Rizal Day

I wonder how many Filipinos recall why today is a holiday. Seriously, I think everyone is so hyped over the long weekend to mark the New Year celebrations they've forgotten the reason why the 30th of December is declared a National holiday.

On the morning of December 30th, 1896, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda was roused from his sleep at around six or seven in the morning in his chapel cell at Fort Santiago. With hands tied behind his back a funeral cortege accompanied him on a long agonizing walk to Bagumbayan where his execution took place.

Immediately after, his remains were brought to an undisclosed area (later to be found as Paco Park). At that time, Paco Park was an independent structure often used for Sunday corridas and then later became the gravesite of Chinese who have passed on but have not been baptized into Catholicism. Rizal was interred with "heathens" owing to the fact that he had espoused Freemasonry. He was also ordered to recant and go back into the fold. Noone can be certain if he did in fact turn away from the brotherhood.

Anyway, his role is incidental in the drive for nationhood. Whether or not he was anti-revolution, he was the central figure with which all other events unfolding towards the revolution against Spain was anchored. His writings exposed Spanish tyranny, incited a rebellious spirit among indios, gave rise to the fight against oppression and changed the course of a nation's history.

After 150 years, Rizal remains the first Filipino. His life and works served as cinder that sparked the country's   conflagration to be free. Now, I ask... with the way our country is faring... Have we forgotten his sacrifices? 

Ninos Inocentes

People seem to forget that Christmas doesn't abruptly end on December 25. After the one hundred and fifteen days that have been counted down to the Big Day since the start of September, it seems that all the festivities of the holidays screech to a grinding halt after the 25th of December.

I spent Christmas Day with a heavy brunch of whole wheat bread and ham and cheese. Then I headed out for Quiapo church where I heard Mass and then went to the office to do some tithing for the Nazarene. I did go around the market area for some bargains to garnish the Christmas table. Then I headed home so I could change my clothes for another gathering that I had agreed to attend. After all, I haven't seen my friends at the Lady of Remedies in Malate for a while.

When I got to the church, Fr. Kevin McHugh was celebrating the Eucharist at twelve o'clock Mass so i had to wait a little. The Mel came to the convento and After Mass we were joined by Jenny Crespo. We headed to The Aristocrat as Wok Inn was closed for the holiday. I wasn't too hungry so Mel Jenny and I shared a plate of Pancit Canton, Lumpiang Shanghai. Mel ordered a Chicken Barbeque. Jenny had a Clubhouse Sandwich. I got a soda as usual. 

After a few minutes. Artem and Joy Deanon arrived together with their two kids who have obviously grown since I last saw them. We had a lot of catching up to do so before we knew it, lunch had extended all the way till four o'clock.

My next stop was at the Recto Residence where I animatedly chatted and spent time with June Recto and Family. His sister had just arrived from the US on the eve of Christmas with husband Carlo in tow. We had so much fun munching on pizza. I had brought  Ate Didith green mangoes as a present.

There was so much horsing around I had gone home late.

The next day, I worked out and then I cooked up a batch of pasta with three cheese sauce which I had prepared for Jojo Santos. After dinner, we headed out for some coffee supposedly but ended up in SM/Glorietta for some Lechon that June's cousin was going to cook up into paksiw for her husband. While at the food court in SM, I ended up having Razon's halo-halo and ensaymada and then bought a bottle of Aligue from Pampanga.

Next thing I knew it was eleven p.m. But I digress...

So  today the 28th of December marks the Innocents' Day. It commemorates the day Herod had learned from the Magi that the new King had been born. Jealous and threatened by his eventual loss of power he orders his army to slay all the male children below two years of age born within that period when the star of Bethlehem appeared. One can only imagine the bloodshed that it took. Naturally, fun loving-Filipinos have turned Ninos Inocentes as some sort of April Fool's day by playing pranks on each other. The Catholic Church is vocal with the fact that the holiday is a religious tradition in that the Christians  must  recall and reflect on the toll of innocent lives taken at their purest and untainted stage. These nameless children who suffered at the hands of the mighty have now ironically, achieved immortality...

Virtual Fatlak

Today 21, December, 2011 marks a special day for Come Visit My Philippines. Today is the grand eyeball of the members who can make the trip to Josephine's Tagaytay. I would've gone except I have a gazillion things to do.

I'll be working till the 24th. I have a tour of Intramuros with French guests. But I digress...

For those of us who were not as fortunate to be at the event luckily, there was the live-streaming which allowed us to follow the goings-on from wherever we are. There was a lot of good cheer all around as I witnessed it on the net. Some participants were downright funny. Some were funny and talented.

Highlight of the potluck was the turn-over of the coffee-table book published by Ms. Bessie Badilla to DOT secretary Ramon Jimenez who graced the occasion. Can it get any better than this? As I gauge it, the "fatlak" was a huge success both online and onsite.

By the time lunch came around I could hear a lot of jeering from the audience. One watching on the net could only wonder what the ruckus was all about. Obviously there were other things happening on the sidelines which we were not privy to.

Those of us who were in our homes did go to the group page where we tried to check out the posts. I got to see Ms Lili's post and subscribed to her blogsite. Meantime, others were trying to find the link to the live-streaming.last time I checked there were around 72 who were viewing the event. It fluctuated from time to time specially when the feed would go off the air. But all in all the feed went rather smoothly.

Well, if things go as energetically as it does on the CVMP page... I'd say there's another Fatlak coming up soon... Hopefully, I can make it next time... Wishing ba? :-)

Christmas Disaster -HELP!

If the spirit of Christmas is giving, I'd like to post this shout-out to anyone out there who is willing to help.

Tropical storm Sendong wreaked havoc in the southern part of the Philippines. Hardest hit is Cagayan de Oro. The insurmountable cost of rehabilitation of public and private property as well as the rising toll on human lives makes for a heart-rending Christmas season, to say the least.

When nature unleashes its fury, there's just no telling the outcome. Entire communities were wiped out, cars piled up on rooftops, logs floated by rising flood waters toppled down homes. Rich or poor... all were victims! At this stage, volunteers are still scouring the flood hit areas to find missing friends and relatives or recover bodies. Funeral parlors have started turning away families with their dead.

Needless to say, the heroism of our countrymen was not enough to save the victims of the floods. The Bugsay River Guides used their rubber rafts to rescue stranded families from their rooftops. They paddled all night from house to house to save children and the elderly first. A driver of a popular TV station rescued a little girl after the waiting shed she was on collapsed. One wealthy business man used his water hose to provide much needed water for his neighbors. Little known heroes, all of them.

So while we who have been able to stay high and dry away from the calamity site are enjoying the holidays, please try your very best to help our less fortunate brothers in the south. Any amount, big or small, will go a long way. Much needed commodities are clean potable water, clothing, and ready to eat foods. Be careful though, send your donations only to legitimate agencies! Red Cross, ABS CBN, GMA, the DSWD are accepting donations. Their appeal is that donors give in cash so that the much needed supplies can be brought at point of sale so they can easily be bought in afflicted areas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!



* All photos in this article taken from yahoo news

Simbang Gabi sa CCP

For decades now the Sentro'ng Pangkultura ng Pilipinas has been host to Misa de Gallo celebrations during the height of the Christmas season. I've been attending dawn Masses at the CCP for many years now. I like the open air church ambience as the celebration of the Eucharist is held at the entrance area of the main theatre at the top of the ramp. It certainly gives me the christmassy feeling when I feel the nippy dawn winds that brushes against my nearly bald head and cheeks.

It's really a walk in the park for me, literally. I get up at four in the morning get myself ready and then I make my way to CCP from my house on foot. That's really killing two birds with one stone. It's a cardio work out and a spiritual journey of sorts. The CCP manages the entire production and they invite priests and volunteers of the Our Lady of Sorrows parish as celebrants of the Mass. Each day is sponsored by various Hermanas that support to defray costs

When you get there, there's much to look forward to. Last year, the Christmas eve Mass had the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philippine Madrigal Singers as choir. Different artists are tapped each day to provide musical accompaniment at Mass. The first Mass this year was sponsored by the Philippine Navy. The Philippine Navy choir provided the musical accompaniment. The second day was sponsored by the DZMM radio station and Starcity. Their choir sang at Mass.

Needless to say, the facade of CCP is once again alive with outdoor lighting. From last year's single parol the lanterns have become more numerous and larger in size. They utilised lanterns from Pampanga. The main altar was designed by Eric Cruz and executed by the Production Design Center staff.

The iconic fountain is usually turned on a few minutes prior to the start of the Mass and promptly turned off after the recessional. I am expecting a larger turn out for the Sunday dawn Mass as it usually is a family day. There will definitely be a greater amount of joggers and fitness enthusiasts who troop to the Cultural Center grounds. There are seven more days to go until the Big Day arrives. You can still catch the other Eucharistic celebrations. Masses start at five a.m. So there's a little more time to sleep in before attending Misa de Gallo.

I promised myself I would make my Christmas season more meaningful. My heart's in the right place...

Christmas Bonding To Sawa

The Christmas re-union of my Ateneo friends was set for 15 December, 2011 at Ann and Raffy Vera's home in Paranaque. Everybody agreed to be there for lunch. Of course, those who weren't equipped with vehicles would have to rely on Ann's good graces. So the pick up point was at Glorietta  where Palou, Gemma and myself were to wait for Ann.

I had purposely skipped my gym session that morning as I busily wrapped presents and prepared my potluck dish. I did get there five minutes past eleven in the morning. I was constantly in touch with Gemma but it was Palou I saw first. Then Ann came along and all three of us walked to Rustan's for our sodas. Gemma was standing at the Glorietta annex across Ascot. 

Ann was driving towards her home and three quarters along the way, Emma calls Gemma to tell her she was in a fender bender and she was going to be late... her lumpia and sylvanas were going to be late with her was what it meant. Once at Ann's we started preparing for the lunch and setting up dishes in serving platters. 

I brought my tinapa pasta with Asian and salted egg sauce. Ann made calderetta. Lorraine brought chicken thighs with mashed potato cooked by son Francis, Gemma brought  crispy Pata from Gerry's Grill. Ruby was going to be late as well, we learned.

This was such a loquacious group... we were expecting a lot of chatter and catching up to do. It was the first time I was seeing Emma since she arrived from the States. Our topics ranged from religion to politics to romance to spiritualism to birth control to sex... we talked about everything!!! This in between mouthfuls of food.  Then Emma and Ruby arrived and we ate some more, had tea, told more stories and voraciously ate dessert.

Then Palou starts this activity on virtues and it was such an eye-opener for everyone present. We laughed. We cried. We shared. We acknowledged. We eventually ended up grateful for having each other. Before we knew it we were already exchanging presents. Lorraine and Marlon eventually had to leave and those of us who were left behind chatted some more. Before we knew it, it was nearly eleven in the evening. We had stayed there for 12 hours.

We left fully sated and happy and planning when the next gathering would take place... This was just too much fun!!!

Feast of Guadalupe

I didn't make it to Leyte with a friend this year. There was just too much going on and too many parties to boot. I ended up celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in... Guadalupe, Makati... where else? I've been doing that for years anyway.

I made it a conscious choice to visit the national shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe as a way of thanking our Lady for a request I made to her many years ago. I was fortunate enough to go on a tour of Mexico in 1996. One of the highlights of my visit was going to Sunday Mass at Tepeyac Hill, the original site where our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego, and where the Cathedral of Mexico City now stands.

So yeah, I made a request to the Lady of Guadalupe to prolong my mother's life as she was advancing in age at the time and she had a heart ailment. The Lady listened to my prayer. My mom lived long enough and passed on in the year 2000. That would be a year I would never ever forget. And as they were preparing my mother's remains for the wake, I asked the embalmers to twine a wooden rosary I had bought at the shrine on my mother's right hand. 

On a side note, I also went to my aunt's home in West Virginia enroute to the 1996 US Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. I had gifted her with the same wooden rosary from Mexico. The reason I mention these rosaries is that on the crucifix was a small glass domed peep hole which when you lift up against the light, shows the image of our Lady in color. I have since kept a small reproduction of the image of Guadalupe in my bedroom altar.

Last night's Mass was concelebrated by the archbishops of Palawan, Brunei, Samar and a host of other provinces. The main celebrant was no less than Archbishop Tagle. The High Altar of the National Shrine of Guadalupe was festively decorated with flowers. The church was jam-packed and it was difficult to jostle for a nice spot to take photos. You'll forgive me for the de-focused photos, yes? Vice-President and Mrs. Binay were there to attend the Mass as well. It was quite significant since in the morning of the feast day, Archbishop Tagle was installed as Archbishop of Manila in Intramuros. The Mass at Guadalupe was officially his first Mass as Manila Archbishop. His parents and siblings were present at the celebration as well.

Actually, The Archbishop left Intramuros at 4:30 p.m. but arrived at the shrine around seven in the evening. Ergo, Mass started late ( to my advantage). So by the time the final blessing had been administered I was hungry. I headed for Chic-Boy and got myself a huge dinner of Tuna Sisig and Ginisang KangKong smothered in garlic. Hunger satisfied, I finally headed home. By then it was nearly eleven p.m.

Sleeping Beauty on Reel Time

After I left the Rajah Travel Christmas Party I ended up at CCP to visit my friends and former colleagues there. I was in the neighborhood already anyway... I had no plans of doing anything else and had not thought about bumping into people I had not connected with for quite some time now.

I visited the "manangs" in the production department to catch up on things and then I visited the Admin department and lo and behold... in the room in an animated conversation with Artistic Director Paul Morales and School Director Victor Ursabia were former ballerinas Edna Vida-Froilan and Malou Rivera-Peoples. Nothing has changed really... these two ladies are still as gregarious as ever. So what does one do when one has retired? Reminisce, natch! Edna and I became writers after dancing, while Malou has this huge dance school in Daly City, California. I had visited Malou's dance school a few years back and so it was quite a cinch to ask how her school is doing and who's left of the dancers I know that's still on her teaching staff. Conversation was punctured with peals of laughter and photo ops amidst glasses of red wine on dixie cups. 

The tete-a-tete ended as they made their way to the dressing rooms of Monette Victoria (prime minister), Romy Roxas (king) and Gina Katigbak-Garcia (queen) to wish them well on the matinee performance. I went to the back stage area to find my niche so I could take photos in peace. Romy now owns a resort in Puerto Galera while Gina is happily married with kids, one of whom is also taking up dance.

Sleeping Beauty is a well-loved classical ballet of epic proportions. It requires a huge cast as well as a strong technical capability from its dancers. The central figure is Aurora ( Candice Adea, Carissa Adea and Katherine Trofeo), a pricess of the throes of womanhood who falls into a deep slumber on the strength of a curse by the angry Carabosse (Olga Bankova) who was not invited to her christening. She is pre-destined to die at the prick of a spindle but the curse was reversed by Merriweather (Madge Reyes) who blesses her with sleep until awakened by true-love's first kiss. Prince Desire (JM Cordero, Angel Gabriel and a Japanese danseur) is shown a vision of the sleeping princess and falls in love with her. He goes into the Palace and plants a kiss; all this goes on after a dramatic encounter with Carabosse who tries to thwart his plans.

True love wins over evil and Carabosse is vanquished. Everyone wakes up and celebrates the marriage of Aurora to Desire. Dancing and good cheer ensue. The king gives his blessing and the ballet ends. 

Coinciding with the last evening of the performance on Sunday was the show on Channel 11 entitled Reel Time. One of the writers had the idea of living with the dancers for a month and capturing on video the life of a dancer in the Philippines. It wasn't the most imaginative show on the tube that I have seen. It's been done before but it does show the audience what great lengths the dancers go through each day to achieve near-perfection.

Each day is another day to try better, to work harder, to accept criticism, to correct mistakes and to strengthen the body and one's techinique even more. One suffers all of this because of one's passion for the art and for his commitment to his career.  Been there. Done that. Now what I'd really like to see is dancers just kicking back to relax... That's something dancers almost never get enough of... =)

A World Class Christmas

I had a wonderful lunch at the Christmas party of Rajah Travel today. 

Fritzie invited me the week before to let me know that I was on the guest list. I wondered who else she had invited. Apparently she had invited Dustin who unfortunately, could not make it to the event. He's busy moving to Antipolo at the moment. On Christmas time, that's a big move!

I was a little late for the luncheon as I had woken up late. Too bad I missed the Mass. But I was just in time for the festivities to start. Everybody, it seemed, had become restless to get on with the program. What I had seen was Rajah Travels' employees letting their hair down. I didn't know there was a theme so I wasn't expecting anything; which was good! Everyone was in costume since the theme was a World-Class Christmas! World class it was...door prizes to the raffle included weekend stays in Vietnam, HK, Singapore, Macau... and I could go on and on...

I was ushered to table 21 with Rajah Travel's workers in their Manila branch. I didn't know any of them as I had often worked with the Makati staff with Fritzie. I didn't feel left out, though. They made me feel welcome. Fritzie and Jojo Santos were there to see if I was comfy even if alone... I was ok... I was having a blast just snapping photos.

I had to make my leave a little after lunch, though. I had another item on my agenda. I had to catch a matinee of Ballet Philippines' Sleeping Beauty. But it goes without saying that I had fun watching the parade of costumes that required the contestants to dance the Doughie to elicit audience impact. I never did find out who won. The costumes did impress me too. One young lady had an elaborate headdress that  required her to bend her knees to avoid the piece from hitting the top of the door.

Of course, it was also the best excuse to come in drag... That hikes it up a notch!

Thanks for the invite, Fritzie and Jojo!!!

Aching Lillian's Booklaunch

I was lucky enough to get to join Mabuhay Guides Bryan Ocampo, Jeff Velasco and Bryan's friend Gelo on a day trip to Angeles, Pampanga. This trip was a milestone of sorts as it was the book launch of one of our respected resource persons and ersatz heritage home-maker Lillia Mercado-Lising Borromeo.

Aching Lillia as she is fondly called by foodies, clients, friends and Mabuhay Guides has finally culled all her recipes and compiled them into a cookbook with the most appropo title: Aching Lillian's Heritage Recipes. The book is so rich with recipes of Aching Lillian's Pampango cuisine. These are dishes which were handed down to her from her grandmother and mother as well as those which she learned from her other teachers.

I won't say that the recipes included therein are simple. They're not meant to be, really. Some recipes can take hours of preparation and lots of painstaking man-hours to prepare. The word HERITAGE actually gives the contents away. Although, there are some that could be prepared and relished in a snap. So we naturally got copies for ourselves.

I remember the last time we were with her at her ancestral home in Mexico, Pampanga we spent most of the morning writing down some of her simpler preparations. At least, I was... I still have the notes I took down. Had I known Aching Lillian was going to come up with her own cookbook, I should have waited. I however, did try making her tocino and I liked the result. One thing I found special about her is her selflessness in sharing her "trade  secrets". She will tell you exactly how a dish should be prepared without leaving any important details out. This quality was extolled by Pampango foodie and lecturer Lord Francis Musni. I would have to concur with him.

Incidentally, the launch was held at the Cafe Juan of Holy Angel University in Angeles and as we got there way ahead of time, we had time to park the car and do some exploring in the area. I have an entire album of photos to prove it. One can't help but admire the campus of Holy Angel University. The well-appointed school grounds can rival some of Manila's campuses. The venue had a staff of university students who  were actually undergoing training. Most of them, if not all,  were extremely helpful and cordial to jaded Manila visitors like us. In this instance we weren't their tour guides for HAU students like we have done in the past. We were the tourists.

The event was meaningful and relevant in that the host Lord Musni's commentaries briefly touched on Pampango cuisine and culture with some entertainment numbers to boot.  Chef Sau del Rosario's testimony was heartfelt and moving. And Aching Lillian was her usual ebullient self  making sure that all her guests were comfortably seated and enjoying the launch. When the ceremony was over, people lined up at the buffet but we bought her book so it was only natural we would line up to ask for her autograph. 

I'm enjoying reading the book although I haven't started cooking anything yet. It has so many interesting little anecdotes that make for good reading. After reading this book, I will never look at Pampango cooking the same way again. Thanks to Aching Lillian for that! This book that contains so much information, tasty recipes, and vintage photos accomplishes the goal it set out to do at the start- preserve the heritage of Pampanga's well loved and tasty dishes! 

Needless to say, when we had done with getting our copies signed we relished our food and actually even got some Panecillos to bring home. We enjoyed our time thoroughly mingling with our dear "mother" Susan Calo-Medina and  sir Johnny, Claude Tayag, Chef Sau del Rosario, and Prof. Selle Yambao. Aching Lillian although swamped with books to sign was still smiling and entertaining her guests... I don't even recall her standing up to get a bite to eat.

We made our leave and as we stepped out to the cool evening, the chapel was all lit up for Mass... We just had to make a last stop before we headed home for Manila. It was a great day for a road trip.