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

Ricky Gervais and Elmo

AND you thought Elmo was irritating. This is super hilarious! I'm surprised CTW allowed this to be posted on YouTube.

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.)

The Pope on YouTube

POPE Benedict XVI thinks the Internet can promote truth. So the Vatican now has its own channel on YouTube. As of Jan. 26, 2009, it had over 261,000 views. I guess a lot of people are searching for the truth.

(Screenshot of the Vatican Channel)

More Bushwacking...and finally the video!

Read Ninotchka Rosca on U.S. President's George W. Bush's "compliment" to Filipino-Americans. I suggest you also click on the Huffpost link to read the comments...they made me laugh when I read them last week. Count your blessings nalang that the presidentita isn't this stupid...matapang lang ang botox kaya hindi mukang sincere ang "I am sorry" speech nya before.

It’s the most popular item on the HuffPost, with nearly 200,000 viewers and nearly 1,500 comments, most expressing astonishment at what George W. said to Gloria Mac-Arroyo, de facto president to de facto president. He said “First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that -- in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the -- of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.” And then added: “And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President. “

I wish she’d replied, with a smile, “thanks and General Taguba was no pushover either” or “I hope she serves you dinuguan” or “have you checked on your dogs lately?” But she sat there like stone, muttering “thank you” as George W. Bush stereotyped her and her entire nation.

Oich! To discern ethnic stereotyping can be difficult, especially if one has had little experience with racism. In my early months in New York, a guest at a dinner given in my honor started telling me about her maid in Italy. This guest was Rome bureau head of a mega news magazine and she had a “Filipino maid” who was, as she put it, a “good person” but who had started pilfering small items. Embarrassed, I vacillated between allegiance to my compatriot (how much was this news great paying her?) and being polite, per Catholic nuns' instruction. Fortunately, my host returned from the kitchen, asked what we were talking about, gave me a swift glance, and started shouting at her guest: “Why are you telling her this? She’s a journalist and a writer. What’s she got to do with maids? With your maid?”

The Rome bureau head stuttered, turned red and said, “I just thought…” My host snapped: “Well, you just stop that thought right now!” (The rest at Ninotchka Rosca's blog.)

* * * *
Thanks to Youtube, we now have that video of Bush's bufoonery, with our dear presidentita tickled pink, giggling offcam. Barf!



And a gem of a response...LOL

Why nuns have clear complexions

Something Like Life
June 13, 2008

(Sr. Mary Veritas – aka Rose Maipid – receives visitors, former journalism and PR colleagues on her birthday, at the Pink Sisters convent in Tagaytay.)

LAST Sunday, I tagged along with a couple of friends to Tagaytay to visit an old journalist colleague, Rose Maipid, who had entered the religious life by joining the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, commonly known as the Pink Sisters. Now called Sister Mary Veritas, Rose (I couldn’t help but still call her that) was flustered and excited to see a lot of her peers, friends and family who had come to celebrate her 39th birthday. This is only one of the few times in a year that a Pink Sister can chat and be with “outsiders,” although, technically, they cannot freely mingle with us. There was a steel slotted gate, which had a heavy padlock, that acted as a barrier between us and Rose. She, like the other nuns, can only receive visitors three times a year.

Before our visit, there was some discussion about what to bring her. Someone said she brought potato chips, nachos and some junk food for Rose once before. Another said she would bring coffee and tea. I didn’t know what to bring for Rose except my request for prayers. I wasn’t so sure that giving her chips and dips would make her happy because, I thought, since she had given up this materialistic world of ours, she would have no use for them.

Well, I was wrong. During her birthday feast, I saw Rose’s sister shove half a lechon through a small door in a wall, which Rose promptly took and brought to her fellow nuns. Hmmm… so the Pink Sisters are allowed to enjoy some nice treats, and I made a mental note to bring her various goodies next time. I guess, like many of us, the nuns, too, need a break from their life’s vocation, and are allowed to enjoy some pleasures of the outside world, however limited. I suppose praying for all of us lost souls and those in dire need of help from the Lord can also be mentally and physically exhausting.

So there we were with Rose, chatting with her, dishing the latest news and goings-on among her peers, as well as officials that she often interviewed when she was a reporter. But we were actually amazed that she knew much of the gossip that was going around our industry, and, like a good reporter, was asking us for confirmation. This made us wonder who was keeping her up-to-date with news of the outside world. Either that or she had a divine connection to the outside world through the Lord Jesus or Mama Mary. She knew exactly what kalokohan we were all up to.

(Sr. Mary Veritas fields birthday greetings/calls through a borrowed cellphone.)

Rose didn’t sound or look any different from how I remembered her. One of our friends who spoke to her via cell phone even wondered why she didn’t sound “motherly” (or should that be “sisterly”?). We all laughed at that because we all quickly realized that becoming a nun doesn’t mean changing one’s personality. Everything remains the same except for the inner self, which becomes more spiritual and Christ-like.

I knew Rose as a very competent business journalist, who then became an effective public-relations officer of a bank and an accomplished scuba diver. I remember the last time I saw her, she was shepherding our gaggly media group to yet another eating binge at Dampa that was just newly opened then. She was always the cheerful sort and very grounded, no airs at all, which was why I took to her. That and because she had also come from the same newspaper where I had started my journalism career.

But I never had any inkling that she was contemplating a life of solitude and prayer. According to our common friends, Rose always knew she was destined for some other life outside of the communications/journalism business. She had heard her calling even when she was a reporter. Perhaps she decided to remain in the outside world to gain the necessary experiences for her to serve the Holy Spirit better.

Rose’s becoming a scuba diver actually cemented the way for her eventual decision to enter the religious life some eight years ago. She told us she would often pray the Rosary as she reached the underwater grotto of the Virgin Mary during her dives in Anilao, Batangas. I imagine that seeing God’s creatures and that glorious palette of colors He had painted underwater must’ve left her in awe of His power, majesty and artistry. (I've felt the same way too whenever I went snorkeling, the last being in Palau where the coral reefs are just magnificent, bursting with marine life and the wildest colors.)

She went to many far-off places just to dive and was trying to earn her spurs as a dive master. But during one dive in Anilao, she and her group got lost. Rose took it as a sign from Him that becoming a dive master was not the life He wanted for her.

As a Pink Sister, Rose has given up her worldly possessions and ties to the outside world for a life “in perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Thus we offer intercessory prayer for the needs of all,” according to the congregation’s web site. The nuns who have already made their Perpetual Vows all wear a silver ring with a rose insignia to signify their dedication to the Holy Spirit.

“The rose color of our habits, which we wear in honor of the Holy Spirit, symbolizes our dedication to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Evangelization and the sanctification of priests are particularly remembered in our life of prayer, which includes the singing of the Liturgy of the Hours [Divine Office] in choir,” the web site adds. Thus, at about 11:30 am in their Tagaytay chapel, one will see the sisters file out and kneel in their own pews, segregated from the public, and sing their prayers. It can be a very moving experience just listening to their heavenly voices.

(The Pink Sisters singing their noontime prayers at their Tagaytay chapel.)

Despite their cloistered life, the Pink Sisters are quite aware of what is going on in the real world. I was surprised to find out from the Mother Superior, for example, that the convent does have Internet access, although its use is normally reserved only for her and one other nun. She said they have to make regular contact with the other branches in other provinces (there are six in all in the Philippines) and other parts of the world, thus the need for the Internet access and e-mail facilities. I wanted to ask the Mother Superior if she watched videos on YouTube or chatted with the other Mother Superiors via instant messaging as well, but I was afraid she would whup me in the ass or use a stick to rap me on my knuckles, guilty Catholic schoolgirl that I am. But like I said, the congregation does have a web site where they also receive prayer requests, so these sisters are Internet-savvy.

And there was something about the Mother Superior that instantly endeared her to me. Aside from her very clear complexion, she just positively glowed. I couldn’t explain it, but apparently it was visible to all as my friends noticed it, too. There was a certain peace and serenity in her, although I could see some flashes of wit in her very kind and wise old face. Perhaps this is what a life of service to the Holy Spirit has made her. She is able to channel the Spirit to touch people just by her presence and her smile.

Next year, Rose is scheduled to say her Perpetual Vows. Although she has been a Pink Sister for eight years already, she says she can still leave the congregation if she wants to. In fact, she told us that when she received one of our friend’s rather longish letter, she was at a retreat. Then she woke up at midnight and realized how much she missed diving. I imagine that seeing all of her family and friends last Sunday was a poignant moment for Rose, as it reminded her of the people and the things she would miss should she decide to make that final commitment to the Holy Spirit.

So, as we said our good-byes, she asked for our prayers that she would be able to make it to her Perpetual Vows. Once she takes that final step, there would be no turning back for Rose. I made a silent prayer and wished her well before walking out the door.

***To know more about the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, or make prayer requests, you can visit the Adoration Sisters web site.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

When your child is out of control

Something Like Life
April 11, 2008

SOME friends and I were walking along Bonifacio High Street one evening, trying to exercise away the humongous shabu-shabu meal we had just ingested, when a group of young shrilly girls came toward us. They were probably in their early 20s, with boobies a-popping out of their thin sleeveless blouses and wearing the shortest skirts that came up to where their butt cheeks began to show. If they only weren’t speaking in English in that colegiala twang, we would’ve thought they were refugees from the hooker districts of Manila on their way to meet their pimp. Or trannies on the prowl.

As usual, Miggy made the most astute observation, about how young girls now have to try really hard, competing with one another just to get noticed by boys. And, of course, the easiest way to do that is to dress rather skimpily, and talk ever so loudly in flirtatious tones. Maybe they think Britney Spears in her slutty clothes is the height of fashion. Then I thought: Where were their parents when they put on those clothes for a night on the town?

Parenting, and how difficult the task is these days, is what I think most of whenever someone mentions Brian Gorrell, the Australian blogger whose Pinoy ex-lover allegedly stiffed him of a large amount of money. In his blog, we have been inundated with gossip and allegations of how some scions of supposedly de buena familias in Manila have been living it up with their noses buried in cocaine, giving new meaning to the term “high society.” With the allegations of freeloading, bad oufits, incest and even murder, I can understand the venom, scorn and contempt that have flooded the comments section of Gorrell’s blog.

(Frankly, I have stopped reading it because of too much negativity there. Now, if the allegations are true about the main subject of the blog, I do hope Gorrell gets paid back every cent owed him. I don’t belittle the misfortune that befell him, but as sis would always say, “We are fools for love.” We make our own stupid choices for love and we suffer for it.)

Why the infamous subjects of the blog behave the way they do—and in truth, this is not the first time we in media have heard about it and what goes on in that party place that has been mentioned several times in the blog—we probably may never thoroughly understand. Most of them have had the benefit of having studied in reputable universities like many of those who read this equally respectable paper, so many people automatically blame it on their upbringing.



But I think it would be simplistic and convenient to blame the parents for the mess these socialites—or social climbers—are in. (One trivia that has come up via the old media is that the mother of one of the antagonists in this Internet telenovela, was involved in a corrupt government deal that was the talk of the town just a decade ago. A few observers cite this factoid as a way to explain her child’s alleged dishonesty—monkey see, monkey do.) Besides, there are many examples of people who have been in far more luckless circumstances while growing up, or have had the worst parents imaginable, but who managed to come out of their sordid experiences as strong, upstanding citizens.

Needless to say, I cannot imagine how parents do it these days. If both parents are working, there is just not enough time in the day to be with one’s kids, minister to their needs and make them adhere to the common rules of proper, decent behavior. What more if one parent is away, working in some foreign country, as in the case of many OFW families these days. The parenting task can only be more daunting in such situations.

Then there are just too many temptations out there—sex, drugs, Internet porn, cigarettes, alcohol, Internet gaming—that parents can hardly keep up with their duty to be the moral guardians of the family. When even the tightest controls and parental monitoring systems fail, what avenue for instilling appropriate conduct is still available? What can parents do when their child has gone out of control?

Many parents will tell you that there is no guidebook in the world that will prepare a parent for the responsibilities. When rearing a child, sometimes it is a case of hit-and-miss. You can be the best father or mother in the world, but your child still ends up dead in someone else’s flat from drug overdose.

Of course, all this doesn’t absolve parents of the responsibility of trying to bring up decent, well-behaved and sensible children. So when they see their children now adults behaving like irresponsible shitless fucks who think having fun is the only sole purpose of their existence, parents just cannot be defensive about it. They cannot deny that there is a problem and just send the children abroad to escape the consequences of the latter’s tomfoolery. Condoning their children’s stupidity makes them equally guilty. Parents whose kids have gone wrong just have to accept that despite their maybe impeccable parenting skills, their children have fallen off-track and have become nuisances to society. Leaving them to their own devices where they can hurt other people or themselves is not an option.

No matter how old a wayward child is, parents cannot abdicate their roles as the moral and ethical compass in the family. They need to be consistent and unfaltering in their implementation of rules for decent behavior and, of course, be unimpeachable role models themselves. One thing they cannot do is lose hope that their child can still change or be rehabilitated with the right kind of help, be it the psychological kind.

I think another thing Brian Gorrell’s blog has taught many of us is that parents these days have to work even doubly harder than before to keep their kids in line, protect them from falling into the wrong crowd and becoming slaves to their basest desires. That kind of 24/7 protection and monitoring may be exhausting and, perhaps, nearly impossible to do in this day and age, but it must be done. Not doing so can only lead to damaging and maybe irreparable consequences.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday, in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photo from BM)

UPDATE: The subject of Brian Gorrell's blog – DJ Montano (now we can finally publish his name as he already appeared in public) – was on Korina Sanchez's show last night basically denying everything that his ex- said. I wasn't able to watch the show as I'm in Tagaytay (and the frigging DREAM TV, of course, has no ANC feed!). Too bad that Brian declined to do a face-off with DJ via phone patch.

Anyway, here's a Youtube post of ABS-CBN's TV Patrol World featuring bits of the Montano interview, including sound bytes from his mother, stepfather, and sister. Will post a better video once we get a hold of one.

Bilib si Ellen sa Pinoys!

IN case you missed it, Ellen de Generes on Good Friday said she wanted to have as a guest on her show, Arnel Pineda, singer of a local band called Zoo, and who has been doing covers of Journey songs. Apparently, one of the Journey guys (it wasn't Randy Jackson, silly!), saw Arnel singing on Youtube and auditioned him for a chance to sing with the band in States. (Didn't even know these guys were still around, to be honest, and I was never a fan, sorry to Steve Perry fans out there.) And now, Arnel is recording a new Journey album. Waw!

But what was cool was that Ellen proclaimed that "there are very talented people in the Philippines!" Of course, she had wowed her audience only a couple of months ago by featuring Charice Pempengco. Hmmm... I wonder if she'd ever consider doing one of her shows here. We can show her just how many talented singers we really have around these parts.

Anyway, here's the video clip of Ellen and of Arnel Pineda. Another proudly Pinoy moment.

Renaldo's spawn

OVER to the maximum of happiness, really!

Simon was right. The song "I AM your brother (We're brothers forever)" of American Idol flunkie Renaldo Lapuz, is now a certifiable hit, judging from the number of videos that are posted on Youtube copying, spoofing, and remixing his song.

As of Jan. 30, there were 1,360 videos posted tagged under entertainment, comedy, music and starring not only our now-famous kababayan, but also people of different nationalities celebrating this infectious song. People actually enjoy it and curses! can't get the song out of their heads. It now has dance remix versions downloadable as an mp3 ringtone as well.

Here's are two interviews of Renaldo by the local FoxNews affiliate in Irving, and a few interesting remakes/versions of his song on Youtube. O da vah...panalo talaga si brother! Mabuhay ka Renaldo! May your tribe increase!



From a music teacher, agreggofsociety, who taught the song to his students…o, me second voice pa sila ha!



From someone called Alina doing a ballad version/cover. Her voice is actually good. Kasawa lang ang face.



And the best dance remix version from Nexxion. Download the ringtone.



Proudly Pinoy.