May Kwento Ako

May Kwento Ako #37 : I am traveling to Singapore with my aging eyes open slightly differently. 🧳

The haunt for the best #beurre remains…..eventhough it reads #GrandCru.

Incredible architecture now always tickles my visual senses.

Simply awesome, refined, fine art photography by #RosalynnTay at a boutique in the Raffles Hotel. When will i ever get to this level, i wonder still.

Thinking back, this was probably How i looked like, with a yosi on one hand, a mobile phone in another in a hawker center, albeit in a more center of town location after my fair share of grilled stingray or hainanese chicken rice. #kalami #masiramon tabi !!!

S$0.50 Soya Ice Cream at #Ikea was the cheapest, big deal for me.

No trip to a City is ever complete for me without attending mass. Here is the altar of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd after being recently renovated. Looking sharp, calming and, reassuring. 🙏🏼

Dining at the National Gallery by #VioletOon was a special moment. Chose mostly Peranakan dishes. Other South Asian cuisine also featured. I would never have guessed what the word #Peranakan meant.

A collaboration of several Filipino masters, Victorio C Edades, Galo B Ocampo, Carlos “Botong” Francisco @ National Gallery. Noteworthy to mention that all are Welcome to view all its exhibitions for free, all weekends leading up to the Singapore National Day in August. Foreigners, locals, all ages are Welcome.

Guo Pei with several dozens south sea pearls encrusted. Now, how on earth did she do that?!!

Happy?? Happy 😊

I am recognizing that I am aging fast 💨. As I approach the big 6-0 in a couple of years, I am approaching the world with a different pair of eyes now. Appreciating our world in a different context and point of view 🌎.

It used to be that I would pack business suits on trips to this first world, dynamic country, Singapore located a few hours flying time just south of home, traffic-mangled, drought-plagued Manila. Fastidiously ironed white shirts, beautiful Italian silk ties, custom suits, nicely polished black shoes were all packed. Nowadays, it’s still nice pairs of shoes except now, they are all rubber soled. Jackets are more loose and comfortable. Shirts are now chambrays with some details here and there because I have grown to be more #maarte thanks to the coaching of two wonderful stylists who have helped me transition and transform. Even my belts now have buckles that are more detailed. Because it’s there and available.

Meetings remain interesting as they are mostly with people whom I am meeting for the first time with no agenda written in my notebook other than knowing some of their stories, their experiences and adventures and misadventures.

Am also no longer have the airport-hotel-office-hotel-airport routine. It is now, airport-hotel/house guest-suppliers-stores-galleries-museums-hawker centers-nice restaurants-boutiques-showrooms-etc-etc-airport. Close to my daily routine back home except that there are more more time to think and plan.

May Kwento Ako #36 : Elyu or LU ? Hello, La Union.

The best times to go to this surfing paradise, according to the surfers is from September till March for the big waves. It is during this period when the competitions are lined up, one after the other. Take note guys!

As fate would have it, I found myself returning to San Fernando, the city just before San Juan to attend “to some unfinished business”. But since one is in the countryside, hello fresh air, I also, intended to take advantage of every bit of spare time.

The rocky bottom of many parts of San Juan’s beach is not friendly for people like me who wade in. Only for those that are familiar with the terrain, I think. So, the next best things for me to do would be to snap some photos, enjoying real Ilocano food, bask in the heat of the tropical sun and my recently discovered favorite hobby – yakking.

I learned that some people refer to fresh seafood or fresh vegetables as including those that have been stored in the refrigerator or freezer for a few days or even a week or two. I think it is supposed to refer to those freshly caught or harvested then, they go to the market then, to the kitchen to someone’s dinner table. Now, to find out which are farmed and which ones are from the wild.

Gotta thank the cool folks at #LittleSurfmaid once again for a great stay in your surfer’s haven. Hope to be brave enough to take a surfing lesson next visit. Ha!

Yoga by the beach on an early Sunday morning must be a very good way to start the week.

Fishing with a couple of fishermen maybe ?

Or Kayaking if your partner has good body coordination.

Go pray in any Church is always a good thing.

Sweet tasting alimasag … because they were freshly caught and hadn’t been stored in the refrigerator nor the freezer. Kaya nga fresh eh.

Chow on this Pinakbet with generous chunks of bagnet as cooked by a real Ilocano cucinero only at Little Surfmaid Resort. Cooked with Batane and Camote. Go figure.

I had not seen Batane before. Here it is. ( Singing “Bahay Kubo, Kahit Munti” .. )

May Kwento Ako #35 : Thrilled @ World Malbec Day !

Thrilled to have been invited by His Excellency, the Ambassador Jose Nestor Ureta and Madame Adriana Tomas de Ureta of the Embassy of the Argentine Embassy through Ms Frances Garganera recently.

And as I walked into the vast ballroom, my heart skipped a few beats as I instantly recognized several of “my babies”, my photographs taken in Argentina that they included to be exhibited with several others at this event.

Am not a professional photographer, really. I am still an eager student of life. Trying to open my eyes on visions new to me or very familiar to me in a different perspective maybe. Or in more detail and appreciation. Is it age ? 🙂

Very interesting ice carving, right ??

Very nice to see the very amiable, very learned Mr Gleen Ellao, sommelier/wine steward at the very famous Wolfgang Steakhouse in Newport City, Ortigas Center and Bonifacio Global City, who I promised to dine their restaurant at soon. Mr Ellao is currently assigned to the Bonifacio Global City branch.

His Excellency, the Argentine Ambassador Jose Nestor Ureta gamely posing for a photo with three of my photographs.

With Mr. Jose “Joe” Meneses, the President of Titania Wine Cellar, one of the country’s top wine importers with Ms. Frances Garganera, representing the Cultural Section of the Embassy of the Argentine Republic.

May Kwento Ako #34 : The Balangiga Bells and Me

Today, i am one of very many who are celebrating the return of the three Church bells to the church in Balangiga, Samar in the Visayas. Two hours ago, these bells landed in Manila after a short stop in Japan. For 117 years, these bells were taken as war trophies from a small town church and were among those shipped to the United States. Computing, this happened in 1901.

I am a fourth generation Lukban, one of probably hundreds of descendants of the late General Vicente Lukban y Rilles ( died in Manila at 56; 11 February 1860 – 16 November 1916 ). I come from the line of the General’s second wife, Paciana Gonzales of Samar after he became a widow at child birth to their fourth child.

There are many stories about what was to become the Balangiga Massacre which only very recently was resurrected, thanks to the Internet because growing up, this incident was virtually unknown to most Filipinos. It was during a President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 25, 2017 that a Philippine President first mentioned and talked about this massacre. This must have caused quite a stir because members of the Diplomatic Corps, including Mr Sung Kim, the current US Ambassador to the Philippines.

There is the long version, of course, it’s all in Wikipedia. But here is the short version.

The head of the American infantry stationed in Balangiga ordered the American soldiers and the local town folks to clear sections of the town planted with the primary source of food and other important plants of the Filipino soldiers and the locals. The clearing was to be used for the celebrations of a visiting American Inspector-General. The local town folks and several guerillas upon the orders of the General Lukban raised to kill all 48 American soldiers, the largest infantry at that time. In retaliation, the Americans ordered the killing of all the local town folks, men, women and children. This was to be known as the Balangiga Massacre.

President Rodrigo Duterte