OUR CHRISTMAS CAROL [with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore and Charles Dickens]

‘Twas 3 days before Christmas, when Bulan rapped the door
But not a soul was astir at the Center;
The Infirmary nurses asleep on the counter,
To Premiere we pranced through St. Nick’s sleigh...

Bulan was nestled snug in the hospital bed,
While visions of whiskey and lechon danced on my head;
But we had hospital fare for Christmas lunch,
Before brothers took me to a holiday schnapps...

Out of the hospital finally the day after Christmas,
I sprang out Tanduay Ice from the ref to the trash.
Away to trails we flew like a flash,
But the bill tore the tire and threw up our cash...

Goat head on a bowl of a newly boiled broth
Croc’s meat gave luster to a wet and chilly night,
When, from crumpled blankets Gollum appeared,
“Kiss Me, Kiss Me” danced the reindeers on a Sunday…

THESIS, ANTITHESIS, SYNTHESIS

THESIS is a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved (Google).

Bulan's college thesis is on stories of vulnerability and resilience focusing on the narratives of older women in disaster, and I was pretty sure he can handle the research but the emails he sent to his proposed study sites remained unresponded so decided to step in.

As such, I had a city mayor fetch his CDRRMO who was instructed to assist Bulan, re-introduced him to his Ninong who happened to be the CDRRMO of another city, facilitated his access to the data base of an MDRRMO through a kumpadre, and sought a fraternity brother who accompanied us to the office of another CDRRMO.   

ANTITHESIS is the contrast or opposition between two things (Google).

This is best illustrated by one particular program of a company who projects itself to be a caring rights-based organization --- a program whose aim is to "transform" but afflicted with a confused and chaotic management system that indeed transform simple transactions into a journey through the gates of hell where caring does not exist and self-esteem gets violated.

Another example is the holiday season turning out to be a hospital vacation with Bulan ending up at the Premier Medical Center for an emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy that razed our wallets and savings.       

SYNTHESIS is the combination of ideas to form a theory or system (Google).

But before the gates of hell and the surgery, Bulan came home on a Sunday to pre-test his college thesis during the holdays but it was not until Wednesday that were able to really come together for our first serious family dinner at Thyme Street in a long while, and I was able to ride my bike from Monday to Friday, alternately with Bulan and Balong, which is as good as it can get...   

RATSADA

Naramdaman ko na nang makumbida akong dumalo sa isang ASEAN conference sa Maynila na makikipagkarera ako sa darating na linggo, at pagkatapos ay kakaliskisan ako ng GRAISEA PMU sa hindi pagtalima sa compliance rules dahil sa kakagyatan ng imbitasyon.

Pero mahirap pakawalan ang pagkakataong ibinigay ng AWEN kaya nagpakundisyon ako sa magarang So Fit Gym ng Sofitel, nag-yoga sa unang pagkakataon, at sumakay ng bisikleta sa aming anibersaryo upang mapaghandaan ang mga latay na magtatangkang durugin ang aking katawan at basagin ang aking kaisipan.     

Sa ganitong pagkakataon, hindi masamang magpamanhid ng tig-P450 na serbesa sa Snaps Sports Bar at Sunset Bar ng Sofitel, at tuklasin ang misteryo ng bagong bukas na 8 Seas Food Park Adventure sa may Timog.

Nakatulong din sa pagpapakatatag ang pagdalo sa pulong ng Munoz Bodies n'ung Biyernes at ng Model Court n'ung Sabado, lalo na ang pag-inom ng madaming "tunay na beer" pagkatapos ng mga nasabing pulong.

Dumaan ang aming ika-21 anibersaryo bilang mag-asawa na hindi namin namalayan dahil kami'y naging abala sa panlilimos ng mga raffle prizes para sa aming District Christmas Party na sinundan ng matinding inuman sa bakuran ni Kuya Egay na kararating lamang mula Amerika.

Ganyan natapos ang ratsada ng isang linggo at ako ay handa nang muling makidigma sa kahit sino...

UNA MANANA DE INTRIGA

Ang INTRIGA ay salitang Espanyol na nangangahulugan ng "pagsasagawa ng isang bagay na nakakapinsala sa reputasyon".

Sa kasalukuyang panahon at konteksto ng wikang Filipino, ang katumbas ng salitang INTRIGA ay tsismis o fake news at paninirang puri.

Maaaring kasuhan ng libel ang paninirang puri na ang katumbas sa aming matandang kapatiran ay unmasonic conduct. 

Kadalasan, ang INTRIGA ay nag-uumpisa sa inggit, kamangmangan o sadyang pagkawalanghiya.

Kaya para sa akin, ang mga intrigero ay mga kaawaawang nilalang dahil sila ay mapag-imbot [galit sila sa meron ang iba na wala sila], mga walang muwang [hindi nila naiintindihan kung ano kanilang pinasok] o sadyang maiitim ang budhi [ang misyon nila sa mundo ay manira ng kapwa]. 

Walang libre sa mundong ito. 

Respect is earned not demanded, and credibility is based on track record and not on what one thinks of himself.

Kung mahirap intindihan 'yan ay magbisikleta na lang muna at magnilay. 

THE BIG BANG THEORY

Amy went to outer space and left Sheldon grappling with the last string of their work on Super Asymmetry, a black hole that their bestie Leonard and Penny tried to fill with theoretical astrophysics and pharmaceutical analytics.

Howard could have helped too until he disappeared in his aerospace engineering laboratory with Bernadette whose bio-chemistry experiments suddently started jumping simultaneously. 

Fortunately, Friday's lechon and river snails fueled a miracle of mitosis that multiplied Raj the selective mute and Stuart the comic bookstore owner, and Leslie the physicist and Emily the dermatologist too, who all then dressed in green on Saturday to feast on gilled tilapia and pork barbecue, then changed to yellow on Sunday to serve Spanish rice and fried fish shanghai.   

The residents of 2311 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California are certified Trekkies and I am some kind of it too although I don't ride a Trek but a Giant, and my journey is not to the stars but to the trails...

DEAD ENDS

The trail sputtered

Slain by rivers and fields

Hades on the far side

The keyboards got jammed

Inception freezeth over

The end is not dead

THE BRIDGES OF MUNOZ

Over and under

connected by beam bridges

we conquered rivers

Between birth and death

life bridged by a hyphened dash

the Craft connects all 

Salvaged pork scraps

CDO booked and ready

linner bridge the day

4 DAYS AND 4 NIGHTs

Tuesday in Centris

Dust, smoke, sweat, sun and my bike

Four days in the trail

Sans Monday, Tuesday

Beer, wine, brandy and whiskey

Four nights of slugging

POBLACION BAR HOP

I spent Halloween attending a workshop in Bangkok and was able to get home before midnight of All Saints' Day. 

Halloween is on October 31 which is the day before All Saints' Day on November 1. 

Hence, Halloween unpacked means "Hallow's Evening" or simply "All Hallow's Eve" which is the evening before "All Hallow's Day" or All Saints' Day. 

The irony is Halloween evolved from Celtic pagan rituals while All Saints' Day is a christian festival in honor of all the saints of the world. 

November 2 is All Souls' Day which is the christian "commemoration of all the faithful departed". 

Thank you Wikipedia for that which means that we in the Philippines got it wrong since we should be doing trick or treat and wearing ghost costumes on October 31, going to the church and honoring our saints on November 1, and visiting our dead only on November 2. 

I missed all three and a long weekend since November 1 (Thursday) and 2 (Friday) are non-working holidays in the Philippines. 

So I made up for that by declaring November 3 as "Family Day" with College Boy going back to the university soon, and that's how we ended up in Poblacion for the weekend.   

But first, we need to scratch Nanay's itch to see the Venice Grand Canal at Mckinley Hill in Taguig, perhaps to compare it with what she saw at the Venetian in Macau, both of which are poor fakes that in my opinion were created for suckers, which could have been time spent exploring the nearby Libingan ng mga Bayani and the Manila American Cemetery.

The only worthwhile take away is our hearty all-American breakfast [pancakes, waffles, sausages, eggs, coffee] at Denny's which made up for the slack.   

No one countered when I proposed cooling ourselves at the Glorietta Malls and from there walked 1.7 kilometers to the gleaming highrises of the Philippines' financial district, a monument of wealth for so few among which is the towering RCBC Plaza of the Yuchengco conglomerate who owned Pacific Plans Incorporated that duped thousands of middle income parents in investing hard earned money in a college plan that went pffft.

I took the brood to the Yuchengco Museum to see the work of some Filipino masters and also to witness for themselves the triumph of a scheming genius and the steep contrast of an unequal society.    

Poblacion is the old downtown area of Makati which is 2.1 kilometers away from the RCBC Plaza of the new Makati. 

It is where the first church was built by the Jesuits in 1620 which spawned a settlement and eventually the city of Makati. 

Unfortunately, Poblacion has gained a reputation as a red light district, like Ermita is to Manila and Timog/Quezon Avenue in Quezon City. 

Its gentrification as a culinary oasis is therefore a welcome development and we were there to find out if the reviews are equal to the real thing. 

The Smokeyard 

Our food prowl [bar hop for me] started at 6:30 pm along Don Pedro Street, a bit early it seems since the bar where I plan for an aperitif is still closed, so we detoured into The Smokeyard for a taste of American barbecue. 

I was welcomed by an honor guard of Filipino craft beers but the star of the menu is the beef brisket, smoked and not grilled, slow cooked and not charred, with natural juices permeating from each sliver of delicate meat, just perfect with the coleslaw and buttered corn on the side, almost excellent with my bottle of Exit Wounds IPA until I felt the gradual numbing of my face, and that's when I read in the label that the brew was created in remembrance of the Colt .45 which the Americans invented to bring down juramentados [something that the 38 caliber can't] during the Philippine-American War.      

Pura Vida

That was just one beer and I wonder what's in store for me at Pura Vida, a Costa Rican reggae bar, which thankfully offered their mild Guaro Sour vodka-based house blend to go with a plate of Chifriho --- roasted chicken leg, a rice-bean combination that I don't really like because it tasted like "bombay", salad greens and fried plantains. 

It will do for a decent meal but the cocktail comes in a large jar and in pairs so I asked Bulan have his share, Nanay to sample what a cocktail is, and Balong to have his first sip of alcohol.

But that still left half a jar that I finished off with my full glass thus, my transition from numbness into silly happiness.    

Alamat Filipino Pub and Deli

Finally, Alamat where I was given a tour of their All-Filipino craft beer taps by "Macario Sakay" who recommended Burj for my requested gentle fire, and a plate of their Dardaraan --- a crisp slice of pork rib sitting in a blood sauce and garnished with sliced okra and squash --- which is surprisingly good [I was wary of their mispelled dinardaraan], although the Burj is a disappointment considering that I had better craft beer for much less.    

But I'll be back to try their pinapaitan with cocoa instead of semi-digested cow juice.

Tambai

There's more at Don Pedro like The Wild Poppy [enough of the same building] and Bucky's [closed unfortunately] but we have targets on the other side of Kalayaan Avenue, the first of which is an institution that has elevated the icon of Filipino street food, the barbecue, into a class act without losing its soul, except for the price which has stepped up too like P195 for a single Rib Eye Finger that turned out to be tender pieces of smoked beef that's skewered like a barbecue but tasted like steak and worth every cent.

The roadside barbecue now has a second floor and just behind it are three holes-in-a-wall that will be worth exploring someday.    

El Chupacabra

Right across Tambai is El Chupacabra to whom the credit of igniting the Poblacion food scene is accorded, filled to the street, enveloped in a haze of smoke from its busy grills so it took a while for a waiter to notice us.

We opted for the best selling Carne Asado from its street taco list and Cheese-Garlic Enchilada that were gone in four big bites, plus a roll of Ground Beef Burrito that took a while perhaps because it tasted like Indian curry which I tried to vanish with a bottle of San Miguel Pale Pilsen [they only serve local beer].  

Kite Kebab Bar

We crossed over from Felipe Street to the other side in Ebro via Polaris and Durban for a sampling of Mediterranean cuisine which in the Philippines basically means kebab. 

At the Kite Kebab Bar, that means a Classic Kebab of ground beef grilled in a flat skewer and Rib-Eye Steak Kebab which is sliced beef cooked the same way, both served with whole roasted tomatoes and a yogurt garlic dip, both more than okey although I felt I've been had by a small glass of Sapporo Beer that cost P180. 

Senor Pollo

As the name implies, Senor Pollo is about chicken-South American style and we had a plate of the Senor Pollo Roast with baked beans and cheese-and-mac on the side but by then, our overworked taste buds might be failing us because we cannot differentiate its taste from the lechon manok of the roadside grills in Munoz, or maybe because I was more interested in La Chupadita --- a pink cocktail that tasted like lemonade laced with rhum [Tanduay Rhum 5-Yeard Old to be exact].

We are full and my alcohol-induced happiness has ebbed so Senor Pollo turned to be our last eat for the night, which means Crying Tiger and Pink Panda that are also in our list will be the reasons for a second food prowl [and bar hop].   

Kanto Freestyle Breakfast

The next morning, we walked to the old church from whom Poblacion and Makati sprung where ninety meters away in a street corner, churchgoers congregate at Kanto Fresstyle Breakfast, allegedly the best breakfast place in Manila and the epitome of the modern Filipino carinderia.

The eclectic menu feature the signature Silog breakfast fares --- Crsipy Corned Beef for me, Danguit for the wife, Vigan and Lucban Longganisa for the kids --- and interesting fusion options with fancy names like spicy fried rice, chocnut champorado, grilled buttered suman and taho panna cotta that we should have ordered.   

We blew around P10,000 in last night's Poblacion food prowl [and bar hop] but the marrow of life does not come cheap.

We parted ways with Bulan at the lobby of the Red Planet Hotel where working girls engaged in reluctant goodbyes with their clients and taxi drivers wait for a prey to be overcharged.

Poblacion did not disappoint and there's a few more that will require another food prowl and bar hop. 

THE DEATH OF SOI 38 / HUNT FOR THE BEST PORK TROTTERS

The Soi 38 Night Market is dead, slain and sacrified in the altar of "progress and development".

That I know but being Halloween, it is but proper to pay my respects and see for myself the shell of what was once a virant night market and street food culture.

Soi 38, once acclaimed as the best food street in Bangkok, is now mostly deserted except for a few brave stalls that may also disappear soon.

I walked through it in a futile mission to locate the old man who is said to make the best pad thai in Bangkok but who probably must have been driven away by the noise of ongoing excavations and the demolition of quaint houses that once lined the famous food street.          

At a corner with the Thong Lo BTS Station is a small food court that I think is a vain attempt in keeping the spirit of Soi 38, a seafood-and-barbecue standing guard at the entrance, several stalls encircling plastic tables where a lone Caucusian nurse a bottle of Chang, and just lots of sad and empty spaces.     

That unforttunately is my memory of Soi 38 and I greatly regret not coming earlier when it was still alive with people and the smell of cooking food, but I have to move on from that disappointment to the Siam BTS Station where I changed trains for the Saphan Taksin BTS Station of the Silom Line in the Bangrak Market area in search for the "super tender braised pork trotters" of Khao Kha Moo.

And that is how I found myself at a corner of Charoen Krung and Silom Roads staring at the State Tower Building, in the right location but not knowing where to go, shelling out 164 baht for a beer and the right to sit at the tables of Cafe Ice, get wifi connection and access Google Maps, which led me to a narrow alley and a red sign where an old man told me they close at 1:30 pm and I should come back tomorrow at 7:30 am when they open.    

Now that is too much disappointment for a day which even a roasted duck and pork dinner at Ped Prachak failed to assuage, and it was a long ride to the Nana BTS Station and a sad walk to the Holiday Inn Express Hotel but it's Halloween and this must be a trick on me so I took a seat at the Apoteka Cocktail Bar where I sought comfort from a bottle of Lao Beer and getting into the rythm of a band's take on Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" while eveasdropping on the conversation of two women tourists wearing pirate hats.

The next day was Todos los Santos in the Philippines.

I worked on another revision of a Theory of Change that has been hounding me, took a shower, lugged my backpack, skipped the lousy hotel breakfast buffet, bought a ticket to the Saphan Taksin BTS Station, walked through the Bangrak Market, and presented myself to Khao Kha Moo who obliged me with their famous braised pork trotters, super tender indeed but not as good as our patatim or even the tiims back home in Bakal 2. 

I refused to be disappointed though since that is a must-do ticked off from my Thai culinary bucket list which is perhaps a fitting conclusion for a day spent in the B+HR Lab where I struggled to keep awake amidst a buzz of words from a group of mostly UN expats discussing what most who are there already know.

In four days, I pedalled 38.8 kilometers with Bulan in Munoz, tested the meager gym of Holiday Inn Express in Soi 11 and slept through a workshop at The Courtyard by Marriot in Bangkok, and wondered who is Susan somewhere at NLEX during the bus ride to Bakal 2.  

THE TWO SHOPS AT NARADHIWAT

The dining options have significantly narrowed down to three choices ever since Oxfam kept Chatrium Sathon as its official hotel in Bangkok: Charlie Brown's which is the nearest to the hotel, or either the Ter Sap Woey Shop or Chiagkhong which are a 280-meter walk to the Naradhiwat Rajanagarindra Road.

The Ter Sap Woey Shop has always been the first option and Charlie Brown's the last, but the "cleaner" and snug atmosphere of Chiangkhong has been drawing us recently specially when we found out that its price is comparable to that of Ter Sap Woey Shop and its food is in fact more appetizing.

So it was at Chiangkong where I opted to welcome with my Line Manager my second straight week in Bangkok, dining on crunchy Morning Glory (aka ginisang kangkong), the nearly perfect omelette and a really great dish of spicy stir-fried pork as we caught up on the preparations for and possible scenarios from our ASEAN Influencing Workshop. 

I like Chiangkhong so much that since I'm calling the shots for the reception dinner, I took the team there for a spread of sun dried pork which turned out dry, surprisingly juicy fish cakes, that Morning Glory, stir-fried chicken with cashew that Art said is as Thai as him, and a superbly steamed sea bass althought the fish is not actually sea bass, all selected by me under the guidance of the head waiter who smelled of Rexona deodrant, and who was finally able to distinguish between brandy and whiskey.     

Overall, we had a good workshop and started celebrating that with what was left from the reception dinner's bottle of Thai whiskey as we went through debriefing after which we decided to make "hugas" at the Ter Sap Woey Shop for a change where a solemn Madam Proprietor informed us that selling alcohol is not allowed on Chulalongkorn Day.

I was so "bitin" which was somewhate assuaged by a perfecty grilled Ruby Fish [glamorized tilapia] and a few minutes later, the Mekong Ladies who were not able to get into the free shuttle to Asiatique showed up and vent their frustration on a rather large snakehead fish [dalag]. 

And that was Chiangkhong and Ter Sap Woey Shop along Naradhiwat, our regular source of sustenance in the boring neigborhood of the Chatrium which is actually a good hotel specially after I finally got introduced to its well-equipped gym where I heaved and boxed in the nine mornings of October that I stayed there.     

I finally went home after 11 hellish days in Bangkok right into a birthday party in Bakal 2, a day before Bulan arrived from Iloilo, and three days before Sunday where we fulfilled our duties to the Craft.