Celebrity moments while in SG

Ion on Orchard at night

THE LONG escalator ride at Ion on Orchard allowed me just enough time to foist upon Friendship a pressing question I’ve had in mind, “Which Filipino celebrity will make you stop on your tracks (here in Singapore) and go full-on jologs – photos, autograph and all?”

The answer was exactly what I expected:  Kris Aquino.  It’s one of those things I share in common with Friendship.

But unlike Friendship, my list is quite longer.  Actually, unlike her, I have a list.  (I think her consideration stops at Kris Aquino.)

And by today, my eleventh day here, I’ve chalked up a couple of celebrity moments already.  I rarely use the expression “thrilled beyond words” because I do have my way with words.  But these couple of instances?  Words (almost) fail me.

The first one is actually not the photo op-and-autograph kind.  It happened by way of an e-Mail I sent.  March 15 marks the birthday of one of my most admired personalities, the Ms. Daphne Oseña Paez.  A few days later, I e-Mailed my belated greetings which were accompanied by a few photos I took especially for her.  I didn’t expect her to be thrilled enough to post it on her blog.  Now, I think I’m thrilled even more.

The second one happened at the Food Hall of Ion on Orchard.  Whenever I’m there for all the noodles my heart, soul and tummy can handle, the world around me melts into a series of chiaroscuros.  I couldn’t care less about the people I’m sharing breathing space with.  But as it is the case with personalities larger-than-life, their mere presence could permeate whatever force field my being immersed in my gastronomic adventure had surrounded me with.  Last Monday, for some reason, I had to lift my head up from being slumped into my huge bowl of beef noodle soup.  And within arm’s length was the force – the Maria Ressa!  I couldn’t help it that I had to stand up, disturb her peaceful meal, and introduce myself.  And oh, rave about her work and how much I’ve admired her.  She gave me her card.  Gosh, I’m so thrilled.

Copyright © 2011 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Up in the air

The view is perfect at 33,000 feet up in the air.

TRAVEL AFFORDS me a couple of things – the chance to enjoy God’s creation in a totally different place, and the opportunity to not back off from any culinary adventure.  But lest my second declaration comes back biting me from behind, I will say that that one’s dependent on the destination.

And where I was headed to last Sunday morning – where I am for a couple of weeks – is nothing short of the mecca of good food.

Ready to go!

I arrived at the NAIA a good three hours before my flight schedule but the line was already quite long.  Of box office-hit proportions, I texted my family and friends.  At the check-in counter, my luggage tipped the scale at 34.5 kilos, about 50% more than my limit.  I didn’t make a sound as I let the officer spend all the time she needed squinting her eyes and furrowing her brows at the display that was screaming, “excess baggage!”

“Sige Sir, ok lang yan!  (Ok Sir, it’s fine!)“

Wow.  And she even got me my favorite seat, the window seat right beside the airplane’s right wing.  I don’t know if it was the new perfume I had on or the red shorts I decided to wear but I also breezed through Immigration.  Unlike in the case of Brother, there wasn’t a Korean boyband nearby that threatened to steal my spotlight in front of the Immigration Officer who asked nothing but this lone question, “How long?”

I stood aghast!  How dare he ask me about my chin.  Oh, he meant my stay at my destination.  Hahaha!

All my bags were packed. And this plane was waiting for me.

 

Ready to board!

 

My carry-on luggage

 

I could go a thousand miles on these shoes! I hope my great friend Michael agrees!

 

Beginning to taxi on the runway

 

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... and...

 

And we're off!

 

Time of takeoff. Singapore Airlines has never failed me. They always leave on time!

 

Bye Manila!

 

See you again in a couple of weeks!

 

The flight wasn't turbulent at all that I decided to make one trip to the restroom. On flights, I ALWAYS have my seatbelt on.

 

One of the wing's flaps begin to open up and extend as we approach Singapore and prepare for landing.

 

I see land!

 

The flaps fully extended to prepare for landing

 

So many trees!

 

Kudos to the pilot for such a smooth landing!

 

Our President on front page news in the Straits Times. They're all over the airport.

 

My welcome party! My Singapore-based friends shown here, each volunteered to pick me up. I'm so happy they're around. My very own "porter", the Boy Wonder, took this shot.

 

The Boy Wonder is the epitome of service. No tip needed! Hahaha!

 

Thank you my dear friends!

 

Copyright © 2011 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Conversations that leave me scratching my head and looking up in the sky

MY ELDEST brother, his wife, and three kids just flew in from the States for a much-deserved month-long vacation.  They’re staying at the house for a week.  Then at my youngest brother’s for another.

On their first night home, wondering about what to have for midnight snacks led to an impromptu dinner out at the newly opened Chinese Restaurant nearby.  It was past 11:00 PM and my youngest brother just arrived (from work).  Good thing that the resto is open until 2:00 AM on weeknights.

My three nephews, though all raised in the States, are practically still very Filipino.  Though they can’t speak the language.  But the eldest understands.  I turn into the proud uncle whenever I remember that the eldest – the 14-year-old – is a Spelling Bee champ, refused to join the Math Quiz Bee so as not to become a full-time nerd (Haha!), plays the drums in the school band, plays the guitar and the piano, sings, plays basketball, and looks after his two younger brothers whenever his parents are away.  The 10-year-old also plays the drums, and sings.  The youngest, at six years old, loves to sing too, tells animated stories, and happens to be the most “malambing” to his parents.  All of them love to read.

I gave them my room while they’re with us.  And when I got home last night, I was pleasantly surprised that each of them has his own laptop!  The eldest brandishes two actually – the high end one is what he uses for research, writing, and school work while the other one is “just for games.”

This post won’t be about the food, but rather a couple of anecdotes that just couldn’t keep me from laughing up to now.

eNTeNG:  “Did you know that Uncle Youngest here finished The Sea of Monsters in one sitting?  From New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day.  It’s the Percy Jackson book.”

Nephew 2:  “I read that too.”

Uncle Youngest:  (Turning to eNTeNG) “I just finished the first book too.  The first one in the Olympians series.”

eNTeNG:  “Oh, that one…  It’s…  it’s…”

Nephew 2:  “The Lightning Thief!”

Uncle Youngest:  “Yup!”

Nephew 1 & Nephew 2:  “We’ve finished all those books.”

eNTeNG:  “But Uncle Youngest here did The Sea of Monsters in one sitting!”

Nephew 2:  (Turning to Uncle eNTeNG, brows a little furrowed…)  “But Uncle, Percy Jackson is light reading!”

eNTeNG:  “Here, try some of this.  It’s one of my favorites.”  (eNTeNG reaches for the Taiwan Pechay in Oyster Sauce and offers it to the kids.  Hahaha!)

———————–

(The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and related topics continue to be discussed.  Uncle Youngest, Nephew 1 and Nephew 2 are talking about Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.  eNTeNG chimes in.)

eNTeNG:  “I think that some of the gods and goddesses carry dual titles.”

Nephew 2:  “I’m not sure about that.”

Uncle Youngest:  “You know which goddess your Uncle eNTeNG is an expert on?  Here…  (turning to eNTeNG)  Who is the ‘Goddess of Talk’?”

eNTeNG:  “Kris Aquino!”

Uncle Youngest:  “Who is the Queen of All Media?”

eNTeNG:  “Kris Aquino!”

Hahaha!!!

Taiwan Pechay with Oyster Sauce

 

Stir-fried Rice Noodles with Meat and Vegetables

 

Copyright © 2011 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

A thing that makes me happy

Part of my collection of Teodoro "Teddyboy" L. Locsin, Jr.'s "Free Fire" in TODAY

I AM A COMPLETE NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS junkie.  In this day and age when information travels through optical cables underground and underwater, beamed through satellites in dizzying speed, I still crave for the feel of paper between my fingers, not the click of a mouse, when I wake up in the morning.

So you see, I love newspapers.  I still belong to the old school – okay, ancient – people who prefer to pay for the content that they read.  Not that there’s anything wrong about totally relying on what’s made available free on the net.

For a couple of weekends now, I’ve devoted a huge chunk of my weekends to preserving my more-than-a-decade-old stash of newspaper clippings.  By preserving, I don’t really mean slipping each clipping in a polyester-film folder with a sheet of alkaline-buffered paper as the backing.  No.

I simply mean cutting each article to size – or cutting them into two to three parts – then pasting them on white bond paper.  My specifics are quite simply sourced – legal sized (8½” x 13”) “substance 24” bond paper, and a heavy-duty glue stick that glides on smooth.  Of course there’s the trusty cutter, and a lot of plastic rulers (I end up cutting their edges so I go through them quite fast).

My newspaper clippings run a gamut of feature subjects – wristwatches, wristwatch stores, restaurants, recipes, food, Teodoro “Teddyboy” L. Locsin, Jr., interviews, the “Playtime” features in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Margarita Araneta Fores, and Kris Aquino.  Yes, Kris Aquino.  But only her broadsheet interviews and stories about her advocacies – not the sleazy showbiz gossip people make up about her.

Some of my favorites

"What's respect got to do with newspapers?"

My all-time favorite from his "Free Fire" column... "Really something about Mary."

As for columnists, I’ve collected and continue to collect the works of Teodoro “Teddyboy” L. Locsin, Jr. (his “Free Fire” in TODAY), Kris Aquino (her “Kris & Tell” in the Philippine Daily Inquirer in the early 2000s), Celine R. Lopez (“From Coffee To Cocktails” – the one with the really nice essays), Winnie Collas Monsod, and Jessica Zafra (from “Twisted” in TODAY to “Emotional Weather Report” in the Philippine Star).  For a while, I followed Scott R. Garceau.  But not anymore.

"Kris and Tell" from a decade ago!

One clipping that made mention of the late former president's fresh corned beef. Just reading about it whets my appetite!

So far, I’ve finished working on Mr. Locsin’s.  I’m contemplating on starting Jessica Zafra’s.  But that’s quite a lot.  I’m daunted to say the least.

Jessica Zafra from over a decade ago!

That's the look of a writer who seriously means business.

Part of my Jessica Zafra collection is this thick! Though, I want to clarify that I still buy the books.

Working with newspaper clippings can be a dirty job. Hehehe.

Copyright © 2010 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Of icons and heroes

Twenty-four years of The Philippine Star

THINKING OF what-might-have-beens is a bitch.  And it doesn’t help that I have Lou Pardini on heavy rotation in my head, provoking me with the line that says I could very well be the “fool wondering what might have been.”

In early April, I seriously considered joining The Philippine Star’s “Star Lifestyle Journalism Contest 2010” with the theme:  My Icon, My Hero.  It was a no-brainer who I wanted to write about – Mr. Teodoro “Teddyboy” L. Locsin, Jr.

Mechanics to the Star Lifestyle Journalism Contest 2010

 

Not only have I admired the man for so many years now.  Not only did his then column “Free Fire” serve as a formative influence to my own principles.  Not only do I unequivocally declare his “Assignment” to have given us some of the finest hours on Philippine television.

I have actually written about him here already, that I felt I had a good start for a contest piece.  But I had a swamped schedule (right now, I’m culling from memory a defining moment that happened to me last June 12.  It was punctuated by the line, “But Tim, he has a full-time job!”).  And I eventually yielded to self-doubt.

Finally, the 10 winning pieces were published in yesterday’s 24^th anniversary edition, easily The Philippine Star’s thickest ever, together with features on 24 luminaries from diverse fields of specialization or calling.  I believe it’s going to be a collector’s item so my propensity for contingencies kicked in – I asked my brother to get me another copy.  Besides, I’m so looking forward to the weekend to work on clipping my favorites and putting them in an album.  (I have a modest collection of clippings of Mr. Locsin, Jr.’s “Free Fire” from over a decade ago.)

From the 24 icons and heroes written about by 24 of the paper’s columnists, I have two favorites – Erwin Romulo’s piece on Kris Aquino, and Jessica Zafra’s on the Roger Federer.

Erwin Romulo wrote about Kris Aquino.

 

Jessica Zafra on Roger Federer.

 

Copyright © 2010 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Pigs in blankets all in a circle

I’M NOT a pizza person.  But to each his own.  That’s why I believe Ms. Kris Aquino-Yap when she declared in last week’s The Buzz that she can live on just lechon (roasted suckling pig) and pizza all her life.

One of 16 sausage pops in a Pizza Hut's Star Pops Pizza!

Obviously, I understand why my mother loves pizza as much.  The other day, she was telling me about Yellowcab’s Dear Darla pizza.  I guess it’s the alfalfa sprouts and the arugula leaves that she found interesting.  I made a promise to get some at the Yellowcab branch nearby – soon enough.

But last night, on my way out of the supermarket, I had to give Pizza Hut a glance back when I thought I saw on my peripheral vision a poster for yet another pizza creation Mama has been craving for.  It’s the “Star Pops” pizza, boasting a total of 16 “pullable” sausage pops around the actual pizza.  I got the family size of their Super Supreme, with extra toppings of mushrooms and cheese.  Exactly 10 minutes after placing my order, I got my pizza and it came with a cheddar cheese dip for the sausage pops.

I have to say the pizza did look so appetizing.  As my Mama told me, the cheese pops before were so good already that adding sausage to the mix could push the goodness to overdrive.

I looked at the 16 “pullable” sausage pops and they conjured images of pigs in a blanket neatly arranged in a circle.  So behaved!  And just waiting to be devoured.

The Pizza Hut Star Pops Pizza in Super Supreme

 

The toppings overflow on this Super Supreme!

 

I did ask for extra mushrooms.

 

Little pigs in blankets waiting in line. One by one, they had their time.

 

Copyright © 2010 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MunchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

I read all night

The Aquino Family on the cover of the December 2009 issue of YES! magazine.

I WAS given the December 2009 issue of YES! Magazine as pasalubong.  It was a very thoughtful present.

The issue is packed with 74 photos of the Aquino family in their Times Street home.  And the write-up was quite long.  I really read all night.  It was an engaging read that I couldn’t put it down, bathroom breaks notwithstanding.  As Christmas is fast approaching, the story devoted a large part on the family’s traditions – and the sumptuous spread they would have.

A couple of things about the late former Philippine president, Tita Cory, struck me.  I found it funny how she described her daughter Kris’s posing for the camera.  Hindi ko kinaya, natawa talaga ako.  And I found comfort in the fact that I’m not the lone full-word, full-sentence texter on this planet.  Tita Cory was.

 

*Will it be easy to ship this magazine to Singapore and the US West Coast?

*Is there something significant with the numbers “74” and “11” (7+4=11)?  74 photos in this cover story.  And the number 11 is bold, embossed and in yellow in the limited edition Cory Aquino wristwatch by Philip Stein.

 

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Excellent read from the magazine rack

Top of the heap! "Cory's Girls" – all grown and accomplished women now – grace the cover of the November 2009 issue of Town&Country Philippine edition.

THE NOVEMBER issue of Town&Country Philippine edition is a casting coup!  It was Friendship who actually first clued me in that this was going to happen – all of the late former President Cory Aquino’s four daughters on the cover!

Ms. Lorna Kalaw-Tirol’s cover story – “Lessons from Mom” – was a nice read it kept me up at 1:10 AM (and I start work at 7:00 AM sharp!).  I loved how she started with a narrative of how the photoshoot with the beloved Aquino sisters turned out to be.  Through her eyes I could see how the three publicity-shy daughters of Mrs. Aquino metamorphosed to the elegant cover ladies they are, together with their “baby”, Ms. Kris Aquino-Yap.  The best part?  All the sharing Ms. Kalaw-Tirol captured in succinct but vivid detail.  “Their mother taught them not with words, but by the power of example – her own.”

The other reason I had to have this copy bought for me was what the cover says, “Teddy Boy Locsin on Working with Cory.”  You should know by now just how much I look up to Mr. Locsin – both as a newspaperman/publisher and as a speechwriter.  I first wrote about him here.

"Like a Place in the Country" – a fond recollection of times with Mrs. Aquino, by my favorite Mr. Teodoro "Teddy Boy" L. Locsin, Jr..

In his essay, “Like a Place in the Country,” Mr. Teodoro “Teddy Boy” L. Locsin, Jr. allowed me a glimpse – no, a deeper realization and understanding – of the kind of president the late Mrs. Aquino was.

In his opening line, “I was young then and woke up late,” I couldn’t help but manage a chuckle.  Why?  Because as has always been the case with him, I felt that he was speaking to my generation, making me feel that it wasn’t wrong to go through that part when you’d stay up so late into the night and start the next day equally – if not more so – late.  But like the wise man that he is, Mr. Locsin spoke about the wisdom of realizing that you are in someone’s service and if needed, you have to change: “That was how she was, at least with me.  Never a commanding voice or a stern word, only the quiet expectation she would never be disappointed:  one look and I knew I had overstepped.”  I guess this could be one of those instances about being ennobled in the presence of Mrs. Aquino, as he claimed in his eulogy.

As any reference to food never escapes me, I find myself totally engrossed with an anecdote that showed Mrs. Aquino’s brand of thoughtfulness and generosity by way of a fresh box of chocolates.

But the best part of Mr. Locsin’s fond recollection of his days working for and with Mrs. Aquino has to be his short – yet profound and truthful – response to any criticism about the latter’s administration’s shortcomings.  I totally agree with what Mr. Locsin said.  I actually have known for the longest time I felt the same way.  But it took our country’s foremost speechwriter’s words to make my feelings take form, evoking images of a place and time when greatness was determined by the purity of one’s heart, the diligence in one’s work, and the sincerity of one’s intentions – both in the smallest and the grandest of one’s deeds.

The November 2009 issue of Town&Country Philippine edition is now available at bookstores.

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

Now that’s inspiring!

Truly inspirational – Noynoy Aquino's political ad.

US PRESIDENT John F. Kennedy said it best when he enjoined his nation to “ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country.”

Last Friday night, I saw its embodiment in Noynoy Aquino’s first political ad.  Now that’s a campaign.  Now that’s inspiring!

I’ve always been about the lyrics when it comes to songs, and for the first time since people vying for my country’s highest position have expressed their interest, it has only been with Noynoy Aquino’s ad that I truly feel proud to be Filipino.  That I can make the change I want to see in this world.

Yes, I may have been disenfranchised, but I shall do my best to speak my mind.  After all that we have gone through and after all that we have seen, we need someone to inspire us to be the very best that we can be, to help, to do our share.

The government is not about those in position.  It is about the power that rests in the consent of the governed.

 

Copyright © 2009 by eNTeNG  c”,)™©’s  MuchTime™©.  All rights reserved.

 

Lost in conversations with superheroes and in parallel worlds in my head

Corte de las Palmas in Town

ONE THING about my superhero friends:  we really talk.  They are three people to and with whom I can share practically anything and everything – including my impeachable thoughts and acerbic opinions on things.  And when your political views can never be any more conflicting than when they do rest on polarized opposites, and still you manage to find the same things to be funny, I’ll make a huge wager that you have found a friend to last you for life.

And sometimes, somebody who wouldn’t mind giving you a ride to your dream destinations.  Which, for me as of late, has been Town on Friday nights.

Actually, I’ve learned that one sure way to discover real friends is to experience how they are outside the confines of the office.  Freed from the constricting fabric-lined rectangular panels that fence us in for the most part of the day, we actually reveal who we really are.  It may be through sharing gatronomic adventures, going to toy and hobbies conventions, seeing a movie and then tearing it apart later, or simply sharing a ride together.  Trust me, some of the most meaningful, character-revealing and character-building conversations happen within the confines of a car.

Fortunately enough for me – as I have alluded to above – I’ve always been given a ride to Town on Friday nights by one of my superhero friends.  Though we do get to talk a whole lot on all the other days of the week, I treat our Friday after-office chats as the fitting recaps to the week.  Especially the last one as I had a most eventful week.  But I won’t be writing about the details here as there are just some things I can only tell superheroes.  And truly – as that cheesy song goes – I would never trade these conversations no one hears.  Only food has stood witness – ever.  Last Friday, we subsisted on – among other stuff – four Lemon Square® cheese cupcakes.  As my superhero friend might need to save the world much later after he had dropped me off, he had a vitamin-and-antioxidant boost with his Big Chill® red grapes-and-lychee smoothie.  As for me, I would’ve opted for caffeine on an IV, but I had to settle for the fancy invigorating concoction of freshly brewed coffee, steaming hot milk, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream that Coffee California® calls Mocha Manic.

My superhero friend would usually ask what I would do at Town.  Dinner a Pepper Lunch has been a requisite stop as of late.  And yes, a movie too.  But this last time – as I crossed the orderly parking lot surrounded by trees with rain-drenched yellow ribbons – I found myself drawn back to a place that I had used to frequent to lose myself in a distraction from the bright lights and the beautiful people – Powerbooks.  Yes, I did have to say beautiful people.  For some reason, Town is one of those malls where the coolness and beauty quotient could be so high that I break out in spots.  So better be within a book’s reach just so I could bury my face in it if I had to.

Powerbooks was having a sale.  And I was so tempted to dig deep into the piles where I could get one title for free with a single receipt purchase worth a thousand.  But that would definitely mean eating up precious minutes I could better devote to reading.  So I headed directly to the wall where they have the celebrity chef cookbooks – the first section I always gravitate towards.  Their current featured chef was Gordon Ramsay, with whom I share the same recipe for amazing chicken broth.  I piled up as many books as I could.  But before heading to my favorite seating section right up front – where the spotlights would warm my feet – I swung by the local publication shelf and reached out for a few compilations.

I found myself sandwiched in between two ladies of leisure who were oblivious to my presence and my heavy stack of bound printed matter.  They were burrowing deep into their own captivating reads – lifestyleasia, Town&Country, Metro Society.  I began with my first title and in minutes, was lost into my own world as well.

That’s what has always fascinated me with reading.  You can get totally lost and caught up in the parallel world it creates in your head.  And it would take the reflex to glance at my black Technomarine wristwatch to tell me that I still existed in the real world where a good few hours had already passed from when I first cracked open the book topmost on my pile.  The “real world” where my plans had obviously gone – pun right ahead! – not as I had planned.

So I hauled my stack to replace them on their shelves.  But not without first taking a good look as to which would be worth purchasing.  I took a couple of titles.  Then I went to the magazine section and fixed it with a long stare.  I wasn’t waiting to hear any of them in my head asking me to buy them.  I was hoping something on the texts on the covers would leap out to pique my interest.  I did find one – the Kris Aquino magazine, featuring “26 WONDERFUL LESSONS I learned from my mom.”  I thought to myself that Friendship would appreciate a copy too.

I fulfilled my metabollic needs that I had staved off for hours, and went on my way home.

At home, I devoured in one sitting the 260-page book I bought!  I turned open its cover very late into Friday night and was through with it even before the sun broke free from the clouds.  I even had time to finish the magazine.  Both were such great reads!  I could hear Friendship’s approval in my head.

Hmmm…  voices in my head…  better catch some zzz’s now!

A worthwhile and really inspiring read – the Kris Aquino magazine, featuring "26 wonderful lessons I learned from my mom." I'm thinking about sending this to a couple of people in Singapore...