SINULOG 2008 CEBU PHILIPPINES!

The buzz in Cebu was that the prisoners of YouTube fame wanted to participate in the Sinulog Mardigras parade, and the officials seriously considered it. They couldn't ignore that these prisoners are in the top 10 of YouTube's videos and mentioned thus in Time Magazine. But in the end, the officials decided they are still prisoners and were not allowed to leave the confines of their prison house. However, as a concession, those who wanted to see them perform could go the Capitol at a certain time, catch a shuttle that would take them to the prisonhouse to watch their performance.

The talk is that the two prisoners who have muscled these now-famous dancing videoclips are in prison for "estafa" and for drugs - they aren't murderers or anything like that.

This year - 2008 - the Sinulog has been rainy! Saturday, it rained off and on for the fluvial parade of the Santo Nino, for the procession, attended by a million people. Roads were closed off, people crammed the procession route or joined the procession, and it was quite something to watch the people's faces when the Santo Nino in His carro appeared - the cheers, the waving, the energy were impressive. All of this during a heavy downpour.

The next day, Sunday, was mardigras day. The weather forecast was a strong storm, and talk was that numerous eggs were delivered to the Carmelites, as is the tradition, if you want to keep it from raining. The nuns apparently pray for dry weather and God knows what they do with all the eggs they receive. It was dry for most of the day, but it did rain in the afternoon, but the participants of the parade kept right on. Apparently 2 million people watched the parade.


Monday, the Casa Gorordo had a Sinulog Bisaya, danced by Evelita Diola and her troupe. This is the real prayer dance by an octagenarian who remembers what it was like in the 1930s. It's a very folksy, heartfelt dance, nothing glitzy like the Sinulog mardigras. I am not sure how to describe it, the drums still beat out the sinulog beat. The dancers are dressed as Spaniards and Natives, reenacting I suppose the origins of the Santo Nino, which had been brought to Cebu by Ferdinand Magellan. What was interesting was when the Evelita Diola, prayed verbally to the Santo Nino and she mentioned Don Mariano. Later, we learned that she prayed for my grandfather Mariano Cuenco, for whom she had worked in Colon, many years ago.


Stay tuned, dear Readers, stay tuned!



Pictures show:
Top: Joy Guerra, Louie Nacorda, Gavin Bagares, Gav's friend, and me in a post-Sinulog celebration;
Next: Terry Manguerra and me with Evelita Diola (in yellow)
Bottom pictures show Joe and Rita Suaco, and Chinggay and Joe Utzurrum

YOU CAN'T TAKE MANILA SERIOUSLY!

I had an epiphany this morning that you can't take Manila seriously. Let me expand this statement. I was born and grew up in Cebu and didn't move to Manila until I was around 13 for high school and college. Even though I had my own pretensions, because my family in Cebu had prestige, had political connections, blah-blah-blah, I was slightly intimidated by Manila. For one thing the language, Tagalog, was something quite different from my first tongue, Cebuano. Even though English-only is debatable, I was relieved that the St. Theresa's nuns obliged us all to speak in English. At least my broken Tagalog didn't put me at a disadvantage. Another thing, and maybe this had to do with the girls' convent schools that I attended (St. Theresa's College, San Marcelino and Maryknoll College, Quezon City) - I did note the social structure (or stratification?), not only in school, but also in Manila society. Even though we backbited them, we (Theresians as a whole) looked with some envy at the girls who attended Assumption College because there were a lot of society girls among them - models, daughters of so-and-so. In fact the schools I attended also had name-people, but the Belgian and Filipina nuns at STC and the American nuns at Maryknoll College emphasized academics, so these daughters of so-and-so were only so important if they excelled in school. And because they had imbibed the nuns' values, they didn't end up in society pages as often as the other college girls did.

But it was there, I could feel it, for the 8 years I went to school in Manila - who was wealthier, who was prettier, who had more dates, who ended up in the society pages, etc. etc. - a constant social climbing. We paid attention to that, not to who was in the Dean's List.

And besides all that, the Tagalogs are generally more gruff, more rigid than the easy-going friendly Cebuanos.

Now, years later, I'm seeing Manila and Tagalogs in another way. The society columns still talk about the same families, and more noveau riche. Forbes Park and exclusive subdivisions and communities boast of huge houses or apartments. And people operate as if on different social strata, never meeting if so desired.

Well, now I look at all this and find the social stratification and pretensions interesting at best and pathetic at worst.

But really the way to look at Manila is with the eyes of a comedian. For instance, yesterday I witnessed this vignette: Picture a busy upscale department store in Makati - there's a Korean man, maybe in his early 40s, and a Filipina perhaps in her late 20s. They are in the lingerie section, staring at brassiers. There are racks and racks of them - to those who don't know, the Philippines exports lingeries - so this guy points out a padded blue brassier to the woman. The woman handles it, turns it over. It is thickly padded and the color is a vivid sky blue. She protests, "It is too big." The guy insists on it anyway, finally she disappears into a fitting room with the bra.

When I was younger, I might have turned away more quickly, indignant that here is this prostitute/call girl with some foreign man, and how disgusting the whole thing was etc. etc. That was the young Cecilia, trained forever by nuns, and highly judgemental - Sister Cecilia.

Well, yesterday, the older Cecilia lingered near the two to be able to listen and find out what was going on - yes, eavesdropped. And then, when I had figured it out, I had to hold myself back from laughing because the following thought flitted through: Oh my, it's like he owns a car and is buying accessories for it.

So, anyway, I thought about that some more and realized that there's a comic style to Manila. The people generally want to be important; each and everyone you meet will connect himself or herself with some politician - "So and so is my uncle." So many of them own cars, so much so that there is color-coding driving restriction. And at least here in Makati, there is such a Western slant, I see women wearing boots, and coats - yes, in this heat!

But there is the other childlike side, the crowds in church every evening at the end of a work day; and the cluster of employees gossiping, cracking jokes. I heard once that 80% of Filipinos are under the age of 30, or something like that - the gist was that it's a young population, and this is true. And many are trying to get out of the country to find better prospects: to Saudi, Hong Kong, Australia, United States, Canada, Europe. Every country I've visited, and I think I've been to around 40, has always had Filipino immigrants.

So the hurly-burly, the self-importance, the social-climbing can be looked at as amusing. At least I find them such, now.

FLOATING DOWN THE PASIG RIVER

Today, my friend Tillic picked me up and we took a cab to Quiapo - to Ilse D'Touls (Sa Ilalim ng Tulay) - where you can buy handicrafts dirt cheap. You must haggle even though their markup isn't that high. The shopping area is under the Quiapo bridge and near the famous Quiapo Church with the miraculous Black Nazarene statue, object of veneration to so many people that they have stampedes during the feastday of the Nazareno.

Back to the shopping center: outdoor stalls with quite a lot of shell craft, bamboo items, capiz shells, weavings, leather items. You can find lamps, bags, shell hanging dividers or wind chimes, tablecloths, napkins, knickknacks, carved wood, embroidered items, the list is endless. I picked up a lovely Filipina dress: handpainted kimono with skirt and panuelo for P1,500 - that's around $38; a nice beaded bakya (native wooden clogs) for P250 ($5); ebony back scratcher; shell pill boxes, woven purses, etc.

The best part was returning to Makati because we took the ferry down Pasig River. The ferry service is only two years old and it was the first time Tillic had taken it. It was wonderful! The terminals (except for Quiapo) were all quite nice, the ferries were clean and new, with a large screen for those who wanted to watch movies. I spent my time looking around because I'd never seen Manila from this vantage view. I'd read about Pasig being a major thoroughfare in the 1800s. In olden days one could take a boat all the way to Laguna. Jose Rizal writes about such a voyage in his famous novel, Noli Me Tangere. There are antique pictures showing the Pasig River with boats; the ancient steps on the banks are still there! There are also some old houses on the riverbank. And the ferry passes right by the Malacanang complex - that's all quite handsome. So, as we floated on Pasig for about an hour, we saw the Malacanang complex, warehouses, refineries, slums (yes, that too), and now and then some surprisingly intriguing mansions. Tillic was fascinated by the white birds that could fly forever that looked like small seagulls. They kept pecking at something on the water. I don't know if they were fishing, but we did see people fishing from the river banks, and also some children swimming. When we were young, the Pasig River was so polluted it had no fish; it was covered with green plants and a lot of garbage. To swim in the Pasig was tantamount to a cholera-sentence. Now, it's obviously cleaner.

So very fun! I highly recommend it, but don't have your hopes too high. It's not yet Bangkok, but I can see how in 5-10 years, this Pasig ferry will be quite a fashionable way to travel in the Metro Manila. Think of it: no traffic, no pollution, low stress - really you could take a nap, you could read, you could watch the movie - you can't do these things in a jeepney or taxi, you just can't because the frenetic Manila traffic is just too over whelming.

FAST FOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES

I listened to two mothers talking about their children, and they went on about their children being hyperactive - "super-kulit" is the term they used. Before this, they had talked about how picky their children are about food: one child didn't eat lunch at school and the mother had to give the kid Ensure in the morning and at night, and another child just ate fast food. I asked if fast food may have something to do with the hyperactivity and they both said yes.

We talked about how we didn't have fast food when we were growing up. Our snacks consisted of fruit and well, yes, sweets, but we didn't have Jollibee and McDonald and those stalls that sell assorted fried snacks.

I have noticed that there are a number of younger people who are heftier. When I was young and even now in provinces, people were/are generally more slender, sometimes too thin. I've always assumed that diet had something to do with this, in the same way I assume that the fast food diet is affecting the people in the cities where there's a proliferation of such food.

It would be interesting to see if there's an increase in diet-related health problems ever since the addition of fast food to the Filipino diet.

MANILA REPORT #3

When I was a student at Maryknoll College in Quezon City, I used to drive down EDSA. And at that time EDSA had long stretches of fields so the feeling was that you left the city of Manila, drove through nothing until you hit Quezon City. Now, there's concrete jungle all along EDSA, and needless to say the traffic along that avenue is horrendous.

Today, it was particularly bad because there was a fire in a slum community. The cab driver said the area was called Guadalupe, and it was made of shacks - squatters' homes. He said this was the second time the area burned down; five years ago there had been a fire. The owner of the land posted many guards to try and prevent the return of the squatters, and the cabbie said there were a lot of fights, with people getting killed. The squatters managed to get back into that land and rebuild. Then, there was this morning's fire.

Dark smoke swirled up into the murky Manila sky. People stood on the overpasses to look at the smoke and fire. The firemen apparently couldn't enter this area and blocked the surrounding roads. I didn't understand this statement fully, but I'm sure that is what the cabbie said. The cabbie insinuated that the fire could have been arson, but he toned down his statement by saying it's hard to tell because these kind of dwellings are made of flimsy wood, with illegal electric hookups, etc.

It took 50 minutes for me to get from Makati to Pasig ordinarily, it would take 30 minutes. So this wasn't too bad. The highway going the opposite way wasn't moving at all. After my hour meeting, I found another taxi and the guy was distraught about what route to take to get back to Makati, since EDSA traffic was at a standstill. He wound around through Mandaluyong and back streets and I think he may have taken advantage of me some because the meter was 50% more than usual. A lot of confusing and unnecessary turns, back tracking in some cases. But never mind he got me back to Makati - and even though the dollar is WEAK, it's still a bargain to travel from Pasig to Makati for $4.

I was tempted to go to Ilse D'Touls (you have to pronounce this with a French accent; it should really be Sa Ilalim Ng Tulay [Under the Bridge]) - a down home shopping section for handicrafts, unbelievably cheap, but the place has an edge so when you go there you have to be prepared for purse-snatchers and other bad people. I didn't go to Ilse D'Touls; didn't feel like adding any more edge to my life today.

So I thought about going to Ermita, where neat antique shops and restaurants are, and where Frankie Jose's bookshop La Solidaridad is, but it's Friday and traffic is just extra awful Friday afternoons. So I'm holed up in Makati.

Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Signing off from Makati.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT (?) IN MAKATI, Philippines

I've put a question mark after "red light district" because this place isn't like the red light district in Amsterdam, which is very forthright about sex for sale. The place I'm writing about is a section in Bel Air, Makati,where there are numerous bars, clubs, and hotels - and guys looking for girls, and girls in little short skirts cruising, looking for guys. The only difference here, is that unlike Amsterdam, the guys and girls trolling Bel Air can pretend they are looking for real love. In Amsterdam, I would think it would be quite a stupid man who would be looking for love in that red light district.

Seriously, here in Makati, I've come across a couple of older White guys looking for wives. Now, you are probably wondering what I would be doing in a place like this - and the answer is simple - I used to stay in place nearby and I used the internet cafes in the area.

The computers in the internet cafe I'm in right now all have cameras, for Skype users. I don't know if they still have the little rooms with the cameras, but a couple of years ago they did. A hairdresser named Lisa (a guy) had explained that these internet cafes have private rooms used by girls who do business via the internet. They apparently pick up clients from internet chat groups,and accept payment via Western Union. I will stop here and let the reader figure out what else transpires.

I mentioned this to my high school nun, Sister Consuelo, and she affirmed that such rooms do exist. She talked about an internet cafe in Cebu which she once used, and she wandered down a hall with little rooms! She asked the manager about those rooms, and the manager didn't give her a straight answer, according to her. So, my relaying to her what Lisa said educated Sister Consuelo about what happens in those little rooms. I think she may have gone back and scolded the manager.

All for now, from Makati's Redlight (?)District
Cecilia 

Read also

Remembering the Woman in Amsterdam
From Hanoi to Ho Chi Ming City
Kenya Safari
Ireland 1, 2
Visiting the American Southwest
Visiting Colonial Mexico
My Love Affair with France
Burma
Malaysia 

Grand Tour of Egypt 1 (visit also Egypt 2, 3) 

Maids in the Mist - Canada  (and visit Canada 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Turkey 1 (and visit Turkey 2, 3, 4)

Brazil 1 (and visit Brazil 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
The Fascination Called China

Northern India in March 
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Peru

tags: Red Light District, prostitution, Philippines, Makati, Manila, travel, tourism holiday

MANILA IN JANUARY - Report #1

How do you survive a 20 hour trip across the Pacific?
Here are some tricks: travel light, including your hand carry. Homeland security checks in the U.S. are quite rigorous now, so you're better off if you minimize your luggage. Besides, it's easier to move around with fewer baggage (Ha - a pun!). Also consider your footgear, because you have to remove your shoes at the X-ray section before you get into the "sterile" area of the airport. You're so much better off if you wear slip-ons, rather than lace-up shoes. And don't bother bringing water, gels, perfume, etc. in your hand carry. You risk having them taken away from you.

Next, a week before your date of departure, you should call your airline and request for either window or aisle seat. I myself like aisle seats; although some people like window seats.

Airline food is now quite terrible, so it's a good idea to throw in some snacks in your carry-on - seriously, the food I had in Cathay was supposed to have been sweet and sour pork and it was not edible. Some domestic airlines charge you a few bucks for snacks that are nothing to brag about. Some people like to bring an empty bottle of water, which you can fill up once you're past the security check area.

Bring a book or magazines to read in the airplane. There are movies to watch of course, but sometimes, it's just nice to read quietly.

In the airplane, make it a point to get up and walk around. Stretch, bend your knees, do a bit of exercise because those long trips are murder.

All for now!

(I'm in Manila - arrived without any incident. It's not that hot; in fact it's cloudy right now. More development in Makati, near the Greenbelt church. The dogs are still there; apartment fine. Oh, it's 40.87 pesos to one dollar.)

Cebu's Old Jesuit House of 1730

There is in Old Cebu a historic site tucked away in the Parian District of Cebu City, like a secret gem waiting to surface one day. It is an old Jesuit House or Convent built in 1730. Located on Zulueta Street near Mabini, this historic site has not been restored and is currently the Ho Tong Warehouse. But in the midst of the piles of steel and lumber, one can find vestiges of this ancient place. It is surprising but tourists from all over the world seek out this place, asking permission from the Ho Tong employees to see what is left of the place; the Ho Tong people generously oblige.

The history of the Jesuits in Cebu is fascinating. The Jesuits, also known as the Black Robes, came to the Philippines in 1581. By 1595, the Jesuits were in Cebu.

It was the Jesuit superior, Antonio Sedeno himself who founded a house in Cebu. Sedeno was a veteran missionary of 46. Like St. Ignatius, he had been in the military when he was young. He had gone to England as a page of the Duke of Feria when Mary Tudor was queen. On March 13, 1568, he sailed for Florida with a group of Jesuits headed by Juan Bautista de Segura. In 1572, Sedeno was the first Jesuit sent to Mexico, and it was while he was acting Rector of the college there that he was informed he was chosen as superior of the first Philippine Mission. Traveling with three companions, he sailed from Acapulco on the galleon San Martin on March 29, and arrived Manila in July. There Sedeno and his company learned Tagalog. After much hemming and hawing as to whether the Manila Jesuits would head the entire Far East or the Philippines, and as to what type of work they would actually do there, the King of Spain sent an order for the Jesuits to establish a Jesuit College where they would teach not only Spanish boys but also mestizos and sons of the ruling class.

Cebu, the site of the first Spanish settlement was not forgotten, and by June 30, 1595 Sedeno himself headed a small group composed of Alonso de Humanes, Mateo Sanchez and a lay brother to Cebu for the purpose of founding a Jesuit house there. The people received them warmly and promptly donated 500 pesos to them, which they used to buy a house near the beach. The city corporation donated adjacent land for a yard and garden. The trip to Cebu had been on an uncovered sailboat, exposing the Jesuit passengers to the stormy weather for three weeks. Father Sedeno became ill and passed away in Cebu on September 2, 1595. They buried him in the domestic chapel on the ground floor of their first house, but three years later, Father Pedro Chirino transferred Sedeno’s remains to the new Jesuit church.

The Jesuits went on and founded a free primary school that taught Spanish, Visayan, and Chinese students Catholic doctrine, reading, writing, arithmetic, and deportment. Grammar was added upon the Since 1596, the Jesuits had been administering a free primary school teaching Spanish, Visayan, and Chinese students Christian doctrine, reading, writing, arthimetic, and deportment, grammar.

In 1599 the Chinese Christians built a Catholic church in the wealthy Parian district in Old Cebu. This church was said to have been decorated with gold and silver. The Bishop of Cebu ordered the Jesuits to administer this church, which they did for a while. This was the Parian Parish church that stood at the intersections of Mabini, Espana, and Zulueta. The Jesuit convent was across the street on Mabini and Zulueta.

When the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines in 1768, the Jesuit House in Cebu ended up in the hands of others, including the Alvarez and Sy families. At some point, it had even been exclusive club in Cebu.

Here are some pictures of Cebu's Old Jesuit House of 1730, including the cut-coral wall. Here's a great link to Arnold Carl's site. Arnold has a great writeup about the architecture of this Old Jesuit House and more pictures and writeups about Old Cebu sites.




~~~~~
A lot of the information above about the Jesuits came from the Book by Father Horacio Dela Costa, The Jesuits in the Philippines.

REMEMBERING WHEN RAIN HAD GENDER

The rain in Southern California reminded me of rain in the Philippines. I don't know if the weather pattern has changed but when I was growing up the rainy season there was around June until October-November. It could rain daily for weeks at a time. If there was a typhoon, the rain and winds were horrific, so strong as to knock down huge trees and rip off galvanized roofing.

If the typhoon was strong, we got to stay home, so I actually have fond memories of typhoons. The memory is this: wind whipping leaves and branches outside, rain drumming on the roof, water, water falling down, and there I was in the house, warm and dry and reading a book. Now and then, if the typhoon wasn't too bad, and when I was older, my classmates and I would sneak off to see a movie - but only if the storm wasn't too bad. It truly was dangerous to be outside during a ferocious typhoon because electrical wires could sometimes be knocked down and live wires could be laying around exposed. The water would rise so that vehicles were half-submerged and traffic at a stand still. I recall having to wade through flooded streets in Manila. And since power outage was common, you had to stock up on candles, matches, and canned food. At this time, my mother made sure our drinking water was boiled to kill germs.

The first rainy season I experienced in California, I was surprised because Californians made a big fuss over what I thought was a drizzle. There Californians were, with raincoats and boots and umbrellas, and cars careening through the streets because of this itty-bitty rain. I remembered thinking that the rain in California didn't even have gender, whereas in the Philippines, rain could be male or female. Male rain came as small, steady raindrops that fell for a long period of time. Female rain came as large raindrops that came and went quickly. And we even had gay rain - the kind that we couldn't peg as male or female.

Once I was talking to an Irish about rain, and the person used quite a lot of adjectives describing rain. He used words like "lashing" and "cold" and "bitter" rain, and listening to him, I realized this person came from a place that also knew rain.

Right now, the rain in California is falling, and it's a good thing because of the drought we've had for years now.
~~~~
Picture of flooded Manila is a watercolor done by Trudl Zipper, from the book Manila 1944-45 As Trudl Saw It.

RACE TRACK (AGAIN!), RAIN, AND JAY LENO

We went back to Santa Anita Race track. Lauren wanted a repeat of his winning a trifecta the last time we were there. I was hopeful that the rain would invalidate handicapping and I'd have a shot, what with my picking horses by name or color. Not too many people at Santa Anita, and many horses were scratched. Well, the way it went, the favorites were winning, except for the last horse when we picked the favorites, and the long shot won. In short, we lost. But that is what gambling is all about. In fact I have an aversion to gambling; it has something to do with some family legend about some grandfather or great-grandfather who was a chronic gambler and lost tracks of property. But I'm open to occasional playing with slot machines or visits to the track.

The rain - it's falling in torrents! In buckets! And that's good, I think, because we've had a serious drought. The problem though is that the rain is falling so hard and is likely to cause landslides. The traffic coming home was bad; people in California are so unused to rain that they ride their brakes and do scary things in the sleek freeways.

Jay Leno - poor guy! He's missing his writers, and is struggling with writing his own material. I never thought writers would be sorely missed.

MY FAVORITE YOUTUBE MOVIES

Here are some YouTube movies that I enjoy:

Thriller - Dance number performed by prisoners in Cebu (my home town) to Michael Jackson's Thriller

Funny Dogs - This will make you laugh out loud!

Talking Cats - Two cats
converse with each other - remarkable!

Battle at Kruger This is the one about the water buffaloes, lions, and crocodile - such drama!

And let me just comment on the two short movies I uploaded to YouTube, the one on Robert Brainard and the other on Merwyn Bergquist. I'm amazed that people are actually viewing these home movie clips. These videos are drawing more visitors than this blog, and I haven't even tried to draw visitors to them.

Hmmm, does this mean that people are more visual than verbal? Do countless number of people just sit around watching YouTube videos? And how do they even find "Robert Brainard" and "Merwyn Bergquist"? Are they Brainards and Bergquists who are surfing, trying to find Brainard-Bergquist video-clips? Are they some kind of voyeurs peering into other people's lives?

Hmmmm -

YOUTUBE ON MY MIND

Lauren mentioned the Reel Geezers, an older couple that does movie reviews in YouTube.com. Marcia and Lorenzo, both in their 80s, were featured in today's Los Angeles Times. They do this Ebert & Roeper routine, that is they review movies, sometimes agreeing, other times arguing. They are charming. There is something endearing about these two. They have been involved in the movie industry all their
lives, and they continue to connect with movies by doing these reviews. A friend/contact of theirs uses two cameras to tape them. He edits the work to 5 minutes, which you can view in YouTube. Marcia and Lorenzo are not married to each other, and I imagine how they plan to see movies together, and arrange with the film maker to come in once or twice a month to videotape their reviews of such movies as: Juno, Darjeeling Limited, Michael Clayton, etc. Beats worrying about your high blood pressure or whatever ailments older folks get.

YouTube has been in mind recently. I've had a number of home videos, which I've been talking about editing for years. Finally my son bought me the right computer peripherals that connect the videocam to the computer and allow me to download the video into the computer. I downloaded a free program called MovieMaker II, which allows me to edit these home movies. It's remarkably simple, compared to how we had done things in film school - oh, so many years ago. Now, it's just drag and drop. I still have to learn more tricks of course; this technology is different, but I'm proud to say that I've put up two short home movies in YouTube under the name of Palhbooks. Look them up under the titles of: Merwyn Bergquist and Robert Brainard. The piece on Merwyn is her 80th birthday celebration - in 2005 (I did mention I'd been meaning to work on this!). The other piece is the last home movie I made of my father-in-law, General Robert Francis Brainard. He already had terminal cancer when I filmed this, and I didn't have the nerve to focus the camera on him for any length of time, nor to interview him. I should have. He died shortly after this filming.

And the third YouTube connection today was our viewing of the Battle at Kruger, about water buffalos, lions and a crocodile. It shows a pride of lions attacking a young water buffalo. A crocodile attacks the same buffalo, so there is a tug-of-war between the lions and the croc over the poor water buffalo. And meantime, the herd of buffalos regroup and attack the pride of lions. It is quite a fight! Around 25 water buffalos form a phalanx and surround the 5 lionesses. The herd of buffalo has a leader who steps forward to kick and gore the lionesses. Remarkable! And yes, the young water buffalo survived the attack.

See it all in YouTube.

RECAP 2007

Here's a brief overview of some of the things I did in 2007:
January - February - Took care of business in the Philippines; played tourist in the Philippines with Lauren, Allens, and Doug

April - Went on a Panama Cruise; participated in the LA Festival of Books at UCLA with Loren Woodsen
May - taught a writing class, UCLA Extension; participated in the Aerospace Asian American event; was interviewed by Janelle So in Channel 18
June - participated in a literary reading at UCLA Extension; was guest speaker at dinner of the Filipino American group in Lancaster

June-July - visited the Philippines to take care of business; launched A La Carte Food & Fiction
August - taught an online Writing Class for the first time


September - participated in a UCLA-Extension's Writer's Faire and the West Hollywood Book Festival; visited San Miguel Allende and Guadalajara in Mexico



October - Went to New York and on a cruise to New England and Canada
October-November - taught a writing class, UCLA Extension

MORE COMMENTS RE BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASSINATION

I have a few more things to say about the Benazir Bhutto assassination:

1. The incident reminds me of what happened to Ninoy Aquino. Aquino had been in exile in the United States and had been encouraged by the United States to return to the Philippines in 1983. He barely got off the plane when he was shot dead in Manila International Airport's tarmack. The military or police immediately killed his assailant, and the Marcos government had a lot of stories about Ninoy's assassination. Not too long after, the government of Ferdinand Marcos, that had enjoyed quite a lengthy dictatorship, toppled.

2. American foreign policy - I cannot understand how the United States can talk about installing democracy in other countries such as Pakistan, when all it is doing is installing dictators. Haven't we seen the United States prop up dictators like Diem, the Shah of Iran, Ferdinand Marcos - all in the name of democracy? The American people must understand that when the United States props up these dictatorial governments, there is no freedom in those countries. None. Zilch. Nada.

In this sense the United States foreign policy is screwed up. The U.S. is so eager to support "friendly" governments where it has interests, and in so doing creates despots that oppress their people. This is not democracy.

This was what the U.S. has done in Pakistan - after 9/11, it pumped a lot of money into supporting Pervez Musharraf with the understanding that he'd fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. According to a recent CNN documentary, Musharraf has made deals with the Taliban and Al Qaeda not to attack Pakistan military, which has made certain places in Pakistan nesting grounds of these militant groups.

Musharraf has suspended judges in Pakistan, and reportedly had placed Benazir in house arrest. He definitely did not provide adequate protection to her, and now there is some Pakistani government story that Bhutto had died from banging her head on the lever of her vehicle.

I've seen this kind of obsfucation - muddle the story so as to confuse the people, so that they fail to see what is important.

A La Carte Food & Fiction wins Gourmand Award

I missed the original email from Gourmandbooks.com, but Marily Orosa and Felice Sta. Maria informed me that the anthology which Marily and I co-edited, A La Carte: Food & Fiction, won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2007,in the category Best Food Literature Book. Apparently the book is a winner in the Philippines, and will be competing with other countries' winners.

Here's the official letter from Gourmand:
Congratulations!
Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2007
You are the winner in your country PhilippinesYou qualify for the next "Gourmand Best in the World Competition"

With:

A La Carte: Food & Fiction
Edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard and Marily Y. Orosa
25 Authors
Illustrations by Ice de Leon
ISBN: 978 9712718770
Anvil Publisher

In the category: Best Food Literature Book

The winners will appear in the website http://www.cookbookfair.com on January 8, 2008.

The following is more information about the award:

GOURMAND AWARDS
www.cookbookfair.com

WINNING
1.- THE PROCESS
In 2007, over 6000 books were received from 107 countries. All books compete within their own country, sometimes separated by languages, to correspond to the book trade established markets.

The deadline for receiving books was November 15. Entry is free, there are no fees. Anyone may send books to compete, the author(s), the publisher, the readers.
The winners receive personnally their notification at the end of 2007. The lists of winners are posted on internet in January 2008.

2.- THE IMPACT OF WINNING
Given the number of books in the competition, it is an honour to win. Winning books get more visibility in the market place and may get higher sales, often with new print runs.

The selection process tries to focus on books that have international potential. Winners books get international attention: translations and international rights deals may be negotiated.

Winners use self adhesive tickets to announce visibly their award to the public. They issue press releases in their local and international markets. There is much promotion of the awards on internet sites, publishers catalogues, in the next books, and in authors biographies.

3.- THE GOURMAND YEARBOOK
The Gourmand Yearbook 2006 and 2007 give much cookbook and wine book trade information which cannot be found elsewhere = market information, trends, lists of Gourmand winning books with comments on the books.

The Yearbook is distributed at the international book fairs that Gourmand attends, and it is the catalogue of the exhibitions, which follow the Yearbook classification of the winners. The Yearbook is also sold by major cookbook stores around the world, and directly by Gourmand.

4.- THE GOURMAND EXHIBITIONS
Last year winning books had the following exhibitions, free for the winners:

- April : Beijing Gourmand Awards, Dragon Springs Exhibition
Visitors: trade professionals from 36 countries plus many Chinese.

- October: Frankfurt Book Fair.
Gourmand Cookbook Stand of 130 m2.

- 2007-2008: Beijing International Book City
Permanent One Year Exhibition.
The Gourmand stand is one of the 10 biggest among the 48 foreigners present.

In the coming year 2008 there is the same exhibition plan, with a major presence at the major book fairs, such as the London International Book Fair, April 14-16: our Gourmand Cookbook Corner will be even bigger than in Frankfurt, with the exhibition, chefs demonstrations, and a Champagne Bar.

5.- THE FUTURE
Winners qualify for the “Best in the World” competition.
The results of that competition will be announced at the Gourmand yearly awards show in May 2008. The location will be communicated directly to you, and all information will be on internet in January 2008.

For more information, including the Gourmand history and the future schedule see: www.cookbookfair.com

ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

I was shocked to learn that Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was assassinated. A couple of months ago, shortly after her return to Pakistan, there had already been an assassination attempt. (In fact,there had been numerous assassination attempts on her life, for which she blamed the Al Queda.) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had not been happy with Bhutto's return, and the world now turns to look at him regarding this assassination.

Bhutto comes from an ill-starred political family: her father was hanged in jail; one brother poisoned in France, and another shot by the police.

I feel sad at the turmoil going on in Pakistan and in Burma and other places in the world.

I am appalled that despots are able to silence opposition, and seem to get way with it. I want to believe in Justice, and I know that Justice does not know "time" as we humans do, but I get impatient when I see oppression, injustice, abuse of human rights continue, and perpetrators getting away with such deeds.

THE ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S QUESTION

The answer, dear Readers, is that I lost!!!!

DAY AT SANTA ANITA RACE TRACK

The question, dear Readers, is will Precious win or lose at the race track today??????

Stay tuned later, dear Readers, stay tuned!

(In the style of Marianne Villanueva's blog - thanks Marianne - you don't even have the foggiest idea do you that I'm imitating this style???)

CHRISTMAS 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BRAINARDS!
Here's a memory about Jacob's Crackers. In the Philippines, when I was growing up, the best crackers one could get were English crackers called "Jacob's" - except we called it Ha-cob. The brand had been around since my mother was a young girl attending boarding school. She used to talk about her father visiting her and bringing her "Hacob." The tin can of Hacob was distinctive: rectangular, with a blue-gray design and sprays of wheat. What a surprise I had when I went to my Filipino market on Vermont (Seafood City)and saw what I initially thought was Hacob! My heart stopped; a surge of memories flooded through me!

Well, it wasn't Hacob; the box, the design had clearly been copied. I bought a can - I couldn't resist - the memory of Hacob was too strong in me. Frankly I have no memory now of how Hacob crackers tasted. This Chinese version was all right - indeed they were flaky and light, and anyway, I just had to get a glimpse of the tin can to get the surge of memory from the past and that was enough.

HISTORIC FILIPINOTOWN, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

OK - it's Christmas time, so I'm seeing a number of old friends. Today I had lunch with Joselyn Geaga Rosenthal. Years ago, Joselyn and I were members of the Epic group that used to meet at UCLA; we discussed ancient Philippine epics. It was as a member of this Epic Group that I started retelling the epics, which I later wove into my first novel, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept.

Joselyn and I also share some friends in the Philippines; she had gone to STC Baguio, and attended one semester at Maryknoll Quezon City; I attended STC San Marcelino and Maryknoll Quezon City. She knew Perla Dumundun, Brenda Nuval, and other Maryknollers who had been my classmates.

We ate at the Bahay Kubo on Temple Street, and afterwards, she gave me a tour of Historic Filipinotown. For some reason I missed the story of the designation of Historic Filipinotown. Twenty years ago, the Filipino American community had already been already talking about this. There had been a lot of bickering, factions quarreling over which area should be given this name, and community groups split over issues. Some people wanted Carson or some other place to be Filipinotown, because there are more Filipino living there. The other ethnic groups in the area (now designated Historic Filipinotown) resisted the proposal. And on and on , until finally, with politicians on the right side, the designation was made. The area now designated is the same place that the Filipinos back in the 1920s congregated in. The famous writer, Carlos Bulosan, had used Temple Street as the setting of some of his stories.

Joselyn said that she was so excited when this happened that she invested in property on Temple Street. She lives in the area, and as she put it, why not make the commitment? The building she owns has three rental spaces; one is being developed, one is occupied by a 99 cent store; the other, she turned into an Art Gallery named Remy's on Temple (2126 W. Temple, Echo Park, tel: 213-484-2884), which is run by her son Jonathan Yap. The Gallery also sells some books and hosts book signings. Joselyn showed me the garden behind her building, and pointed out what she'd done to landscape the area - she has sampaguita, duhat, avocado, macopa, bandera espanola and other tropical plants.

Joselyn pointed out the banners on the street light poles, saying "Historic Filipinotown." She showed me the antique Filipino designs on some pedestrian's lanes in the area (one right on Hoover and Temple). She also pointed out the mural depicting the Filipino American pioneers.

It was refreshing to see Joselyn's excitement and commitment to Filipinotown in Los Angeles. It reminded me actually of my own enthusiasm about Old Cebu, and the attempts of some of my new friends there to get Old Cebu designated as a historic district. It's like this: even though the place is still gentrifying; we can already imagine the possibilities, and it's the vision that drives us. Joselyn refers to the work she is doing in her building as "playing" - an interesting term which I also use when I fix up the building I own in Old Cebu. When Joselyn speaks about Filipinotown, I know she can "see" something in her head.

I know I do when I think of Old Cebu - the area near the Cathedral, and Santo Nino Basilica - I see this place cleaned up; I see it spruced up so it looks like a Spanish Colonial place. I know this will take years to happen - but I'm willing to join those who have taken the first steps toward this vision - (I mean the Aboitiz's who developed Casa Gorordo; I mean Val Sandiego who put lots of money into fixing up his old house across the Fire Station, and who stages elaborate events several times a year in the Parian; I mean those responsible for building the Cathedral Museum; I am also referring to those who put up the historic signs in the area, and to others who have invested time and energy into Old Cebu.

Here's wishing Joselyn and her kindred spirits - lovers of old heritage sites - the best! (The pictures below show one street banner with "Historic Filipinotown" on it; the mural showing pioneer Filipino Americans (Helen Brown and Remy Geaga, among the figures), and the ancient Filipino design on the pedestrian's lane.)

CENTRAL AMERICA PHOTOS - NICARAGUA, GUATEMALA

I took these pictures in Central America. The two photos were taken in Antiqua, Guatemala.

tags: travel, photographs, pictures, Central America

LUNCH with SUSAN MONTEPIO

I had lunch with my friend Susan Montepio. Susan and I go way back. We were co-founders of PAWWA (Philippine American Women Writers and Artists); we were partners of PALH (Philippine American Literary House); we were involved in 4 books projects: Seven Stories From Seven Sisters; The Beginning and Other Asian Folktales; Journey of 100 Years; and Growing Up Filipino. It was good to see her and to hear that she and her family are fine.

RE REMEDIOS CUENCO BORROMEO

Here's an interesting email correspondence re my grand-aunt Remedios Cuenco Borromeo:
~~~
The only girl in the Cuenco family is Remedios Cuenco Borromeo, she is the only sister of your (grand)father. Although she was not that famous she was gifted in her own right. She was an accomplished pianist and acclaimed writer. She also wrote so many stories in the Veritas. You failed to mention her in your letter to your mother. By the way I am your relative living in Chicago, Illinois. Please acknowledge her existence. She was very dear to me.
from: Angelica Borromeo
~~~~~
Thank you for writing. I have been wanting information about Tiya Edyong. I heard she was a "storyteller." Do you have more info? - her date of birth, name of her husband, number of children, schooling, when she died. And if you can send me copies of her writings, I would be THRILLED. And info re her grandchildren too.

I visited her when I was young and by that time she was half paralyzed, but she always had a sense of humor. (She was the sister of my grandfather Mariano J. Cuenco ) - I remember she said something like, "It's a good thing many of their silbings died, otherwise the Philippines would be in a revolution because of the Cuencos" - she was referring to their volatile nature.

Yes, I would LOVE to write about her, but please give me info.

I did not mean to leave her out in the Cuenco site - I just had little information and pictures about her. I was always interested about her, especially when I heard she was a writer. Pls. do send info, her writings, maybe pics, info. thanks!!!!

My mother was Iton Cuenco; in case you knew her. I was the youngest in the family. I've always been interested in family stuff.
From: Cecilia Brainard
~~~~~
I have to talk to my sister Titus. She has some info. I was young when Lola died. I will get in touch with you as soon as I get some more info. I have old pictures of her with husband and my dad Peping. Thank you so much for your interest.
From: Angelica Borromeo
~~~~~~~~
I remember Tiyo Peping! And I am sure we met each other when we were children in Cebu. I remember Mitos - is she your sister?
I have another questions - I remember Tiya Edyong, but the old photo I have showing the Cuenco siblings have her name down as Dolores. Was she Dolores? Or Remedios?

Pls. send me info. I gather what I can about the Cuenco genealogy. You will also find some more info not just in the Cuenco site, but also in my blog - also some Old Cebu historical info. My current friends in Cebu are historic Old Cebu enthusiasts.

Your Dad and my grandfather were first cousins.

Let me know what you find out!
From: Cecilia (I was known as BAby)
~~~~


As soon as I have more information about Remedios Cuenco Borromeo, I'll update the Cuenco site, but in the meantime, do visit: http://www.palhbooks.com/cuenco.htm

CHRISTMAS PAST & COOL KIDS

Some pictures: Top shows Christmas 2005 in Pasadena; next is Dylan Christmas 2005; then some cool pictures of Robert, Luke and Dylan

Lauren Brainard Pictures when he was 11

Lauren ran into some old Pasadena friends who gave him a couple of old pictures. The pictures show Lauren and other Pasadena boys, all around 11 - 12 years old. Lauren is the one with the striped shirt showing.

CECILIA'S MOVIE REVIEWS

Here are some reviews of movies I've seen, rated 1-5 stars, five being the best.

No Country for Old Men - **** - A lot of violence, tension, and action, and it has the quirky quality typical of the Coen Brothers' productions. Entertaining.

Enchanted - **** - Actress Amy Adams carries this delightful movie that merges animation and realty. The movie has charm and is a great family movie.

The Darjeeling Limited - ***+ - Quirky movie about three brothers on a train journey in India to find their mother. The brothers are charming. There's a lot of talking and subtlety. This is a character film, not an action one.

Love in Time of Cholera - **+ - The movie reviews for this movie were terrible so that I had zero expectations. Prepared for the worst, the movie rose to a higher level than expected. The language and acting were stilted. (English spoken in a Spanish accent, and poorly done.) This movie could be seen as the story of a relentless stalker who doesn't give up. But the movie took me away to Colombia, with green, lush, tropical sceneries.

Michael Clayton - *** - George Clooney does a good job in this movie about a lawyer who is the fixer in his law firm. But I have a confession to make, I saw this weeks ago, and enjoyed it after I saw it, but the movie quickly faded in my memory. Hmmmm - either the movie doesn't have enough uniqueness, or my memory isn't that good any more.

Atonement - **+ - The book is infinitely better. Buy this novel by Ian McEwen, and skip the movie. The book is far richer than the movie. The girl character, Briony Tallis, weaves her own reality from scenes she sees, ruins some lives, and later on makes herself a god by writing a happy ending for the people she's destroyed.

The Golden Compass - **+ - This is an unsatisfying movie, that is cluttered with numerous characters and episodes and ends with a cliffhanger. Sometimes movies just ought to have the good guy and the bad guy spelled out clearly.

That's all for now.

JEEPNEYBOOKS.COM

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Our Mission
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Our Vision
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SPOTLIGHT ON ~TA DA ~ KIKI THE CAT

I found these pictures of Kiki our cat - no, let me correct that, we are Kiki's humans. The pictures here show her strolling in the back yard and relaxing with the television clicker in her paws. (The guy watching TV with her is one of her humans.)

GROWING UP FILIPINO II - CONTRIBUTORS

Here's the lineup of contributors to the second volume of Growing Up Fiipino that I'm currently editing. I'm still waiting for a few more writers to send in their work.

Amalia Bueno, Leslieann Hobayan, Rashaan Alexis Meneses, Paulino Lim,
Dean Francis Alfar, Marianne Villanueva, Jonathan Jimena Siason, Veronica Montes, Edgar Poma, Tony Robles, Kannika Claudine Pena, Erwin Cabucos, Aileen Suzura, Jaime L. An Lim, Elsa Orejudos Valdimiano, Dolores De Manuel, Maria Victoria Beltran, M. G. Bertulfo, Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor, Katrina Ramos Atienza, Oscar Penaranda, Geronimo G. Tagatac.

Great stories in this anthology! Will keep you posted!

LEON KILAT PHILIPPINE REVOLUTIONARY HERO

In Carcar, Cebu, there is a monument honoring the revolutionary known as Leon Kilat (Lightning Lion), whose real name was Pantaleon Villegas. My maternal grandmother, Filomena Alesna, was from Carcar, and so growing up we used to visit Carcar. The white monument of a man on a horse became part of Carcar's landmarks, along with St. Catherine's church and school, and the rotunda in the middle of the highway.

My mother used to point out the old house where Leon Kilat had been assassinated, but the story was always vague. What I understood was that Leon Kilat had been a revolutionary and he was assassinated by one of his men.

My history teachers and books weren't much help either, primarily because Philippine history was taught from a Tagalog-centric point of view. We were taught that Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, which had serious battles with the Spaniards in 1896. The Katipunan sent Leon Kilat to Cebu to work with the Cebuano revolutionaries. This happened in the summer of 1898.

Leon Kilat was born in Bacong, Negros Oriental, and he had worked in Cebu and in a circus in Manila where he met a Katipunero. He was said to have possessed an anting-anting (talisman) and had magical powers. He was a Visayan but not a Cebuano. In San Nicolas, Cebu, he was tentatively accepted by the Cebuano revolutionaries, ancestors of numerous Cebuanos - Noel, Alcoseba, Barcenilla, Alfafar, Abellana, Gundoy, Cui, and others.

An earlier battle with the Spaniards was successful and the Spaniards had to retreat to Fort San Pedro. But the Spaniards quickly dispatched a ship to Cebu. When the revolutionaries heard about the Spanish ship, they retreated to Carcar.

On April 7, 1898 (Holy Thursday), Leon Kilat was in Carcar. His plan was to attack the Spaniards on Easter Sunday in Carcar. Leon Kilat was treated as an honored guest and he stayed in the house of Tiyoy Barcenilla. Upon Leon Kilat's request, a tailor took his measurements because Leon Kilat wanted a new uniform to wear the next day. A feast was prepared in the Barcenilla House for Leon Kilat and guests.

What Leon Kilat did not know was that one of the men, Florencio Noel, had met the Spanish friar, Father Francisco Blanco. Father Blanco had reportedly told Noel that the only way Carcar would escape Spanish retaliation was if Leon Kilat would be killed.

So, on the night of Holy Thursday, goat, chicken, pork were served to the men at the Barcenilla House, and afterwards, the men drank coffee and Ginebra (gin) in the living room. Meantime, the Carcar men who had decided to do away with Leon Kilat, became ill at ease, and they whispered among one another, and in fact, Apolinario Alcuitas shouted in Cebuano, "Brothers, I am informing all of you that tonight, I will slaughter a horse."

All of this apparently went unnoticed by Leon Kilat, or perhaps he had too much Ginebra, because he didn't flee. He went to bed, in the room near the stairs of the Barcenilla House. Vicente Barcenilla chatted with Leon Kilat in his room; he goes down in history as the last person to have seen him alive.

Then sometime during the night, several men entered Leon Kilat's room. One of them used Kilat's own rifle butt to smash his skull. And then the men stabbed Kilat. It was a collective deed, but Apolinario Alcuitas' name goes down in history as the assassin.

After insuring Leon Kilat was dead, the group brought his corpse to the center of town to display it. It was 5 a.m. Good Friday, April 9, 1898.

So, generally, historical accounts stop right there. One can assume that the Spaniards did indeed spare Carcar after they regained power. But Spanish power was shortlived because on May 1, 1898, Admiral Dewey launched the Battle of Manila Bay.

American intervention in Spanish Philippine politics quickly put an end to Spanish rule.


Post Script: My grandmother, Filomena Alesna, was most likely related to Florencio Noel. But Cebu is like that. If you trace far back enough, everyone is related. If you think about it, politically speaking, in any revolution, people are never quite sure which side to take. There are those who want the status quo; and there are those who want change.