MEDIUM RARE Former DOT secretary Mina Gabor, who was used to going places as that designation once dictated, is now going to even more places. Besides Bohol – she likes going there, based on how many times the name of the province came up during our conversation – she’s currently...
MEDIUM RARE I’m usually cheap to feed – no steak, no lechon for me – but because it was the day before Grandparents’ Day, Cook served me a heavenly serving of salad flavored with cilantro. As I’ve been saying even before the start of what they described as “inflationary prices of...
MEDIUM RARE Funny, that funny girl Marissa Sanchez – comedian, actor, singer, all-around entertainer who cracks jokes at even the most inappropriate moments (and gets away with it) – should be the author of a slum book in which she asks impertinent questions like: At your funeral, whom do you...
MEDIUM RARE To those unfamiliar with the national language – is it Tagalog, Pilipino, or Filipino? – not that I’m an expert, but those of us who speak the street lingo know that “nakaka” is a prefix in the superlative degree. Hence, “nakakalokal” in translation would mean going...
MEDIUM RARE Back in Los Angeles, before she came home for good after more than 22 years, my cousin Ann had kept hearing about this Filipino restaurant with a “fantastic ambience and an equally fantastic menu” of authentic Filipino food. When she officially became a balikbayan, the first...
MEDIUM RARE Whenever a book is published, it’s good news that calls for a celebration. How many people today read for pleasure? “Reading . . . lasts when all other pleasures fade,” to quote Anthony Trollope. In the age of digitalization, books seem so low-tech, yet grandparents worry that...
MEDIUM RARE Cook is about to cultivate a phobia for going to market. Her latest report: Cherries from Hong Kong cost ₱50 a piece, per cherry, or ₱1,250 per kilo. That’s all right, I told her, I don’t need cherries (like I need cilantro to perfume my salads and steamed fish, for...
MEDIUM RARE When President BBM announced his appointees to the executive team, he declared, “I have an Ople in my cabinet.” (Quite like bragging, “I have a Bentley Rolls in my garage.”) After that mention of “Ople,” we have not heard any other name presaging a presidential...
MEDIUM RARE That’s how a certain type of policeman behaves, when his badge and uniform are not enough to “serve and protect” the people. Trigger-happy cops, tragic consequences for others. Each time a cop shoots an innocent victim, their elders in the PNP downgrade it as an isolated incident,...
MEDIUM RARE Johnny Litton’s fans, friends, sponsors of his long-running TV show, “Oh no, it’s Johnny!” came out in numbers to fill a ballroom and pay tribute. But where was Johnny? We all missed seeing Johnny on stage dishing out his one-liners, especially those tainted green and...
MEDIUM RARE If anyone can do it, it’s Manny. Years ago when Senator Cynthia Villar was expressing a wish to “convert” plastic furniture into something more environmentally suitable, someone said she would need lots of money to buy or use such a machine. “I will ask for money from...
MEDIUM RARE Now that practically everyone in my circle — it’s a small world, as they say — has heard about Chef Rafael (Tibong) Jardeleza Jr. and his month-long festival (until Aug. 31) of Western Visayas cuisine, I am convinced more and more that Filipino food escapes definition. One would...
