Photo from pinoyfood.nimrodel.net

Blogging about Anthony Bourdain’s recent trip to the Philippines made me hungry. Reading about food makes me hungry, more so writing about it. Which is why I seldom do it and only as a guest blogger in my wife’s food blog. But Market Man’s account of the lechon fiesta he prepared for Bourdain and company made me crave for the the crispy skin of a newly roasted suckling pig, basted in oil, buttery fat clinging to the insides.

Luckily, there was some leftover crispy pata in the fridge, a decent enough approximation of the succulent roasted pig of our dreams (and later on, cholesterol-induced nightmares). This was enough to still The Hunger (for greasy pork!), at least for the time being. And someone gave me three packets of Bulacan chicharon yesterday, which will come in handy should I feel the urge to clog my arteries even further.

It also rekindled in my mind the old debate about which is better, lechon as it is made the Visayan way (as in the Cebu-made lechon which was served to Bourdain) or the Tagalog version. The difference, I suppose, is that the Visayan roasted pig is infused with so much more aromatic spices and stuffed with lemon grass (tanglad) as compared to the Tagalog version, particularly the ones made in Metro Manila. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo from travelchannel.com

Anthony Bourdain of “No Reservations” fame was in Manila to film his show and I wasn’t even aware of it until weeks after he left. My wife knew, but didn’t say a word, not knowing or caring who Mr. Bourdain was.

As always, I found out first from the blogs, notably marketmanila.com and food-stylingmanila.com. I was on the verge of tears and dying of envy of everyone who had a chance to interact with the Great Bourdain. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of the show and when I got a copy of “No Reservations” the book, around this time last year, and saw that he had never been to the Philippines, I knew that it was only a matter of time before he landed on our fair shores and sampled our unique cuisine.

Well it happened, and he and his crew went in and out the country like ninjas, stealthily but effectively. They had no choice, I suppose, as the resulting media frenzy would have kept him from sampling the authentic grub which was their real objective. And they did their homework, zeroing in on the authoritative people who could give them a broad sampling of honest Filipino cooking at its best during their short stay. Guys like Market Man, Claude Tayag and Gene Gonzales. Read the rest of this entry »

A reader, Capolegis, commented that:

President-elect Obama accepted congratulations from nine presidents and prime ministers Thursday, returning calls from world leaders who reached out after his presidential victory.

In a report, Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the president-elect spoke to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Why didn’t he return the GMA’s call? Later on maybe?

This got me thinking . It’s unlikely that he will return the call anytime soon. And even if he does, the damage has been done. The brush off has been embarrassing. The president-elect is just “too busy” to take her call.

And this isn’t the first time that Obama snubbed GMA. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo from MSNBC

Or if there is one, it will be short.

The nearly universal consensus, amidst the rejoicing on Barack Obama’s landslide election victory as the 44th president of the U.S., is that he has his work cut out for him. With the American economy in shambles and wars under way in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continuing threat of terrorism and festering domestic issues like health care and energy, his plate will be full even before day 1.

Expectations are high around the world as well, as political leaders look to Obama to help forge a new “era of renewed partnership and a new multilateralism”, in the words of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. France’s Nicolas Sarkozy said that Obama’s election had raised “enormous hope”. Even our very own President Arroyo, whose congratulatory phone call Obama did not accept, expressed confidence that Obama will “strengthen regional cooperation” and address the concerns of Filipino World War II veterans. She was referring to the Veterans Equity Bill still pending before the U.S. legislature which seeks to increase the benefits accorded Filipino war veterans. There seems to be no constituency, near or far, which has not looked upon an Obama presidency for salvation. Read the rest of this entry »

As the results of the U.S. elections trickle in, early returns put Barack Obama with a commanding lead. This is entirely consistent with the all the opinions polls leading up to election day.

What is clear, though, is that the economy was the foremost concern in voters’ minds and is the most critical determinant of today’s outcome. According to CNN, exit polls showed that 62% of voters said the economy was the most important issue. The war in Iraq was the most important for 10%, and terrorism and health care were each the top issue for 9 % of voters. Read the rest of this entry »