Cooking with Rosebud…

Well, not really. More accurately, it’s cooking with a recipe she taught in Quickfire: the 4 Cheese Please with Alex de Rossi. No, this isn’t a replay of a previous post. Yes, I did try cooking it again, this time with a different set of cheeses, paying closer attention to the procedure as I saw it done the second time I watched the episode.

Monterey, Tenderbites by Del Monte, Magnolia Chicken Station

I like Rustan’s Supermarket, but I like Unimart even better. Rustan’s I can wheel to, Unimart I have to take the car to get to. If Shoppersville were walking distance from the house, it would certainly figure in between the two. Unfortunately, I hardly visit it because it’s too far to wheel too, but too close to drive to. Get the drift?

Monterey, Tenderbites by Del Monte, and Magnolia Chicken Station are absent in Rustan’s. Yes, all three of them. I heard two of the three (Monterey and Magnolia) are in Shoppers. But all three are in Unimart so the lattermost wins hands down.

Will wonders never cease? CPK Power Plant shows how.

This morning, close to noon, my husband, son and I were in Power Plant. We wanted to dine somewhere where the two males could watch Manny Pacquiao slug it out with Diaz. Luckily, CPK had a TV set on. Unfortunately, as is usual, the fight hadn’t begun by 12 noon.

But this blog will not be about MP but about CPK. Why?

Sightings

In Greenhills, we were waiting for the light to turn green from the Unimart side leading to WIlson Street across Ortigas when we saw a sign by the gate that read: Opens at 5 a.m. Closes at 6 a.m. It was 4:30 pm but the gate was wide open. Strange…

Along Kamias Road, I tried to look for the hotel that was razed by fire a few years ago. I’m not sure but I think it was the establishment that read “crematorium”. Goosebumps there, the natural flow of things? Practice makes perfect? Shucks.

Along Xavierville Avenue, I saw the sign “Spa for Kids”. Wow, Pampering so early in life? After getting tired playing with dolls, maybe? 

On the Meralco posts in N Domingo, there were advertisements of Pizza Cone along Hemady. I hinted, and hinted, and hinted but my husband either didn’t hear me or chose to ignore my hints. Oh well. Wheelmobile time? Just kidding.

I saw a new tarp of BF along Ortigas near Galleria. While the word “president” wasn’t alluding to him but to GMA, it looked so precariously near his name. Subliminal advertising/conditioning for 2010? Whoa. There was something pink in that poster again. I’ll have to check which part. I was just too disturbed seeing the word president that I failed to take note of where the pink was.

A Music Store that’s so different

Whenever my husband, son and I go to Perfect Pitch, JB or Yamaha, we sense an immediate rapport between my son and the clerks drawn from their affinity to music. Never mind if the clerks have tattoos, a tongue ring or whatever scary stuff in their bodies, they jibe.

The past week I’ve been calling this store up, (ok, Lyric) its 3 branches in fact, in search of a piano bench. One that’s adjustable height wise. At first they said they had none, but I was persistent/insistent and eventually they found one. P8.5 k, made in China, the girl I spoke with said. I asked if they gave discounts for cash purchases, I got an evasive/tentative answer. That surprised me because usually music stores are “kind”. Not so this one, although Aida initially said they might give.

Thus did the series of discordant views/information emanating from the people of the store begin.

QTV Shows on a Friday

As I wrote last night, I watched QTV shows starting 5 p.m. today. The guests of MOMS were MYMP, Sitti, Julia Duncan and one young singer whose name I failed to catch. Okay, I was multi-tasking then.

Sitti was her usual charming self, but the questions of the MOMS weren’t too challenging so that the 3 singers tended to have the same answers. Corny. At one point, Sitti said “I had (have?) to find my voice.” Wow, Manilyn’s reaction to this was so pathetic.

QTV shows 2

More or less, from Monday to Friday, I switch to QTV from 5 pm till The Sweet Life finishes. Often, I fail to start Moms because I watch Coffee Prince on 7, never mind if this is the nth time that I have. My son bought me a DVD of the same for my birthday.

This pm Moms had Tanya Garcia in lieu of Lani. Manilyn and Sherilyn were around. The guests included a psychologist (a mommy type), Tessa Prieto Valdez, and Gabby Concepcion, no not Sharon’s ex Gabby, but Unang Hirit’s Atty. Gabby. Or is that spelled Gaby? The topic was on raising/spoiling children, saying no to them and that sort of thing. The show didn’t have my full attention even if it should have because with guests like Tessa and Gaby, how could one miss? But I was finishing some work and I had no choice but to merely half-listen.

Then Quickfire came on.

IN-YO for the nth time

On my husband’s birthday, I reserved a table for 3 in In-yo but had to cancel because of an emergency of sorts. Father’s Day, I called In-yo but they were full so we ate in The Old Spaghetti House instead. Last night, after maybe four months, we finally had dinner at In-yo again, this time without my son but with my sister and husband.

In anticipation of rains, I presume, they had a tent of sorts where tables used to be exposed to the elements. I thought we could just stay there but my husband wanted to go inside, never mind that he had to lift me in my wheelchair so we could cross the path littered with pebble stones before reaching the door of the resto. But it was well worth it.

Take Control Ham Roll with Polo Ravales and Carlo Aquino, as requested

From Rosebud Benitez’s Quickfire website:

7 thinly sliced deli ham

1 c softened cream cheese

dash Worchestershire sauce

dash garlic powder

dash onion powder

minced chives or chopped fresh parsley for color

Ajinomoto umami super seasoning

1 cup flour

1 egg beaten

1 cup panco bread crumbs

Thousand islands and or sour cream dip

 

Procedure:

 

1. Blend cream cheese with all other ingredients except ham, adjusting amounts to taste.  Sprinkle with Ajinomoto umami super seasoning.

 

2. Spread a thin layer of mixture onto each ham slice. Roll up jellyroll-style, secure with tooth picks.

 

3. Dredge in flour, egg and bread crumbs. Deep fry.

 

4. Serve with thousand island or sour cream dip.

Gustatory Extremes – Price Wise

Last Friday, my sister invited us to dinner at Old Manila at the Manila Pen. It no longer is situated in that part of the hotel where it once was, on the right side coming into the hotel. The resto where OM used to be is now Spices. OM has since transferred to the left side of the hotel near the business center. It is smaller and has become truly fine dining.

Sis, Pinoy Idol Extra, 24 Oras

Am watching it now, watched it a bit yesterday too, raring for a live show when I expect Carmina will be asked about her purported transfer (return) to Channel 2. So far, their shows have been pre-taped, so no chance of the Carmina issue being brought up.

Today and yesterday, janice’s decolletage was depressing. Do you have to, Janice? You’re pretty, you’re intelligent. Do we have to look at your cleavage? Gelli and Carmina are covered up, that doesn’t make them any less appealing. (Same goes with Pia Guanio who goes the cleavage route in Eat Bulaga sometimes. Pia, no need. You have nice legs, a pretty face. Thank God you don’t go that route in 24 Oras. Mike Enriquez might cough and say “excuse me po” as only he can if you do. And Mel will have to control her laughter all throughout the show.)

Karylle. I liked her when she was conservative, I don’t mind the show of legs and whatever because no matter what Karylle does, she’ll always look decent. What I find funny though is the way she ends her occasional incursions promoting Pinoy Idol Extra between shows/during breaks. Watch the pout, the arm movements, the posture. So Kris Aquino. Maybe, if it were original, it would be cute. But it’s so Kris. Can’t the director come up with something more original or simple? Please. If I wanted to see such, I’d watch kris, but I don’t.

*********

Today, 25 June, I caught Sis live, except that I wasn’t able to start it. During the portions I watched, no mention was made of Carmina’s transfer. I wonder…

 

freerice.com

This website promises to give 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program for every word you get the right meaning of. It’s educational besides, not to mention addicting. Go try. Click here. Some info:

Frequently Asked Questions

How does playing the vocabulary game at FreeRice help me?

Coping During a Brownout

Years back, the brownout lasted quite a while and so unnerved me, I decided to get a generator. The thing cost P20k+ but I chose to spend rather than lose my mind. The heat does that to me. But while I’d have wanted to buy a generator with enough capacity for an aircon, I decided that would be too extravagant and opted for one that could accommodate some lights, the TV, modem, electric fans and the ref. The generator we got was a Coleman Powermate, I think. 

Luckily, the brownouts haven’t been too frequent since. So the generator hasn’t been used too much. Plus it has saved us precious pesos by stopping us from running off to check in at a hotel at the first sign of a brownout. We did that once before when we still hadn’t gotten a generator, rationalizing that it’s nicer to spend for a hotel room than for a hospital room where we might land if the heat became so oppressive as to trigger an asthma attack.

At any rate, the brownout caused by Typhoon Frank yesterday was not too bad

Citibank Savings

Almost 30 years ago, I opened an account at Citibank. I think the minimum balance required was but P5k. Months later, they raised the minimum maintaining to P30 or P50 k, so I immediately closed the account.

Fast forward to November 2007. My son opened a power savings account at Citibank savings. We were told there was no need to maintain a balance because of a small time deposit he placed. We were assured the account would earn interest nonetheless.

Fast fast forward to last week. My son got a letter from Citibank Savings. For a power savings account to earn interest, maintaining balance required was P100k, which he didn’t have in said account.

When my son and I discussed the matter, he said, “So parang pinapatago ko lang pera ko sa kanila?” Right and what a graphic way of expressing what was to be if he kept the account open, no? We promptly called the bank officer assigned to his account and moved to close the account.

Citibank as a bank rather than as a credit card source is not friendly to small depositors, not even its savings bank version. Sad… 

Typeracer.com

A few weeks ago, my son was smiling as he faced his laptop. His father asked what he was doing and he said he was competing against someone in a typing game online. It’s like typing tutor and other typing games except that what one gets to type are lines from a book, a movie and such, so one gets educated beyond typing in other dimensions — literature, film, etc. Gore’s book is quoted, Flatlands, Clockwork Orange, etc. Some have typing speeds that are so up there one wonders how they do it. Twenty fingers? Are they Superman?

Regardless, it’s fun if a bit stressful if one wants to be up there. Try it out, especially if you type using two fingers only. After several sessions you just might learn to type with 10?

Rosebud Benitez

Rosebud Benitez, formerly with Ka-Toque on QTV, now has her own show: Quickfire. I blogged about her before. I’m blogging again about her because she’s so “nice”. Sorry for the trite expression but for want of a better one, it will have to do. One of her recipes, a steak one which she did with Tessa Prieto Valdez, said “salt and pepper and Umami to taste.” So I sent her a Personal Message here. She answered my question. She said for 450 gms of steak or two pieces of steak each weighing 225 gms, I should use 1/2 tsp salt, 1 and 1/2 tsps pepper and 1/8 tsp umami. Normally, most chefs would refuse to give exact figures when asked but she complied with my plea to give exact figures. Wasn’t that nice of her?

For the first time today, I saw a replay of one of her past episodes, the one where she came out with a salmon recipe for Mike Enriquez. I hope replays won’t be too frequent? 

Good luck, Rosebud! Hope your show will go on and on and on and on ….

Fuel Conservation Measures, Paging Bayani Fernando

Tonight, after weeks of seeing how Shell Katipunan (Blue Ridge area) was advertising lower-cost super unleaded gasoline E-10 always P2 lower than super unleaded, we finally decided to pay the station a visit, hopeful that we could save a few precious pesos from buying said variant. The station hand asked what model the car was and if it was fuel-injected. He then got the list of allowable cars and saw that the Revo we got in 2004 was not in the list. Ergo, we couldn’t avail of the cheaper gasoline. Toyota-manufactured vehicles starting 2006 could. But guess what? Honda’s starting 1996 could. How explain the disparity?

Don’t Get A Manila Peninsula Club membership card – it sucks, it stinks

My sister who’s based in Bacolod plans to check in at the Manila Pen one weekend this June. So I could spare her some precious pesos, I offered to inquire about booking her using my Pen Club card. In the process, I unearthed another can of worms where this card is concerned. You don’t have to know Calculus to figure out that all Pen Club members have been gypped by this card where room benefits are concerned.

4 CHEESE PLEASE WITH ALEX DE ROSSI

400 grams package Rigatoni Pasta

1/4 Cup Butter(100 g )

1/2 cup Cream

3/4 Cup grated parmesan or grana padano cheese (100 g)

3/4 Cup Taleggio cheese, cut in small cubes (100 g )

3/4 Cup Fontina cheese, grated (100 g)

3/4 Cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (100 g)

Ajinomoto Umami super seasoning

1/2 k honey cured bacon

Salt and pepper to taste

Parsley for garnish

 

Procedure:

 

1. Put cheeses in a big pot with butter, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Ajinomoto super seasoning.

2. Cook on a low flame and mix well. When cheeses are melted add the cream.

Saute bacon till crisp and crumble or coarsely chop. Set aside.

3. While cheeses are melting, cook rigatoni in abundant salted water. Drain pasta and add to the pot with the cheese, mix over medium heat for 1 or 2 min.

4. Sprinkle with remaining grana and top with bacon strips. Serve immediately.

 I made the recipe above from Quickfire with some modifications. For one, I didn’t have tellagio cheese nor Fontina. So instead I substituted Raclette, Manchego and mozzarella for the two cheeses to come up with 1 and 1/2 cups of cheese including Gorgonzola and parmesan. I halved the recipe, you see.

Outcome: My husband liked it very much, my son gave it the thumbs up but he didn’t swoon. I found it salty, despite the fact that I didn’t put salt, just umami and white pepper. The texture of the parmesan was also too obtrusive. 

Next time, I think I will use a different set of cheeses. Maybe quick melt will do? Cheaper and smoother in texture.

To accompany the said dish, I had one schublig sliced and cooked and opened a small pack of smoked salmon. For these two dishes, I prepared a dill sauce without dill which I didn’t have in the pantry nor Rustan’s in its shelves. The dill sauce without dill consisted of mayo, Dijon mustard, white pepper and white sugar to taste. Also had some American bread transformed into garlic bread (used butter with crushed garlic). I’m more cost-conscious these days so where cheaper substitutes are available, I substitute. For the pasta dish, though, I chose to get special cheeses to test the recipe in its original form, or the closest possible.

Why was my menu the way it was? Over the weekend, I read an article on the Novartis GM (President?) in the Philippines. A German, he said that dinner time consists of cold food for Gemans, perhaps cold cuts, cheese and salads. Is that healthier, I wonder?

Back in 1980, when my sister and I visited Germany where two other sisters were based, we were invited to dinner by a German couple. That time I wasn’t into eating “sophisticated” food. I was so sad to see the table laden with smoked salmon, bread and greens. I took two slices of salmon and had them slide down my esophagus. I took one small leaf and swallowed it. That was quite an ordeal!

Novena to Saint Anthony for Any need

Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, my patron saint. For that reason, I’d like to share with you the following prayer. (St. Anthony’s intercession is often requested by people who are missing something. I, for one, prayed to him last night when my son at midnight asked where his Bible was. He needed it for class at 8 a.m. today. I asked St. Anthony to help find it, saying I wouldn’t be able to hear mass this morning if it couldn’t be found as then the maid would have to look for it. My son found his Bible.)

The prayer:

St. Anthony,  you are glorious for your miracles and for the condescension of Jesus Who came as a little child to lie in your arms. Obtain for me from His bounty the grace which I ardently desire. you were so compassionate towards sinners, do not regard my unworthiness. let the glory of God be magnified by you in connection with the particular request that I earnestly present to you.

(State your request here.)

As a pledge of my gratitude, I promise to live more faithfully in accordance with the teachings of the Church, and to be devoted to the service of the poor whom you loved and still love so greatly. Bless this resolution of mine that I may be faithful to it until death.

St. Anthony, consoler of the afflicted, pray for me.

St. Anthony, helper of all who invoke you, pray for me.

St. Anthony, whom the Infant Jesus loved and honored so much, pray for me. Amen.

(I got the above prayer form the parish church. And just in case you’re wondering why I put in two images (got them from the Internet: google images), the explanation is thus: according to our parish priest, St. Anthony’s always associated with lilies because of his purity. He’s also associated with the bible because he was a preacher. Since I couldn’t find a stampita (image) with both, I decided to put two different ones. Happy feastday, St. Anthony.)

Gelli de Belen as host

Congratulations, gelli! You handled your interview with Lorna and Lolit, a few minutes before Rudy’s interment very creditably and ably. Ironically, peeved with UH earlier this a.m., I decided to switch on to Channel 2 and saw Kris Aquino interviewing LT. LT was rather stiff and Kris’s questions were kilometric, leaving LT with little else to say. LT’s presence in Channel 2 took me aback because I know her to be a Kapuso talent along with Rudy and Mark, plus earlier today, I read an article stating that Daboy had endorsed his body of work to Channel 2 for safekeeping and showing prior to his demise. The article explained that Daboy was impressed by Channel 2’s state of art technology, hence his decision. The said channel also has FPJ’s movies for safekeeping. Hence, LT’s presence in kris’s show alarmed me: had she transferred to Channel 2? I hoped not/I hope not… SO it was reassuring to see LT also on 7. I hope Lolit insists she stay there, my UH woes notwithstanding

So Gelli, again congratulations for a job well done! You have what it takes to be a good host. You ask short enough questions, you listen to your interviewee and you appear sympathetic without sounding patronizing. Galing!

 

Buying Textbooks

Way back in the sixties up to the early seventies when I was a young school girl in Bacolod, I’d get my textbooks mostly In Servando’s, which my other preferred over Lopue’s. When it was not available in the former, we had no choice but to go to the latter. Actually, the books were available for sale in school, but I guess my mother wanted to save precious pesos so buying textbooks in school was a last resort or make that second to the last. Occasionally, you see the school didn’t have the book either, so then I’d have to call my sisters via long distance in Manila or write a letter sent via air mail or a famiy friend who worked in PAL (domestic airport) and lived near the apartment where my sisters stayed. Wow, recalling all that makes it seem so long ago.

Unang Hirit, quo vadis?

It used to be that Unang Hirit was an entertaining show, running from 5:15 a.m. to 8:30. But why has it deteriorated so?

For 3 hours and 15 minutes the past days, there have been commercials galore and a sprinkling of UH along the way. I can’t believe it. They flash the UH logo between commercials which in the past would indicate the resumption of the show after the commercials but today, after the logo is flashed, one gets either another spate of commercials or very brief splotches of UH.

Sure, I understand that UH needs commercials but at the expense of the viewers? We turn on our TV sets to watch a show dotted with commercials but not the other way around. watching UH has become such a waste of time and money in terms of having to pay electricity to watch commercials ad nauseum. How sad. Occasionally, commercials are replaced by trailers of GMA’s forthcoming or newly emerged shows. When I began typing this, commercials were on. Now, several minutes later, commercials are still on. Heard Suzi’s voice a bit but only because she was endorsing something.

Is the competition so weak that GMA thinks it can just throw in bits of the show in between so many commercials without losing viewers? It has certainly lost me, so now I’ll turn off the TV or watch some other show. I’m so sad/angry.

 

Samsung Laser Printers – I need your advice! Quick.

Around this time last year, we bought a Samsung laser printer for P4k more or less because my son needed the Calculus book of Stewart which was unavailable here in the Philippines. Luckily for him, my husband had downloaded several math books months before, among them the said book which consisted of a thousand or more pages. What to do? Print the book, right? But not every page, my occasionally spendthrift son said, only as needed.

To cut printing time short (we’re apparently not paragons of patience), we decided to buy a laser printer, famous for its printing speed, not to mention quality. Another great come-on, of course, was the quality, but not so much a come-on as speed.

In brochures and flyers, laser printers are touted to be able to print several thousands of pages, so we were taken aback when some weeks back or barely a year after the printer’s purchase, the ink it spewed was no longer consistent. Saturday I called Villman in Katipunan where we bought the printer to ask if they had ink on stock for Model 2010. None they said. Here we go again, I thought. No after sales service (remember Godin?) Not wishing to be stressed, and without any other numbers of computer shops in the vicinity I passed the problem to my techie husband. He called Villman who said they’d order the ink. When I called this a.m., they still didn’t have any. Meantime, our HP printer had also run out of ink so we bought a black cartridge for a little over a thousand. This one was readily available, also from Villman.

Before I called Villman, this a.m. though, I saw this ad of Samsung laser printers and saw that one of their models cost but P3995. It occurred to me then that buying a new one though of a lower number (hence lower capacity?) might be the better option because then a new printer would mean a one-year warranty all over again. Not that the one we had needed servicing in the one year we’ve had it. Anyway I called Villman and learned that they have the 1610 model and it cost lower than advertised at P3984. They also had ink for the said printer on stock at P2995. when I asked how much ink for 2010 would cost, the sales clerk said P2995 or higher. Last week when I called I was given a definite answer: P3995. Same store, different levels of certainty, depending on whom one spoke with. Anyway…

So I asked the lady to advise me: should I buy a toner or a new printer? I also asked how many pages a toner could print, she said 3000. I then asked so why did the printer we bought print fewer than that number? She said, and maybe it’s true, when one buys a printer, the ink/toner that comes along with it isn’t as much as what’s contained in a toner one buys/pays for. Oh, that may explain it. So while before I thought getting a new printer would be the better alternative, now I wonder. Let’s do the math. If I get a new toner for P3995 for the existing printer, then that would cost me some P1.33 per page. If I pay P3984 for a new printer with just half the amount of toner, that would cost me P3.00 plus per page. the downside would be the lack of warranty for one year for the first option. What a dilemma. So what do I do?

When I told my husband this, he recalled how Gilette sells its shavers at a pittance but how highly priced the blades are. what to do now? (kulit ba?)

hurry, will someone advise me please? 

Prudentialife Educational Plan

It has been a year since my son first availed of the educational plan I got him 17 years ago and so far, so good. What I’ve been doing is this: faxing the requirements to the Makati office and getting the check two days later in Prudentialife’s office in the Galleria Business Center which is accessible through the mall from the fourth floor. Or one can go direct to the ground floor of the Business Center and ride the elevator to the sixth floor.

I’ve gotten my checks at various times of the day and the best time it seems is to get it soon after lunch (1 p.m.) or late in the pm, just before 5. Then one doesn’t have to wait too long. The last time we did, just a few days ago, we went at almost 2 pm and the room was almost full of people, but comfortably seated everyone was. Some were at that point of filling up their forms and submitting the requirements after which they were issued a slip of paper telling them when they could claim the check. Being disabled, I had asked Ms. Catap of the Makati office if I could merely fax the requirements so that I’d just have to make one trip to their office to claim the check. Fortunately for me, she accommodated my request.

I’ve been wanting to blog favorably about Prudentialife for the longest time because I have been very much satisfied by their service and their fulfillment of their promise to pay for my son’s education, but somehow my apprehensions about a reprise of our experience with Pacific Plans would take place. For while Pacific Educational Plans was okay for the first three years of my son’s stay in high school, it reneged on its commitment starting schoolyear 2006-2007. Hopefully, Prudentialife will keep good its word, not only until my son graduates but until all the students whose parents or guardians have obtained a plan from them graduate. It’s only fair. It’s only just. It’s only proper.

Getting the Correct Change

Back when I was younger, whenever an establishment didn’t have the coins for change, they’d give a candy supposedly equivalent in cost to what change they owe you. What about now?

Have people become less honest or uncaring? What makes me ask, you might wonder?

Yesterday, we had lunch at Fish and Co in Shangrila. While more often than not I don’t count change, yesterday I did and lo and behold, I noticed they owed me P0.75. After having had a satisfying meal, I didn’t want to upset my digestive system by all too soon raising bile. I just gave them a smaller tip than I would have. Tit for tat? Because there wasn’t even an explanation extended, they just gave change that was less than they should have.

This pm, we were in Shangrila again to have the blouse I bought yesterday exchanged for a smaller size. No, I haven’t lost weight, I just happened to buy a blouse that was too big. Before leaving for home, I ordered pizza at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) on the second floor. Again, I counted my change and guess what, yes you guessed it, it was P0.75 short. And again not being in a particularly quarrelsome mode, rather than confront the smiling waiter at this oversight/shortchange, I merely gave a tip smaller than I would have. Again, tit for tat.

Moral of the story? Pay using your credit card so you don’t have to pay more than you should against your will. Suffering from hypertension because of such incidents is just not worth it. Medicines cost so much, these days.

Or maybe, blog about it and pray someone who looks out for the rights of consumers reads your blog. Like the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) perhaps? Wishful thinking.

 

 

A blog worth a read and frequent visits thereafter

Read the blog of my son’s friend and came across this link. Visited the said site and while it’s mostly on techie stuff, it’s written so well that I intend to frequently visit it. Blogger writes on Nokia updates, Google mapping and similar stuff. He came up with Lakbayan to help you determine how much you’ve seen/visited of the Philippines. Check this out.

Rudy Fernandez, LT and their sons

Years back, when my son was in grade school at the Ateneo, I decided to witness the opening of the school fair. Rather early, I thought, with mass held at 7:30 or 8:00, following which a ribbon was cut and the affair declared open.

That year I attended, I was flabbergasted because who were there to cut the ribbon? Rudy and Lorna, not only because they were showbiz personalities but also because they happened to be the parents of two grade school Ateneans: Raprap and Renz Marion. They got considerable applause for their gesture.

Fast forward to a few years later. Rudy Fernandez was running for mayor of Quezon City. We were near the traffic light between St. Ignatius Village and Blue Ridge. He smiled and waved warmly at everyone, ourselves included. That he lost, I guess, disappointed him, but maybe it was for the best because at least he died without any political intrigues hounding him.

Flashback to a few years ago. In a reality show on GMA (Extra Challenge, I believe?) two of the sibling contestants were Ralph and Renz, this time, young college boys. The challenges showed them to be not only siblings but friends as Raphe volunteered to take on the harder tasks to spare his younger brother. They cheered each other on and it warmed the heart to see the two behaving thus and so circumspectly.

Since then I’ve read every article featuring the family (I avoid reading about one star’s daughter who’s everywhere, it’s nauseating). I read their letters to Rudy months back and these were very beautifully written. How I wish I had kept copies of these, which came out in Ricky Lo’s column.

Raphe has graduated from college, I’m not sure about Renz though I read he was in college. Regardless, thus far, there hasn’t been any news about these two boys’ getting into any trouble. For a while they had this bar (Tribu, was it?) where there was a brawl among customers, but they weren’t involved.

I think Lorna and Rudy ought to take the credit for raising such fine young men.

Now their father’s gone but I think they’ll manage. They have what it takes to do so. LT proudly declared this afternoon how the family members are affectionate with each other, hugging, kissing, conversing with each other. And it shows. (Raphe mentioned how he’d bring Rudy food from Perspolis in Katipunan which Rudy liked very much, while Renz mentioned how he had shown his father he loved him ever since he was born) And LT didn’t pretend that Rudy was a saint throughout, stating that despite all that they had been through, she knew that in the end, it was she whom he loved. 

This pm, as she appeared on TV, she looked her prettiest. She glowed, no doubt blessed for all the pain and suffering and sacrifices she underwent these past years.

May Rudy rest in peace…

 

Pia Guanio as Talk Show Host

I like Pia Guanio: how she looks, how she dresses, how she dances even. I think she’s cute. But how I detest the way she hosts Showbiz Central, which is shown on GMA 7 Sundays. Here hosting is particularly awful when her guest interviewee has just undergone a painful transition. Then Pia’s face goes also sad and worried. Then she speaks very slowly, carefully choosing her words. Then she probes and probes with the end in view, at least that’s how it seems to me, to make her guest cry, feel sorry for herself, the works.

But her ruse didn’t work with the Fernandez brothers, yes, Rudy and Lorna’s sons, Raphe and Renz, who are apparently, intelligent boys. They answered Pia’s probing questions politely but, I think, put her in her place. A few hours ago, she asked them how they felt about their Dad’s passing. In particular, she asked Renz when he started to show Rudy how much he loved his father. 

I think at this point, Pia was expecting an answer like “ever since he got sick” or something along those lines. But Renz came up with a brilliant answer, saying, as soon as I was born. Which should be the case, not just when one’s loved one is sick, right? Pia, your scriptwriter should be fired, or you should be intelligent enough to screen the questions handed you. Don’t be obtuse. This is where one appreciates Joey de Leon’s humor. Joey is sensitive, his jokes notwithstanding. When he senses that an interviewee is on the verge of tears, he cracks a joke. Learn from him, Pia. No one wants to cry especially not on national TV. Did you notice how LT said something like she didn’t want to cry or she knew she would and wished the tears away? When Joey tries to joke, it’s not because he is insensitive to a guest’s woes. On the contrary, he doesn’t want the guest to be mournful but to somehow see the silver lining beyond the dark clouds. 

 

Batanes aka Utopia?

My husband came back from Batanes yesterday and he spoke glowingly of its beauty and its people. He marveled at their simplicity, their honesty, their overall personas. There is the Honesty Coffee Shop where one can take what one likes and pay for it in a box with a slot like a piggy bank. No one was around to serve anyone nor to monitor if one paid.

The jail had no locks. In it were two Vietnamese fishermen, there for a year or so, arrested for illegal fishing. The tour guide of my husband’s group gave the two men a cake. How kind of him, who is himself a government employee who serves as a tour guide on the side. His name is Roger.

While my husband was there, a 6.3 earthquake was noted southwest of Basco but he didn’t even feel it. No tsunami warning was issued eiter. Though I worried, I recalled Sodom and Gomorra and was confident God would spare Batanes and its good people from such a devastation. Without meaning to sound humbug, I can say he did last Sunday and I guess, forever, if the people there continue to be they way they are.

Oh, if only it were nearer. Oh, if only it weren’t such an impossible destination for someone who’s wheelchair bound. Though I read in someone’s account that their group had a person in a wheelchair along. Seeing the pictures of Batanes, though, I’d tend to think that going there with anyone in the state I’m in would constrain them from seeing and experiencing more of the place. Yet, who knows? 

I’ll try to post some of the beautiful pictures my husband took. They so look like paintings.

The first picture is of Batanes Resort: . This was where they stayed.

And by the way, he brought home some peanut candy bars and bukayo, as well as these:

 A garland of garlic for only P75 and this vakul

Soundcheck

“SOUNDCHECK” 
a pass-the-hat fund raising concert  

featuring 
JOEY AYALA
NOEL CABANGON
BAYANG BARRIOS
BUKAS PALAD
HANGAD 

And many more artists

June 9 
7:30 pm 
3rd flr, The Garage, Sonolux (Jescom) Building, Ateneo de Manila University*

ADMISSION IS FREE!

“SOUNDCHECK” is a fund raising concert for Robbie Grande, noted sound engineer of Bukas Palad, Joey Ayala, Noel Cabangon & many more artists, who had to go through a major operation (Ilizarov) in early May. 

Your donations are most welcome. Please do invite your family and friends!

See you there!

***********************

(There’s a possibility that the event will be moved to bigger venue, also inside Ateneo de Manila, to accommodate more people. Please come early so that in case you do not hear about the venue change early enough, you have enough time to move to the new venue. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks a lot!)

Tags: hangad, music

Citibank: Now, that’s service!

A few days ago, I received a brochure of Citibank’s credit card rewards and decided to avail of the Panasonic cordless phone. I promptly called up their 24-hour customer service number (995-9999) and was assured I’d get the phone in three weeks. What do you know, barely 5 days later, I have it right beside me. Thank you very much, Citibank! And to the one who took my request as well.

Rustan’s Frequent Shoppers arm had inserted a flyer in the Citibank brochure mentioning that FSP holders should update their info in Rustan’s between June 1 and 30, 2008. Doing so entitled one to a gift, the flyer said.

Being a sucker for gifts (hahaha, inamin), I promptly hied off to the 4th floor of Rustan’s in Shangrila, to the concierge office where I waited a bit while two others were attended to, after which I was given a form to fill up — the usual stuff: name, address, email, etc. After that was done, the lady attending to me gave me a small, white Rustan’s shopping bag with a small box in it. When I looked, I thought it was lipstick (which would have been useless for me), but lo and behold, it was eau de 2 peas, mandarin scent, made in Australia. It’s not the spray type but has this plastic thingy  (can’t remember what it’s called) which you dip into the perfume and dab on your pulse points. Thanks very much, Rustan’s. As always, you are the best, and I mean it! 

Celebrity Sightings 3

Who	Where	When	Other details
Bing and Teresa Loyzaga	Shangrila	Years ago	Separate occasions
Ronaldo Valdez	Power Plant	Years ago	Separate occasions
Francis Magalona	Outside the church after mass, in Rustan’s Katipunan	Years ago	With his family
Jaclyn Jose	Rustan’s Katipunan	Years ago	With daughter
Paolo Ballesteros	Power Plant	Years ago	Alone
Paolo Bediones	Terry’s Selection	Years ago	discussing business with a few others
Rufa Mae Quintos	Makati Shang	Years ago	With a date, but they left without ordering – good decision there wasn’t too much food in the buffet spread
Lea Salonga	Cibo Shangrila	Years ago	With her mom, she obliged request to pose for a photo with a fan – very gracious
Ruffa Gutierrez, Annabelle Rama, Eddie Gutierrez	Kimpura Greenhills	Many, many years ago	Having a meal
Richard Gutierrez and Nicole ____(jean Saburit’s daughter)	Zara Shangrila	A year ago	He was patiently waiting for her while she was trying on some clothes – no showbiz airs there, a good friend
Korina Sanchez and Jessica Soho	Virra Mall Greenhills	Many years ago	Walking, Korina in an all red get-up, Jessica simply clad – two separate occasions, not together
Sherilyn Reyes	Greenhills	Many years ago	She smiled
Ai-ai de las Alas	Greenhills	Many years ago	She had no make-up on, all pink jogging pants and sweat shirt
Mitch Valdez	Shang and Greenhills	Many years ago	While waiting for her order, she was reading a book (Gone with the Wind or something of the same genre)
Edu and Lucky Manzano	Greenhills	Many, many years ago	Walking, Edu’s gait is the same on and off-camera, Lucky (Luis) wasn’t yet in showbiz
Ruby Rodriguez	Power Plant	A year or so ago	With daughter Toni outside Planet Sports
Cherrie Pie Picache	Shangrila, Level 4	Hours ago	I heard a voice talking to someone, they walked past me and my suspicions were confirmed: Cherrie Pie with her son and a young lady.
Michael de Mesa, Eddie Mesa, Rosemarie Gil	Shangrila	Hours ago	About to enter the elevator in Level 6. There was a young girl with them

 

 

Power Books

Having just come from Batanes this morning, my husband is all agog about it and wanted to buy books on  Batanes and DVDs shot in the place, namely, Hihintayin Kita sa Langit (paging Armida Siguion Reyna– have you put it out on DVD?) and Batanes (calling GMA Films – Astro Vision in Shang said they don’t have it, never have).

So we hied off to National Book Store in  Shangrila Mall a few hours after he landed in search of books and DVDs, particularly books by Florentino Hornedo, who hails from Batanes and is a scholar on things related to the province.

At Shangrila, their database showed several books by Hornedo but the two titles specific to Batanes were unavailable. Did their other branches have the two books? They couldn’t tell. They weren’t online. Okay, duh. High tech na nga sana, pero kulang. Oh well.

Next we went to the more sophisticated version of National, Power Books, just five floors up. This was what happened:

I entered the bookstore alone and when I saw a lady, I said, “may Filipiniana section kayo?” She said, “Sandali lang ma’am ha.” I said “Ok.”

Soon she was done attending to the lady before me and got out of the counter. She went past me and said “Ma’am hahanapin ko na ha” as she was about to go deeper into the store. I said, “Alam mo na ang title?” I was amazed because I know I didn’t tell her the titles yet. She said, “Di ba Filipiniana?” So I patiently explained, “Kapag sinabing Filipiniana, ibig sabihin ang author FIlipino.” She said, “ah, dun, maraming coffee table books.” I said “ok.” I wasn’t in the mood to explain some more. Duh.

Earlier while waiting for her to attend to me, I approached another lady in the counter. I asked “may Filipiniana books kayo, yung author Filipino?” She said, “marami diyan o, children’s books.”

I don’t mean to criticize these sales clerks because I don’t think their ignorance is something to be maligned per se. I think the person/entity to blame here is management for the lack of training they give their personnel. Why?  A Different Bookstore and it’s sister company Ink and Stone, as well as Fully Booked have people who can talk books/authors intelligently with you. So why not the sales people of National and Power Books? Years back, I was looking at health books and I almost laughed out loud. Guess what I saw among those books? Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera. Of course you know why.

Take note, though, that I’m not saying everyone in National Bookstore/Power Books is as clueless. While I can’t cite specific names in Power Books, in National there was/is Dory (she left National years ago), Alice (she’s still in the Shangrila branch) and Myra (formerly in Katipunan, now or last I heard in the Clark branch). Their brand of service and their product knowledge – commendable. While thinking of them, I suddenly remember Bookmark that later morphed into A Filipino Bookstore and then back to Bookmark. Sadly while it used to have several branches, I believe it has but one store now in Makati. But the service remains exemplary. Try calling or visiting Bookmark and you’ll be very much satisfied. I did, two years ago, in search of Voyages in English. They were able to supply me 8 copies of the book without any trouble. But I especially value all the help Mrs. Ferrer of Bookmark in Ali Mall extended.

This incident occurred over 20 years ago. I bought a workbook in Bacolod printed by Bookmark. It had missing pages. I called the branch of Mrs. Ferrer and without any second thoughts, she told me to bring it to the store where she promptly replacedit with a good copy. Now I wonder where she is. It was so nice to just be able to call her for any book because she went the extra mile to find it for me at a time when inventories weren’t yet computerized. Carmen Ferrer. I’ll never forget her.

Lack of passion for one’s work, being at it simply for the money is very telling. I’m not saying that it’s bad to work simply for the money but once you’re on the job, maybe it’s best if you learn to love it so you’ll excel in what you’re doing? So it won’t seem like work? Just a thought…

Still on bookstores, back in the 1970s, I was a high school student in Bacolod. At the back of Atlas Drugstore in Lacson Street was a bookstore. Mostly selling best-sellers and pocketbooks. When I walked into it (yes I could walk before), I saw just one lady manning the store, seated behind a desk. I said in the vernacular, “how lucky you are, you can just read any book here.” She gave me a blank stare. Ah, ok. Different wavelength.

So there.

I’d have loved to work in a bookstore and breathe in the smell of new books every day, the way I do every time we pass Fully Booked in Serendra and its doors are wide open to welcome people who love to read or browse. I swoon, literally. I sigh. My husband understands why, luckily.

Burger King – inis – sucks!

It all began with an enticing article on the front page yet of Philippine Star, extolling the virtues of Burger King’s offerings: Angus Beef sandwiches. It was before 9 a.m. when I read the article and promptly called PLDT 187 (Information) for BK’s delivery number. PLDT gave me a number 440 something but that yielded an operator who said “Global” something. So I called PLDT and complained and they gave me the number of the Concepcion branch. I won’t bother posting it here because no one answered (I later learned BK Concepcion had close). I called PLDT again. They gave me the E Rodriguez branch’s number. The girl who answered (this was close to 12 noon) said they could deliver to Loyola Heights but their rider was in Espana, having some money changed. She had no idea, she said, what time the rider would be back. She suggested I called the Marcos Hi-way branch, which I did. The one who answered said they don’t deliver to Loyola and I should try the E-Rod branch. I said I was referred to Marcos Hi-way. She said “Okay, but are you willing to wait an hour?” I said “yes” but she gave me the number of TImog which she said I should try calling because Timog is in QC. Timog again turned me down. So I ordered lunch from Kami Rori instead.

This evening. raring for Angus Beef burger, I thought of calling the E-Rod branch on the presumption that the rider will have been back. Wow, he was but he said Loyola Heights is too far. He asked what the landmarks were and before I could even answer, he kept complaining he didn’t know the area. He again said I should try Marcos Hi-way. My patience was running out but I wanted an Angus Beef burger! Marcos Hi-way refused. I asked for their Gateway number because my son said there’s a BK in Gateway. I called Gateway and the one who answered excused herself after I asked and came back to say they no longer deliver.

Oh well. My love affair with Burger King’s Angus beef burger ended without even having begun. So BK will not get any free plugging from me. You’ll have to call 187 for its various branches’ numbers. 

(is it this kind of service that caused BK to cut down on branches because it wasn’t generating enough sales? Jollibee, Wendy’s and McDO are doing very well, but BK…. is it Manny Pangilinan who owns this now? At least that’s what I read recently. If he wants his investment in BK to succeed he should do something about its personnel fast!)