when I had my hair cut in Taipei. She touched my hair and was aghast, felt so sorry for my hair which was (1) rebonded (2) very dry (3) lacked nutrients and shine. She asked for my routine, what shampoo do I use, what treatments do I have, how many times do I have my hair rebonded, do I use serum? All these I know were to plus sell me their treatments when all I wanted were bangs. I thought it looked good on her. But I also know I abuse my hair since I blowdry daily and rebond every six months.







What was impressive was she was so hands-on with her clients that she sometimes hovers around the assistant even when shampooing my hair, and she does the blowdrying herself. Her assistant Abby told me, "Ma'am ganyan talaga sila, pulido gumawa." (They really work like that, keen on the details.)

She tells me instead of rebonding, next time I should use volume rebonding which leaves the hair flat on top but with some volume on the side and bangs. My BFF was with me, and she is opting for volume rebond with digital perm on the side, which I thought would look great on her- it would look romantic and would fit her frame beautifully.



Park Jun's is located at Glorietta 3, beside Gloria Jeans in Makati.
Call to reserve an appointment:819-3001



The girls loved my new 'do.




















*******


Lunch at Salcedo Market, and 2 hours at Park Jun's - all these we did on a rainy Saturday morning, after waking up to Tita Cory's passing away, who had less effect on me than Michael Jackson's death. Another friend and I were trying to figure it out, as she is ready to throw in her towel and leave Pinas as well. All these years our country is slowly rotting away with disease and we can't shake it off with some leaders governing the country. I feel the best way to be Pinoy is to be the best I can be, but sometimes that is not enough.

Jessica Zafra sums it up in her blog today:

"She was a lady, a rarity in this day and age and especially in this political system. She tried. We miss her like a limb. In mourning for Tita Cory we’re really mourning for ourselves and what could’ve been."


I remember my mother geared in yellow tshirt in the 80s, joining the first Edsa revolution. After that we had hope for the nation. Now that it is my generation, what do people of our generation do? We are frustrated, we try doing our part, we comment, we write, but at the same time, we try to hear as less noise as possible, to stay sane. For those of us who are left here, as many of my generation are already in the Northern America, or someplace else, and for yet, the others who are thinking of ways of moving on, to become citizens of the world, what else is left?

7-Eleven's Big Bite Match: The First Competitive Eating Challenge in the Philippines

First of all, let me introduce you to Takeru Kobayashi.







Although he finished second in this year's hotdog eating competition, next to Joey Chestnut (who finished 68 hotdogs in 10 minutes), Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi remains popular, holding the record for six straight years. Competitive eating then became a growing global phenomenon, attracting over 50,000 people, and is covered by ESPN on the day of the finals.




In the United States and Japan, competitive eating is treated as a real sport because it requires training, discipline and a regimen to be able to compete. We have been dreaming of this project since 2002, since we know customers love our hotdogs, and with the same PR agency. Five years later, we launched it with an internal campaign, with our store managers, area managers and district managers, and we knew it was a hit. Actually, when we first pitched the concept, everyone's reaction was the same: excited! The same was true for the media when we launched it last July 4 at the Rockwell Tent for an exclusive media launch.






It was newsworthy: Filipinos love to eat, it's a first, the biggest in Southeast asia, and was launched the same day Joey Chestnut won his second International Federation of Competitive Eaters champion for Nathan's. Aside from fried chicken and hamburger, the Americans gave us our love for hotdogs, even if,as Kuya Kim of Umagang Kayganda says, it in fact, came from Germany. We know we couldn't get Kobayashi, but we flew in Tom "Goose" Gilbert, who won the 2006 Italian Sausage eating contest, and has several other titles under his belt. Without Tom showcasing how the sports is done, it would have been anti-climactic. He finished 10 hotdogs in 3 minutes 27 seconds, and we all watched in amazement as buns disappeared in a few gulps.


We were with Tom for the duration of his stay here, and he told us a funny story about how he go into it. He said he watched an event, and then said to himself, " How cool and disgusting!.... I could do that." He trains once a month by eating oats, or cabbage (4 kilos) or drinking gallons of water. The trick to this competition, as he points out, is training the stomach to expand. That is why, if you look at the champions, they are not heavy at all.




So in between meeting with the project team, pitching the project to top management, bidding the project out, working on the creatives, talking to our operations team who will do the execution, the weekly updates and deadlines, we are almost there. We launched the competition June 26, and as of July 18 we have over 554 (successful) participants, with some multiple entries. There is this high school student in our Annapolis store, Tony Shu, whose name you will see thrice in that store's Leader Board. He keeps trying until he beats his own record. Our best record so far is from John Paul Aragoncillo in Mc Kinley Hills (are you a call center agent?) who has a time of 1 minute 16 seconds. Raymond Bagoncia, whose entry appears in our Sunny Brooke store probably came in with a group of friends because all four of them clocked in under 2 minutes.

On Facebook I met Revo Naval who recorded his try in a Manansala store and got over 63 comments, and got some of his friends to try.

"I'll try to beat that time. ;)
looking strong though."

"hahahahahha... the security guard takin a video too! HAHA"

"kala ko sinasawsaw mo yung bun para mas malasa =))"

"i thought we're gonna do this?tara!!part 2 for you!!game!"

"wahahaha!!! go rev! kulet mo!"

"the record is at 2 minutes??? ima smoke out and give that a shot!"

"hahahah ! this would have been so funny if you actually puked ! ahhaha woo go rev"

"JOHNNYVERSE VS DJ ACE VS REVOLUTION VS BIGBOY CHENG"


TonyToni Bueno at 4:33am July 13

"Hayden Kho is joining this contest! Mahilig sa pakwan, let's see if hotdogs are his weakness!

Rev: We interviewed Thomas GOOSE MAN Gilbert who did the 5 hotdogs in 1mins 31sec, obviously he cant join!! Will post the video after we air the episode on mtv!"

http://foodiestation.blogspot.com/2009/07/7-elevens-1st-big-bite-national-hotdog.html
Santi Santos


TonyToni Bueno is, of course TonyToni of Boys Night Out who taped a segment for their MTV show Hanging Out With The Boys which aired last night. I thought they'd catch my answer to Sam YG's question on, " Are you single and ready to mingle?" , and his subsequent "flavor of sensation" demo, but thank God, no.






We are cooking up something for the semifinals and of course, the Bonggang Bonggang Finals will be held at the Trinoma Activity Center on August 29, Saturday, 3-5 PM with the Boys Night Out as hosts. In the meantime, you can still join. Just go to any of our 400 stores from Baguio to Lipa, buy the Big Bite Match Combo pack and eat as fast as you can!

If you have pictures or videos of your friends joining the competition, please send them over. I'd love to see them- the videos and the Big Bite fans. Let's make it fun on August 29,ok? I promise you'd have a great time.

Lastly, check out all promo details on www.eatingmachinesphilippines.com


XOXO,

A

P.S.Check out www.eatingmachinesphilippines.com
P.P.S. I need volunteers for the grand finals side events- Slurpee drinking contest, and a Butong Pakwan marathon (pramis, totoo!)