Youngblood

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110120-315507/Dust

Yayyyy! A little courage does pay off sometimes :)

birthday blues

Holly Kennedy: That’s a real honest to goodness couple right there. They’ve probably been together since the flood.
Daniel Connelly: We’re so arrogant, aren’t we? So afraid of age, we do everything we can to prevent it. We don’t realize what a privilege it is to grow old with someone. Someone who doesn’t drive you to commit murder or doesn’t humiliate you beyond repair.


Amen.


Hello, 22.

give

Metro Manila, particularly the areas of Quezon City, Marikina City and Rizal, has been devastated by a huge flood, so it seems rather inappropriate to write about how my own life is slowly falling apart.

But it is, and no one can seem to do anything to make it better.

We all know how it feels to need a hand, especially when you know you've lost something absolutely precious to you. Right now, a lot of people need all the help we can give.

Use your mobile phone to donate to flood victims through the Philippine National Red Cross in these amounts: 5, 25, 50, 100 and 300. To donate send RED[space]AMOUNT to 2899 for Globe subscribers or 4483 for Smart subscribers.

Philippine Airlines will ship your donations for free. Visit this link for more details.

Happiness is - being able to see the films you really wanted to see,

with the one person you really wanted to see them with :)

monsoon

Around this time last year, we had a middle-aged Arab guest in the resort who was madly in love with one of our Front Office executives. He extended his stay at the hotel just so he could try to make her feel the same way about him. Everyday he would visit her, bring her food and flowers, ask her out. Unfortunately, the lady never returned any of his affections. She was focused on her work and would give back nothing more than a firm, professional smile and send him along his way. We all watched along the sidelines as the months went by, entertained by how our respectable, well-groomed guest went about trying, albeit clumsily, to woo her. If he could spend a ton of cash and all his precious time and effort at it for months, we thought nothing could shake his resolve.

Then came the rains. Along with them, the winds. Quite literally, storms battered the island paradise like they haven't in a long time. Our guest, like many others, was forced to stay in his room as waters rose up all over the place. It lasted for almost a week.

After the skies cleared up, our gentle guest packed his bags, said a sweet, resigned goodbye to our Front Office executive, and went home to the Middle East. My aunt would laugh when she tells this part of the story, saying he found clarity after the storm. Gives new meaning to those lyrics from that song - "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone."

Around this time last year a great flood devastated our city, too. Iloilo was filled with water in just a few hours, literally. No one saw it coming since there wasn't even any rain. People were on their roofs waiting for rescue boats, power was out everywhere, drinking water was a rare commodity and the headlines were blaring with death tolls that rose up every day. I watched in horror as people had their homes destroyed and loved ones taken away from them by the rushing waters. It was a devastating time for many.

Back then I was also going through what I thought, and felt, was a great heartbreak. I'd just broken up with someone I cared about, and I thought that nothing would make it better. But in retrospect, the clouds in my heart cleared up right about the time the waters subsided and the sun started to shine over the city, too. So maybe there is some truth to the funny story about the weather affecting the way one sees certain things in life.

Yesterday, sirens started blaring over the city to signal that the waters in the rivers were rising caused by the continuous rains in the mountains. I was surprised and a bit awed to know that the city had gone to this extent for damage control. A few hours later, I found out that people living in high risk areas were already being evacuated and taken to higher grounds. Workers were being asked by their employers to leave early for home, as the anxiety was clear on their faces. After all, the flood control facility that's being built wasn't ready yet.

Fortunately, the waters didn't rise enough to cause as much damage this year. As the water rose slowly and the winds pounded on our homes, taking with them parts of the roofs of some, we wondered if anything would come again, now that we were ready. But the winds came and left and there was nothing more, for now. The waters quickly subsided in the city, even as the tides rose in the seas. In the morning it was as if I could hear a sigh of relief wash over the city. The sun shines, and it's a new day.

little heartstrings

I've forgotten how to be a kid.

I was standing at a Genevieve Gozum store today, waiting for my friend to pay for a dress she picked out, my arms leaning on a glass display case filled with crystal imitation pieces sparkling under the harsh light, tarnished nickel rings and baubles, fancy gems made of plastic. Tacky little things. My thoughts exactly were "I wonder if anyone out there ever buys these things," followed with "oh, I used to. Wow." 

In my drawer at home I have a paper box I covered with shiny wrapping paper and filled up with these tiny jewels back when I was younger - friendship rings, necklaces made of shells brought home by friends from their trips, little crocheted bracelets to symbolize our togetherness. A tiny trinket was always enough to make someone feel like they belong. 

For a moment, I wished I could bring back that easily fascinated part of me again.

are we really playing this game?

This year, I wish for:

1. Scuba lessons

2. Patience

3. Cherie and Eds spending their birthdays in Iloilo

4. World peace

(Hey is that one for every quarter?)

*bow*

happy 2009

Today I'm wearing green to symbolize growth - the acknowledgment that a lot of it happened this year, and a simple acceptance of it.

On this last day of the year I am feeling grateful. For all that has been, and for all that will be. For all that has been discovered this year.

Here's to all that endure. Cheers!

food trip

Since food (other than lovely friends, of course, but that's really a constant) is the only thing that's making me feel happy these days, I decided to make a tribute to food: a list of my all-time favorites.

Tummies, get ready to rumble!

1. Cibo's Penne al Telefono. Penne al dente topped with a creamy, gooey sauce of mozzarella, parmesan, crushed tomatoes, cream, olive oil and herbs, with a side of crunchy, chewy, oily bread. *Heaven*

2. Cebuano lechon. Why? WHY NOT?

3. Far Eastern Mooncake Restaurant's Bola-bola Congee. Imagine a bowl with raw egg at the bottom, topped with a generous serving of congee with tasty, moist meatballs, and sprinkled with crispy, oily flour chips. When the chips melt into the hot congee yet still maintain a bit of their crunch and you get a bite of it, you'll know what I mean.

4. Balut and pork isaw and chicharon with a bit of laman. If you're Pinoy and not too health-conscious, and you don't like these offerings... WHY THE HELL NOT?

5. Salmon belly sashimi. The creamy orange fish with the perfectly matched wasabi and soy sauce (Show me, show you, Kikkoman, kikkoman! If you don't get it, see the video here). If I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life, this would be it.

I think I can safely declare that food's my only vice. Food and drink, of course ;) I love food. Truly, madly, deeply. Some more than others.

Happy eating, everyone! :D

how to raise a chris tiu

Being the true blue fanatics that we are, my friends and I would catch ourselves sitting around talking about two things: "Ano kaya 'yung flaw ni Chris Tiu?" and "Ano kaya pinakain ng nanay ni Chris Tiu sa kanya?"

And on one YM conversation this morning, I got an answer to the second question. Well, not really, but close.

Eds: tapos chris is super smart, rich, gwapo, mukha namang humble, he can play the piano, former sk chairman
Tin: he can play the piano??
Eds: yup
Tin: omg
Tin: ano kaya pinakain ng nanay nya sa kanya
Tin: un din papakain ko sa anak ko
Eds: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080921-161957/How-do-you-raise-a-Chris-Tiu
Tin: @-)

Through this I got my answer to the first question, too. Walang flaw si Chris Tiu!!! :))

blue eagles soar

I literally got goosebumps, wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, jumped up and down all over the place, had blubbery conversations with friends, sent crazy "I LOVE ATENEO WOOOHOOOOO" messages back and forth all night. I celebrated with the entire Ateneo community, though I was miles away.

Ateneo wins Game 2, 62-51, for the UAAP Championship.

Because they show us what stepping up looks like.

Because we believe.

Because win or lose, it's the school we choose.

.

Thank you, Blue Eagles. Animo Ateneo!

animo

When even doughnut companies cash in on the hype, you just know the games are BIG.

How much more when the race for the championship is between blue and green? (Click on the second image below to get what I'm saying, if you still don't.)

THEN

and NOW

Some rivalries are just meant to live on.

Game 1 this Sunday at 4 PM. Tickets sold out in just 3 hours! (Not surprising, really. We used to camp out at dawn just to get tix for a regular Ateneo vs La Salle game.)

I remember the old Chris Tiu (he has a blog!?) funnies (or, well, cornies) -
I'm in love with TIU;
Today is TIUsdays; and
(my personal favorite) Iglesia ni CHRIS TIU!

Oh and I really like this shirt ;)

Urk, anxiously excited. May the best team win.

Oh what the heck, La Salle can't win. Go Ateneo! One Big Fight!

more remembering

Today, two of my favorites from Philippine literature in English. Just because I miss those godawful Lit classes with amazing(ly crazy demanding) Pulan, stupendous(ly gay) Mark, political(ly berserk) Danton, subt(ly female) DM and silent(ly killing with her side comments) Rica. I may have been the class wreck, but still you people changed my life forever.

---

Gabu
Carlos A. Angeles

The battering restlessness of the sea
Insists a tidal fury upon the beach
At Gabu, and its pure consistency
Havocs the wasteland hard within its reach.

Brutal the daylong bashing of its heart
Against the seascape where, for miles around,
Farther than sight itself, the rock-stones part
And drop into the elemental wound.

The waste of centuries is grey and dead
And neutral where the sea has beached its brine,
Where the split salt of its heart lies spread
Among the dark habiliments of Time.

The vital splendor misses. For here, here
At Gabu where the ageless tide recurs
All things forfeited are most loved and dear.

It is the sea pursues a habit of shores.

--

Bonsai
Edith Tiempo

All that I love
I fold over once
And once again
And keep in a box
Or a slit in a hollow post
Or in my shoe.

All that I love?
Why, yes, but for the moment-
And for all time, both.
Something that folds and keeps easy,
Son's note or Dad's one gaudy tie,
A roto picture of a queen,
A blue Indian shawl, even
A money bill.

It's utter sublimation,
A feat, this heart's control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand's size

Till seashells are broken pieces
From God's own bright teeth,
And life and love are real
Things you can run and
Breathless hand over
To the merest child.

---

For more poems like these, check out The Likhaan Anthology of Philippine Literature in English from 1900 to the Present.

"...after all: only when a text is read does it begin to be written". - J. Neil C. Garcia

feeling lucky

At Roxas City's fishing port last week I got my first 'visual' of how fishing boats operate in the Philippines. It is like how they show it on Discovery Channel, except there's less of the cold and storms portrayed there. Fishing boats like these travel as far as Mindanao and stay in the seas for almost a week with around 20 men on board and a huge block of ice in the ship's lower compartment where they store their catch. So for a week or so, the men live on the boat and get as much seafood as they can so they can sell to the brokers when they get back. Cool, huh?

Inasal's been huge these past few... I don't really know, months? All I know is Mang Inasal, along with a little help from Juday and her Ysabella Bacolod Chicken Inasal promo, has brought back to life the never-dead-in-Bacolod-anyway chicken inasal. But now, with Mang Inasal's unlimited rice promo, it's almost become a fad of sorts.

So when you go to those inasal places, do you ever wonder what the orange oil-like substance in the center of the table is? And do you ever wonder what the tub of salt next to it is for? Well wonder no more! Last week, my dad made me realize that the oil and the salt are actually for the rice. It's like cooking fried rice or sangag, see? Add oil, add salt, eat with the yummy inasal (preferably with your hands, kamayan style) and voila! Just eat this way in moderation if you don't want to get a heart attack anytime soon. (I was going to take a picture of the rice mixed with the oil and the salt with the pa-a next to it but everyone looked so ganado (insert: what is the English word for ganado?), I just had to dig in as well.) 

This picture was taken near sundown, of a boat approaching an island. How it turned out this way, I have no idea, but I do know I'm not one for tinkering around with the camera much. Oh well, it's become one of those nice small surprises. Serendipity is it? Photographers can hate me all they want but I like it, this shot almost makes me feel lucky.

41 dead

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yoninoy

The past Friday night on HBO: The Prestige. Extraordinary.

----

Today's Ninoy Aquino Day, a special nonworking holiday in remembrance of the late Benigno Aquino, Jr., because he said "The Filipino is worth dying for" and proved it.

If you want to remember what this man did and "start your own revolution", check out Analog Soul's yoninoy shirts here.

----

What I read last week:

Books like this remind me why I read.

----

There's some sort of coffee culture evolving in Iloilo, don't you think? Cafes are sprouting up almost everywhere. I particularly like the new Coffee Break at the edge of Smallville complex, and the General Luna branch as well. They have the friendliest baristas (always willing to give me more hot water for my tea) IN ILOILO (specified for my good friend and favorite barista Rey of Starbucks Corinthian Hills, who is THE friendliest barista of all!:P), yummy desserts and that warm coffee scent that just keeps the place gorgeous.

on the menu

For dinner last night we had one of my favorites :D

My dad incorporates soft, skinless Cebuano longganisa into the beans, and cooks the sausages in oil first, and then reduces just enough water with them to moisten.

We had cheap wine with the meal, though I say beer would be immensely better paired with it. In our conservative home though, where we can only drink wine because that's the only one Jesus had (go figure), I'll take any alcohol I can get. And on the upside, the wine goes well with the cheese ;) If THIS was poor-man's fare in Europe, I can't imagine what their rich ate!

Today's my parent's 21st wedding anniversary, plus we got some really good news first thing in the morning. I can almost smell it, this is going to be one good day :) Cheers!

afriques

Today Darlene and I drove off to a nice, quiet neighborhood lined with old houses, and landed right at Afriques for lunch. I appreciated the homey, antique, almost silent yet still fresh-and-not-stuffy feel of the house, but mostly I loved the colors of the stained glass windows and the walls. I also liked that it was in a house that had so much history. If it can't be a museum, better it be a restaurant than demolished, I think.

The food was okay, though I didn't really like the carbonara. Their bacon and cheese pizza was great though.

Visit Afriques at the Macavinta House on Gen. Hughes St., Iloilo City.

one world, one dream

Last night's Olympics Opening was absolutely BREATHTAKING. It was an amazing thing to witness on TV. What a great reward it must have been for everyone who saw it live!

For something so beautiful, the people who worked for it have garnered less applause than they deserve because the event has been shrouded with so many political issues.

I think that though the world will never be rid of politics, this time it shouldn't be about China, or Tibet, or the United States. The Olympics isn't an opportunity for a nation to bully, criticize, terrorize or protest another. It should simply be about the games and the hope they represent.

8.8.8

The Olympics begin tonight at 8:08, on the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year! (As if you didn't know that already... But all the eights! The Chinese girl in me is squealing with glee.)

Amid all the controversies leading up to this day and all the complications still surrounding it, something about tradition keeps us from backing off completely. The image of people from various nations coming together with one heart for such a magnificent event just lifts my spirit.

See the Beijing Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony live tonight on StarSports, CNN, Solar Channel or your local RPN. And even though we only have 15 athletes competing in 8 events, I say with much gusto - Go Team RP!