The Christmas Buzz

(Last of two parts)

Hotel publicist Sharon Samarista and her husband Oliver Beigel in Germany.

WHEN you are many miles away from your homeland, you can’t help but feel somewhat nostalgic and start missing the many things that make the Christmas season so special and festive in the Philippines. Of course, there are a few who say that because they are with their families with whom they practice Filipino Yuletide traditions—like attending Simbang Gabi or dawn masses or partaking of the usual holiday dishes—they rarely miss the Christmas rush back home. 


Here, we conclude this two-part series with some more kababayan scattered around the world talking about how they now spend the holidays, and what they yearn for about Christmas in the Philippines. 

SHARON SAMARISTA (Muscat, Oman, since 2011) 

CHRISTMAS is always about being with family and friends. Because I have been away from home for many years, I try not to be sentimental during Christmas. I keep the celebration simple and use the entire day calling family at home and friends all over the world. In the recent years, I celebrated Christmas by going to church and having a lovely dinner with my husband, Oliver, in a hotel or restaurant. 


Writer/artist Mar-Vic Cagurangan (far left) and family.

I certainly miss the Christmas rush in Manila. I used to have a long Christmas list and shop for so many friends and family members. I love the Christmas bazaars and late-night shopping. These days, I write cards and e-mails. I miss going to the traditional family get-together in my uncle’s place and listen to screaming nieces and nephews who are now grown up. 

And there were so many Christmas reunions and get-togethers, staff parties and preparations for dance numbers where I would always end up embarrassing myself. 

Above all, I miss my family. I miss cooking a big Noche Buena feast together with my siblings in our home in Legaspi and attending Christmas evening mass. I miss my ate’s pastel de lengua and my mom’s macaroni salad. Next year, I have to go home. 

MAR-VIC CAGURANGAN (Guam since 2003) 


A very young May Agaran (far right) and her siblings.

I WOULD’VE said I miss spending Christmas with my two sons, but since they have joined me in Guam, I can’t say that anymore. I have been in Guam for nine years and this is the first time I am actually celebrating a traditional Christmas. The first time I bought a fresh pine tree and decorated my house with lots of Christmas lights and other Christmas stuff. 

My Filipino friends who have no families here are joining my boys and me on Christmas Eve. I have also arranged to spend Christmas with my mom, brothers and sister via Skype (the wonders of technology!). Guam’s Christmas celebration is pretty much like in the Philippines. We have Simbang Gabi, bibingka and the holiday rush at the department stores—minus the horrendous traffic which I don’t miss at all—and other adorable Christmas clichés. I totally feel at home. But I guess I miss Susan Fuentes’s song: “Ang Disyembre ko ay malungkot, pagkat miss kita...” 

Former Manila-based journalist Dennis Serfino, wife Portia, and their cute toddlers in Phoenix.

MAY AGARAN (Hong Kong since 2007)


I MISS going to Simbang Gabi and singing with the choir, eating goto, puto bumbong or bibingka after Mass, seeing parols twinkling outside homes, the sound of Pinoy Christmas songs (not the cheesy or recycled ones though). Most of all, I miss having a complete family—my two nanays, tatay, tiyo and my four siblings. I miss us having Noche Buena together and the little traditions we used to keep. I haven’t really celebrated Christmas since 2004, because I will always associate it with the loss of my nanay who died of leukemia and passed away just before the New Year. 

DENNIS SERFINO (Phoenix since 2006) 

WE can replicate family, kris kringle and Noche Buena here in the States, but only in the Philippines can one quite literally feel Christmas in the air—the weather is pleasurably cooler, the surroundings livelier, businesses busier, and the people just generally happier. 

Publicist/PR specialist Popoy Los Baños, wife Elle, and their son Yuji in Dubai.

And, of course, there are a few Christmas traditions back home that Filipinos in America like me can only yearn for. On top of my list are those that usually involve children, such as caroling. I have always loved seeing neighborhood kids, with rudimentary musical instruments fashioned out of tin cans and rubber tires, go from house to house to sing Christmas songs in exchange for a few coins. It’s even more fun if they sing out of tune or mispronounce the lyrics! Oh, I can still hear it in my head: “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Ambre-embre-embroooom, Ambre-embre-embrooom...” 

ART 'POPOY' BAÑOS (Dubai since 2001) 

IT was raining this morning (December 17), a rare occurrence in Dubai. Last night was the second Simbang Gabi in our parish. Since I am with my wife and son, we don’t really miss Christmas back home. Dubai has changed in the past decade. Back in 2001, almost all malls and hotels did not display Christmas trees. Now even commercial buildings and small grocery stores have Christmas decorations. 

ROD AND GAIL ATIENZA (Delaware since 1992) 

WE remember the unique ways we celebrated Christmas back home. 


Dentists Rod and Gail Tanchanco, with their kids in Delaware.

It began with the distinctively Filipino parol that would begin to adorn every home and create a festival of vibrant, colorful and animated lights and shapes. Every year we would vow to complete all the pre-dawn masses of Simbang Gabi. Every year, we would fall short. But on the drowsy mornings that we did manage to attend, the aroma of freshly made bibingka and puto bumbong would waft in the air and make that early morning ritual worth the effort. We remember caroling at friends’ houses and singing Filipino carols, as well as classic Christmas canticles. Christmas Eve culminated in the Midnight Mass followed by Noche Buena. This meal would include Chinese ham, queso de bola, chicken macaroni salad and fruit salad. Extra treats would include special holiday fare such as roasted castañas, apples and grapes. Christmas morning was always a frenzy, and it seemed to worsen the older we got as we impatiently ripped open our presents, followed by good-natured bashing of each other’s gifts. 

We may be 18,000 kilometers and 20 years removed from the Philippines, but at least we still have a parol, still eat chicken macaroni salad, queso de bola and ham for Noche Buena; we still go to Midnight Mass, and still get delirious on Christmas morning. This holy season remains special in our adopted country, and it will always have a Filipino flavor in our home. 

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was published on Dec. 28, 2012. Photos provided by the interviewees.)

Christmas...only in the Philippines!

(First of two parts) 

CHRISTMAS can be the most poignant time of the year for many Filipinos working and living abroad. 

Banker-turned-microfinancier Joey Bermudez (standing) with his brood in Ontario, Canada.

While they have established themselves in their host countries, becoming successful professionals and gaining acceptance among their foreign peers, most admit that when the Yuletide season comes around, they can’t help but long for the Christmases past spent in the Philippines. 

After all, the celebration here is probably the longest in the world, and maybe the most unique. As soon as September rolls in, Christmas carols start playing on the radio and in the malls. Sidewalks start teeming with puto bumbong and bibingka vendors, and their sweet smells just fill the nighttime air. 

There will be endless parties and reunions in companies and among families by December 1, and by the 16th most homes will be brightly lit with their festive lanterns (parols) guiding the way of sleepyheads trying to complete the nine-day Simbang Gabi (dawn Masses), then culminating in the Misa de Aguinaldo on Christmas Eve and after, a massive Noche Buena feast. 

The celebration officially ends by the first Sunday of January, the feast of the Three Kings. Only then will families take down their Christmas décor and start going to the gym to burn the fat accumulated from all the Yuletide feasting. 

My old pal from San Miguel, Chec del Mundo, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. 

While Filipinos abroad have created their own unique Pinoy Christmas in their new homelands, many of them agree, the Philippines is still the best place to celebrate the holidays. There’s just something magical in the air that lifts our spirits and moves us to give joy to others, in a warm and caring way most unique to our country. 

Here, a few friends based overseas share their thoughts about what they miss most about celebrating Christmas in the Philippines: 

JOEY BERMUDEZ (Oakville, Ontario, since 2009) 

I MISS the Simbang Gabi and the puto bumbong after Mass. I miss the stream of fruitcakes, prune cakes, brownies, pies, cheese, chocolates and all sorts of delicacies that people give each other during the season. I miss the bright lights of Ayala Avenue and the illuminated fountains of Ayala Triangle. I miss our dry roads at Christmas time unlike the wet and snowy roads in Canada. 

I miss the big party at home on Christmas Eve where my parents-in-Iaw, our househelp and some guests join us in a sumptuous feast. In Canada we have the usual Noche Buena and opening of Christmas gifts, but it’s just my family that gets together after the Christmas Eve Mass. 

Lit. major, now tech solutions provider, Susan "Swannie" Morrow (right), with her husband Jesse Avraham and her late mother, Tessie Vasquez, in Brooklyn, New York.

I do not miss the intolerable traffic in almost all roads any time of the year, the inebriated drivers on the road going home from Christmas parties, the overcrowded shopping malls and Christmas bazaars, the long lines at the cash registers of stores, and the jacked-up price tags in restaurants and department stores. 

There is no Christmas like Christmas in the Philippines. About that, there should be no argument. 

CHEC DEL MUNDO (Brisbane, Australia, since 2004) 

THERE are three things I miss the most about Christmas in Manila. 

First is my family and friends and in knowing that you share the same sentiments and joy of the season. Second is the Christmas spirit that you feel as soon as September sets in. Everyone is on Christmas mode leading up to the day of festivities. People shopping in bazaars and in stores, traditional matriarchs shopping in Quiapo in the hunt for dried fruits for their homemade fruitcakes and Chinese ham, and some others making their vows to complete the nine days of Simbang Gabi. Third is the food. I miss most the puto bumbong that you team up with ginger tea, bibingka, queso de bola, and Chinese ham. Well, you can probably have them overseas, but there is so much that go into it that you can’t find here. For example, the smell of Christmas in the air, the traffic, the buzz. 

Graphic designer Chet Vergara in Los Angeles since 1987.

SUSAN MORROW (New York since 1995) 

CHRISTMAS to me is really not the glitter and gold but the simple joys of Christmas the way I knew it as a child growing up in Manila, like having puto bumbong in slightly burnt banana leaves complete with sugar, Star margarine, and coconut shavings; my grandmother’s hot pancit molo on Christmas Eve; and the excitement of waking at dawn with my mother to join her on her Simbang Gabi vigil. Then on Christmas Day itself, scrambling into my new dress to go to Church to hear Christmas Mass. After which, most unforgettable of all, is lining up in long queues to get my aguinaldo from my lolo and lola, titos and titas! P1 from each one of them! 

A semblance of this kind of Christmas was still possible here in New York when my mother was alive and my siblings and our better halves gathered around her. She would spend all week cooking our favorite Filipino dishes—beef caldereta, embotido, pancit bihon, and my only contribution to the feast, mocha chiffon cake. She passed away in January 2011.  

CHET VERGARA (Los Angeles since 1987) 

OF course, there’s the FOOD. Nothing like puto bumbong straight out of the bumbong. Aling Mameng’s lengua, Estrella’s caramel cake, countless variations of lechon, morcon, pancit Malabon—shall I go on? 

Journalist Jojo Dass in Dubai, UAE since 2008.

I miss the impulsive gift-giving and receiving gifts without judgment or suspicion. (OK, I will judge your gift but I really do appreciate it regardless!). Over here, I have stopped giving gifts at work after all the puzzled looks and outright indifference I got distributing gifts one year. 

I guess the thing I miss most is the warmth. The genuine expression of caring and sharing the joy of the season no matter what emotional or financial situation one happens to be in. To feel the collective excitement that elicits smiles from family, friends and even strangers. The thought that life can be good, love can be found and everything will be alright. 

JOJO DASS (Dubai since 2008) 

I MISS the big family gatherings with the big buffet spread—a reunion of sorts with the people you rarely meet during the year, or almost don’t see anymore. Of course, I miss Makati’s tinseltown, the dawn Mass at UST, puto bumbong and the carolings. 

JAMES ONG (Singapore since 2007) 

When we were younger, the most exciting part of Christmas was buying everyone gifts. A few days before the Eve, we’d be given a gifts allowance and we would join the mad crowds at Philcite or Harrison Plaza to look for cheap presents. After I moved to Quezon City as an adult and living with fellow bachelors, I counted on others to feed me. Inspired by Gilda Cordero Fernando’s “leftover party,” I would ask close friends (most of them single) to come to the house on the 25th and bring highlights of their Noche Buena. 

Lifestyle editor James Perez Ong in Singapore since 2007. (Photo by www.style-anywhere.com)

One time I set up a 20-seater Italian-style dining table al fresco and guests were arriving hour after hour. It was a magical night, everything was makeshift, nothing fancy at all, but for me it captured the essence of Christmas: love, friendship and togetherness. Until now, friends ask me when I plan to do another leftover party. I can’t wait to host the next one. Most of these friends are now married with kids so it should be exciting. 

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was published on Dec. 21, 2012. All photos provided by interviewees.) 

An anxious aunt's tale

GOOD-BYES are the most difficult moments in any person’s life. 

It wrenches the heart, makes you weep in grief, even if the one leaving is moving on to a better life.

Perhaps we cry, not because we fear we won’t see the departing person again, but because we grieve for our own selves, of not being able to stand the onset of loneliness. 

It is a sadness that also comes with the realization that other people, especially if they are family, are carving their own alternative futures—and these may not necessarily include us. 

My niece M. left for the UAE on Monday. She is going there to work for a five-star hotel, after tucking in four years of experience working for an international hotel brand here, then managing branches of a popular local food chain. 

She didn’t graduate from a leading hotel and restaurant school, which may have put her at a disadvantage in her chosen field, but perhaps unlike her more privileged peers, she isn’t afraid of a little elbow grease to show her grit and determination to be successful at all costs. 

Unfortunately, for most hotels here, it takes decades before someone like M. gets the recognition she deserves, and the accompanying financial rewards. How ironic, considering that the country is supposed to be experiencing a glorious tourism boom. And yet quite a number of those toiling in the local industry choose to go abroad instead, not necessarily because they will get a higher pay, but for that singular chance that they will move up in their chosen career path much quicker. 

To tell you the truth, M. and I had not been close. As a child, she was difficult to rear—choosy with the food that she ate, disinclined to take afternoon naps, the type who would whine if she didn’t get what she wanted. 

Being the aunt who had to deal with her misbehavior at home while her parents were out working, M. and I really never bonded then. I would leave her sniveling at the dining table until she finished her lunch or dinner. It sounds cruel, I know, but that was how we were all raised in our family. Food was something that we had to be thankful for considering the many underprivileged children who had nothing to eat. So M. too had to suffer the “indignity” of finishing up the remaining morsels on her plate, the way our generation did. (In my case, finishing my food was never a problem even as a child.) 

When M. got pregnant at 18, I couldn’t do anything except shed tears for the childhood she had so quickly lost, and the grueling future she had to face. I had enjoyed my adolescent years, despite the confusion and awkwardness of the period, especially in relating with other people as well as the opposite sex. But it was an exciting, enthralling life filled with parties, games, extracurricular activities and general mayhem ‘til the wee hours of the morning. 

At that same age, M. had to quit school for a period of time while she nursed her baby, woke up at the oddest of hours to suckle the infant, and missed her prom and the fevered swirl of social gatherings that her friends had attended, as well as the shopping for the pretty dresses and the killer heels so she could play cute with the boys her age. 

It’s a good thing she persevered. The “unfortunate” experience may have finally given her the maturity beyond her years, which was also most urgently needed especially when her father, my eldest brother, passed away. She eventually married the father of her child, B., finished her college degree, and assumed the role of working mother. 

(And B., the sweet child, is now a grown-up little lady, exhibiting a strange wisdom far greater than her 10-year-old self. Being a Piscean probably has blessed her with that mature outlook on life. For instance, she was cool with her mother working abroad, and promptly told the latter that she wanted to study in London, or live in Japan. Good grief!) 

As circumstances forced M. to mature, we started relating more to each other, and I regarded her as the adult that she had finally become. We talked more about each other’s lives, and despite the many disagreements we’ve had over the years, I knew she was shaping up to be a headstrong young woman who wanted to be successful in her chosen field, as well as an accomplished mother and wife. For sure, she experienced some degree of difficulty balancing all three, but she somehow managed to make it all look easy. 

M. eventually became someone I had come to depend on, especially with regard to the numerous domestic issues the family had to deal with recently. 

M. became our family’s de facto executive assistant, nurse, caregiver and assistant manager, all rolled into one tiny package. And this she did without complaint, despite her daughter B’s pleas for more attention. I would kid her that it was rigorous training for her job abroad. 

When we finally received the news that she had been hired and would have to leave soon, I was overjoyed for her. I have always felt that traveling to foreign places enriches one’s understanding of other peoples and cultures. And for someone like her who’s never traveled outside the Philippines, this was an opportunity to further expand her outlook and understanding of how the world outside works.

Yet as M. bid me good-bye on Sunday, we hugged tightly and I didn’t want to let her go. Wasn’t it only yesterday that I was pleading with her to finish her food on the dining table, or making her sleep after school? I was too choked up to say anything except to whisper, “Be good.” M.’s eyes welled up in tears as well as she told me to make peace with certain people, especially with Christmas coming around (long story!). In this case, she had now become the adult and I, the child being told to behave. How quickly the tables have turned. And I marveled at the smart woman she had now become. 

Please pray for my niece, dear readers, and for the many Filipinos who have to leave family and friends behind to create a better future for themselves and their parents, or spouses and children. May they always be protected from the temptations that often afflict their lot—causing divisions with their families—and be kept safe out of harm’s way. And may their families here be patient, understanding, and always supportive of their endeavors. 

(M’s last Facebook status and tweet indicated she had already arrived at her destination—thank You, Lord. Unfortunately, no Globe roaming there...pity.) 

While our good-bye was distressing, I now eagerly look forward to M.’s stories about her new life in the Middle East, and her exciting adventures at work. 

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday, in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was published on Nov. 30, 2012. Image from Kinetic Motion.)

Going places

FOR A Filipina who didn’t speak even one whit of Mandarin or any Chinese dialect, to move and work in China in the mid-1980s back when no one really spoke English could only have required massive amounts of spunk.

While Rafaela “Apples” Chen found the language barrier formidable, she was able to smartly conquer it. This can-do attitude mixed with some gumption has served her well. For the past 26 years, she has successfully trained Chinese hotel workers, thus helping raise the country’s standards in hospitality and guest services.

Today, she is the general manager of a major international hotel management consulting firm—the International Hotelier & Associates Shanghai Ltd.—and currently consults for the Jinjiang Hotels Group for its Shanghai property, the luxurious Hua Ting Hotel & Towers.

Due to her significant contributions in her field, in 2009 she was recognized by the Chinese government as the “Top 100 People Influencing the Chinese Hotel Industry.” There were only three foreigners on that list, and Chen was the only Filipina.

And to think that Chen actually graduated from dentistry and not hotel administration.

Her father, Marcial Villacorte, worked in the Diosdado Macapagal administration as a finance man—“he was always being sent by President Macapagal to borrow money.” Her mother Rafaela, and Chen’s namesake, was a homemaker who tried to manage the household with 11 kids (Chen is eighth in the family). “Whenever she gives birth, she leaves the baby in the hospital for one year. She had help from nannies [to raise my siblings and I].”

After graduating from Centro Escolar University in 1976, Chen went to work in the local hotel industry instead, her first stint as an attendant at the Lobby Bar of what was then the Silahis Hotel. “I was one of the pioneers there...they even offered me to become a Playboy Bunny [when Playboy Club opened], “ Chen narrates, all giggly at the memory. “Ang sexy-sexy ko pa nun!” But she decided to to leave for Dubai instead in 1980, to join the Sheraton Hotel as supervisor of its coffee shop.

Chen’s unfortunate experience with fellow Filipinos who were in higher management posts was probably what cemented her resolve to be the best hotel trainor that she could be.

She had observed that most Filipino managers seemed to shout a lot at their staff who were also fellow Filipinos. “My first boss when I was with the Silahis Hotel, he was always shouting at me. When I was in Dubai in 1980, this boss was also shouting at me. I asked myself, ‘How can they be managers? How can they shout at their subordinates? How can the subordinates learn if there is no proper training?’ Every time, they just shout at people. So I said when I train people, I will never, ever do this. Why should I shout at them? Put them inside the training room, guide them, tell them what’s the correct way to do.... I don’t know, maybe because he [the manager] doesn’t want the job. Maybe he doesn’t know the job. Of course it can be said that I was very young at the time; I was only 22.”

When the opportunity arose to move to China, Chen grabbed it, seeing it as another chance to spread her wings. “I arrived in China in 1985, and I opened up the first international hotel [Nan Hai Hotel, owned by the Miramar Group of Hong Kong] in Shekou in Shenzhen, near the border with Hong Kong.... It was really a challenge for me because I didn’t know how to speak Chinese. I didn’t even know how to say hello or whatever.” She managed to learn Mandarin by watching Chinese films and by closely watching the actors’ gestures and facial expressions.

Chen adds that while working at various hotels, she also enrolled in short-term hotel management courses at the Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in New York, one of the premier establishments in the world for hospitality management. “When I was working in a hotel, if I have time, I go and get these courses done…. It’s the reason why I was also successful in training the locals here [in China] because whatever I learned, I never kept it for myself but shared it with them. I think that is one of the reasons why I was more successful in handling the locals because I really teach them and not just tell them what to do, which would only make them resentful. I have seen a lot of managers; they don’t treat the locals well. For me, I take their hands and I show them; I tell them what to do and I always do constant checks.”

Chen has opened several well-known Chinese and international hotel chains such as Novotel (of the Accor Group), Radisson SAS and Howard Johnson, to name a few. “I was one of the ‘founding members,’ so to speak, of Howard Johnson when it first opened its hotel in Beijing. I stayed there until SARS struck in 2003; I had to stay away, relocating back to the Philippines for two months.” With the worst of SARS over, she was then called back by the hotel management firm and transferred to Shanghai, and became general manager of its Chongqing property.

Her thorough training of hotel staff all over China has earned her a place at the well-known Les Roches International School of Hotel Management of Switzerland, which opened a branch in Jin Jiang in 2005. Not only has she trained students, but she has also trained the trainors themselves—the directors of sales, the room reservations managers, etc.

(Succesful China-based Filipina hotelier and trainor Apples Villacorte-Chen, and her husband, Peter.)

One might say, hotel owners in China call on Chen as their first line of defense in terms of maintaining quality standards. “Whenever there is a problem, they [hotel owners] always tell me, and then I call them to analyze the problem and how to avoid it. It’s always like this. Every day you have different kinds of problems—even when you build hotels it’s an entirely different problem. In building hotels, it’s the construction problem, you have to make it a point that the construction is good, that the hardware is good for 20, 30 years.”

Chen was so dedicated to developing the hotel industry in China that it was only in 1997, when she was 40, that she tied the knot with Peter Chen, who is 10 years her junior. He also worked in the hotel industry, and met Chen in 1993 while both worked at Novotel. “Now he works in a trading company…. They [the Chinese] have their own culture. It’s really very different. When we got married, we had to stay in their home. I was with them for 10 years. Now it’s been only three years since we moved out that I can cook. But I miss their cooking. What I didn’t like was that they had a lot of restrictions.”

While the couple doesn’t have children, Chen says that in a way she considers the staff she trains like her own kids. “Somebody asked me, ‘How many children do you have?’ Wait, how many bellboys do I have? How many front desk? They’re like my children because they’re very young—18, 19, 20 [years old].”

She feels a genuine sense of accomplishment whenever she sees her “kids” managing or handling their respective properties. “I have seen the people I have trained, they were promoted to directors, deputy general managers, or managers—that’s my accomplishment. So when I visit one city, they see me in the hotel, they treat me to lunch, have a car bring me to wherever I need to go...they are now all grown-up! And hanggang ngayon tumatawag pa sila.”

Only 56, Chen is still far from retiring. But she does see herself eventually spending some of her senior years back in the Philippines—she and her husband already bought a beachfront property in Olongapo, Zambales. She thinks of investing in the local tourism industry as well, but for now that will have to wait. Her “kids” still need her.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was originally published on July 20, 2012. Photos courtesy Apples Chen.)

Cuteness!

HIS name is Kellen Mirador Sarmiento. He's a little dude who channels The Warblers from GLEE w/ matching uniform.

Dontcha just love the way his little adorable face scrunches up, mimicking Darren Criss? who is also proudly Pinoy by the way.

Here he is singing Katy Perry's Teenage Dream:



And here is Kellen in the promo for the film, GLEE The 3D Concert Movie (can't wait to watch it!):



The toddler just might make it as a GLEE cast member. Hopefully the show lasts that long. ;p

Darren Criss live in Manila! (oh and 'Puck' too!)

DARREN Criss (aka Blaine, Kurt's love interest in Glee) is in town for two days. Half-Pinoy who knows his lumpia, pancit, adobo and calamansi juice, he performed at Greenbelt last night, and will be in TriNoma tonight. (Rats. Was supposed to watch the TriNoma concert tonight but I'll have to miss it though. Familial duties call. Boo-hoo.)

Here's an interview by spot.ph where he talks about his 'bizarre kinship' w/ the Philippines and Pinoys:



Did you hear? His aunt owns Lemuria! Aba.

And here's one of the songs he played at his Greenbelt gig last night. Screaming teens at Darren have made me gone deaf, I think. haha ;p Thanks to OleanderJacob for uploading this vid on YouTube.

Enjoy!



Btw, another Glee star, Mark Salling (aka Puck) is also in town. PAL flight steward Dan Lira posted photos w/ the celebrity on his FB page two days ago, but the story was only picked up yesterday. Judging by the way he is smiling in the photos, Mark looks like a very nice and generous guy. Very accommodating to the photo requests.

(Mark Salling w/ the crew of PR103, Dec. 19, 2010. Photo via Dan Lira)
Mark, who flew in from Los Angeles via PR 103, is supposedly in Boracay now. Wow.

Treat him well, my Boracay friends. That way, he'll be able to spread the gospel of Boracay/Philippines to his friends and family back home. What a great way to promote the 'Pinas.

Now, it's 'Pinoy Homecoming'

(The web site for DOT's Pinoy Homecoming 2011 program.)
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is targeting to increase tourist arrivals by 8 percent to 3.6 million in 2011 by attracting more balikbayan, especially those from the United States, through a reinvigorated visitor program.

Dubbed “Pinoy Homecoming 2011”, the program is being presented by tourism attaches to key Filipino communities in Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and other US cities with large concentrations of Filipinos.

Department spokesman and Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon Jr. in an interview with the BusinessMirror said, “It’s basically a renewed campaign to reach out to Filipinos in the US, because it’s home to the largest Filipino overseas community.”

According to DOT data, there were 3.02 million tourist arrivals last year, 197,921 of which were Philippine passport holders permanently living abroad—but excluding contract workers.

Visitors from the United States, which include Filipino-Americans, accounted for 19.31 percent of total arrivals, or 582,537, making it the top source of tourist arrivals for the Philippines.

Based on the arrival/departure cards of the Bureau of Immigration, 688,855 Filipinos who arrived in 2009 came from the US, Canada, Australia, Britain, Japan and others, including 197,921 vacationing overseas Filipino workers.

Bengzon, currently officer in charge of tourism planning and promotions following the resignation of Vicente Romano III as undersecretary, said among the significant events in 2011 would be the 25th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution. “The anniversary strikes at the heart of the Filipinos, considering many of them joined that historic event.”

The Pinoy Homecoming 2011 project was bid out by the DOT and won by BCD Pinpoint with an offer of P2.9 million. The project “covers developing the concept, audio-visual production [five- minute and two-minute versions], and web-site development and content, design of collaterals and a few more,” according to Romano.

The company has set up a web site for the project at www.pinoyhomecoming.com. The site will provide news and updates on travel to the Philippines. "Apart from helping balikbayan plan a fun and memorable visit to the Philippines by providing itineraries, activity calendars and travel guides, it also aims to make travel more attractive to budget-conscious balikbayan with exclusive year-round promos, special offers and discounts,” the web site said.

(Visitor arrivals of overseas Filipinos, 2009)
BCD Pinpoint was the same company responsible for the www.beautifulpilipinas.com web site, introduced in conjunction with the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” brand launching on November 15, but was later shut down due to negative feedback on content and the URL address.

Asked for more details of the BCD project, Bengzon said his office “will have a look at that separate group. As Secretary [Alberto] Lim has mentioned, we will go through the right process, go through soliciting the bids, and studying the proposals.”

Under the term of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano, the DOT mounted an annual “Ambassador [to Washington, D.C.] and Consuls General Tour of the Philippines” that brought Fil-Ams from the US, Canada and other US territories to the country for a four-day visit, usually including an audience with President Arroyo.

The program was launched in 2005 but was later scrapped in 2008 and 2009 after the American financial meltdown that brought its economy to a standstill.

Bengzon said “all marketing initiatives” started under Romano will be continued. Among these are promotions to attract the overseas Filipinos, “organizing road shows, travel fairs, continued familiarization tours for foreign travel agents and media,” which he said were “effective in communicating with the outside world” the desirability of the Philippines as a tourist destination.

At present, he said, the department has ongoing travel missions to South Korea, Jakarta, as well as India in anticipation of the start of flights to the latter by Philippine Airlines in March 2011.

Bengzon, who leads the high-level delegation to India, said the travel industry players in India will put together and produce their tour packages for the April–June Indian travel season. “With more than a 50-percent increase in target arrivals from India, the mission will help ensure the Philippines will be in the Indian tour operators’ 2011 tour offerings.”

(DOT Asst. Sec. Benito Bengzon Jr.)

The DOT also said a tour group from India recently completed a four-day incentive tour in the Philippines. The group, composed of 224 key people of Nerolac Paints such as chemists, engineers and other paint-technology professionals, visited Manila, Tagaytay and Pagsanjan from December 2 to 5 for sightseeing, casino gaming, nightlife entertainment and shopping.

In a press statement, DOT Marketing Team India head Raymund Glen Agustin said this is the largest incentive group from India this year, made possible through Cutting Edge, an Indian-based tour operator in partnership with its local associate Shroff International Travel Care. Cutting Edge participated in the familiarization tour for the Indian travel agents in 2009 and has committed to send in 2011 incentive groups covering more than a thousand visitors on a staggered basis.

“The arrival of such a huge group is a direct result of our familiarization trip program for travel agents and media as one of our marketing and promotional efforts for the Indian market,” added Agustin.

Bengzon said since the department budget had come under scrutiny by legislators, the agency is now more focused in its marketing initiatives. “We’ve seen over the last few months that there is a larger stake for the private sector and it has seen the value of participating in trade fairs. We have to include the practicability of having dance groups [perform Filipino dances during the fairs to promote the country], but the centerpiece is the business-matching where Filipino travel agents meet with their counterparts.”

Asked about the initial branding effort that was recently scrapped, the DOT spokesman said there is “no deadline” to come up with a new brand or slogan. “The process will be more deliberate and more thorough. But we hope to have a corresponding TOR [terms of reference] by December. This [process] will take time.”

(My story, originally published in the BusinessMirror on Dec. 10, 2010.)

 

The ties that bind us

(Ambassador Arias says of Filipinos: “You’re very nice. You adapt well [to a country]. There are many immigrants in Spain but the Filipinos are the most loved.”)

I LOVE most things Spanish. I savor paella with gusto, wear Zara and Mango, use espadrilles especially during summer, and will marry Javier Bardem as soon as I get him to divorce Penélope Cruz.

So it was such a pleasure to meet Spain’s Ambassador to Manila Luis Arias y Romero, and talk about all things Spanish, and how his country’s relationship with the Philippines has evolved through the years. At first, the good ambassador seemed very serious and uncomfortable, but my shout of “Viva España!” must have loosened him a bit. (He probably thought I was loca.) He soon became more relaxed and even managed a humorous quip or two. But ever the diplomat course, he would visibly steel himself back, comporting himself.

There are about 300,000 Filipinos in Spain who are already Spanish citizens. This is on top of the 7,000 legally working or studying there. About 15 percent work as domestic helps but there are also many who are professionals such as accountants, health workers, and one even serves at the elite Royal Guard of Spain.

Unlike other immigrants, the ambassador said, “Filipinos can acquire [Spanish] citizenship after only two years of legal residence. You are especially mentioned along with Latin Americans in the Spanish Civil Code; you are assimilated. There are funds in the government budget earmarked to facilitate the integration of immigrants, which may be in the form of education and housing subsidies. Also, remember that they are all entitled to use the public-health service.”

In May, Spain also announced that Filipinos with a valid LTO driver’s license could get a Spanish driver’s license “no questions asked. All you have to show is your Philippine driver’s license and you will get [a Spanish license]. It’s automatic,” Ambassador Arias said.

(As I listened to the ambassador narrate all these benefits for Filipino immigrants, I wondered why most of us still kill ourselves going TNT for years in the US without a great job and a green card to actually look forward to.) “You’re very nice. You adapt well [to a country]. There are many immigrants in Spain but the Filipinos are the most loved,” he stressed.

Ambassador Arias hails from Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, a charming principality located in the northern coast of Spain, described as the “greenest” part of the country with its lush mountains, rambling rivers and lovely beaches. His father is a lawyer and was a professor at the local university, where his mother was also a faculty member.

The ambassador said he had wanted to be a professor like his father, but after he finished his studies, the “political circumstances were not very nice during that time [of Generalisimo Francisco Franco]. The intellectual landscape was not so very good, so I entered diplomatic school.” His previous postings include Costa Rica, Washington, D.C., Poland, Montreal and Brussels.

Of all the countries he has been assigned to, the ambassador said it is the Philippines where he feels most at home. “A lot of things remind me of Spain—the landscape, the names—the sounds are very familiar, also the churches and the character of the people. From the very first time we arrived, it’s already a familiar country. That’s why we are so happy here.” With the ambassador in Manila is his wife Soledad, also a lawyer by profession. They have one son Javier, an executive in Unilever in Madrid.

Spain’s devotion to the Philippines is unmistakable. The embassy has increased its staff in the Philippines, with Spanish expats now numbering 130. “We now have three offices here [in Metro Manila], as well as Instituto Cervantes, and another two cooperation offices in Legazpi, Albay, and in Caraga,” the ambassador added.

As of 2009, bilateral aid alone had reached P3 billion, a large chunk of which supported disaster-relief efforts in Bicol and the peace-building projects in Mindanao. More aid from Spain is channeled through joint programs with other European Union countries and the United Nations.

The ambassador relishes his visits to the project areas supported by Spanish aid. He has been to Cotabato and the Caraga region, as well as in the Visayas, Bicol and up north in Pangasinan.

“In my visits outside of Manila, I have gotten good reception. I am treated like a king!” he joked, remembering the children lined up on the streets waving flags of Spain and the Philippines. He is also deeply touched every time he visits Baler, Aurora, to commemorate the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day every June 30. As the story goes, for close to a year beginning in June 1898, some 50 Spanish soldiers bravely held out at a small church, while Filipino revolucionarios tried to persuade them to surrender. June 30 was the day Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo as president of the first Philippine Republic, issued an order allowing the surrendering soldiers holed up in the Baler Church to return to Spain. “It is very moving. The people of Baler celebrate with us. My gratitude cannot be expressed adequately,” the envoy said.

What thrills Ambassador Arias is the resurgence in the study of the Spanish language. Instituto Cervantes in Manila has the most number of students compared with the other branches in the world. At present, he says, it has 7,000 students, with São Paolo in Brazil coming in second at only 3,000 students.

“Spanish is the second language in the world. There has been increasing demand for Spanish speakers in the United States, for instance, where there are already 80 million Spanish-speakers. Here in the Philippines, for people who want to work in the United States, you are required to know Spanish. Call centers here pay 60 percent to 70 percent more for those who speak Spanish. Because of the vocabulary, it’s easy for Filipinos to learn it.” He points out that the Filipino language, in fact, contains 22,000 Spanish words, while the Chavacano dialect spoken in Cavite and Zamboanga “is 80-percent Spanish.”

Ambassador Arias said Spain and the Philippines now have the “best of relations, but there is always room for improvement. We will continue to give more content to our relations. We will continue to improve our economic relations and cooperate in development projects. The potential for Spain and the Philippines’ friendship is enormous, so I have to work hard every day at it.”

First on his to-do list should be to deliver Bardem to me, pronto!

(My column Something Like Life is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photo courtesy of the Spanish Embassy in Manila.)

No musical instruments?

Use your iPhone!

This was the band featured by Jeanne Moss in CNN (subsequently picked up by ANC). Very creative group of guys. And very catchy song, actually.

I don't know what app they were using but if you've been a long-time Mac user like me, you know that each Macbook comes with a Garage Band app that enables you to create your own songs, and play musical instruments therein. You can also record the same after and turn your songs into mp3's.



According to Jeanne Moss, Apple has already been in touch w/ Atomic Tom's record label to discuss some future projects. Coolness. Oh yeah, that guy playing the "guitar" is unmistakeably Pinoy. Woo-hoo! ;p

The next big Pinoy star

WOOF! This mash-up made my hairs stand on hand. Manny Garcia is that good!

Even Cory Monteith, star of that wonderful TV show GLEE, was so impressed that via tweeting, he is trying to help Manny launch his career, according to several news reports. Many of Manny's newfound fans are now hoping he would guest-star on GLEE!

Betcha this guy's gonna perform on Ellen Degeneres' or Oprah's show soon enough. Catch more of the Chicago-based Manny's online perfomances on BlogTV. Ang galing nya!

Clap for him people! ;p

Pacman on Jimmy Kimmel Live

I'm so happy to listen to Manny Pacquiao speak in English. He has improved a lot! Good job, whoever his teacher is. And wasn't Jimmy Kimmel so generous and considerate in helping him out in the interview, esp. in portions where the Pacman seemed to falter in his answers? Nice.

But this is the best part of the show, as far as the Pinoys in the audience were concerned.



Woo-hoo! Knock out ka na Cotto, kanta pa lang 'yan. hahaha.

Pinoy mural in France

I JUST read today that Filipino artist Manuel Baldemor has finally completed his mural for the Basilica of St. Therese (of the Child Jesus) in Lisieux, France w/c was done in collaboration w/ French mosaic artists. He told us about this commissioned work when we met him sometime last Feb., while the girls and I were having coffee. (I had initially thought it was for the convent.)

The artwork was unveiled last Oct. 18 according to the Phil. Star. It depicts the People Power revolution of 1986 with the Virgin Mary in the center of the artwork, a burst of sunrays at the back of her head figuring prominently like the sun in the Philippine flag, while St. Therese is in the right corner admiring the crowds at the virgin's feet. Congratulations Mang Manny!

(Mang Manny with French mosaic artist Sylvie Henot. Photo from Phil. Star.)
Btw, I found an old writeup how the mural came to be. Read it here.

(The mural up close.)
Proudly Pinoy.

Donating from outside the Philippines

(Photo courtesy Voltaire Domingo/NPPA Images. Pls. do not download this w/o the photographer's permission.)

THOSE who are living outside the Philippines and wish to donate to the disaster relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Ondoy, pls click here.

Also, La Salle alumni abroad may want to course their donations through DLSAA-Metro New York. You can make your donations online. (Yes, Ateneans are welcome, too!)

Really tasteless, ABS-CBN

(Gabby Lopez, chairman of ABS-CBN Corp. really knows how to thank Tita Cory for returning the network and Meralco to their family. Photo from Top 100 Pinoys.)

FILIPINOS abroad were enraged this afternoon after finding out they had to whip out their credit cards to pay for The Filipino Channel's (TFC) livestreaming of the necrological services for former President Corazon C. Aquino.

So, many of them had to switch to GMA TV's livestreaming instead, that in fairness, was so overwhelmed at some points that many had to constantly refresh their connections. Thankfully, the connection held up and improved later on, w/c was very much appreciated by our kababayan abroad.

Earlier, some people already called our attention to the text game raffle by Umagang Kay Ganda, requiring the audience to give answers based on Tita Cory's wake/funeral arrangements. (Kuya Kim: Sang simbahan dinala ang labi ni Presidente Corazon Aquino?) In exchange, those who get the correct answer will get P300 worth of cellphone load.

In previous days, there were numerous complaints about Wowowee and how it's host has been conducting the show while a live feed of the wake was being shown. Honestly, I've never expected exemplary behavior from someone like Willie Revillame. And frankly, many of us know why Revillame hasn't been kicked out of the network yet, his services to Mr. Gabby Lopez being above and beyond the call of duty.



But turning Tita Cory's wake into a "text game" and making people pay for a live stream of her necro services is truly tasteless, ABS-CBN. This is how the Lopez family thanks Tita Cory and her administration for returning the network and Meralco to their family? Tsk, tsk. Barya-barya lang talaga, Gabby ano?

* * * *
PUBLIC ADVISORY (c/o GMA TV News): Updated schedule for Cory Aquino services Mla Cathedral: public viewing resumes 9pm Tues to 4am Wed, closed 4-7am Wed. Funeral Mass: 9am.

Springtime in Paris

TIME for more Chaka-khan kiddies! I recently picked up a few juicy bits about some very political people while rallying against Cha-Cha at the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Ave. Not an unlikely place for gossip and rumor-mongering it seems. No names of course; we have to protect the subjects' horrors, este, honors.

(Photo from Newsweek)

ITEM #1: Da who is this muy guapo political persona who recently junked his membership from a certain political party to support a rival party's presidential candidate said to be dripping w/ cash courtesy of a rich relative by ahem, marriage? Supporters of El Traidor's old party were apparently fooled by his angelic charms but now drub him "mukang pera". Wag naman! But then, that could explain his recent controversial choices in clients. Of course, if he runs for senator as what my other sources intimate, he does need all the financial backing he can get. There's nothing wrong w/ being practical right?

ITEM #2: Da who is this presidentiable who may soon be following Senõr Soldado's footsteps and will announce by Oct. that he will no longer run for president in the 2010 elections? Instead, Señor Los Ojos will run for VP. He must be realizing by now that his main backer Don Reloj del Docena will not risk spending millions of pesos on his presidential candidacy if there is no certainty of him winning nationwide. In fact recent surveys show that while Los Ojos figures prominently among the presidentiables, he has a stronger showing as a VP candidate.

So it seems Don Reloj would rather see Los Ojos be a VP to another presidentiable, Señor Banquero, who is the Don's friend as well, and who may have better chances of winning. Perhaps, too, Don Reloj trusts Señor Banquero bec. the latter has more political savvy and a wider experience in the business of running a gov't. Besides, if the Don supports Señor Banquero's presidential candidacy, he would only have to spend P50M at the most, the latter not exactly in penurious circumstances like Los Ojos. It's all business for Don Reloj, even in politics.

(Photo from this web site.)

LASTLY, ITEM #3: Da who are these two ranking officials of the Philippine government recently caught displaying their affection towards each other in Paris, the city of lights, and love? They were said to be very intimate towards each other in public places like it was nobody's business! Although they were in Paris on official business, attending meetings and such, sources said, they timed their attendance so they could be together during this wonderful time of the year, spring! Je t'aime, mwah! mwah!

El Jefe is a vital member of the presidentita's official family and is always in the news, while Señora Assumptionista, currently holds a position as a special envoy. What's interesting about these two lovers is that they are not married to each other, but to other people. Oooh-lala! How very French!

Good news citizens!

(Photo from the Guardian)

Taxes on book imports lifted
By Paolo Romero
Philippine Star
May 25, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo ordered yesterday the Department of Finance to scrap the taxes imposed on imported books and reading material.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the directive was prompted by a torrent of criticism on the move of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which is under the supervision of the finance department, to impose the duties.

“President Arroyo ordered the immediate lifting of the customs duty on book importation,” Remonde said in a text message to The STAR. (Click here for the rest.)

Philippines' Brillante Mendoza scoops Best Director at Cannes

(The very fierce film director Brillante Mendoza, photo from AFP)

CANNES, France (AFP) — Brillante Mendoza of the Philippines on Sunday picked up the best director prize at the Cannes film festival for his dark movie "Kinatay".

"Kinatay" (meaning "massacre") notably features corrupt cops hacking a prostitute to pieces with blunt kitchen knives.

Mendoza, at Cannes for the second year running, again split the critics, drawing both hisses and applause for "Kinatay". (Click here for more.)

What a great way to start a new week, dontcha think?

Pinay accused of stealing from Saks

OUR 15 minutes of fame are up. Goodbye No Reservations, hello New York Times.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s jewelry department is lined with items like $3,000 David Yurman bracelets and $1,600 Anthony Nak earrings, and Cecille Villacorta was good at getting customers to buy them.

From 2000 to 2006, she brought in more than $27 million in sales, more than any of the other sales associates at the luxury department chain’s flagship store in Manhattan. In fact, she was the highest-grossing saleswoman in the store’s history, according to her lawyer, and was paid nearly $400,000 in her last year there.

But exactly how Ms. Villacorta, 52, of Manhattan, managed to rack up such sales figures is up for debate — and at the heart of her trial on charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records, which began Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. (Click here for the rest.)

Good news...the sky isn't falling

Here's an interview I did of one exporter who isn't suffering from the economic crisis:

Mama Sita’s maker says global crisis will push its exports

COUNT this among the heartwarming exceptions to the adverse impact of the global crisis. Unlike most exporters, Marigold Commodities Corp. believes the economic crisis plaguing most of the Western hemisphere will actually boost by 25 percent this year the sales of its Mama Sita’s brand of marinades, mixes and sauces.

“Because we’re in the food business, we think the economic crisis will encourage more people to cook more at home. They’ll avoid eating out, so it’s more economical to buy our sauces or marinades, our mixes, and cook at home. Our mixes cost 69 cents across-the-board. So we’re hopeful our exports will still grow this year,” said Jane Rubinos-Taguinod, export sales manager of Marigold, in an interview with BusinessMirror. (Read the rest of my story here.)

'The Rock' wants to help needy Pinoy kids

I'm a super fan of The Rock! I used to watch him wrestle back in the day, and cracked up whenever he would cock his right eyebrow menacingly at the camera. His films (e.g. Scorpion King, Game Plan) may have had weird plots, or unconvincing storylines, but they were entertaining enough.

Did you know The Rock graduated w/ a degree in criminology? Coolness.

No Reservations on the Philippines (full episode)

(Part 1)

(The rest on YouTube. Many thanks to ArcApex of Toronto.)

I couldn't help but love this episode. The hosts Ivan Dy, Claude Tayag, and MarketMan were entertaining and informative enough. Augusto, the guy who sent in a fan video w/c convinced Chef Tony Bourdain to come to the Philippines, unfortunately, was not.

Poor guy. He seemed lost and his family was rather bland. I think Bourdain has been to some Filipino-hosted events and knows how noisy and festive we can be when we get together. So it was kinda a letdown for him I suppose that Augusto and his Cebu family were not animated enough for this episode. Na-conscious siguro sa cameras. Still, if not for Augusto, Bourdain wouldn't come, so he still gets props from me. Clap for the guy will ya?

I have no arguments against the foods served by the various hosts to Bourdain, from fishballs and taho in the beginning, to lechon at the end; the episode showed authentic Pinoy cuisine which even the masses appreciate. And we know how Bourdain loves street food. Yum! Sorry, no cholesterol-laden high-priced restaurants here, w/c would have been so out of place. It was just simple and sincere cooking, and in a few instances, served up in a group setting w/ San Miguel beers in hand. (I told a friend at SMC's PR Dept that they should probably send a one-year supply of SMB to Bourdain in New York for showing the product so prominently on the show. haha.)

Now I want to try the four-ways goat. That goat head broth looked particularly intriguing. How cool was it for Bourdain to just get a hook on the cheek and eyeball of that goat! Winner! I also want to try Aling Lucing's sisig. I've eaten sisig in restaurants here in the metro (w/ the one at Trellis supposedly the best), but Aling Lucing claims to be the original.

Btw, for Ivan Dy's info, adobo came by way of the Spanish conquistadores. It actually means "to marinate" w/c can mean in anything from soy sauce and vinegar, or tomato sauce, etc.

I only take issue w/ Tayag's rather un-PC comment about Capampangan food being "the best", and that "you can't be a Filipino w/o being Pampango first." Even though I identify myself as an Ilongga, I am conscious enough of regional sensitivities, and will not proclaim on international TV that Ilonggo food is the best.

I've eaten lots of dishes from different regions and provinces, and each has its own unique flavor and attitude. We should really stop this regionalistic behavior w/c is what's dragging us as a country down. We should all be Pinoys first and all local dishes, whether from Davao, Cebu, Iloilo, Pampanga or Ilocos Norte, are the best. Period. Nairita ba ako? That said, Tayag's kare-kare looked particularly appetizing. Mmm.

It's true though what Mary Tayag says, Pinoy cuisine is not popular abroad because there are so many different versions of say, adobo. Or sinigang. In the north, they use guava or sampaloc. In the south, they use batuan for the kansi, which is like a sinigang na baka. So foreigners will not take away one outstanding memory of the sinigang, but several confusing versions of it.

I don't quite agree that it's because no one visits the Philippines. I think it's because when the foreigners come, we always make yabang and treat them to the "best" or "newest" restaurants, which may not offer Filipino cuisine. I am partly guilty of this. When my cousin from the States arrived for the first time in Manila, we took him to what was considered the best Japanese restaurant then. And w/ my aunts, to the best Spanish restaurant. Ngek.

Pinoy food is so ordinary and everyday for us, we normally don't think of treating our guests to a Filipino restaurant unless they specifically request for it. We don't think of offering up Pinoy cuisine maybe bec. we think the dishes pale in comparison to the more sophisticated foreign cuisines. Perhaps deep inside, we still carry some of the colonial atiitutde, and continue to suffer from a national inferiority complex. We think of Pinoy as "baduy" but anything foreign as "modern, improved, and better."

Meanwhile, maybe we could take a leaf from what the Thais did. Their tourism authority simply drew up uniform recipes for traditional Thai dishes and exported the cookbooks abroad. So if you notice, Thai dishes anywhere have the same ingredients, tastes, and textures. Very few restaurants stray from the original recipes. But then yun nga, who's to say whose adobo version gets to be included in said official Filipino cookbook? I used to think all you had to do was pick up Nora Daza's Cooking it Up with Nora and you have the traditional chicken, pork adobo. (I like my version deep fried and flaked.)

Anyhoo, despite some minor irritants, it made me proud to see this show. It speaks tons of Bourdain's respect for his Filipino fans that he became a bit anxious about what exactly to show in the episode, and if he showed enough. Most of us were pleased. Kudos again to the hosts, and to Augusto. Wherever you are, I hope you enjoyed rediscovering your Pinoy roots through our wonderful multi-faceted cuisine.

(UPDATE: Upon request by MarketMan, we deleted his real name out of respect for his privacy.)