incessant rambling

if i have a routine that i follow then it would be my early morning scan of cebu daily news for the local news that is made much more interesting due to the fact that i've probably interacted with the teleserye players in person. admittedly, i have a strange fascination with anything related to "kris aquino" the brand rather than the person. i am sure you'll indulge me my daily dose of nonsense because "kris" is nothing more than open mouth, drop jaw flabbergasted reaction to nonsense. i am fascinated with "kris" although i am not sure i like kris. yup, that's some sort of metaphysical chuva-cho-choo statement. and i disagree with the whole lot of people that associate kris as noy (i voted or him) and noy as kris. please, they're like two ends of a bipolar personality. i rarely scan the national news, because let's admit it - Cebu IS the NATION (at least in my eyes). this city has become a classic example of how it should operate ...

i kind of figured that it was a full moon yesterday. i had this craving to sink my fangs on something meaty. roar. kapampangan is arguably the best in fiipino cuisine and who would have thought that one would find a bistro specializing in manyaman (pampangan word for delicious) food right in the center of Cebu City? I settled for a lunch date with my cousin (something that's three months late!) in bop bernie's (click on read.more for restaurant details) because there's nothing better than catching up on stories over great food and they offer something for every palate. callos, lengua, stuffed squid, dinuguan na maasim, lechon kawali, mestizang bangus, bangus sa gata, sisig. i've sampled each and every one of these dishes in previous visits but my favorite is the sizzling pork steak. size does matter. and this slab of pork meat rubbed deep with 16 spices, grilled and set on a hot sizzling plate delivers on its promise. humongous. there's no other way to d...

i glossed over the local newspaper and saw the picture of imelda plastered (i meant the picture) on the front page and a caption that she's the celebrated guest of the one cebu event aside from gracing the opening of  museu sugbo. from a disgraced wife of a tyrannical dictator who "allegedly" plundered the country coffers she is now the representative of ilocos norte and apparently, a guest of honor of the province. frankly i wouldn't be caught in a picture with her (not that i'm important enough) unless am standing beside her in madam tussaud's wax museum. with a blow torch in my hands. on other (un)related news, robin gives a ring to mariel with a sappy line that she's the only one he's ever given a ring to. i wonder what he gave liezl when they got married? a nose ring? this event is rather convenient for mariel who broke up with boyfriend zanjoe due to "complications" just weeks before. "complications" defined as a certain...

medyo may hang over pa ko sa kabusugan yesterday. kaya sabi ko sa best friend ko, mag order na lang ako ng cheeseburger with fries na meal for lunch. diet kuno. sabi ni ron, e kung nag da-diet ka, penge na lang ng one fourth ng burger mo. sabi ko naman... sige hati na lang tayo. sa yo na yung other half. cute nga ng burger, nag serve pa sila ng cocktail fork tsaka miniature fries. yun bang parang pang pik-nik yun nga lang, maliit din kamay ni ron, bagay na bagay sa cocktail fork. sa tuwa namin, pinatong pa nga namin ang fork and butter knife sa burger. ang liit eh. pero ewan ko. parang naduleng ako sa pagkain ng one fourth pa lang. isipin mo na lang kung one whole. hindi naman ako gutom. slight lang.

i've passed by Casa Escaño (bed and breakfast) a number of times and i've always been curious about don merto, the restaurant. i haven't heard any particular news about the place except for the fact that they offer buffets on certain days of the week. great if you're not a hindu and you have a craving for the buffet special: beef. more interesting to me was the fact that a friend of mine is named after the grand patriarch of the Escaño clan, Don Mamerto Escaño. running out of restaurant options, i asked mamerts for recommendation from don mertos and it was a bit of a surprise (and a tad disappointing) when he answered "burgers". i am not really a burger person. then he recommended "steak". fair enough, the place is known for steaks. except that again, it is not really high on my list. armed with my camera, i drove to don mertos after sunday church services with ron to grab lunch. the other friends were all occupied that sunday. darn. wa...

i know i should not be taking pictures while mass is going on. on the other hand i just couldn't let the moment pass when i know it might never come again. a child of about three years old wearing a bedraggled dirty shirt walked in the church, clutching a ball in his tiny hands. he went straight to a backless pew set against the wall and struggled to get up. he sat there, still and silent. when it was obvious he wasn't going to go anywhere, i silently pulled out my camera and took these pictures. he struggled going down the bench as his feet can barely touch the floor and when he got to his feet he looked up at the people standing around him. a guard came up and prodded the child to get out, without a word he walked out, still clutching the small ball in his hands. i couldn't concentrate during the mass as my mind wandered and thought where he might be and the whereabouts of his parents. i felt a familiar tug in my chest and that feeling of running out of air. i...