incessant rambling

after watching watchmen and spending time in off roads, i dragged my best friend to the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue so we can check out the One Visayas Event. just in case you are not aware, the Philippines hold the record as the country with the most number of islands, a total of 7,107 (depending on the tide, it can actually increase or decrease by a few count) Of these islands, about 2,773 are named so there is still that chance i can buy one and name it Cacho. Only gorgeous and nice people can become citizens. The Visayas group of islands is right in the middle and is accessible via plane (and plane crashes) as well as local, international and pirate boats that ply the virgin (and sometimes oil spill tainted) coastlines. An event like One Visayas [click to search for One Visayas posts] is an event that has been waiting to happen, and finally they got to feature the various visayan regions in a week long display of arts, theater, film, culinary demonstrations, to...

one visayas, cicc, mandaue

adobo flakes oh yes, i've done a number of adobo entries in this blog, but i couldn't help salivate at the thought of doing the mother of all adobo entries. the premise is simple enough, marco polo flew in four chefs from all over the philippines to do a limited edition cook off ala iron chef with one theme in mind: adobo. unfortunately, with competitions, there is a single winner and many losers. hopefully not sour (pun intended) losers. glenda barretto represented samar from eastern visayas, danny de la cuesta brought northern luzon to central visayas, batangas sent myrna segismundo and nancy reyes represented the tagalog region. after going through the spread, sampling 7 dishes, only two came up to my definition of what makes adobo great: should have a strong salty body with the sour undertone of vinegar and that element of surprise. that and copious amount of fat. adobo without the fat is like ice cream without the cream. first off, i was a bit disappointed to find ...

capiz shell chandelier. just make sure you don't position it near a window or a strong source of wind. untangling the mess can cause serious stress. they had to evacuate thousands of sea slugs to make one of these pretty balls. these aren't the same balls you hang on your christmas tree dearie. obviously, these people didn't get the memo: LEAVE THE SEA SHELLS IN THE SEA. just in case you're wondering what's with the title and you don't know nemo, you've already lost touch with the child in you and probably won't connect with this particular post. but, if you're the smart ass genius in class you'd probably say that nemo lives in sea anemones and not in shells. whatever. they're sea critters. (garnished with cheese, salt and pepper then grilled over an open flame - yuuuumy) One Visayas Crafts and Culture Display March 3, 2009

At the start of this particular millennium, I read for the first time about Santiago de Campostela in a book by Paolo Coelho who wrote about his pilgrimage in Northern Spain. I didn’t expect that I’d be reconnected with the same history in a town much closer to home in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga. take note of the wooden floors, low view of the main altar from the entrance betis church, exterior The curiously grand baroque church of Betis is dedicated to the town patron Apung Tiago, otherwise known as St. James the Great. The name Santiago is an abbreviation of the original Latin “Sanctus” and standard Hebrew “Ya-agov” or “Ya-aqo” that means “lacobus” in latin. “Lacobus” means “lago” or “Jaime” in Spain and translates to “James” in English. the baptismal area wide view of the altar Santiago de Campostela is famous in Gallica, Spain as a pilgrimage route that leads to the shrine where legend says the dead body of Santiago was brought by angels in an unattended boat fro...

Filipinos Love Food. This is the only country where we have snacks in between snacks. My friends who end up in Cebu always ask: "Where can we find good food?" if you're like me who haven't evolved that far from our cavemen ancestors, you probably have a liking for meat. genormously huge baby back ribs with meat literally falling off the bone, slathered with sweet and peppery tamarind infused barbecue sauce and served with bits of vegetables and garlic rice on top of hotsa-hot sizzling plate is probably your choice of hunt. if this describes your facebook / multiply / friendster profile then pick up your club and head off to Casa Verde along V. Ranudo Extension (details at the end of the post). This place is probably one of the worst kept secret of Cebu and if you haven't heard of this place, then, you, truly, are, clueless. Miss it and you actually save half your life as the extremely rich food in Verde is decidedly part of my artery-clogging list. Equally sumpt...

attended the 4th symposium for the mathematical aspect of computer science held in UP Visayas. The venue served as an art exhibit for joya awardees. Though am less than "inspired" by the art display, one work of art cleanly stood out from the rest. a blank canvas painted white and a cell phone SIM card stuck in the middle. duh. reminded me of certain people who has a knack for finding the deepest meaning out of seemingly meaningless random events. in an art exhibit in makati, an artsy fartsy fellow kept gushing about a free-form sculpture calling it the symbol of man's decay. the janitor came up and carted it off. startled, he asked where he was taking the object and the janitor replied: basura to ser. (this is the trash...) enough said.