They’re Only Seven Once

Why is the seventh birthday so important? I’ll never fully understand the why of it, and I decided to be quite and go along with.

It’s Mid September sitting at my kitchen, and those discussing the planned party are, 1 Great Grandmother, 2 Grandmothers, 1 Mother, 1 Grand Daughter (soon to be seven) Plus 1 Father, and not to be left out, me the Grandfather. (In the dining room and living room, were assorted Aunts, Uncles and cousins not involved in the planning, but voting present) I admire you folks, who are taking the time to learn the local language, yet once in awhile it’s a blessing to be ignorant of what’s being said, and believe me this was one of those times.

Chris (my son-in-law) feeling sorry for me, disappeared and returned with a frosty bottle of, San Magoo Beer. (You knew that was coming!) Then came the important part, the plans are set, all goes quiet, all brown eyes are peering into the blue eyes that my folks burdened me with, and for the first time that evening English was spoken and I was informed that my part was P24,500.00.

Now I knew why my beer was never empty, and I just agreed. The party was set for October 3rd (made sense, as it was the Childs birthday) the Sunday before the big event we must go to SM Mall in San Fernando. From my house in Bataan, it’s an hour drive. 9 am with my wife and I, birthday girl and her parents in the car, we’re on the way. In Lubou the traffic is very heavy and a truck hits my Honda on the rear left door and fender well, and sails off down the road.

Panic ensues, I’m instructed to race after the truck, and find a policeman, and to stop and inspect the damage. I just want to get out of this traffic and go to the mall. The truck is gone, the police have the day off (It was a Sunday) and I’ll check the car at the mall, as it was driving just fine. Why had I not followed all the great advice I’d received? The truck was long gone and if I had caught up with it the driver would deny, deny, and deny again. The police, if I could have found one would have keep me for an hours or more filling out paperwork, and answering questions that I could not answer. Like, what’s the name of the other driver? Who owned the truck, where was the truck purchased? I think you get the drill.

Now we’re at the mall, birthday presents in tow heading to my car, when my wife informs me my granddaughter was in a Barbie fashion show and would be done sometime after 2pm. I smile; I wait, because it’s what grandfathers do. Return trip to my house and a well deserved cold beer. Hitting 50 MPH, left front wheel hit a pothole the size of a crater on the moon, and blows the tire off the rim. Son-in-Law changes the tire, and at 6pm I’m safe at home. Cold beer at the ready!

The shopping at the mall P7, 000.00, the new tire P2, 700.00, bodywork and paint on the car P5, 500.00, then there’s the original cost of the party, the look in my granddaughters eyes the night of the party! Absolutely, positively priceless! I’d do it all again.

I’m thinking of starting smoking!

Are you a smoker?  If so, how often do you smoke?  I would have to say, regardless of whatever you might think or hear, smoking, I believe, is very good for you.  It tastes good too!

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What do you think?

Oh, wait!  You think I’m talking about smoking cigarettes?  Cigars?  Ha ha… no, I’m talking about smoking food!  Like, making smoked fish or other kids of food!  Like I say, I believe that smoking is a way of preparing foods that adds no fat, tastes delicious, and is a healthy way of eating.

I never have done a lot of food smoking, although I used to own a charcoal smoker when we lived in the States.  It was kind of old, had some rusty parts on it, and such, so I just threw it away when we moved to the Philippines.  In recent years, though, I have been wanting to get into smoking foods here in the Philippines.  Primarily, I want to smoke different types of fish.  There is such an abundance of fish available in the local markets, and I love smoked fish, so this is something that I really do want to do.

The problem is, even though I’ve been looking for several years now, I have yet to find any kind of commercially available smoker here in the Philippines.  So, what it comes down to is that you need to make your own smoker, if you want to smoke foods here.  Over the years, I have been looking at several different smoker designs, but have just never gotten busy and actually tried to build the smoker!

Last week, I found a discussion on the Internet about smoking foods, and somebody mentioned a YouTube video (which is actually a TV show segment) about a simple smoker design.  I watched the video and found the design to be easy, and all of the items should be easily available here in the Philippines.

Have a look at the video yourself and see what you think.  If you have experience smoking food, do you have any suggestions, either positive or negative, about this design?  Do you think it will work well?  I am certainly interested to hear your thoughts.

After building the smoker, the next challenge will be finding what kinds of woods that are locally available will be good for smoking the foods.  I have always thought that Mango tree wood would possibly be a nice wood to smoke with, but a few weeks ago, I heard from a friend that Mango wood is possibly not healthy and has some component to it that is possibly poisonous for smoking.  I will have to research that before I try it!

Any suggestions on locally available woods for smoking?  I know that wood chips are not commercially available for smoking, so it will be a matter of going out collecting the wood, cutting it up into chips, drying it out, etc.  It won’t be easy, but I think it will be a fun project.

Where do you stand?

OK, ok… before I get started on this article I have to admit something.  I might as well get it out in the open, before I make a fool of myself.  Normally when I am writing an article for this site (or any of my other sites), I try to choose a topic that I know something about.  Either something that I already am familiar with, or something that I can research a bit and gain a little knowledge about before I write my article.  A lot of times I write about my opinion of a certain topic.  In case you were not aware, I am the world’s leading expert on my own opinion! It’s true!

Today is different, though.  I want to admit right up front that I am writing about something that I know absolutely nothing about! I am writing about something that I am generally aware of, but it is something which I simply do not understand.  The topic is something that I have, in general terms, observed over a few years and still have pretty much zero understanding of.  And, I’m still gonna try to write an article about it!  (This will be a first!)

So, here it goes.

Are you Kapuso or Kapamilya?

That’s right, you read it right.  Are you Kapuso or Kapamilya?  Kapuso, which I believe means “Heart” in Tagalog (I know Puso means heart anyway) is the “slogan” or “motto” of GMA TV Network.  Kapamilya, which I am quite sure means “Family” in Tagalog (at least I know that “Pamilya” means family in Bisaya) is the “slogan” or “motto” of ABS-CBN TV Network.

Somehow, people in the Philippines go around identifying themselves as Kapuso or Kapamilya.  You can’t be neither, as far as I can tell.  You really have to align yourself with one Network or the other!  It seems that it would be pretty much “unthinkable” to remain unaligned!

So, which network are you? I will tell you at the end of this article where I stand, OK?

It’s kind of funny, though, because from what I can tell, if you are an actor who appears on GMA, you can’t (or should not) appear on ABS-CBN.  If you are an actor who appears on ABS-CBN, you can’t (or should not) appear on any shows on GMA.

It all seems strange to me, because where I come from, in the USA, people in show business go on whatever network will have them, no matter what network their show is on.  For example, let’s look at today’s king of action – Kiefer Sutherland, “Jack Bauer” on the ultimate action show, “24.” You know, the “beep, beep, beep” guy?  OK, 24 is on Fox TV, I believe.  (Yep, I just Googled it, 24 is indeed on Fox).  But, do you think that Kiefer goes on The Tonight Show (NBC)?  How about on the Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)?  You better believe he goes on both of them!

What about viewers? Lots of people watch 24, right?  Well, just as many also watch CSI.  But, 24 is Fox, and CSI is CBS.  How could you possibly watch both?  I mean…  If you watch CSI, you ARE CBS, right?  You mean you switch channels and watch 24 too? Oh my!  Is it legal? Well, OK, I am sure it’s legal, but is it moral?  Ethical? Well, in the outside world, switching channels is OK!  From what I can tell, though, here in the Philippines you must choose – Kapuso or Kapamilya? I’m not entirely certain, but there might even be a law requiring you to choose, and once you choose you cannot legally switch between stations!  Again, I am not entirely certain on this either, but I think that remote controls just may be banned too, because you don’t need a remote control when you can’t legally change channels!

See what I mean? It’s all a very confusing mess.  It is also making me wonder.  If your parents are Kapuso, can you be Kapamilya?  Or, would you need to move out of the house and get your own place if you want the opposite network from your parents?  I think it might be.  Is there a certain age when you must make the required choice?  Certainly, a 2 year old would not be expected to “side up,” right?

Well, where do I fall?  I promised I would tell you at the end of the article, right?  Well, here it is….  I really don’t care one way or the other! (Is that legal?)

Don’t pay much attention to this.  As far as I know, there are no laws on this rivalry.  This is really just a bit of humor, poking fun at the whole rivalry!  Like I said at the get-go, I really don’t know anything about this anyway.  If any of you Filipinos reading this article can explain it all to me, I’d be most grateful!

An Evening of Classical Music in Davao

It’s never to early to promote it: All music lovers will have the chance again to enjoy a wonderful evening of classical music in Davao City at the 5th of December 2009 in the CAP Auditorium. I wrote already a little bit about it in my last post ‘This and That’.

Meanwhile I am getting so many emails, text messages and phone calls, which let me decide to add some more details in this post regarding this very special event.

Sometimes I meet people, who “don’t like classical music”. But “classical music” is NOT ONLY Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart or Bach. People consider the Beatles, the Bee Gees or even late Michael Jackson as classics. Philippine composers de Guzman and Canesco have collaborated to come up with hauntingly beautiful arrangements of popular nationalistic Philippine songs.

Of course, classical music is also Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, or de Falla’s Fire Dance from the ballet “El Amor Brujio” with mad notes, evil trills and primitive rhythms – actually transcribed for two pianos.

Two pianos? Why not four?

Yes, the Four Davaoena Pianists on Four Pianos will be back on stage on December 5, 2009 in Davao City with a funds raising concert for Polio Philippines, initiated by the Rotary Club of East Davao, which appointed me as Chairman for this event.

An evening of Piano Classical Concert not only fulfills a mission of charity but also provides a venue to lift up aesthetic values among benefactors lending a moment of pleasurable classical experiences.

Members of the city government of Davao have expressed already their readiness to support this event.

The outstanding pianists are:

Evelyn Abellera-Magno, a woman of impeccable credentials, who has proved her competence from the schoolroom to the corporate boardroom and back to her music. Evelyn, my friend and neighbour, past governor of Rotary International, District 3860 has been a grantee at the Havard University School of Education at Cambridge, Massachussetts.

Mila Cabaguio Jocson, an A.B.M. graduate of Fernandez Piano School, taught music in the Ateneo de Davao and others. Together with Celine Dacuado Garcia, Nelly Domingo castro and Inday Fucoy Montero, they formed the original Davao Piano Quartett more then 20 years ago.

Daphne Cabaguio Jocson broadened her musical horizon under Ms. Vera Berskaya and Dr. Hugo Goldenzweig at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Daphne also performed with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra at the Central Bank Auditorium in Davao City and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila.

Maria Luisa “Inday” Fucoy Montero attended the conservatory of music at St. Paul’s College of Manila, where she studied piano initially with Sony Lacson and Carmencita Arambulo earning a Bachelor of Music.

Come and experience, what “classical music” can means. It could be Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (one of my favourits) as well as Deep Purple’s “Peter de Rose” or “Parish and Carmichael” (Stardust).

Master of Ceremonies will be no other then Michaelangelo Ebro Dakudao, Ph.D., friend and former fellow columnist in Mindanao Times.

Tickets will be available for PHP 1,000, PHP 500, PHP 300 and PHP 100.

See you then and there!

Criticism, justified or not?

It’s been in the entertainment news here in the Philippines lately that a veteran and an activist singer/song writer, Freddie Aguilar, made a comment that Charice Pempengco and Arnel Pineda were just like a monkey that they’re imitating the singers abroad when they perform.

He further stated that it was Mariah Carey who said that Charice is like a monkey. He said that he was invited over 3 decades ago to record an album in the States. Since the recording company refused to record his album that includes a lot of his Tagalog songs he said he just told them to forget it. He said he would rather record here in the Philippines and sell it here. He said that his conscience was clean then. He is the fellow that wrote the song Anak (song about a parent to a kid) and some other songs that were famous before here in the Philippines. Really the song and the lyrics are very good. The Anak song was recorded in a lot of languages all over the world. I’m surprised, why did he allow them to record in different languages?

Before anything else I will give you more background who these  people are who he is criticizing. First, Charice Pempengco. She’s a young girl from San Pedro, Laguna. She joined a singing contest in their area and the neighboring place. Then, she joined ABS-CBN show Little big star search in 2005.  She was just third placer at that contest. Then somebody uploaded a video of her performing on Youtube.  Next, Ellen DeGebeneres saw the the video. They contacted Charice, inviting her to the States to perform at the Ellen show. Really that performance she made at the show really paved the way for her to be an international singer. She was then invited by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah now the manager/mentor of Charice in the States, with the help of producer writer David Foster. Charice now has finished recording her album in the States. She traveled to the States many times a month. Like she will perform there or some other countries, then she comes home to be on the show here in the Philippines then back to the States again. Charice really has a bright future ahead of her. She’s really in good hands.

The second person that was criticized was Arnel Pineda. Arnel was a member of a band here in the Philippines. He is from Manila. He was performing and the video was uploaded in Youtube. The rock band Journey saw his video on Youtube. So, they contacted him to ask if he can come to the States to audition for the group. They got him. He is now the vocalist of the rock band Journey. He really is the success story also that hailed from a very poor family here in the Philippines. Now he tours with the group all over the world. He comes home here in the Philippines regularly since his wife and kids still reside here.

Really, as Arnel said on an interview, if we are singing English songs in other countries, that doesn’t mean we love the Philippines less. He further said that he really is proud to be a Filipino and nobody can take that away from him. Somebody defended Charice on this matter also, a famous performer here. His name is Gary Valenciano. He said that Charice is so young and she was just starting. This is really her stepping stone into stardom. Give Charice time and not judge her. He said that Charice was giving honor in our country by being known in the States and some other countries.

Really a lot of Filipinos have made themselves famous all over the world. I think really we should just be proud instead of criticizing them. It’s not really for him to choose. It’s should just be Charice and Arnel and those other Filipinos who will decide what they want. It’s not up to us. He made his choice before not to record in the States and everybody respects his decisions on that, nobody criticized him. So it’s time for him to respect others decisions too. Some people even said that he might just be jealous that Charice and Arnel were so successful in the States and other countries and that he is not.

What do you think, guys? Do you think that if a Filipino performer be invited to guest on some shows abroad,that they should just perform Filipino songs or any dialect we have here in the Philippines? Would that further the career of a Filipino performer abroad?

Cheers!

Green fingers for survival

Consider yourselves warned.

I went to an annual Filipino picnic in St Louis last Saturday and it was so much fun. The weather was perfect. The sun was out, the Pinoy food was bountiful and delicious as always. I saw lots and lots of my kababayans. And what else was present? A karaoke, of course!

My mother in law drove me and my kids to the venue park as Jeff had to work. After a little bit, she and the kids headed home, while I was left so I could “enjoy myself”. And I really did. I caught up with my old friends, got introduced to new ones. I even played kickball with another Filipina and her husband. And of course, I karaoke’d my heart out.

We Filipinos are very musically inclined. No wonder, amateur singing contests are always part of the numerous fiestas that we celebrate. And long before there was American Idol, we had Tanghalan ng Kampeon (Stage of the Champion) and the long list of succeeding television shows where new singing talents were and still are discovered. So if you love music, you will surely love the Philippines. Music is one of our favorite past times. You will hear them (sometimes real loud) in jeepneys, even in trikes. It should be no surprise that the karaoke plays a big part in our modern culture.

In the Philippines, karaoke is more popularly known as videoke. The logic, I guess is that when the ‘component system’ was just the cassette stereo and the speakers, and the melody was supplied through minus one tapes,  it was karaoke. But came the addition of the video and of course, the TV now part of the ’system’, where you see themed backgrounds as you sing and the lyrics too are supplied and highlighted in sync with the song tempo, and there you have the videoke.

Most Filipino households have a videoke system at home. If they don’t, they probably have a relative or a close friend in the neighborhood where they do their singing sessions during Christmas, New Year, fiestas, birthday, christening, on weekends, and anytime they can dream up an excuse for it -when maybe depressed, broken hearted, or happy or simply bored.

We like singing our hearts out. We love listening to our friends and neighbors sing their hearts out. Well, most of the time.

As much as karaoke makes us gather in camaraderie, there are also many times when it has caused trouble. Like when the drunken singing goes on until midnight while the rest of the neighbors are trying to sleep. I’ve known of cases when the neighbors had to petition to the community hall to actually regulate the karaoke hours or have them moved a little farther from residences or removed permanently.

And there is one song in particular that has gained ‘respect’ in the Filipino karaoke world. One better give the song justice or risk getting criticized for wrong pitch, wrong lyrics, wrong tempo or notes not hit. I’m not talking about Martin Nievera’s rendition of Lupang Hinirang at Manny Pacquiao’s most recent victorious fight. Frankly, I side Martin on that one, not because I like his version. I just like that he put his own touch to the song. I think that maybe, if we all can sing it in a way that our hearts will really feel it, then maybe we can actually incorporate the lyrics to our way of life and who knows, it might finally spark nationalism.

The song I am talking about is popularized by Frank Sinatra and is arguably the national anthem among the drunks (usually among the male population). The lyrics say of how one has done a lot in his life, and so he is sort of ‘ready to go’. Ironically, there were those who sang the song who actually went. Some were made to leave the bar, some not-so-lucky ones, were made to leave the face of the earth. Seriously.

Don’t dare walk into a karaoke bar, or in the middle of the neighborhood drinking/karaoke session and start singing “My Way”. It can very well be your last song.

The three B’s -booze, the bar attitude and the bad singing, crime records show, can be a very bad combination. When someone picks the song, I am telling you, try to look around. You’ll see that everybody starts getting nervous. Everybody else is suddenly alert and ready to either run out, run for cover or duct. When I first told Jeff about this, he did not believe me. He finally did when his policemen friends told him that 99 percent of the bloody bar fights that they had responded to started from the song My Way.

If this is news to you, it should sound pretty funny as it still does to me. But it is sadly quite a matter of fact. Some bars have actually removed the song from the karaoke menu! I put together this clip of the lyrics and a few actual cases in the past. Imagine a guy singing it and somehow, a fight starts and somebody is suddenly dead.

Cerveza Negra. Manna of the Gods?

This is a short posting about one of my favorite subjects… BEER! I suspect most readers of LiP already are very familiar with San Miguel. For those unlucky enough who have not spent time here yet, you are in for a real treat. There is excellent beer made in the Philippines. Now, I’m no beer snob… I don’t get all giddy like a bunch of oenophiles mushing over a new wine vintage. I just know what I like, and I like Filipino beer.

San Miguel is an old brewery, and they make some fine products. Most are very cheap, by western standards, and their beer will compare favorably with most imported brands, if not better.

The best known is the original San Miguel Pilsener. At the supermarket, a bottle only costs 19 pesos. Though cheap, it is really a good beer. This beer has a nice flavor, I think a little like Heineken, and goes down really easily in the hot weather. It also tastes different (In my mind, at least) than the San Miguel brewed in Hong Kong. This is the original, and the best. Really great with some lechon or a big plate of lumpia shanghai.

Now, San Miguel also makes a light beer, San Mig Light, that tastes a bit like Corona. Not my favorite, and more expensive for some reason, but it will do in a pinch. Since it’s light, that means you can drink twice as many, right??? Last time I drank it, I was eating kinilaw down in GenSan… A really nice dinner.

For those who like stronger beer, there is yet another San Miguel brand: Red Horse. This is the one you usually see in the sari sari stores, and it has a much higher alcohol content. Not my favorite, and more expensive, but usually it is sold in bigger bottles. (26 pesos at the sari sari in our compound.) You see this beer a lot in the provinces.

Finally, there is my favorite: Cerveza Negra. I really like dark beers, and this one is a good one. In terms of taste, it reminds me a little of a Newcastle or Boddingtons. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as common in the Philippines as the other San Miguel brands. Most of the sari sari stores don’t carry it, and I usually only see it in hotel bars or in the better supermarkets, like Landmark. Usually, this beer is the most expensive here, and I feel it is worth every bit the price difference (Around 40 pesos in the supermarket and 100 pesos in a hotel.). Still, for this high quality, Cerveza Negra truly is manna of the Gods… It goes well with just about any food. Cheers!

***BTW… These pictures came from Imageshack… I made the mistake of trying to photograph after drinking the beer. Every one of my pictures was blurry!***

Jose Rizal – MY Hero

“The dawn is not far. Spain opens the east for her beloved Philippines, and times are changing and I am positive that more are being done than we can imagine!”
Dr. JOSE RIZAL, Philippine National Hero

I started liking and loving Jose Rizal from that moment I read his book NOLI ME TANGERE. Of course, Rizal was quite subjective in writing it, since his motive was to gain feedback from his people by exposing in beautiful words the evils besetting his own country during that time, thus rallying the people for a peaceful revolution. NOLI ME TANGERE had also drawn ire from indignant censors because of its fearless expose on the colonial evils under the cloak of a literary masterpiece.

Fact is, Rizal has been the initiator of Philippine-German Cultural relations, a topic, which guides me also through the life as a German expat living in the Philippines. One can find a lot of literature regarding this topic.

Why do I mention this? A friend of mine in Manila sent me an email and invited me to fly to Manila. There might be something very interesting for me:

Up to June 28, 2009 is it possible to experience the musical satire “Rizal is My President” (Pilipinas… Marangal at Banal). It is directed by Raffy Tejada, the original songs aare by Noel Cabangon, and the script is by Joshua So, a Palanca Awardee. The musical satire based on the book “Rizal is My President – 40 leadership tips of Jose Rizal”.

Venues will be in Manila and Quezon City. For inquiries or reservations you might call Manila 02 – 631-5923 or 632-7553 or 687-1309.

I am sure, I try my very best to arrange my schedule and fly to Manila and watch the play “and believe in the dream again” – as a saying goes.

Out of sight but not out of mind

Today’s Guest Post is from our old friend, Jim Cunningham.  Jim is an expat living in Talakag, Bukidnon, and has been a friend of LiP for many years already.  Thanks for your contribution, Jim.

Before leaving the North East of England to travel to the Philippines to take up permanent residence at the end of November last year 2008, our daughter Mariel had just returned from the Cook Islands in the South Pacific after taking part in Shipwrecked a reality TV show for Chanel 4 in the UK.

Mariel had informed us the previous July that she had been chosen from around 70,000 applicants to take part in the program and would be travelling to the location of the program in the Cook Islands at the beginning of August and staying there for around 12 weeks. You can imagine how we felt as she had not kept us in the loop regarding her new career in TV since she was still attending Stirling University taking a degree in Philosophy. Mariel has always been a frustrated actress from her days in the preschool drama class as well as primary school plays and pantomimes etc.

She even auditioned for a part in a Harry Potter movie without success some years ago, I might add.

So while Marilou and I were finalizing our plans to move to the Philippines the youngest member of the family was off to the other side of the world.

During the time she was in the Cook Island she was incommunicado so we did not have a clue what was going on apart from updates from Chanel 4 production staff back in London from time to time to inform us that she was well and enjoying herself.

Mariel returned to the UK two weeks before we left to travel to the Philippines and during her debrief over diner one evening she assured us she had been a good girl and only clever editing left the viewers imagination to run riot from time to time. She also informed us that the show would be screened on Chanel 4 from the beginning of February 2009 but since she was sworn to secrecy by signing a confidentiality agreement she could not tell us details about how the show ended so once again we were left in the dark.

Enter Mindanao Bob who after listening to our problem of not being able to watch the show from Talakag, Bukidnon where we live he said he would see what he could do to help. With Bob’s superior knowledge of internet communications and up to date software programs he was soon back with a solution to our problem. Bob was able to download the show from the UK episode by episode and burn them to a disc and send then weekly to us from Davao by LBC what a star.

When Marilou and I received the first two episodes from Bob it was close the door time and ignore everyone till we had finished the show with not a dry eye in the house. True to his word Bob has sent all the episodes by LBC on a regular basis and we have due to Mariels antics at times been glad that we are in Talakag and not back in the UK, but like she said before it’s all due to clever editing. (We hope).

The show is over now and Mariel had a whale of a time and is still doing modeling and PA’s as a result of her appearance in the show, but I don’t think she will end up in Hollywood.

The moral of this story is, beware all of you with children especially girls as it must be the influence of the pinoy blood that they wish to aspire to appearing on the big screen hahaha!

Once again Bob a big thank you for making Marilou and me extremely happy parents.

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