Happy Mother's Day!

There are two days when (telephone) communication "giants" in the Philippines rake in the most profit. One is New Year's Day and the other, Mother's Day. Believe it or not, an overwhelming amount of calls and SMS flood our communication lines and temporarily overload the regular capacity.

I am not one of those who possess close ties with their mothers and I say that with regret. If I could turn back the hands of time and make the necessary tweaks and edits, this will be top one on the list.

Having been blessed with an opportunity to be a mother myself, I have invested all energies into building a close and living bond with my daughter. My efforts have not ceased until this day. And I pray it pays off in the years to come.

Above is an animated greeting for mother's day which I made and dedicate to my mother, Helen, though she may not understand it any longer. Happy Mother's Day Mommy. I love you.

If you want the direct link to the animation, you will find it here.

Kinamatisan: A New Way To Serve Your Noodles

Many years ago (okay I admit, decades ago), I learned about colonialism and imperialism from a hardcore nationalistic Social Studies instructor. It is funny that I forget her name but not her facial features. At that point in my life, I could not care less about freedom or independence for I was ever-so willing to be enslaved for a bag of chips or a stick of fish balls from the sidewalk vendor. Yes, such is life.

The Chinese may not have colonized our country but you need only see their immense influence in our culture by simply taking a glimpse of the food that we love to eat. Siomai and siopao have already become Filipino food even though the origins are not.

Featured in this photo is a dish I prepared yesterday on a whim. It only took a few minutes for it to disappear. That good? I cannot really tell. I just think that it caught everyone's attention in this house since it is an interesting and new way to serve mung bean noodles (sotanghon). This dish is called "Kinamatisan" with the secret ingredient being our common tomato (kamatis). It is inspired from an ancient way of preparing noodles in a little town called Biñan Laguna.

Ingredients:
400 grams Mung bean noodles (more commonly known as sotanghon)
ground beef (preferably ground round with less fat content)
2 cups of chopped tomatoes (seeded)
4 to 5 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 small white onion (sliced fine)
2 tbsps cooking oil
juice of 6 to 8 calamansi
fish sauce to taste (preferably Thai or Vietnamese so it is less salty)
ground black pepper
brown sugar to taste
some water (around 1 cup)

Instructions:
Soak the noodles in water for about 5 minutes and drain well. Heat a wok on high until it smokes. Pour the oil. Lower the heat to medium and throw in your garlic and onion.  Let them sweat for about 2 minutes on relatively low heat. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft. Add the ground beef, making sure to cook until done with constant stirring. Sprinkle with ground black pepper to taste, sugar, calamansi juice, and fish sauce. Add some water and adjust the ingredients to your liking. Toss in your noodles and mix well (I suggest using two forks). You should expect the liquid to evaporate slowly as you continuously mix the ingredients together. It will have a sticky consistency once the liquid dries. Remove from pan and serve.

I hope this recipe inspires you to serve the common noodle dish in a new way. :)

Jack 'n Jill Chippy: People's Choice Winner

In my recent post entitled Manila's Best Chips: Clover Chips Cheese Flavor, a poll was available to the public for voting their choice of the country's best chips.

I must (sadly) report that the people's choice (with an overwhelming 70% winning votes) is Jack 'n Jill's CHIPPY!

Chippy has been in the junk food/chips industry for more than two decades and continues to be the bread and butter of Universal Robina Corporation. The original barbecue flavor corn chips are as tasty today as they were in their "yester-years". New flavors of the Chippy have been introduced in the past years but old habits die hard.

Have a crunchy CHIPPY day to everyone! :D

High Hopes!

I would like to be ...
 
...but for the life of me, I can only HOPE to be one.

Memories Fade Not for Tears for Fears!

Much remains to be said about the sardine-packed one-night Tears for Fears concert in the Araneta Coliseum last night! This most recent "tweet" from Curt Smith himself will give everyone an idea of what actually transpired there.

"Doesn't happen very often but.......I'm speechless. Manila, what a night! Thank you so much, we've now officially peaked :)

During the concert, Curt himself took a quick shot of his Manila audience from his iphone which you can view here. A much better (and I must say, picture-perfect) shot was taken from a "tweeting" fan. You can check that photo here.

As I write the words of this blog post, "Pale Shelter" is playing loudly on my speakers and I am proud to say my seven-year old daughter enjoys MY music! The story of how we got to be seated at the rear corner of the stage is a long and sorry one. However, it actually turned out to be a great spot as Curt, Roland, and their fabulous lead guitarist (apologies, I forgot his name and I am ashamed!) invested much effort looking and waving our way. Our spot also allowed us to see them walk in and out of their private rooms at the backstage.

I do not know what words to use to describe my experience last night as a die-hard new wave Tears For Fears fan. I hope this will suffice:

I can still shout, shout, and let it all out at my age! Memories fade NOT after last night's performance. I have now become a woman unchained! And my advice for the young at heart: we shall always be children waiting for the day they feel good again when Tears For Fears returns!!!

VOTE FOR THE BEST SONG PERFORMED BY TEARS FOR FEARS IN THE CONCERT IN THE POLL ON THE RIGHT!!!