FILIPINO FOOD AT 30,000 FEET

I've always been fascinated by flight. Yes, I've said this several times before but in this entry, I'm featuring food being served on the national airline, Philippine Airlines. It's already like coming home even before you step off the aircraft.

Photos were taken by several passengers during the trip, and posted them on Airline Meals.Net.

Enjoy!

Snacks (Snack pack consisting of custard-filled cake, cream-filled wafer sticks, and "Essen" cookie sandwiches) Iloilo to Manila (Joe Pallon)


Lobster thermidore and Beef short ribs with vegetables; Los Angeles - Manila, First Class (John Ling)



Lunch (Pre-meal crackers, appetizer of cold cuts & shrimp cocktail; main course was fish fillet with rice and steamed veggies), Singapore to Manila Business Class (J-H)


Breakfast (Cereal and fruits, Main Course- Longanisa sausage, tocino, garlic rice, and scrambled eggs), Manila to San Francisco (Darlene Litam)


Arroz Caldo, San Francisco to Manila (Darlene Litam)

You can see more food shots when you visit the site.

MY BIRTHDAY WISH

My birthday wish, courtesy of Toothpaste for Dinner :-)

FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS

Hello guys! Join me as we go on our annual movie trip to our favorite film Festival here in Manila.

The 7th CINEMANILA International Film Festival 2005 opens TODAY in Manila. For details, please visit the official website.

See you at the movies!

TRIVIA: For foreign readers and Pinoys abroad, especially the younger set, the logo used by CINEMANILA is the "bulol" figure, normally a wooden sculpture of a squatting human figure with arms wrapped around the knees. It represents the dead ancestors of the Ifugao tribe of Mountain Province, north of Manila. Their dead are also buried in the same fashion, mummified squatting and placed in a burial jar.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I've always enjoyed old photographs. Back in my University days, I would go all the way behind the tall bookshelves at the very back of the Library and scour the dark, dingy area for Filipiniana, and anything that has photos of the Philippines from the American period.

I would get so excited seeing the classy tranvia traversing Manila streets, the colonial-style school buildings the Americans built in the provinces (I think they are called Gabaldon buildings, but I may be mistaken), and photos of the Intramuros.

I don't know where those books are now. They could have been sold off by now, since the Library has an annual book sale to dispose of old books. Gosh, ang sayang naman :-(

Today, I found some really nice photos from the site of University of Wisconsin. The rest of the photos are just too gruesome to be featured here, but you are welcome to indulge by visiting their website here. Click on any location on the Philippine map.


The Walled City, c. 1925


Women making Alhambra cigars, c. 1920-1930. Cigars are still made in the Philippines and rank among the best in the world


A tank enters the Fort Santiago gate, c. 1945


The Fort Santiago gate today


The Malacañan Palace, c. 1926


Filipino male nurses, c. 1900-1920. Graduating from the Philippine General Hospital, they may have been among the first to serve as Filipino nurses. This photo debunks the old impression that only the women had the choice of becoming nurses in the Philippines. Today, about 5,000 nurses leave the Philippines for foreign shores every year. How time flies.

Binondo, c. 1899. The church is now a Basilica Minore in honor of Filipino-Chinese saint Lorenzo Ruiz. There is now a small plaza fronting the church, and a lone chocolate factory beside it which has been selling chocolate tablets (tablea) for years. Tip: Use your sense of smell to locate it!

Calle Rosario, c. 1926. The church dome in the distance is that of Binondo's. Calle Rosario shops sell 50% U.S. imported textiles and Calle Nueva takes 40%, "making this district one of the most important markets for American textiles in the world." Both streets are still existing, by the way. So does that building with the turret (the turret is not seen in this photo).


Ayuntamiento, c. 1907. I drooled all over the keyboard when I saw this photo. I never realized how beautiful that building looked before it was destroyed in the war!

The Ayuntamiento today. I took this during a rainy night when I attended the wake of Cardinal Jaime Sin. It is currently being restored to house the National Archives


Quiapo, 1946. Army jeeps can be seen infront of the church. This area is now a lovely plaza, more known as Plaza Miranda. Oh, but you all know that already!

IMAGES (Cebu)

Magellan's image is preserved for posterity in one of the stained windows of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño

IMAGES (Manila)

The sight and sound of gushing water is a welcome respite from the balmy evening weather during a stroll in Intramuros

BANANA REPUBLIC

October 5, Manila - I almost choked on my tears yesterday while watching the news. The police, the military, and the protesters engaged in shirt-ripping, hair-pulling, face-mangling action along C.M. Recto Avenue. No one was spared, not even an old woman who got her head slapped repeatedly.

Inside, I died somewhat. Because no matter how much we do for this country, no matter how much we try - and we DO try - to feature what's best and beautiful in our people and our islands, we still fail.

We all know what's wrong. And all we can do is just sit down and munch on a banana while we helplessly watch the grand melee on TV.

IMAGES (Manila)

Divisoria remains to be the country's shopping haven

IMAGES FROM HOME

You know what you are missing. Come, come and get it!

Click on photo to enlarge: (from your right to left)

First Row
1.) Betamax - curdled pork blood cubes, cooked adobo style
2.) Balat - pork skin
3.) Tenga - pork ears
4.) IUD - chicken intestines (the new name is ISAW. Calling it IUD is just revealing my age!)
5.) Helmet - chicken heads
6.) Pitso - chicken thighs

Second Row
1.) Hotdog - ang walang kamatayang hotdog for children of all ages
2.) Pork BBQ - lean pork barbecue
3.) Baticolon - chicken gizzard
4.) Atay - chicken liver
5.) Wetpaks - chicken ass, he he he!
6.) Puso - chicken hearts tuhog-ed together. A lovely sight indeed.

IMAGES FROM HOME

An unfinished building through a Japanese-made bus plying Manila.

CENTENNIAL HOP

Had to do two visits to the airport today. First, to fetch my Aunt who's flying in from a PMAP National Assembly in Cebu. Second, to fetch Mom who's flying in from Shanxi with connections to Hong Kong. She spent two rainy weeks travelling across Xian (home to the tera cotta soldiers of the Qin dynasty) on an official invitation from PLAN China.

Took photos along the way. Sorry for the bad quality. We were on the move.

We all remember the Nayong Pilipino, the first of its kind in Asia. Eventually copied by Indonesia and Thailand. It's been halved because of NAIA's runway widening. It will soon be relocated to Macapagal Boulevard (How does one cart off a replica of an entire country? Abangan!)

People my age (and older) will recall the Philippine Village Hotel, ordered built by Imelda Marcos to provide a hotel that's close to the airport. It's been closed for several years now.

Aunt Catherine, and my two other first cousins (Ate Elvira and Ma-an)

Lunch at Gerry's Grill, Blue Wave Park at the Macapagal Boulevard. Kuya Richard didn't look at the camera. Might as well, hmmmphf.

My Aunt, 'Mama' Louisa, looking terrible haggard from the 4-day conference

I just wanted to take a photo of the bar. Nice metal ribbons. don't you think?

Half of the soon-to-open SM Mall of Asia - Asia's largest mall for Asia's shopping-crazy people

Another view. Sorry for the sun.

GRRRRRR...!!!!

Had a bad time last Sunday. I was rushing to Antipolo from Gil Puyat Station when entire LRT 1 line stopped. Technical problems daw or something, and we were waiting in the train for what looked like 30 minutes. After asking the guard, I realized waiting longer would be a very bad idea. I decided to take the bus instead.

People waiting for word while standing (im)patiently outside the cars

On the bus, I saw these tricycles with Maranaw banners. They're doing a parade to remind everyone of the start of Ramadhan. Isn't living in Manila wonderful? :-)

IMAGES (METRO MANILA)

It would probably shock our Muslim ASEAN neighbors about how loose (pardon the pun) our rules are regarding near-naked billboards. Several of this billboard featuring Fili-Canadian Rafael Rosell in underwear have been, er, erected all over Metro Manila. Actually, you haven't seen nuthin' yet!

IMAGES (MAKATI)

Was having early dinner at Glorietta Mall's Food Court. One of the best views ever from this spot. You can see Rustan's building there. People my age (and older) will recall that this used to be covered with a mosaic of blue-and-yellow tiles.

COASTAL VIEWS

I'm off to Antipolo for a meeting with a client. I'm taking the bus so forgive me if the photos are kind of foggy because of the thick bus glass windows.


My street: Ford Avenue, Done Manuela Street, Las Pinas City. Aircraft flies over our house every 5AM making them our de facto alarm clock. Flight paths change depending on wind direction

A sample of the interior of a Las Pinas-based bus. The TV sets really work, unlike those that ply EDSA and the aircon's really good. These are Japanese-made buses, as you can see from the style. Filipino-made buses are so much roomier and wider

Passing over the flyover, one can get a glimpse of Bacoor, Cavite

Entering Coastal Road now. Offially known as Emilio Aguinaldo Boulevard, it spans three cities: Paranaque, Las Pinas, and Bacoor (Cavite)

A fisherman's house stretches out to sea

The toll plaza

The end of the coastal road is heralded by the Coastal Mall of the Ever Malls Group. Only the first floor is occupied :-)

A sample of how much threatening street signs have become. This must reflect the Filipinos' attitude towards the law. Pwes, if you do not follow, you die!!!

Something to remind you of home: Lydia's Lechon in Baclaran

This is Baclaran Church of the Redemptorist Fathers. Well, it's behind the trees. We'd get more photos of this church soon.

Across Baclaran church, a Muslim community has sprouted on what it is public land. Since a mosque has been put up, now there's no way they can be asked to move. All those street shops you can see are theirs. These shops sell porn, porn, and more porn to just about anyone who wants them. Isn't this fun? Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound so bad but this is all former Mayor Joey Marquez's fault.

Baclaran reality: Man against Machine. Cross or walk at your own risk.

Baclaran overpass. Terribly old, with people actually living underneath it. There are more vendors up there, actually.

An overpass is not a home...or is it now?

EDSA Extension as seen from a flyover. That leads to the MRT's first station (Taft) and LRT's EDSA Station. Buses go to Makati all the way to Letre.

The old, old San Juan de Dios Hospital owned by the Archdiocese of Manila

An living reminder of what once was: Hyatt Hotel along what now is known as Roxas Boulevard, formely Dewey Boulevard

The Japanese Embassy along Roxas. The Philippines does not have such thing as an Embassy Row. The embassies of several nations are scattered all over the metro, but mostly are in Makati where they rent office spaces in buildings. Only a few embassies have their own land and building

The Department of Foreign Affairs. This building used to house the Asian Development Bank (ADB) until they built their own building in Ortigas. Behind this building is the action: hundreds of people line up every day to get their passports