HOW ASAHI BEER STOLE CHRISTMAS

Not exactly "stolen" but "preluded" then "wrapped-up.

In 1889, Japan's first bottled draft beer rose with the sun in Sumida.

136 years later, it was promoted as a super dry lager, 60 pieces procured for Bakal 2 by way of SNR-Dau's "buy 1-take 1" offering of which, 48 ushered Christmas Eve and the remaining 12 closed Christmas Day. 

In other words, Asahi Beer did not steal but eclipsed Christmas by elevating the 24th's pork belly lechon and tokwa't baboy and the 25th's reheated dinakdakan and lengua. 

Sandwiched in between is a Christmas brunch of "unclean" bacon-loaded Carbonara Italiana and "clean" pan-grilled semi-Wagyu cubes. 

On the 4th day of Christmas, the law of Leviticus 11 as applied in Pangasinan was imposed in the kitchen of Bakal 2: kulitis and papait leaves were blanched; scaled maya-maya, salinas, tuna, and Bonuan Bangus were stewed, crisped, sashimied, and grilled respectively;  and two buckets of fried bird pre-ordered from Jollibee. 

But there was Cabernet Sauvignon because apparently, Jesus drinks wine.

In Munoz, holiday early morning lights blinked with an array of Microsoft Outlook correspondence about how the fish monger handed a present enclosed with recommendations for a regional component to Hogwarts where a story gathering and branding for The Convening was advertised as a contract for toolkit procurement that was auctioned in the market --- just too  much text for The Grinch who fled Christmas instead of stealing it.

The Ironman hoarded bank certificates and, during a regular ctach-up, thought of stealing New Year's Eve like perhaps repackaging beer as a tub of Spanish sardines, maybe like siomai in a paper cup, or an inihaw na liempo wrapped in styropor. 

THE BALI WORKSHOP

Is Kuta Beach worth a long walk under a soft rain?

Yes with the following conditions:

• it should be introduced as a project that will promote  inclusion; 
• it must adhere to partnership principles, employs effective communication to enable the thinking hats in  ideating a problem statement;
• it is ethical, with specific stakehoders employing feminist and participatory methodologies, and is sufficiently resourced.

The following can be the initial research questions:

1. How long will 3 kilos of batutay and 4 boxes of silvanas travel from Bakal 2 to 150 Panay Avenue?
2. Why must the Baliwag Bus make a stop at Dau?
3. Who changed the boarding gate for PR 537 twice?

The Orientals, they talk once a week and every three months but have no idea; and so are the harelip who drives a Grab in Manila and the airport transfer hitched through the streets of Bali where a sweeper collected Daily Offerings for the Temple Guards of the Prosperity Tree near a roadside take-out under the Bintang Tree of a tattoo shop.

But yes, it's worth getting lost and wet in Kuta Beach.

The dogs and surfers of Legian Beach concurred while conferring with a horde of tourists, mostly Aussies, at what was once the site of Paddy's Pub, a Balinese-owned Irish-inspired bar that contributed in transforming the Legian area into a thriving nightlife destination, which is probably why the Bali Bombers targetted it.

   

That Manila will host a meeting, a field visit, and a convening is definitive.

Procurement will be daunting as currently is, perhaps nose studed like the young lady aboard the bus to Bakal 2, a trek that is amply rewarded with 3 nights of babi guling (and bebek) because despite the bad reviews, Kuta Beach was a highlight of The Bali Workshop.

Back in Nueva Ecija, Bali is rememered to be sleepless as a caffeinated legislator yet intoxicating like a bottle of blended Scotch whiskey, warm despite the incessant rains) as a Sunday breakfast in Bakal 2. 

OUR 28th YEAR

First there was Anne, mother of Mary.

Then there was Mary , wife of Joseph, who "was free of original sin from the moment of her conception".

Her "Immaculate Conception", misconstrued as a "virginal conception",  actually refers to her own conception by her parents.

And there was Jesus, son of God the Father, God the Son himself, who is celebrated as Christ the Worker in Hogwarts where 28 years ago, on the feast day of St. John of the Cross, the progenitors of Pugad Baboy of Bakal 2 were espoused in his church.   

That was the story gathered, branded, but not told at a pre-Christmas celebration of pork, the King of Meats, as manifested in the pinangat, baked ribs, kaldereta with gata, dark tinumis, and a sinigang too sour. 

28 rice planters sent off the Phantom Biker as he raced his own 5-day tour where 28 dormitory residents cheered him on Tuesday, 28 college students saluted him on Wednesday, 28 fraternity paddles wlecomed him on Thursday, 28 clacking typewriter keys serenaded him on Friday, and 28 angels joined him in the podium on Saturday.

In Phnom Penh, the amendments segued to the initiation of an interim report and disbursements.

Melbourne got noticed with a survey and the confirmation of a risk assessment, 

The Manila Meeting and Field Visit entered into its procurement and digital phase. 

A catch-up preceded a conspicuous absence in Kuala Lumpur's network conversation. 

Oplan Malunggay netted peanuts, banana chips, fried catfish, a currency exchange, enveloped alms, and a suitcase of emails.

God's blessing was invoked in Hogwarts for what lies ahead after the past 28 years.

Lunch was served afterwards with the prayer that in the future, Pugad Baboy will also celebrate a couple of 75th birthday celebrations in Bakal 2 ala Kuya Romy.

THE [not so] INNOCENT AGE

The leader of the band is not yet tired but his eyes are growing old 

[onset of glaucoma]

Blood is absent in the band's instruments but beer is in their souls

[whiskey and brandy too]

My life is not a poor attempt, I imitate no one

[going Joaquinesque maybe?]

I am my own legacy of being the leader of  bands

(PM, PGLI, PDGL, PJGL)

That Saturday morning, only one suspension was gaveled and it's not Dan Fogelberg whose omnibus nomination was duly seconded and elected through a single vote cast as paper money into a poor box to effectively suspend a self-imposed rule on moderation.

That week, Bozo and Coco were reincarnated as pancakes and sausages to commemorate the Phantom Biker's capture of the year's last edition of "The Quarterlies" before he got stapled by Ronald McDonald's absence in Munoz...

 ...all in the name of four combo-meals-with-beer options: adobong guya and ensaladang pako, lumpiang shanghai and kalderetang baka, Christmas dinakdakan and adobong bibe, and sinampalukang ulo ng kambing and chicken nuggets. 

Definitely not for the innocents.

And just like that, a session with the Applanation Tonometer at a polyclinic got the Manila Meeting and Field Visit signed off with a date stamped upon a Regional Convening on the day the 5th amendment to an agreeent was initiated. 

Viva Engage tripped over Tuesday's trash.

A partnership pltaform was updated and a regional operations plan budgetted.

Cigna acknowledged, emails too, and a catch up.

One final look at the details then a submission before power went down...

HAI[na]KU 74-78

-74-

Peter and Paul, us

a prayer through the martyrs

saints of Calasiao

***

A delay in Wattay held-up Noi Bai, the bus driver in Manila showed up in an Ao Dai.

The Manila Meeting dodged confirmations to book the Bali Workshop and got rain checked on the field visit.

***

-75-

Ramon's church, refuge

a blessed kaleskesan

soup for the mortals

***

Phnom Penh convened to draft a survival plan for Asia before catching up with Australia.

A Code of Conduct refreshed Year 4's budget re-submission to update the monthly burn rate.

***

-76-

Kapampangan lunch

kuhol, sisig, and pindang

food for the non-Gods

***

Finance and energy were responsible for the eye doctor's transition into bloodletting. 

A pass-down exorcised from the inbox of credit card liquidations nudged a regional convening. 

***

-77-

St. James beheaded

ceiling painted, the choir sang

pilgrims in Betis

***

A lotto bet was placed in a forex transaction when the Phatom Biker changed tires while settling power in the market.

The Engineer from Singapore celebrated in Bakal 2 with a birthday cake of kilaweng kambing. 

***

-78-

47 years

hail to Lam-ang, to Hogwarts!

47 years

A PRAYER FROM THE VIENTIANE CONFERENCE

"May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. 

May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. 

May the powerless find power and may people think of befriending one another. 

May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wildernesses - the children, the aged, the unprotected - be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood."

It was Sunday in Vientiane.

A prayer was was offered to a thousand Buddhas with the hope that one of them will convey it to the heavens above Wat Si Saket, or to the 7-headed naga of That Dam, or to the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok that once resided at Ho Phra Keo. 

Burning meat is conspicously absent at the Khua Din Market. 

It was Friday in Vientiane.

Feminists broke their fast to predicate a recruitment into the drafting group of the "ASEAN Civil Society and Partners Exchange on Gender and Climate Change" (aka the Vientiane Conference).

An 800,00-kip taxi fare paid for a free dinner of Beer Lao, duck stew, fried pork intestines, and grilled catfish.

It was Wednesday in Bakal 2.

The Phatom Biker, riding on a flat tire, chased a budget revision, the Vientiane Conference, and the Manila Meeting (with an embedded Field Visit) and Regional Convening.

The Itron Man emptied the trash bin and decluttered an inbox while engaged in a couple of virtual meetings. 

A public hearing was documented as a closure report for a convenience store project.

Kuro Ramen was garnished with adobong kambing, litsong manok, and balot.

It was Thursday in Hanoi

A rude passenger, presumably Korean, should have been offloaded from VN 0921 to counter a first quarter report feedback.

Lunch was paid through a foreign exchange and Friday's recruitment into the drafting group.

It was Saturday in Vientiane.

For women with disability, zero waste is equivalent to zero Marlboro.

Lunch was grilled fish that is as huge as the Mekong River, roasted chicken that has the flavor of a papaya salad, and a do-it-yourself local rice noodle soup. 

Variations of the Xout Lao competed in the shadows of the Vientiane Museum of Contemporary Art's massive gold-gilded pillars --- custodians of the Buddha whose likeness were etched in salvaged wood --- a premonition for the Sunday vespers.  

Sleek, like an inverted durian-flavored ice cream bar...

"The centuries old That Luang stupa stands tall as a national symbol and keeper of the Buddha's sacred breastbone."

...regal, like the colors of a Johnny Walker Gold Reserve and the cab driver who got paid in US dollars after a culinary encounter with braised duck, stewed eel, and spicy pork salad.

BREAKFAST OF SAINTS

Prologue 

Fung-wong was animated at Micronesia's Chuuk State. 

A frankenstein storm stitched with bits and pieces of warm sea surface, unstable air, wind shear, hot towers, and atmospheric convection; rapidly intensifying into a beast as it approached Dinalungan.

Power went down, the internet fled as Uwan passed through.

Two weekly meetings besieged but the spotty bandwidth, through the intercession of the saints, failed to hinder the Norwegian Initiative, and the initiation of the Vientiane Conference and Bali Workshop.

St. Joseph the Worker's Hotcakes and Sausage

A carpenter and the foster father of Christ, St. Joseph intercedes in behalf of all workers --- be it those that installed renewable energy models in Cambodia as cased, or a crew of McDonalds' Speedee Service System who prepared a hotcake-and-sausage breakfast offering in the absence of challah bread and kosher meat.  

The Phantom Biker indulged in behalf of the saint, deployimg invitations for the Vientiane Conference afterwards and finalizing a list of participants to the Bali Workshop as a Manila Meeting take shape, enough justification for three bottles of beer to close the day. 

"Forever Young!"

Mary, Help of Christians' Beef Mami  and Chunky Asado Siopao 

Mary is of course the wife of St. Joseph, the mother of Jesus, champion of Christians inlcuding those confronted with  top-up matters, an impending Regional Convening, and a field visit in the Philippines. 

Following a fast food format for a Filipino-Chinese menu, the Phantom Biker signed the Articles of  Incorporation, not for Chowking but for the Manila Meeting, not for invitees to the Vientiane Conference but a siopao dipped in a bowl of beef mami, and for Mary whose help will ensure an outstanding outcome. 

"Tikman ang Tagumpay!"

St. Jerome's Breakfast Hotdog

St. Jerome probably interceded in translating the Vientiane Conference as secured, the Manila Meeting as signed off, the Regional Convening as initiated, and perhaps the transformation of American fast food into Filipino casual fare.

This was revealed to the Phantom Biker's as he  broke through the uncertainty of a  heavy mist into the saint's unfinished sanctuary to patronize Jollibee's oily breakfast hotdog, a veneration that escalated into an unscheduled bout with estofado and beer.

"Bida ang Saya!"

San Sebastian Martyr's Palabok and Extra Creamy Halo-Halo

Arrowed then clubbed, San Sebastian, the patron saint of Munoz,  was martyred after confronting an inquitous Roman emperor.

 At nearby Mang Inasal, deserted tables betrayed the chicken inasal and unli-rice with palabok and extra creamy halo-halo, an odd  breakfast fare, almost strange like why the restoration of a bicycle and a motorbike also solved the riddle of the untransactionable ATM card during the last of Bulan's post-graduate comprehensive examination.  

"Solb sa Sarap, Solb sa Saya!" 

Epilogue

Typhoons are immortal with Fung-Wong/Uwan as the 26th reincaranation of the current year. 

We are mortals, vulnerable to calamities and afflictions, believers of the faith, devotees of  St. Rose of Lima, the designated patron of the Philippines whose intercession was sought to save the country from the faithful blind herded at the Luneta, and her protection implored to shield us from the vulnerabilities of humanity.

A Bosch Evolution Fanfaren Car was installed, gentle yet loud enough to trigger a jiggle for a shovelful of cajun-style mixed seafood lunch in Cabanatuan.