Masahe

Here's a cartoon I made for my sister's school poster.

Re-imagining Zuma

With all the remakes of Darna, Panday and Capt. Barbell these days, I was thinking what about big green baddie Zuma? But instead of the sappy soap routine, I think Zuma should be remade into a sitcom!

In my story, Zuma has repented his evil ways and has mellowed thanks to marriage and fatherhood. His wife, Ghirlie, has forbidden him from eating virgins' hearts and is now a nurse working abroad. Zuma must now raise teenage daughter Galema alone. Jobless, overweight and addicted to junk food, Zuma finds out that even immortals can face a mid-life crisis.

His only friends are the snakes on his shoulders the evil Tuklaw and the dimwitted Tukmol.

Galema("call me Gayle"!) is a typical teenager rebelling against parental authority. She has twin anorexic snakes in her hair, the party animal Ashley and the bookworm, Mary Kate.

O-ha! Special guest stars could be Tita Valentina, Gayle's aunt and Robinson, the twin snake of a Chinese mall tycoon.

UPDATE!!!!check out my first zuma strip here

blood stones!

Remember my post on Corregidor here ? That short vacation sprung to mind when I was walking in our garden and saw the blood stones my mom collected from the island and made my pa carry in his bag. I think she had a kilo of them! They're called blood stones because some sort of chemical reaction leaves a reddish-pink color on the stones. No, they were not tainted by the blood of all the soldiers killed in the war!

Guilty pleasure

In 1996, a telenovela changed Philippine television. Back in those days, one channel lorded over all. ABS-CBN had everyone watching all their programs, including an hour-long evening news report called TV Patrol. Then, government-sequestered RPN-9 came out with a clumsily-dubbed telenovela about a poor little girl who talked to her dog. Her name was Marimar and soon, everyone was watching her! I followed this little show trying to guess what they were saying in the original Spanish, or that was my excuse, because really, I had never seen a show like this! The flamboyant acting, the outrageous plot, the cartoonish characters! My ma and sister even recall that they would come home from school and the streets were eerily empty and they would run home quickly because it meant Marimar had started. Soon, TV Patrol was cut down to 30 minutes and afternoon soap Mara Clara was put on primetime to combat the Thalia invasion. And after that, Philippine TV was never the same again. Now, primetime shows mean soaps, fantasy soaps and Korean soaps. Gone are the sitcoms and public affairs shows have been pushed back to ungodly hours.

Almost ten years later, GMA has decided to remake Marimar with a Filipino cast and I must admit, I love it. It is my guilty pleasure once again. While I have misgivings about some of the casting (I mean you, Richard Gomez) I love Marian Rivera! She captures the verve and allure of Thalia perfectly! Thank God the role didn't go to Angel Locsin. And while I am sure this will not surpass the thrill of the original since we already know how it will end, I welcome the chance to reacquaint myself with Bella Aldama, Brenda and Corazon once again. One suggestion: I hope they guest Ogie Alcasid and Michael V. to recreate the spoof of Marimar which they did on Bubble Gang! That would be a riot!

oh no she didn't! Kris and Paris

Last week on a very special Boy and Kris episode:
They were doing a feature on pets and Boy was trying to convince Kris to try carrying a dog inside a bag like Paris Hilton. Kris says "Ikaw na lang." Noticing her aversion to being compared to the airhead heiress, Boy exclaims "Uy, nagbago na si Paris, ha! She reads the Bible..."
" Yeah, right!" Kris retorts
And all of a sudden, I am laughing myself silly. Did Kris Aquino just JUDGE Paris Hilton? This, from a woman who flaunted her affairs with married men which ended with an hour-long interview on clamydia and ball-crushing?!?
Heaven help us all.

Makati Supermarket in Alabang

Jon's Hamburger sandwich

"Blog-worthy"

That's how I described Makati Supermarket's coffee shop food. After too long, we finally ate merienda once again at their famed coffee shop which moved to the south of Manila to make way for what is now Greenblet 2,3,etc. But that's how beloved that supermarket was, that it retained its name even though it's a whole city away from Makati.

Ma's pancit canton. Savory!

The cafe is small and unassuming but wow! the food was so good! Even my mom who's feeling depressed these days due to work only had good things to say about her pancit canton. Another thing I loved is how large the servings are at such affordable prices. Each dish cost less than a hundred pesos.


Spaghetti with sweet tomato sauce-so very Pinoy


My order of their specialty, spaghetti, was only P65! We were enjoying having a taste of each other's plates that there was practically nothing left to photograph! Good thing Jon's phone had a camera.





half of Pa's roast beef sandwich

We were already thinking of when we'd be going back there for lunch or dinner when we left because we wanted to try out their other goodies like that lobster tail for P150.mmmmm!

It's just too bad that it's out of the way for us...but it certainly is worth the trip. Makati Supermart's Coffee shop is located in Alabang Town Center.

Twink's baked macaroni, which tasted a lot like my spaghetti

Amici now open on Sundays

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Amici, that Italian restaurant formerly ownd by the Don Bosco Salesians, is now open on Sundays and has extended its business hours till 1opm from Sunday to Thursday and till 11pm on Friday and Saturday, which is good news to my brother Jon. We were supposed to go to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate my parents' anniversary but we ate here instead. Food is still good and the proximity of Makati Cinema Square/DVD Medina is enticing. Oh and I was also informed by their friendly staff that Amici has 5 free parking slots at Waltermart for a minimum purchase of P300 for 2 hours on a first come, first served basis.

10 people you should know if you're coming to the philippines

Here's a short list of people who you should try to be familiar with if you plan a visit to the Philippines. Try sprinkling a few of these in conversation. A mix of showbiz, politics and sports , one witty observer summed up Pinoy conversation as PBA: politika, basketball, artista. Who's on your list?

1. Jose Rizal-our national hero and definitely a name you will read on street signs, buildings, banks, match boxes, etc. He was shot for writing against the friars and the church during the Spanish regime.

2. Gloria Arroyo-current president of the Philippines. It's always a good idea to know who the big boss is coz you don't know who you might bump into in the airport.

3. Fernando Poe Jr. Called the King of Philippine movies, he was an action star who ran against Arroyo and some say the true winner of the 2004 elections. He died before he could substantiate this claim.

4. Manny Pacquiao-most popular Pinoy boxer. Most sought-after commercial endorser. Buoyed by his immense popularity and probably misguided by his friends, he ran for Congress and lost.

5. Nora Aunor-one of the country's best actresses. Called the Superstar and idolized by the masses, she is the epitome of the troubled artist, her career soars to great heights in movies like Himala, and sinks to pitiful depths as in her arrest for carrying illegal drugs. Now based in the States, she is said to be married to her female manager.

6. Vilma Santos-called the Star for all seasons(showbiz writers have a penchant for titles) there has never been a rivalry like that of Nora and Vilma. Fans actually fought in the street over who was the bigger star. She is now the governor of Batangas

7.Sharon Cuneta-dubbed the Megastar, she is not the best thespian or songstress, but a mix of luck, talent and undeniable charisma has made her an enduring star and top ad endorser. She is also partly responsible for the election of her husband as senator (see how showbiz and politics mix here?)

8. Robert Jaworski - called the Living Legend, a basketball player and coach you either love or hate, he is probably the only basketball pro who still played till his 50s.He was also once a senator of the republic(Yikes!)

9. Ferdinand Marcos. While some still consider him a great president, make no mistake about it, he was the bad guy whose legacy is still felt today. He and his wife Imelda placed the country in debt while enriching themselves for 20 years. Under Martial Law, the people lived in fear and protesters killed or tortured. We continue to pay for debts incurred under his rule while Imelda and her kin live in luxury.

10. Ninoy Aquino-the man who would be the thorn in Marcos' side till the end. He was jailed by Marcos for opposing his New Society and later exiled to the US. He flew back to Manila and was assassinated. It was a national outrage. His death sparked a massive eruption of unrest which culminated in the toppling of the Marcos government in Feb. 1986.








Some notable runners-up: Cory Aquino-widow of Ninoy and first female president of the Philippines; Lea Salonga-first Pinoy Tony award-winner; Joseph 'Erap' Estrada-action star-turned-disgraced president; Kris Aquino-daughter of Ninoy and Cory, our very own Paris Hilton/Oprah wannabe.

kusina salud and ugu bigyan's place

For father's day, we were invited by tita gina to have lunch in san pablo's kusina salud, owned by patis tesoro's family. i had heard a lot about it from anton's blog and i really wish we could have taken our balikbayan relatives on the viaje del sol experience...the buffet was ok, the best dish was the flavorful lengua. the thai soup was just toooo spicy to even sip! we then went around the eclectically designed property which included a shop and ukay -ukay which even sold cassette tapes, romance novels and old sunscreen (di ba may expiry yun?) i think they were taking the saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" to the extreme.

we then went to ugu bigyan's house in quezon which was an expansive area of brick and wood and pottery. we weren't even sure the owners were accepting visitors. we just went in and went around as we pleased. we admired the open-air structures that probably serve as function halls for receptions and pottery seminars. there were even rooms for guests that were left open to the public and i felt a little sorry for the poor bloke who would sleep there later because so many people must have come by that room and try out his bed. such is the filipino concept of privacy, (there is no privacy)heehee.

duhat and apple mango

One of the great things about summer at our place is the abundance of fruits my Pa grows. Aside from the indian mango in our backyard, we also have huge apple mangoes that just grew accidentally in front of our gate. The duhat tree also just grew in front of our gate so it's always too tempting to grab the fruits even if they're not ripe yet. Nothing beats picking fresh fruits right off the tree when you're having the munchies. We also have chicos and on some other month, caimitos.Pa has a green thumb which I, unfortunately, did not inherit. We once had a banana tree, guavas, patola, okra and even corn!Meanwhile, my potted herbs didn't even make it past a few weeks. Oh well.