The One With The Tilapia

The other day, I had the pleasure of having lunch with AM, an old friend from college. We were at this new place, courtesy of Dr. Vicky Belo. She wanted us to meet her newest celebrity endorser, Rhian Ramos. The 19-year-old has really great skin and seems to be a smart girl, judging by the way she answered our questions. But that's not my story.

I've known AM for years. We used to write stories for Matanglawin, Ateneo's Filipino paper. Those were good times. We were young and curious and thirsty for knowledge. It was also then that I found myself getting involved in the student movement; and many times, AM and I would meet at rallies and strikes. We may have been fighting for workers' rights but we always managed to have a good laugh. AM has a caustic sense of humor that gets me every time.

And so, there we were at this hot, new place. I ordered kare-kare while AM, who was conscious of his health (ah, the hazards of getting old), wanted the tilapia (at the suggestion of the waiter, by the way). While waiting for our orders, we listened to Rhian, nibbled on bread with bangus pate, and made jokes. Minutes and minutes passed. Soon enough, my kare-kare arrived.

It was yummy with just the right hint of sweetness, and we all digged in. Minutes passed, and P's bangus arrived. One by one, our colleagues' orders arrived. But still no tilapia. We followed it up with the waiters; and soon enough, there was Dr. V on the phone, pointing out to management that the tilapia was still missing. The sight of the beautifully dressed up Dr. V talking about tilapia was priceless.

Minutes later, one of the waiters approached AM and said, "Sir, the tilapia is working." Hmmm, ano kaya ang ginagawa ng tilapia? Bwahahaha

Happy Birthday Mom! Mwah!

When I was growing up, our house was always filled with the voice of Barbra Streisand singing Evergreen and The Way We Were. And interspersed with memories lighting the corners of my mind were the music of Dave Grusin and David Benoit. Mom loved Barbra; Dad loved jazz. I grew up loving them both.

It is Mom's birthday today, and all I could think of is how she always wanted to sing (even though she can't carry a tune) and how she always moved like she were dancing the Mashed Potato (she auditioned to be a dancer for this TV show, whose name I can't remember). She was one cool mom, going to parent-teacher conferences dressed in her power suit (yes, with shoulder pads and all) and traipsing on the beach in a two-piece at a time when everybody else wore t-shirts over their one-piece. I was so proud of her, still am!

And so, because it is Mom's birthday today, we will be having a bit of Barbra in all her youthful glory.

I love you, Mom!

How To Survive A Zombie Movie

While everybody's gone ape shit over vampires, we set our sights towards Hollywood's other favorite whipping boy, zombies!

It's Sunday night, and while I should be doing some serious writing for this super rush project, I found myself laughing my guts out in Zombieland. Yes, you read that right: laughing! A cross between 28 Days Later (the Energizer Bunny zombie part) and Scream (the self-conscious irony part), Zombieland finds the nerdy Columbus on a road trip with an inconsolable redneck (Woody Harrelson, who's in great shape by the way) and two con-girls (including the adorable Abigail Breslin).

In between the killings, Columbus gives us the rules on how to survive a zombie movie (Do the double tap, don't be a hero); in the same tradition as Randy Meeks' rules on how to survive a horror movie in Scream (Don't have sex, don't say, "I'll be right back"). And here's a bonus: Bill Murray makes a hilarious cameo appearance. It's so unexpected that you're not exactly sure whether the director is just playing with you, which of course he is. Mwahahaha

Now, somebody please get me a Twinkie!

Katre

I love it every time I hear of a mother who comes out of her shell, gets brave, and chases after her dreams; this despite the fact that she still has to wake up at two in the morning to tend to her baby. My friend K has become one such mom.

I've known K forever. We met at work and became good friends, maybe because we were both no-bullshitters. I've seen her fall in and out of love until she finally walked down the aisle with her Romeo. The same Romeo swooped her off to London and I thought, well, that's that.

But now K is back, and she is bursting with ideas. She just launched her own clothing line, comprised of modern, tailored basic pieces in black, white, and gray that a mom like me could accessorize to death! She has also come up with a complementing line of banig sort of bags in bright, primary colors.

Check her out at katrebrand.multiply.com

Good luck, K! Love ya!

Write Away

I spent most of today writing. And it wasn't short, blog writing; it was to be a full-length feature. I needed to concentrate. And so I turned off my phone, locked myself in my room, turned on Michelle Branch at full blast, and started typing away.

I've missed writing. My day job requires me to read everybody else's writings, edit them, and make them sing. It is an all-consuming yet highly-fulfilling occupation. I first read through the whole piece, making sure all the elements required are there. Next, I start chopping, refining, and polishing away.

The writing process is different. All you have in front of you is a blank page, or more precisely, a blank screen. You then throw in all your materials like a jigsaw puzzle, and it's up to you to mix and match all those pieces until you end up with a cohesive whole. I love it! I love weaving my words as if they were inside a tunnel until we all see the light.

Finally, I am finished. After hours of sitting in front of my notebook, I am exhausted but happy. I take a bath, turn on my phone, and get back to the real world.

I Feel for Her

When we met Jinkee P in her GenSan home last May, she immediately struck me as one down-to-earth woman. And as famous as she was, she even seemed, at one point, to be shy. True enough, during the course of the interview, she admitted to being shy by nature; it was just her lot in life to have married a man destined for greatness.

Greatness, that's a big word. I watched the Pacquiao-Cotto fight last Sunday. Not being a boxing fan, I was not particularly inclined to watch the fight and neither were my sons. But then, my son K said that his classmates would likely be watching the fight and would talk about it in school the next day and so we watched.

It was bloody. I don't have a taste for blood; well, only when they're in vampire movies and of course, precisely because I know it's just the movies. It's all fake. But on that ring, it was all real. There was no faking it.

When I saw the video of Jinkee breaking down and crying, I thought, "Oh no, there's no faking that." And, I don't know why but my heart ached for her. Only a few months ago, I thought, here was a woman who has gone through the trenches and back. That she managed to survive all that with the glare of cameras in front of her face is marvelous. That she managed to survive all that with plans to make herself even better than before is a miracle.

It's sad that she has to go through the same shit all over again.

It's deja vu of the worst kind.

Lala!!

Baby S just called me lala!! I was talking to her then turned my back to go to my room and she said "Lala!" I don't know if she was just warbling or what but she called me Lala! I am ecstatic. It feels like the first time my eldest daughter called me mama! Am so overwhelmed now but just had to share this news :)

O sya, magta-trabaho pa ko!! Mwahahaha

Korean Invasion

I had never seen so many Koreans at any one place in my life! A month or so ago, at the urging of a melodic-voiced colleague, I found myself at a newly opened waterpark in Cebu. Built by Koreans, the Imperial Waterpark is that kind of water wonderland that would have you gasping for breath after being tossed and turned in an array of slides and seesaws.

Although I am not entirely in favor of such humongous seaside developments, I do appreciate the way the waterpark was designed.





Because there were a good number of swimming pools built all over the place, it's not difficult to find a quiet place to just lie down and chill.





But then the Koreans didn't come here to chill, they came here to slide!





Kids would love to sit under this raining umbrella.





Others went kayaking.




Still others went on these floaters.





And weaved their way around the park.





As for me, I ended up going to the one place I love the most: the beach with a good book and a bottle of beer.

Fortress of Dreams

This was my second trip to Macau in three years but in that short span of time, so many things have changed. This region is just growing so fast. They are building like crazy there with all these new hotels and casinos and malls and theaters growing like weeds.

But of all the places we visited, my favorite remains this centuries-old fortress turned into a charming little bed and breakfast, the Pousada de Sao Tiago. Call me sentimental but there is just something sweet about finding new use for an old thing, any old thing.




We entered the place by walking up a flight of stairs with the ambiance of the Bat Cave only to be welcomed by this gem of a lobby with a lovely chandelier and crystals instead of curtains.





The La Paloma restaurant, where they serve Spanish and Macanese cuisine, had mirrors in its ceiling. I can't help but take a picture.





La Paloma looks divine! I could stay here all day. Since it opens out to a garden, everything is bright and airy, not at all what you'd expect from a place carved beside a hill that used to be a fortress.





I absolutely love the table setting!





This ain't just any ordinary bread; they baked tasty ham onto it: may tinapay na, may palaman pa!





Of all the dishes served us that day, this is my absolute favorite. It's Spanish red peppers with bacalhau inside. The sauce was just exquisite! I mopped my bread on the sauce afterwards. I didn't care if it was proper or not, I wanted to get every bit of that sauce in my mouth!





This is sea bass wrapped in porcini mushrooms with asparagus on the side. Again, the sauce was incredible. The dish kind of reminds me of Le Cirque's signature dish, Potato Crusted Sea Bass. I have not tasted that dish, I just saw it made in an episode of Top Chef. How's that for my culinary education?





Okay, I just had to take a photograph of this. It's a miniature dust pan the staff used to sweep away the crumbs from the table. Ingenious!





From one of the windows, you can see the roots of trees that they built around on. I love it that they didn't even think of tearing those trees down.





Every fort has a chapel and this was no different. This is the Chapel of St. James, and I am told that you could have weddings there. That would be one romantic affair! Swoon, swoon, sigh, sigh!





And amidst all that rock, there's a pool of blue!

Pink Sophie ... Just Because

I wish we had the Internet sooner. That way, I could have documented each and every moment of my children's lives. Of course, that would be terribly embarrassing for them when they grow, having all these anecdotes and photographs of them floating around the ethernet. But well, I am the mommy so it is my prerogative.

So here I am in full lola mode with more of Baby S's pink tutu photos :) Better than a brag book!!

Eating Macau

A fellow blogger is going to Macau in a few days and I realized that I still have a lot of photographs I haven't posted and a lot of thoughts still floating in my mind, most especially about food.

That's always the thing when you go to a new place: you want to sample the food. So Lorela, do make sure you get to eat in these places. Sarap! :)





At Ng Tim in Coloane Village, they'll steam your shrimps in hot rocks! And if you're lucky the owner of the place, whose name I did not get, will even sing you a serenade.




Sarap! While all the others were digging into the other entrees, I ended up eating one shrimp after another until I had this huge pile in front of me.





At Porto Interior, get a basket of fried snacks. It's actually like fried dumplings but what's inside is minced fish. Get the ones with bell pepper for more texture. Yum!




And of course, you must try the Portuguese green soup; made with lots of potato and minced greens.





Restaurante Litoral is one of the better restaurants in Macau.





Here, you have to try the Macanese-style duck rice with chorizo. It's so gooey filling!




Down it with some Macau beer.





At Antonio's, you get a show and the sweetest, creamiest flaming crepes!




You'd think you can't have one more bite but I guarantee that you will finish that plate; and would ask for more!

Happy eating!

Flowers at Sonya's

This is another page from the book, which we shot at Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay. I just love flowers and to be surrounded by them was truly comforting.





This shoot turned out to be another good day. Because we had scheduled three food tastings for the trip, I brought along my son F, who wants to be a chef. I knew that I wasn't going to survive three humongous meals, so I wanted him to be my backup. We started with brunch at Discovery Suites; I still remember the yummy, creamy oysters with the spaghettini.





We then made our way to Sonya's Garden where we dined on everything fresh and





... where we were treated to a lovely serenade of kundiman songs.





I was totally mesmerized.

Photographic Memory

Today, I got the first copies of a book we've been working on for some time now: Clean, Organize, Decorate: 650 Ways to a Picture Perfect Home. It was exciting to finally see all those beautiful pages together. And as I flipped the pages and looked at the photographs, I was just engulfed with all these memories, good ones! You see, it maybe just a book to you but to me, it's like a scrapbook of sorts of my work life.





Together with a bunch of interior designers, we dressed up this model bathroom at a home depot three different ways. Although we brought a whole assortment of decor items, we still ended up running around the store looking for items that went with our theme. It was virtual shopping.





This is part of our room makeovers. P and I waved our magic wand and converted a regular room into a play place with study area. P had to stick those decals on the walls. And P being P, she made it really nice and precise. At the end of the day, we were very tired but the room looked like a child's wonderland. Fun!





My red shoes!! That's how it is when you're shooting; you've got to be resourceful. Photographer J and I shot this at a hotel somewhere in Ortigas. We had to do all sorts of storing and organizing stories, and I remember having to pull out all sorts of boxes and organizers.




Photographer M and I took this photograph at a hotel in Tagaytay. I remember being absolutely smitten at how the white-framed mirror reflected the all-white bed. M had a hard time shooting though because the room was kind of tiny. Still, we got the shot we wanted. Afterwards, we ate ribs and bulalo! Yum!

Good times!