Food Places to Check Out (When Self Goes to Manila in January)

The latest issue of Filipinas Magazine arrived in self’s mailbox ripped and torn (perhaps a neighbor’s dog got to it —  ha ha ha!).  Still, self was able to read most of the pages (except for the cover). Self’s been clipping articles and putting them aside for her upcoming trip.  On p. 9, she finds a list of food recommendations by Claude Tayag, who started out as a painter, who has built himself a stunning house — which self was fortunate enough to visit, with son, in 2004 —  filled with his artwork and handmade furniture, and who is now, according to Filipinas, “the Philippines’ most renowned food expert/restaurateur”.  Wow!  Talk about a fascinating career arc!

Now, Claude has drawn up a list of the best “hole-in-the-wall” food joints in the Philippines (Yum!  Yum!)

There are places in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan and Pampanga, Negros Oriental and Cebu.  But the places self is really interested in are the ones in Iloilo City (birthplace of self’s Dear Departed Lola, as well as self’s mother-in-law) and Negros Occidental (birthplace of self’s Dear Departed Dad).  Here are those places:

• In Iloilo City:  Tatoy’s and Breakthrough, “a toss-up for the best seafood” (If only Claude had included street addresses, for it might be a tad difficult for self to find some of these places —  that is, if they are indeed true hole-in-the-wall eateries)
• Again in Iloilo City:  Deko’s or Ted’s, another toss-up for the best batchoy (Hey, that’s self’s nickname!  What the @@##!!)
• Bacolod City:  Enting’s Special, for its “several kinds of kinilaw” (our home-grown version of the Peruvian cebiche)

God, self’s mouth is watering, so great is her anticipation about sampling these places.  Only two more months to go!  Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

The Pacific Rim Review of Books, Summer 2008 Issue

It is a bee-yoo-ti-ful day, dear blog readers!

Self doesn’t know why, but she finds herself becoming extremely reticent about sharing family stories these days.  One would think self would just be bursting with juicy stories (especially asDearest Mum is currently visiting), but alas, today self is feeling quite sedate.  Perhaps she is simply overworked?  And her brain has gone into hibernation?

What self has been able to do without flagging, however, is read  —  as, witness the amount of quotes she posts daily.  Here is self, commenting on the Pacific Rim Review of Books, published in Vancouver by Trevor Carolan.  It’s an old issue, the Summer 2008 issue, but the reason self wishes to post about it is:  this is the issue which contains self’s interview with Linh Dinh.  And Linh is such a fascinating character (as she is sure all dear blog readers will agree), that self can never get enough of him, and so anyone who harbors anything more than just a passing fancy for Vietnamese literature should check out self’s interview in said issue of PRRB.

Another reason why self feels that dear blog readers should rush out and order this particular issue is that there are quite a number of wonderful reviews in it, including one by that literary prodigy, Frances Cabahug (She’s 23, so that qualifies as a “literary prodigy,” in self’s book)

Anyhoo, here is a short list of books self is interested in reading after reading their reviews in the PRRB Summer 2008 issue:

1.)   After reading Fred Young’s review (Young is identified as “a professional accountant with decades of experience in paper recycling and the packaging industry”) of Robyn Meredith’s The Elephant and the Dragon:

Robyn Meredith’s The Elephant and the Dragon

2.)   After reading Hillel Wright’s review (Wright is identified as the “author of the novel Border Town“) of A Wild Haruki Chase:  Reading Murakami Around the World, a compilation of essays from The Japan Foundation’s 2006 symposium on Haruki Murakami:

The Japan Foundation’s A Wild Haruki Chase:  Reading Murakami Around the World

3.)   After reading Richard Wirick’s review (Wirick is identified as the “co-founder and editor of the journal Transformation“) of David Samuels’ The Runner:  A True Account of the Amazing Lies and Fantastical Adventures of the Ivy League Impostor James Hogue:

Geoffrey Wolff’s 1979 memoir, Duke of Deception

David Samuels’ The Runner:  A True Account of the Amazing Lies and Fantastical Adventures of the Ivy League Impostor James Hogue

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

Quote of the Day: Alessandra Stanley on “My Own Worst Enemy”

The gorgeously-named New York Times reviewer offers her take on NBC’s new series, “My Own Worst Enemy.” Self hugely enjoyed the episode she saw this week — perhaps because of Alfre Woodard’s line to a clearly thirty-ish Henry/Christian Slater:  “You were born 19 years ago in this building.”  Talk about plot twists!  Move aside, “Lost”!!!

“Worst Enemy” is a well-constructed puzzle with many layers.  It also has a dark sensibility that suits today’s mood.  Viewers are seeking culprits at the highest levels of business and government.  This thriller offers up a government-backed but under-regulated agency that takes advantage of hard-working, ordinary folk on Main Street to pursue a greedy, ruthless agenda:  Fannie Mae with nukes.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

“W” the Movie

It was a gorgeous day, dear blog readers.  Hubby’s starting to water.  Earlier, we walked the dogs.  Funny, we noticed that if Bella lags too far behind, as lately she does more and more, her arthritic legs becoming less and less able to carry her, Gracie waits until Bella and hubby come within sight before she will proceed.  So the walks become longer and longer.  But that’s all right, because self loves October, and it is so much fun to see the neighbors’ Halloween decorations:  the headstones on the lawn, the scarecrows, the pumpkins, the cobwebs draped across fences and porches.

Self planted a thunbergia gregorii.  She said a prayer:  Grow.

Hubby’s younger brother returned to New York.  Dearest Mum comes on Tuesday.  Aunt e-mailed Dear Bro:  “I’m sorry for your loss.  But you are a survivor.  Could you send me Ying’s death certificate so I can get a free airline ticket for your mom?”

That is the kind of e-mail that is only possible in Filipino families.  Ying would not have minded, self is sure of it.  She would be happy to know that she could still do something to help Dearest Mum, or any member of the family.

Dearest Ying!  Sometimes self will remember the time, four years ago, when we visited Angkor Wat.  She remembers their faithful driver, who they hired for four days.  If self were to return now, by herself, and looked him up, how shocked he would be to learn that the beautiful girl who he drove around four years ago has died.  And so would the people who own the little guest house where self and Ying stayed, sharing rooms and meals with a couple from Paris.

Hubby and self watched “W” in the downtown Redwood City cinema.  It was long:  We caught the 1:30 showing and were out a little past 4.  The day was starting to fade.  The movie kept self riveted for almost its entire length.  There was only one portion where self started to nod off, and that was when the key planners of the Iraq War were holding a strategy session.

Thandie Newton/Condoleeza did not have much to do in this movie except nod and deliver demurely downcast and yet strange grimaces.  She was such a hoot!  Self could not take her eyes off her, whenever she was on-screen.  How did this normally beautiful woman achieve such a transformation?

Rob Corddry played Ari Fleischer.  It was a very small role, mostly involving flitting in and out of rooms or trailing worriedly after W as he left a press conference.  The actor who played Paul Wolfowitz did in fact look like Paul Wolfowitz, but self doesn’t know the actor’s name.  And, hey, what an accolade for Tony Blair:  he got to be played by Welsh hottie Ioan Gruffudd.

Jeffrey Wright played Colin Powell and was very good.  Toby Jones played Karl Rove!

The whole movie, in fact, was such a hoot.  And afterwards, you did see W as a human being, albeit a tragically flawed one.  If self closed her eyes and just listened to Josh Brolin’s voice, she could have sworn she was listening to the genuine article, so well did Brolin capture Bush II’s every inflection, his Texas home-boy twang.  And, too, it was so nice to see Ellen Burstyn again, playing a very pretty version of Barbara Bush.  And that actor who played the farmer in “Babe”, James Cromwell, who’s parlayed that movie into a very long career playing (usually) bad guys, here plays Bush I as the epitome of the disappointed father.

Self thinks it is Oliver Stone’s best movie in over a decade.  The theatre was almost full, which self hadn’t seen since watching “Blood Diamond”, almost two years ago, and that had Leo.  The audience rarely laughed, but when self looked around, everyone was riveted, absolutely riveted.  A young woman to self’s left sat on the edge of her seat the whole time.  Presumably she, and the rest of the audience, were Democrats.

A very old couple created quite a stir because they could barely walk, and were hard of hearing besides, and kept stumbling on their way up the steps.  People helped them find seats and get seated.  Afterwards, they held up everyone because they could barely walk.  Self thought about how badly they must have wanted to see this movie.

Self also saw previews for “Milk” (Sean Penn absolutely riveting, in every frame of the preview, and there’s Josh Brolin again in his latest transformation, this time playing Dan White, and convincingly too), and Ron Howard’s latest, “Frost/Nixon”, which she definitely wants to see.  There was also a preview for a thriller starring Clive Owen and, in what looked to be a very bit role, Naomi Watts.  Why cannot this woman ever get the kind of role she deserves?  She can really act, can’t Hollywood see that?

Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.

A New Book About Virginia Woolf

From a review of Alison Light’s Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury, in the September 27, 2008 issue of The Economist

Virginia Woolf and her sister, Vanessa Bell, may have been early icons of liberated womanhood, but who made their lunch every day or ran the bath? Woolf was famously undomesticated while the more home-oriented Bell needed someone to help look after her children while she carried on with her work as a painter — and her love affairs. Put simply: without an army of staff much of the work produced by the Bloomsbury group of writers and artists might never have seen the light of day.

In her book which has just come out in America, Alison Light, a lecturer in English at Newcastle University, ferrets out the hidden toil of the working-class women who made sure that the lives of the group ran smoothly. She starts in 1880s Kensington, where the young Stephen sisters lived with their well-to-do parents and numerous servants, including Sophie Farrell, who joined the household as cook in 1886. After their parents died, Sophie accompanied “Miss Genia” and Vanessa to Bloomsbury where the girls were determined to try a new kind of living. Some of the old-fashioned ways of doing things — dressing for dinner, for example — went by the board, but the sisters still expected Sophie to produce three meals a day. And they did not help with the washing up.

This, really, is the crux of Ms. Light’s absorbing book. Woolf and the other Bloomsbury group members regarded themselves as socialist and held what they considered to be “advanced” views on the mingling of different social groups — their servants were not expected to wear uniforms, for example, or address them as “sir” and “madam.” Yet they seem to have been quite clueless about what life was like below stairs.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than in Woolf’s diary. She complains endlessly about Nellie Boxall, who succeeds Sophie as her cook. Despite Woolf’s sympathy for these “obscure” women, her complaints have a nasty tone: “She is in a state of nature: untrained, uneducated . . . so that one sees a human mind wriggling undressed.”

From One Photographer, About Another

Here’s what photographer Elizabeth Fleming said on her blog Tethered about friend Stella Kalaw’s work. It meant a lot to Stella because she admires Elizabeth’s work so much :

I first learned of Stella Kalaw’s work when she kindly left a comment on Tethered a few months ago, and I’m only just now getting around to posting about her, as is usually the case. I find her photographs hauntingly beautiful–the quality of light and color really blow me away. Family Spaces is my personal favorite from among her three galleries–each diptych is like its own short story, the kind that stays with you, the kind that’s there when you close the page and turn out the bedside light. I felt this even before I looked at the second series on her website, entitled The House Remembered, which fittingly is a collaboration with writer Marianne Villanueva.

Combining word and image can be tricky–at its worst it can be like the copy of the Tao Te Ching I bought on Amazon a while back, with its cheesy, typical black-and-white photos of birds in flight and silhouettes of trees against the sky. But I believe Kalaw and Villanueva mostly hit the right note here: lyrical words are paired with lyrical images, each informing the other, quietly taking their time to sink in. I suppose my favorite kind of photographs generally have this lyricism, revealing layers from within their quiet complexity.

The 1904 World’s Fair: The Filipino Experience

TITLE: 1904 World’s Fair: The Filipino Experience
AUTHOR: Jose D. Fermin
University of the Philippines Press
219 pages
historical nonfiction

Book Review by Allen Gaborro (published in the Philippine News, September 5-11, 2007 issue)

The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Missouri, also known as the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, was bathed in as much dispute and indignance as it was praised for its variety and dimension. A phenomenal piece of celebratory pomp and showmanship, internationalism and technology, the fair’s paying customers witnessed an array of grand architecture, newfangled cuisines, and miscellaneous carnival festivities. However, the affair was also a veiled exercise in colonial misrepresentation as white audiences betrayed a mixture of astonishment and insatiable curiosity at the fair’s gallery of Filipino historical and cultural exhibits.

The spectacle of the Filipino exhibits at the 1904 World’s Fair notoriously sketched Filipinos in exotic yet uncivilized manifestations. As is mentioned in his book “1904 World’s Fair: The Filipino Experience,” Jose D. Fermin once wrote that the fair could not have been more detrimental to the image ascribed to Filipinos just after the turn of the century: “Filipino tribes, passed on as representatives of the whole Filipino people, were exhibited as savages, headhunters, and dog eaters, a name that has stuck even today.”

The 1904 fair, which was up to that point the largest ever held anywhere else on the planet, took place at a time in history when the United States was beginning to throw its weight around as a world power, a power that had recently acquired several overseas territories, including the Philippine archipelago. The fair was the vehicle through which the United States flaunted its political and economic strength to the rest of the world.

A driving force behind the 1904 fair, as well as with other major U.S. expositions during this approximate period, was America’s belief in the racial superiority of whites over darker peoples. By publicizing the supposed backwardness of nonwhite races for all the world to see, the 1904 fair organizers were able to translate the United States’s national and global accomplishments into grounds for acknowledging the transcendance of Caucasian races over their “colored” counterparts. Fermin writes in his book that “In measuring their technological achievements and national progress against those of other nations, Americans laced the fairs with racism.” Hence, they “considered themselves above the nonwhite peoples of the world and regarded them with a negative and demeaning attitude.”

The Philippine Exposition Board, whose membership was primarily American, was formed for the purpose of putting together an exhibit at the 1904 fair that would convey to American audiences an ostensibly dispassionate and positivistic picture of what Filipino society and culture was really like. But Fermin writes that this was to conceal a “hidden agenda” that involved using the exposition as a propaganda instrument that would testify to the salutary importance of American colonial power, particularly as it was employed in the Philippines.