Rainbow Café forever!

My ex-girlfriend M. and I started on the opposite side of the foodie fence when we began what others call “dating”. She was an exacting gourmet, and I was a slob. But we settled on a happy compromise apart from standard, home-cooked native Pinoy: we both liked Chinese. We made the rounds of cheap Chinatown restaurants in the sidestreets of Binondo-San Nicolas, Sta. Cruz and Quiapo, where to be a gourmet is to eat heartily with soupbowl slurps, chopstick ninja, endless pots of tea, sometimes a final steaming towelette. Plus take-home hopia or siopao.

Rainbow Cafe
A quick glimpse into the ambience of our favorite cafe, January 2014.

Like many other denizens of the metropolis in the early 1980s, and as a new couple adjusting to each other’s tastes, we also liked Max’s, Little Quiapo, Savory, Moderna, Ma Mon Luk and all that traditional stuff. We partook of them all occasionally, when we had money to spare. But we soon settled into regular budget haunts — many of them tiny holes in the wall or half-forgotten sleepy noodle houses a only a few of our acquaintances knew — where the waiters knew our tastes like Mama’s favorite Sunday lunch fare.

If you’ve been to Ramon Lee in Quiapo and Canada Cafe in Ongpin (are they still open?), you’ll know what I mean. Like I said, M. is proud of her cooking, and didn’t shirk from pointing out the merits and demerits of each dish. I, on the other hand, would grin and nod contentedly at the waiters, even burp and tap my full stomach in appreciation. Continue reading “Rainbow Café forever!”

Firecrackers: A self-destructive Pinoy addiction?

Firing an ancient Chinese rocket
Firing a rocket, from "History of ancient Chinese fireworks' invention," http://www.buzzle.com/images/history/gunpowder-filled-bamboo-firework.jpg

(Originally published on GMA News Online website. See author’s note here.)

It was 11:45 p.m. on December 31, 1972, the first New Year’s Eve after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. Like countless others across the country, our clan was gathered at the old family house, but sensed some uneasy quiet since the martial law government had imposed a total firecrackers ban.

My childhood memories of New Year’s Eve had always been one of rambunctious revelry in yards and streets, with neighbors weaving in and out of each others’ homes amid a wall-to-wall din of firecrackers, tooting horns, and the clangor of kitchen pots and pans. But this time, we and our neighbors—big fans of street explosions—faced the prospect of a silenced New Year’s Eve.

Our fears turned out to be unfounded. At about five minutes before midnight, a staccato of explosions started to roll in from the city’s general background noise, mounting into the familiar crescendo we all knew. Continue reading “Firecrackers: A self-destructive Pinoy addiction?”

Basically naman pala e.

Basically ka jan!

Mukhang kagalang-galang na ako ngayon, mga tol. Sa galaw at salita. At pag sinumpong, pati sa suot. Pero di ako ganito mula pagkabata. Me panahong astang lumpen ako bok. Siga sa suot at salita. Pati sa gawa kung kelangan.

Tibak kasi ako nung kabataan ko, at marami akong barkada na ganundin. Kahit galing kami lahat sa uring petiburgis, talagang itinulak namin ang sarili na bumabad sa masa, at umastang masa. Maski minsan e O.A. na, at wala sa lugar.

Ganun kami nun ng mga barkada ko. Puro barumbadong maka-masang intelektwal-kulturati-kuno. Sipilyo, twalyang Good Morning, bolpen, at pang-Grade 6 na notbuk. Yun lang halos ang baon namin, pwede nang bumabad sa purok-iskwater. Continue reading “Basically naman pala e.”