Today, I joined a tour of Malabon called "Halina lusungin natin ang Malabon" organized by concerned people of Malabon led by Atty. Monchet Lucas of Rufina Patis, Leona Nepomuceno of DOT, Terry de Jesus a home owner, and Archt. Richard Bautista of the NCCA.
Our tour began with a briefing and a sumptuous lunch at the Pescadores restaurant at Letre Road corner Dagat-Dagatan Avenue. We then proceeded to our first stop, the San Bartolome Church. I had high expectations for this church knowing that it was one of the untouched churches in Metro Manila. But to our shock, it's in the process of being uglified by the current parish priest who is not even a native of Malabon.
The current hard-headed parish priest, Fr. Ric Torrefiel, has all but listened to the objections of the local community about his kitsch and tasteless renovations. Sadly, he was the same priest who bastardized the interior of the old Concepcion Church, also in Malabon.I hope the townsfolk of Malabon stops this priest from wreaking more havoc to this historic church by halting all their donations to this utter waste of church funds. Why don't priests simply focus on their spiritual role rather than push their parishioners to cough out money to satisfy their whims and caprices? That money is best spent fulfilling the pastoral needs and responsibilities of the church.
Members of the group were aghast! From a simple but elegant centuries-old church, Fr. Torrefiel has managed to turn it into a cheap, gaudy, tasteless, kitsch, cabaret-like interior enumerating some of the adjectives blurted out by those in the tour. On the exterior, he painted fake brick lines! And when we asked the tour organizers about it, they said that the more the local people stop him, the more he pushes for what he wants. Now where is the CBCP when you need it?Anyway, after that depressing first stop, we walked to Betsy's Cake House to have a taste of their broas and view the works of the silent artist, Serafin Serna, a contemporary of Fernando Amorsolo.
We went from one house to another. The group first entered the Dionisio House. Then we moved to Concepcion to visit three Luna houses, the Borja House, and Paez House, as well as the Concepcion Church which Fr. Torrefiel had already bastardized. We also dropped by Dolor's Kakanin to check out their sapin-sapin.
We also visited the home and gallery of Angel Cacnio, an artist whose works have been used by the Central Bank on our bills and coins. From Concepcion, we moved to the Rufina Patis Factory, passing by other old houses along the way. Indeed, Malabon is a treasure trove of heritage, which is sadly deteriorating due to the annual flood and subsidence (sinking of the ground).
From Rufina Patis, we were served a sumptuous Malabon merienda at the Martinez House. Of course, there was pancit malabon, puto bumbong, puto sulot, bibingka, pichi-pichi, sumpia (in Malabon, lumpia is fresh, sumpia is fried, what we know as turon is called valencia and when you say turon, it means it's filled with mongo beans), kikiam and camachile biscuits (which we thought were tamarinds), among many others.
Then we moved to the oldest known house of Malabon dated 1861, the Raymundo House. Behind the house, we got to see the Malabon-Navotas shipyards. The two towns are separated by a strait (and not a river) since we always forget that Malabon and Navotas are islands. In fact, during the Spanish colonial period, they were totally detached from the island of Luzon. It was Imelda who reclaimed most of the lagoons around the islands, thus erasing their former charm.From the Raymundo House, we attended the soft opening of the Bahay Parokiyano Gallery, a place for local artists to showcase their works. Indeed, this trip to Malabon was most worth it! Thanks to the organizers for inviting us, and filling both our stomachs and our minds. For more photos of Malabon and Navotas heritage, check out Richard's Multiply.
The Airbus A380, the largest passenger jet in the world, lands in Manila! That erases all doubts on whether the NAIA is capable of receiving such a large aircraft. I was lucky to witness its arrival first-hand. It's off to Clark today.Related articleLargest passenger jet touches down in Manila
I joined the October 9 Mixology (drink mixing) Session of Happyhours, Inc. at Prince of Jaipur at the Fort. Training us was master mixologist Kaiz Patel, fiance of my college friend Michelle Perez.
Anyway, we learned to dish up four drinks namely Cosmopolitan, Caipirojka (which is similar to a Mojito or Caipirinha), Cucumbertini and Chillax Guava. The drinks were great. I think I'll try doing them at home. Of course, part of the class was a sampling of Indian food from Prince of Jaipur. We were served a kebab sampler of beef and mutton sausages, chicken, fish, vegetables, etc. Yummy! I was yearning for more!
The P750 class fee is most definitely worth it since you get free drinks you mix yourselves, great Indian food, and an better appreciation of mixed drinks. The event is held regularly so check out their website or contact Michelle at (0915) 9977950 for future dates.
Just received some horrible news from Baguio City! They are planning to build a bus terminal and multi-level vending station in Burnham Park. Some Baguio City officials really do not know how to preserve the city's heritage and the little charm it has left. The proponent is Councilor Perlita Rondez, chair of the tourism committee of the Baguio City Council. I hope this project is stopped. Let's keep what's left of Burnham Park an open space!
At least Councilor Elaine Sembrano, chair of market, trade and commerce committee, said that “vending in parks must not be encouraged.” For more details, read Burnham Park market, parking area mulled.Related articleHere are some excerpts from Remember Teachers Camp?:
"The distinct Baguio identity of mountainous terrain with green-and-white architecture nestled under pine trees is fast vanishing. The single largest remaining ensemble of that identity survives in Teachers Camp. Although no other city in Asia or in the Philippines has an identity like Baguio's, the identity today is vanishing rapidly."Unregulated development has caused Baguio to lose its luster as the Philippines' most popular mountain retreat. Nondescript concrete buildings and residences have replaced the traditional green-and-white architecture. Informal settlers' shanties now cover urban mountain vistas, once open green spaces, in sheets of rusted tin roofing."Pine trees, once a familiar sight of Baguio landscape, have practically disappeared. Heritage, whether urban, architectural, or landscape, neither protected by legislation or by zoning, does not appear to be within the sphere of interest of most city authorities and residents, therefore urban and architectural heritage is going fast, and vanishing rapidly also is its landmark umbrella of pines and multicolored flowers."Present-day Baguio is homogenizing into the generic, typical look of 21st-century Philippine cities. Only its mountainous terrain now reminds us that once this was the glorious Summer Capital of our Land and the only American Hill Station in Asia."Since Baguio mystique and tradition are practically gone today, it is necessary to maintain whatever is left of its urban, architectural, and environmental traditions for the future."
The City of San Fernando, Pampanga will end the Pyestang Tugak: 5th Annual San Fernando Frog Festival later today. This event is extra special to me since I organized the first one way back in 2003. Frogs are a unique part of Pampanga culinary traditions. And by organizing the festival, the city is ensuring that these traditions are preserved and promoted.
There is a traditional way of catching frogs called paduasan. In the early days, when the rains came, while the elders where busy planting rice, kids would catch frogs. This game eventually evolved into a specialized technique and skill. Catchers use a bamboo rod called the paduas. And at the end of the string, they attach a type of worm called bulateng tudtud or sleeping worm. Once the frog bites, its tongue get entangled with the worm, and the catcher is able to hurl it up in the air and lets it fall into a net called panyapu.
It was a common sight to see people lined-up on top of the pilapil or rice paddies with a paduas in one hand and panyapu in the other, patiently waiting for the frogs to bite. The trick was to move the paduas in a slow horizontal direction, as quiet as possible so as not to agitate the frogs, mimicking the movements of insects hoping on the water surface.
Of course, the festival features frog cuisine in the lutung tugak competition which is scheduled today. The most popular traditional dish is undisputedly betute (which is Kapampangan for tadpole) or deep-fried frog stuffed with minced pork or even frog meat. During the festival, HRM students battle it out in preparing new frog recipes in hotel worthy presentations; while ordinary citizens come up with the best tasting traditional dishes.
We also added some fun games for the kids with the papyalung tugak which includes frog races, longest jump and dress-up-your frog competition among many others. They even have frog mascots nowadays.
If you missed the one this year, don't forget to check it out next October. Thanks to Ching Pangilinan for the photos!
Heritage updates
Lim reopens historic Manila museum
This is great news for the City of Manila! The elegant Army and Navy Club National Landmark which Atienza turned into a bodega is now the Museo ng Maynila again. Congratulations as well to the revived Manila Historical and Heritage Commission!
Save the Mt. Guiting-Guiting ecosystem!
Help organize a G2 protest climb!
Sibuyan Island in the province of Romblon stands out. It's called the Galapagos of Asia because of its high concentration of endemic species. One third of the 46,000-hectare island is a protected area. It's also home to heavily-forested Mt. Guiting-Guiting which has as much as 75 percent of its forest cover intact, and beautiful and clean rivers. Guess what? Mining is in! Now isn't that stupid? Before leaving the DENR, Sec. Angelo Reyes approved five special cutting permits to clear forest land for mining activity despite the strong opposition of the island's residents. That's an estimated 59,000 trees to be cut! All for nickel, the country is giving up a more precious treasure, the natural heritage of Sibuyan Island.
Read the Inquirer article for more details about this catastrophic turn of events. It's about time mountaineers unite to end this foolishness before we lose Sibuyan's astounding ecosystem. Contact Pinoy Mountaineer at info@pinoymountaineer.com to support or help organize this climb.
Today, I joined a tour of Malabon called "Halina lusungin natin ang Malabon" organized by concerned people of Malabon led by Atty. Monchet Lucas of Rufina Patis, Leona Nepomuceno of DOT, Terry de Jesus a home owner, and Archt. Richard Bautista of the NCCA.
Our tour began with a briefing and a sumptuous lunch at the Pescadores restaurant at Letre Road corner Dagat-Dagatan Avenue. We then proceeded to our first stop, the San Bartolome Church. I had high expectations for this church knowing that it was one of the untouched churches in Metro Manila. But to our shock, it's in the process of being uglified by the current parish priest who is not even a native of Malabon.
The current hard-headed parish priest, Fr. Ric Torrefiel, has all but listened to the objections of the local community about his kitsch and tasteless renovations. Sadly, he was the same priest who bastardized the interior of the old Concepcion Church, also in Malabon.
Members of the group were aghast! From a simple but elegant centuries-old church, Fr. Torrefiel has managed to turn it into a cheap, gaudy, tasteless, kitsch, cabaret-like interior enumerating some of the adjectives blurted out by those in the tour. On the exterior, he painted fake brick lines! And when we asked the tour organizers about it, they said that the more the local people stop him, the more he pushes for what he wants. Now where is the CBCP when you need it?
We went from one house to another. The group first entered the Dionisio House. Then we moved to Concepcion to visit three Luna houses, the Borja House, and Paez House, as well as the Concepcion Church which Fr. Torrefiel had already bastardized. We also dropped by Dolor's Kakanin to check out their sapin-sapin.
We also visited the home and gallery of Angel Cacnio, an artist whose works have been used by the Central Bank on our bills and coins. From Concepcion, we moved to the Rufina Patis Factory, passing by other old houses along the way. Indeed, Malabon is a treasure trove of heritage, which is sadly deteriorating due to the annual flood and subsidence (sinking of the ground).
From Rufina Patis, we were served a sumptuous Malabon merienda at the Martinez House. Of course, there was pancit malabon, puto bumbong, puto sulot, bibingka, pichi-pichi, sumpia (in Malabon, lumpia is fresh, sumpia is fried, what we know as turon is called valencia and when you say turon, it means it's filled with mongo beans), kikiam and camachile biscuits (which we thought were tamarinds), among many others.
Then we moved to the oldest known house of Malabon dated 1861, the Raymundo House. Behind the house, we got to see the Malabon-Navotas shipyards. The two towns are separated by a strait (and not a river) since we always forget that Malabon and Navotas are islands. In fact, during the Spanish colonial period, they were totally detached from the island of Luzon. It was Imelda who reclaimed most of the lagoons around the islands, thus erasing their former charm.
