Gerard

When you look back, time flies so fast, sometimes too fast to enjoy life in full.

An email just came in from my friend, the Millennium Bug, and I abruptly learned that another old friend, Gerard, passed away quietly last Saturday, after a week-long bout with pulmonary infection at the UST Hospital.  He was a long-time classmate of mine, and his calm demeanor and occasional wisecracks will be sorely missed.  I first befriended him in grade school--being the matakaw person that I am, I would mooch over his lunch baon of tuyo, which he gladly shared with the group.  In high school, he wouldn't touch alcohol, so whenever we would head over to the beer gardens, he would be the stabilizer of the barkada, and he would get the bill whenever we'd be too drunk to count 1 to 10.  He had an extensive LP collection, and we would borrow those vinyl records for the dancing parties we organized.  We used his house for lots of parties and taping sessions (using TDK Super Avilyn C-90 cassettes, which were top of the line in sound quality back then).  In college, we lost touch--he went on to finish Architecture at the University of the Philippines.  Afterwards, he opened a furniture shop at the SM City North EDSA with a Danish friend, but that business didn't last long; I understand he then went on to work for the SM group.  He was an avid collector of Swatch watches, one of the many ways which he enjoyed life.

Only a handful of his closest friends knew that he was confined.  He suffered a fatal heart attack on Saturday.  Go with God, my friend.

The Divorce Issue

After the all the debates and commotion on the RH Bill, I watched the news with eagerness when I learned that House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte has started lighting the fire for the passage of the Divorce Bill.  This, despite the insistence of Malacanang that the issue is not on their radar screens.  Note that the Philippines in one of two countries in the world that has no law allowing absolute civil divorce, the other one being, for obvious reasons, the Vatican City.  I would suppose that the Executive Branch is worn and tired from the battle on the RH Bill, and that while the RH Bill was a big victory, the powers-that-be would not like to wage another war against the Catholic Church over an issue with an uncertain chance of winning.

Congratulations to the Gabriela representatives who have filed the Divorce Bill, it is timely (actually it should have been addressed ages ago) and very important to the country.  I have been very vocal about this issue since the middle seventies and I have always pointed to the reasoning of the constitutionalist Fr. Bernas on the issue: Why is it we allow the Catholic belief be imposed on the general populace when the issue is absolute CIVIL divorce?

On the other end of the spectrum, I'm pretty disappointed at the gentleman from Marikina who has filed a bill making it illegal to introduce divorce in the Philippines.  Now that smacks of authoritarianism and goes against the definition of a democratic free society where the exchange of ideas and debate is paramount.  You can't file a bill like that--it's like saying you can't debate on ideas.  If you are opposed to divorce, let's debate on the issues, and let's see where the numbers on the floor stand.

The preliminary solution may lie in the proposal of the Bayan Muna representatives to expand the list of items that constitute "psychological incapacity" under the present rules on annulment. Physical abuse, infidelity and abandonment, for example, will be included as grounds for annulment, and this will enable estranged couples to seek legal redress.

I would venture to put some twist to the bill allowing absolute civil divorce in order to hasten the passage of a bill--

a)  If a couple chooses to get married under a purely civil union (i.e. in front of a judge, a mayor or a captain of a ship), then absolute civil divorce is available as a remedy to a failed marriage.

b)  If a couple chooses to get married under a civil union that is administered by a duly authorized religious figure and sanctioned under a religious rite (i.e. in front of a priest, a reverend, or pastor), then the religious union is automatically a civil union that may or may not have divorce, depending on the religious rules of the rite.  Remember that the Church of England was formed to allow divorce, so if you get married under such religious rites, you enjoy the same civil freedom for a divorce.  Following the logic, if you get married under the Catholic rites, then your civil union does not have the remedy for civil divorce.  To some extent, this is already practiced under Moslem law, which is recognized in the Philippines.  The marriage contract will indicate whether or not the religious rite allows divorce--the officiating authority will simply state the religious rite and check the box "divorce allowed" or "divorce not allowed."  Whatever box is checked will be recognized by the state as the contract between the couple.

If you think about it, isn't that a truly democratic way of doing things?

Jackie Chan

*courtesy of fanpop.com

I was watching the Jackie Chan movie "Who Am I?" last night, and I realized that I have been watching his comedy-action movies for around 30 years now.  It's very entertaining stuff for me.  It's common knowledge that he does all his stunts, and he has come close to death many times in the course of film shooting.  I remember watching one of his first movies "Snake In the Eagle's Shadow," in the seventies, and as a young boy, I found myself closely imitating the moves of the snake Kung Fu style.  Will he be making more films?  I am told that the third Armor of God movie is coming up, and I am sure that this is something worth waiting for!  Kampai!

Eat My GF

The burger hunt is definitely heating up!  The Callars, Monique and I went out for Sunday lunch to try Eat My GF, another restaurant along Calderon St., in Little Baguio.  This burger joint serves fast food based on the owner's love affair with the game of baseball.  Of course, the staples are fries, sausages and burgers--with a twist!

The "GF" in the restaurant's name stands for Garlic Fries--you guessed it, the potatoes do have a strong garlicky taste, that they automatically give you fresh mints for after-snack sweeteners.  Burger patties are a mixture of beef and bacon, so the burger's aroma comes across more like longganisa than beef to me.  While the beef-pork mixture is very flavorful, the drawback with the concept is that the buns become oilier than usual, as the fats from the bacon inevitably mushy up the bread.

I had a garlic burger while the kids had the flagship Big Ohh... which has a half pound patty, two bacon strips and an egg!  If you look closely at the menu below, you can see that the names of the food have sly but lovable innuendos which made me chuckle:

Again, GF stands for Garlic Fries, okay?  Prices are bit on the high side for a burger shop, the Big Ohh being P380.  Prepare something like P400 per head then to really enjoy the food.

We were lucky that we had the second floor all to ourselves.  Interiors are simple and cozy, and the running theme is baseball.  They also have board games to keep kids busy and cable TV glued on the sports channel.  We started a round of Monopoly, but ditched the game when the food came in.  I understand from the staff that the group has branches at the Glorietta and at the Alabang Town Center, so that pretty much covers Greenhills, Makati and Alabang.

Mochi Sweets

After my glorified popsicle on the ground floor of SM Megamall, I went up the escalator and came across another irresistible temptation--Mochi Sweets!  These are Japanese-style sticky rice balls with sweet filling inside.  I was lucky that from the usual P70 per ball, they had a special promotional offer, and I was able to get both the honey-lemon and the chestnut flavored balls for P100.  I understand that the mochi balls are shipped in frozen from Hong Kong.  Eat it while it's cold, the freezing temperature adds an extra kick!

Stickhouse

I had to drop by SM Megamall to purchase some dumbbells for Monique's aerobic regimen.  I couldn't help but notice a new Gelato shop, Stickhouse, had set up at the ground floor.  The concept is simple--Italian Gelato on a stick, with prices ranging from P70 to P130 (rolled in nuts or coated in dip).  They also have sorbet (a tad smoother than popsicles) and dual-flavored sticks.  The chocolate stick that I had was absolutely delicious--bittersweet and very flavorful.

Tori Box

The Tori Box Cafe is one of those newly-opened restaurants along Calderon St. in Little Baguio, just off Wilson St.  The cafe serves fast Japanese dishes at affordable prices.  The found the interiors to be nicely decorated, without going over.  As Monique and I sat down, our kubyertos were immediately given in a mini-barrel of coffee:

 

We had to work within a budget, since I only had P400 on me, and the restaurant didn't take credit cards.  Our meal was supposed to be merienda cena, since we were just killing time before our dinner with Vicky.  We arrived at around 5:30 pm and had the place to ourselves.  Monique had a glass of iced tea:

Our orders came in fast succession--gyoza, karaage pops and teriyaki-don.  The gyoza was tasty but they were thinner than I expected.  I like plump and stuffed gyoza.  The karaage pops were bite-sized, and were perfect for our snack.  The chicken teriyaki was the filler of the evening, and we managed to halve the dish evenly, that neither of us had any volume advantage.

We used up my entire budget of P400 and as a result, we had to walk home (no extra money for a taxi ride).  We left around 6:30 pm, and by that time, a couple had walked in; I would assume that their business would have more customers for dinner by 7 pm, and for coffee & tea right afterwards.

Ye Dang

It was Andi's second time to celebrate her 11th birthday, this time with Gwammy and Kong Kong, and the rest of her titos, titas and cousins.  We opted to hold the lunch at Ye Dang, a Korean BBQ restaurant located along Julia Vargas Avenue at the Ortigas Center, right under the Meralco Street overpass.  As we sat down, we had a succession of appetizers.  Food came in fast and since we were doing a lot of grilling ourselves, food was cooked to our liking.  As you can see, we ate a lot!

Stir-fried vegetables with seafood bits

Pajeon (green onion pan-cake)

Tofu stew

Jap-chae (glass noodles) which was so yummy! 

Sliced beef on a grill plate

Clear beef soup

Noodle soup with mushrooms

Andie's favorite--Galbi Jim (beef stew)

Beef Bulgogi BBQ

Our average per head spend came to around P500 (we were so full that we were practically bloated).  The restaurant has a lot of exhaust fans directly atop the stoves, so you don't get much smoke into the eating area.  If you notice at the picture below, they put some hexagonal volcanic stones on top of the flame, probably to get concentrated heat--cooking is done pretty fast.  The wooden chairs and the interiors make you feel transported to Korea, so the place is a pretty popular BBQ spot.  It would help to get there early in order to have parking space--it was as Sunday lunch, and the place was approximately 90% occupied.  Only drawback--service can be a bit slow, given the number of diners.

Tea Farm Cafe

I was parched from my long meeting at the Philamlife Tower, and I instinctively hied off to known  merienda nooks around the Ayala-Paseo corner.  I hadn't been to the KPMG-Hyundai Building in a while, and their 2nd floor dining area looked like a good option for me.  I wasn't mistaken, as I came across the Tea Farm Cafe, a locally conceptualized tea store that had a cute purple-white ambiance and lots of good magazines to read.

I picked up a winter-melon (kundol) milk tea with pearls (sago) for P100.  The milk tea costs P85, and the pearls are an additional P15.  It's a pleasant place to kill time.

President Tea House

Our orientation seminar for Monique's winter study tour to China went on without a hitch, and we decided to have lunch in nearby President Tea House on Salazar St., itself a dining institution in the Binondo area (the tea house serves dimsum and home-style food, while the restaurant along Ongpin serves the fancy fishes).  Of course, we sat down and point out five dimsum items, which was served at our table in an instant--chicken feet, shark's fin siomai, ha kaw (shrimp dumplings), bird eye dumplings (don't worry, it's not what you think, it's just how the dumpling is called) and hand minced meat wrapped in tofu skins.

We were so hungry that we got an order of beef ho fan (flat rice noodles, which is under the beef in the picture below), which is the favorite of Monique,  Not contented, we got another order of shrimp bacon rolls, which was one of their chef specials for the month.  This came in piping hot, and the taste was very delicious.  Our bill came to P450 per head, but I could say we  that we ate enough food for three people!

Ho-Land Hopia

A trip to Binondo necessitates a visit to Ho-Land hopia shop along Carvajal St.  We simply can't get enough of their delicious treats, and we have been patronizing their shop for some 30 years now.  We got different kinds of hopia--ube, pineapple, baboy, kundol and the all-around staple mongo, which Monique would distribute to her lolas & aunts.  Inexpensive, around P40 to P45 for a pack of five, which can last you all afternoon to munch on.  It's good that they have decided to branch out, and today you can find their products in more locations around the metro.  Eat them while they are just off the hot plate!

Binondo Church

Binondo is such a nice place to visit only if you are prepared to do a lot of walking.  Monique and I had a morning meeting in Binondo to find out more about her then-planned China trip.  We got down at the Binondo Church and we were able to go around the Carvajal area--this used to be where lots of umbrellas were sold.  Currently, the street is full of fruit stalls and delicacy counters (e.g. abalone, sea cucumber, red eggs, century eggs).  Going home, we hopped on a motor-kuliglig, which ran out of gasoline.  The driver had to push us from the Manila City Hall to the gas station, and luckily we were able to reach Lola Dee's place without further hassles.

The Dark Knight Rises

I love a good action-packed movie, and third and final Batman movie of Christoper Nolan does not disappoint.  In The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne is a recluse; Batman is older, slower but more stubborn than ever before.  It's a combination of everything you would want in a blockbuster--a megalomaniac's nuclear plot, a good detective mystery, slam-bang action, wonderful toys, beautiful female leads, and a "dark" character that ends up standing up for what is right and good, with enough mid-movie catharsis and loads of human triumph as the end credits roll out.  Not bad at all--the movies goes on to become the 7th highest grossing film of all time.

My personal favorite is Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Selena Kyle (Catwoman), and I admire her transition as an actress, doing teen roles (Princess Diaries), to mature adult roles (Havoc), to an ass-kicking action star in this movie, to playing an emotionally laden Fantine in the upcoming musical Les Miserables.  You can see her in facial progression throughout the movie--she starts off as a shy food attendant, switches on her bitchiness as she kicks the cane of a crippled Bruce Wayne, exudes confidence as she struts her feline form, then shows desperation when she learns that a computer program she seeks is actually non-existent.  There is more--she shows empathy as she realizes that she has lead the Batman into a trap, recounts fear as she realizes that the enemy is too powerful to overcome, walks like an emotional zombie once the revolution she had once mentally sanctioned goes underway.  Soon, antagonist comes round to protagonist, as she firms up with a measure of resolve in teaching some children how to play the game of cat and mouse, and then comes back into action to aid the hero.  Ultimately, she fawns over the man she is attracted to, like another teenager in love.  The best part is at the end, when the dust settles, and happiness comes out--I saw the split-second portrayal and that was enough for me to see the happiness was indeed so true, so spirited, nonchalant and spontaneous.  Ah yes, the wonders of Hollywood--being able to show all these emotions in a span of two and a half hours...I just love it!

House of Wagyu Stone Grill

Andie's 11th birthday celebration with Lola Dee & the rest of the family was held at the House of Wagyu Stone Grill at the McKinley Arcade in Greenhills.  The spot was formerly the site Interbank, and just a few years back, Pilita Corrales, the singer, also had a restaurant at the same spot.  The interiors are still clean and well kept, and the dining experience was very pleasant.  We arrived at 12 noon on a Sunday, and we were still able to park (Greenhills is notorious for tight parking during Christmas time).

All steaks come with bread, soup and rice, so we each had our own plates.  Andie was delighted with the cream of mushroom soup, while the older kids feasted on our appetizers--baked mussels and gambas.

I ordered three kinds of pasta dishes--Alfredo, Bolognese and cream Marinara.  The kids just loved the pasta, which went around and was gone in 60 seconds!

We had almost 2.5 kilos of Grade 8 Wagyu Porterhouse, which is served on a special kind of volcanic stone slabs.  The stone retains heat, and when fresh steak is placed on top, cooking starts in an instant.  You can actually choose the timing of your slice when you see the pink meat turning brown, and you can get rare or wel-done cuts depending on how long you keep the meat on the stone slab.  The wonderful thing is that you have the fantastic aroma of cooked steak, with much less smoke than that produced by cast iron sizzling plates.  You can see the marbling of the steak in these pictures--the flavor was exquisite, and the meat was very tender.

We had some cheesecake for dessert--the management brought out a cake for Andie to blow out the candles!

The meal cost us a little shy of P1,000 per head, but that was understandable as Wagyu is in a price-class of its own.  Wagyu, which is Japanese for "cow," refers to several breeds of cattle that have a genetic predisposition to marbling (fat in between muscle tissue), and some areas in Japan market their Wagyu beef using the names of the area to identify the source of the cattle (e.g. Kobe, Matsusaka, Mishima, etc.).  Sometimes cattle are fed with beer and sake, and are hand-massaged, but I understand that this is more for the mystique rather than to achieve actual meat tenderness.  The House of Wagyu maintains a refrigerated display of their meats, which you can purchase by the kilo.  Overall, a good dining experience--Happy Birthday my dear daughter!