Gwammy

My mom was a young girl at the onset of World War II, and she experienced the harsh hard life first-hand, having been caught in the stampede at the Ateneo de Manila Campus in Padre Faura, while running around the Ermita and PGH area during the Battle for the Liberation of Manila.  After the war, she worked for the Philippine Art Gallery and thereafter worked with the Chevrolet division of Yutivo, where she met Kong Kong.  She is the original twinkletoe in the family, and it is because of this genetic trait that we find ourselves hard to stay put in one place.  While we traveled on short trips as a family around Asia, she twice found herself traipsing around the United States for several months all by herself (in the seventies and in the nineties), and that was really her thing as she got to visit friends and family on her own itinerary (we simply cannot rush her to follow our schedules).  She can take the extreme positions in any discussion, either right of left wing, and this really depends on how things were brought to her attention--she is hard as steel on the outside, and soft as mushy marshmallow on this inside.  She is sucker for sale items--any bargain is her happiness!  I love her cooking and learned a lot from culinary expertise, which is sometimes defined by my sisters as the "throw-it-in" style.  Her witty sense of shallow humor propels her creativeness in inventing new concepts, like the all-purpose words "liray" and "liray-lay" which, frankly, I don't understand myself.  Sometimes I can still hear her parting words of advice dispensed daily (as I would bid my morning farewell to school)--"Stop, Look and Listen!" or "Look before you leap!" or the more direct-to-the-point "Huwag Kang Tatanga-tanga!"

Hahaha.... That's Gwammy for you!

Gene Roddenberry

Space... the final frontier.  These are the voyages of the Starship Enterpise, its continuing mission... to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. (Star Trek, August 1966)

Michaela and I had the opportunity to discuss about economic progress, ecological sustainability and population growth over the Eid Al Fitr weekend.  Her thinking is that while current human population is already at 6 billion, we could peak at 12 billion, but population would slowly stabilize in time at around 8 billion.  I was of the opinion that Malthusian predictions could be adjusted and that the Earth could comfortably house more humans, even at 20 billion, if allocation and distribution methods were more efficient.  Furthermore, my thinking is that the exponential growth of technology demonstrates that the human intellect is growing and someday, give or take a couple of hundred years, we will be able to pierce Einstein's light barrier.  That has been clearly shown with the discoveries of black holes (gravity becomes a more propelling force than light) and has been heavily theorized with postulates on tachyons.  While these are science fiction today, you have to consider that manned space flight was seemingly impossible in the early twentieth century, and that today we have a roving camera stationed in Mars.

Gene Roddenberry was a humanist and a futurist.  He began his career as a US Air Force pilot World War II, and thereafter became a sergeant with the Los Angeles police department.  He envisioned the television series Star Trek, and his philosophy about the possibilities of the human potential leads me to believe that there is hope for the human race.

Human nature.  We squabble, we fight.  We love, we nurture.  We oppress, we conquer.  We suffer, we adapt.  We go forth and we multiply.  We live, and we love.  We become true to ourselves.

Medicine of Years Past

Some things live on deep in our memories--snippets of the past, a scent, an image, a act of kindness.  A few nights ago, Michaela and I had so much fun talking about medicine that we grew up with.  Some of these are still around, most of these are no longer distributed locally.  These were the prevalent remedies that Kongkong and Gwama gave us when we were kids:

• Merthiolate (thiomersal)--this Eli Lilly brand was the leading topical antiseptic for cuts and scrapes.  Now discontinued because of the controversial mercury content, it was a staple of our first aid cabinet in the late sixties.  The bright red coloring agent was evident whenever we'd get wounded and, after alcohol or agua oxigenada, would be the second line of defense against infection.
• Mercurochrome--similar to Merthiolate, and also discontinued being another mercury based antiseptic.
• Agua Oxigenada (hydrogen peroxide)--the first line of defense in cleaning cuts and wounds.  The liquid would foam and was effective in killing the germs.  Reportedly also used for bleaching hair, would you believe?
• Aspilet--kiddie aspirin, maybe only 30mg.  Nowadays, aspirin is no longer used as it was discovered that could lead to unnecessary bleeding in some patients.
• Diromo--the all around tummy medicine manufactured by Farmitalia, of which our Uncle Tom carried locally under the Filifarma distributorship in the early seventies.  Any tummy pain warranted a tablet of this, and we were immediately healed!
• Pontocaine (tetracaine)--this was the second line of defense against skin itch (the first line was a good scratching!).  Anything with the "caine" suffix denotes that the product is an anesthetic agent, and pontocaine was a topical cream that numbed the senses and therefore deadened the itch.
• Sodium bicarbonate--Impatso (bloated sensation from overeating) was another big headache specially for me.  This medicine was traditionally my refuge, as it is supposed to be good for indigestion and acid reflux.
• Erythrocin (erythromycin)--was the pink antibiotic tablet that tasted so bad, but was the first antibiotic line that the doctor would give when our tonsils would flare up.  Funny aftertaste, I swear!  I guess that with all the tablet that I must have taken (my tonsils acted up so often that the doctors then decided to cut it off), my body has probably developed some form of resistance to this medicine already!
• Molint--was an early brand of menthol liniments that you could apply to backaches and other body aches.  Today the equivalent would be Ben Gay or Omega Pain Killer.
• Salonpas--this Japanese version of adhesive menthol padding was probably the first of its kind.  Today, you can still see this in drug stores and groceries, and the scent is still the same after all these years!  If you smell it, it's a dead give-away that someone around you is using it.
• Desenex (miconazole)--this was the favorite anti-fungal cream of Kong Kong for athlete's foot.  Today people use either Nizoral (ketoconazole) or Canesten (clotrimazole).
• Tiger Balm--Chinese version of the mentholated cream.  This was a brown balm, thick and almost hard.  You could wipe this topically thus soothing a variety of pain.  Distinctive smell, akin to Salonpas, yet very Oriental.  One of the oldest half sisters of Kong Kong married into the family that produced this product, which is widely sold around Asia.
• White Flower Oil--another mentholated medicine, this time in oil form.  We used to wipe this around our temples for headache relief.  Again a distinctive scent, different from Salonpas or Tiger Balm.
• Mandel's Solution--although my mom never tried this on me, she would tell me of how my Lola Segunda would give her an oral swab with Mandel's Solution to kill the germs causing sore throat.  She says this was very effective.

All these medicines were easily available in drugstores around Metro Manila, and if you opened Gwammy's cabinet, it was a sure thing to find these in abundant supply.

* Legal disclaimer--Note that this piece is not intended to dispense medical advice.  The purpose of this piece it to reminisce about old times, and not to suggest a cure.  If you are sick or have medical problems, consult your doctor instead.

Franz Burger

Judging from the photos on the wall of the restaurant, I understand that the owner of Franz Burgers has been the resident caterer of some local concert production company (I reckon that would be the group of Steve O'Neil of DZRJ fame).  You can see him pictured standing with Rex Smith, the Earth Wind & Fire, the Cascades, and numerous other foreign and local music artists.  Located along Scout Delgado St. (perpendicular to Tomas Morato Avenue), this burger house is probably located at what used to be the old residence of the owner.  

Cousin Ed and I had an afternoon snack, and being a bit hungry, it was a heavy merienda that we ordered--steak and a burger!  The burger came in hot and it was freshly made.  The patty was juicy and the overall experience was good.  The steak, however, was a bit overdone (we asked for medium rare), and we found it to be dry and on the tough side, which was quite disappointing.

The dining area has two sections, the inner room being the air-conditioned portion.  The atmosphere was informal and the staff were a jolly helpful set.  I was particularly happy that they had mustard; while all burger joints have ketchup, mustard is only available in selected shops.  If you visit the place, just go for the burgers, which is the specialty of the house.  Average spend should be in the vicinity of P200 per head for a good meal, although you can get by with P100 per head.

Super Fish Chips

Vicky brought home another version of the fish kropek, and this one is called Super Fish Chips.  These white flat crispy chips are tasty and quite addictive!  Note that fish kropek is not to be confused with fish crackers, which are color yellow and come in small sticks.  Fish kropek comes in sizes of around 2" x 3" x 1/4" and smell like, well, fish!  I find that this brand isn't as tasty as other brands like Gold Carp though, but it still is a nice thing to munch on, specially while watching movies!

Tony Bennett

There are some vocal artists that give me sheer pleasure just to listen to.  Tony Bennett is one of those artists.  Currently 86 years old, the man makes such great music that every time I hear his signature song I Left My Heart In San Francisco, I stop and close my eyes.  My other favorites--If I Ruled the World, and Song of the Jet Set (Rio de Janeiro)!  His Duets collection (volume 1 came out in 2006 and volume 2 came out last year) are very soothing to listen to, you can hear the clarity and feel the phrasing of his words even at his advanced age.  Note that he makes "oldies" music with a much younger generation (e.g. James Taylor, Barbra Streisand, Sting, Bono, Lady Gaga, KD Lang, Diana Krall, among others); it's just like he is passing the torch to the new crop of artists who, despite their coming from different musical backgrounds, still do not fail to pay respect to the American musical classics.  Make more good music, Tony Bennett!

Whatever Happened To.....

Writing about these different ice cream brands had me thinking about several that I grew up with, but are sadly no longer around:

1. Coney Island--this was a local brand that had a stall at the Puyat Arcade in Greenhills.  They served very good ice cream with a wide variety of flavors, and it really seemed that the ice cream came from the United States.  I also remember they had very good cherry punch (this is one drink I truly enjoy!)
2. Silver Bell--this brand was sold as the premium alternative to Magnolia in the late sixties, and I can still remember the distinctive ribs alongside their plastic gallon (this was reusable, as compared to the packaging of Magnolia).  Very good ice cream, available in most groceries and shops at that time.
3. Presto--Universal Robina used to make this ice cream as the lower end alternative to Magnolia, but I think they decided to pull out due to thin profit margins.  Despite the perceived market positioning as a lower end brand, I surely enjoyed a lot of their flavors.
4. Carnival--this short-lived brand was the ice cream launched by San Miguel to battle it out with Presto in the lower price bracket.  I remember they had orange flavored ice cream, the only one of its kind at that time!  The plastic tubs were yellow and had a carnival logo!
5. Sorbetero Filipino Ice Cream--this was the upmarket version of "dirty" ice cream that was sold in push carts as sorbetes de caro.  They had local flavors like mongo and langka, and their ube and chocolate flavors were regular mainstays of our freezer.  I remember that a good friend of mine sang their TV ad jingle, it was a very catchy tune.
6. Neapolitan--this was the original ice cream that sold three flavors in a block covered by plastic, and packed inside a carton box.  Very light and had the basic flavors of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, if I remember correctly.
7. Cool Spot--if I am not mistaken, this was the pre-cursor of Big Scoop ice cream, and I can remember the tin cans used were just about the same as that of the original Selecta.
8. Sison Ice Drop--I cannot recall if Sison made ice cream, but I remember that they ice drops, which were more like icicles (flavoring but little or no milk).

A walk down memory lane--Kongkong was the Chairman of the Board of the Raiders Club, and the four siblings would pop into the kitchen like clockwork to scoop into the ice cream!  Our favorite!

Dryer's

Dreyer's has been available in the Philippines since the middle eighties in very small import quantities.  I remember that Gwammy and I bought some when this brand was first introduced, but the popularity didn't last long, probably because of the limited and erratic supply.  I see this in very limited quantities in some supermarkets like S&R, but it's not really sold in widespread areas.  Founded in 1928 under its pre-cursor, Edy's Grand Ice Cream, the Northern California brand is known for having invented Rocky Road flavor.  I was lucky that Erika also a bought a tub of this in Wellcome, since the cookie dough fiasco left me a bit unsettled and craving for some dessert.  I liked the firm texture of the brand (no air bubbles) and the rich flavor of the vanilla (yes, the chocolate chips did not overpower the vanilla).  I understand that Nestle bought the brand around ten years ago; but unfortunately, I do not think Nestle will bring in the brand locally, probably due to the thin profit margins for high-end ice cream.

Ben & Jerry's

This is one of the strangest tasting ice cream flavors that I have tried--cookie dough!  Aside from the Jagabee potato fries, Erika and I picked up a pint of Ben & Jerry's at the Wellcome store, and I was clearly intrigued at what the taste of cookie dough ice cream would be like.  I first tried Ben & Jerry's in New York many many years ago, and I was pretty confident that the taste would be good. Hahaha.... boy was I wrong... naw, this flavor is definitely not for me... the taste is exactly like chocolate cookie dough!  As is unbaked dough!  In my mind, it was like--this thing is uncooked and has to be shoved into the oven!  Well, Monique and Deannie wound up having all the fun--these kids just love the taste!

Jagabee

Jagabee is another product, the existence of which I merely learned from Monique and Deannie.  Apparently, this brand of potato chips has made the rounds of the local schools and the kids are absolutely nuts over it.  Made by the Japanese company Calbee, we found a couple of packs at Wellcome grocery in Causeway Bay and the kids just loved the baked crunchy goodness of the snack.  The quantity provided by a pack of 3 tubs is so annoyingly pitiful though (only 40g per tub), and I must say that while the taste was excellent, I found the product to be on the expensive side.

Cepacol

Anita's kids are currently sick from a bout of viral flu, and last night, Michaela and I were discussing the various medicines we have used over the past forty years as sore throat and flu cures.  It's funny that while some medicine brands stand out, these good ones are no longer distributed locally, and a case in point is Cepacol, which we used as throat lozenges when we were kids.  I understand that the brand is still available in the United States, Canada and Australia, but somehow, this brand faded out from the local scene.  I liked using the lozenges because of the benzocaine, which made your throat numb and whatever throat itch you had would magically disappear!  We didn't like the mouthwash though, as there would be a lingering funny aftertaste that made eating an unpleasant experience.  I understand that this is distributed by Bayer, although the brand was originally owned by J. B. Williams in the United States.

1521

The Forbestown area at the Fort Bonifacio Global City is fast becoming the "in" place for dining.  I came across the 1521 restaurant when I had dinner in nearby Melo's, and I told myself I had to try their cuisine, as the menu pricing looked pretty reasonable.

Our group got in at 12 noon on a weekday, and we could sense that the second floor was already full (our reservation was on the ground floor).  The interiors of the place felt relaxing, and the staff was quick to offer their specialty refreshment--langka casuy shake, which was a welcome flavorful treat for me!  The wall fresco reminded me of the paintings of Alvaro Jimenez, notably the letras y figuras as well as the banana stalk series, and these depiction of scenes from turn of the century Filipino life created a pleasant dining ambiance.

The dishes had interesting names, and the owners seem to have put a lot of creative thought into name association.  Recipes also had a different twist--the laing for example was made with spinach instead of the traditional gabi leaves.  For our group of 10, we had sisig, crunchy shrimps, crispy pata, beef tapa, garlic chicken, pochero, adobong pusit, ginataang sitaw at kalabasa, laing, stuffed boneless bangus.  For dessert, we had mango crepe and cusilva.

Our food check came to around P650 per head, which was understandable because of the number of dishes that we ordered (we also had extra food for take-home).  Not a bad lunch, food came in hot and tasty, service was attentive and helpful.

Aristocrat

I had initially wanted to hold my birthday celebration at the Fort, but during our deliberations, Kong Kong wanted to get another glimpse of the Roxas Boulevard area, which we fondly refer to as Dewey Boulevard, its old name.  Of course, we reminisced about the good old days and how the Aristocrat Restaurant has been there since pre-war era.  Gwammy was telling us that early on, the original restaurant was called Blue Moon and this was subsequently named the Aristocrat in the late thirties.  Erika chimed in, reminding us that the wedding reception of the parents was held at the then newly opened Aristocrat branch in Cubao.

We arrived early at the restaurant, and it seems that some interior renovation was instituted by the Reyes family, and the place is pretty much improved from our last visit a couple of years ago.  It was good that we got in early, we were a group of almost 20 people and we were lucky to get a long table.  We had a big Sunday lunch--

Potato Salad for Gwammy

Crispy squid, a favorite of Tito Tony

Pancit Canton for long life!

The omnipresent fried rice

Crab Foo Young!

The all time favorite--Chicken Honey!

This one goes for the kids--Lumpia Shanghai

Gwammy likes Camaron Rebosado

Laing, which was not as spicy as I expected

All-around Pakbet

Anita just loves Callos!

Pancit Sotanghon Giusado

Vicky's request--Kare Kare!

Dinuguan

From the Aristocrat Bakeshop, my birthday cake!

The food was quite good, except for the dinuguan, which was very watery, had no flavor and had very little meat (this is best cooked with thick sauce, salty with a slight tinge of sourness from vinegar).  We started at 11:30 am and finished close to 2:30 pm, as Tony, Anita & the kids had to leave to watch a UAAP basketball game at the newly built SM Arena.  Overall spend came to approximately P600 per person, which is a bit high for the Aristocrat, but reasonable because of the variety of dishes that we ordered.  Note that I wasn't able to get a picture of the chicken and pork BBQ dishes, as these came in late, right when I was busy wolfing down my own lunch spread!

Pik-Nik

I can say I'm a fan of potato chips.  There was a time that the only available flavor was plain salted, but it seems that today, all sorts of exotic flavors abound.  Some chips come with wasabi and nori, some are flavored with sour cream and chives, while others have BBQ spice or cheese.  Even shapes are varied--wrinkled, twisted, ruffled, formed too!  While I like chips, I simply can't resist the shoestring style and in this category, Pik-Nik is my brand of choice.  I simply love this--no overwhelming sensation, super crunchy, and salted just right.  Canisters are just under P130 and I can probably finish a large one watching a movie, maybe even halfway through!  As with chips, these come in a variety of flavors, and I really like the cheddar cheese flavor, pictured at left.  I took the liberty of picking up a canister for Monique, but ended up opening it myself!

Emerald Garden

My cousins Mianne and Lianne came into town from Dumaguete to attend the Food Exposition which was simultaneously held at the World Trade Center and at the SMX Convention Center last week.  Since they were staying at the Roxas Boulevard area, Kong Kong decided to invite them for dinner at the Emerald Garden restaurant. near the corner of Padre Faura Street.  Anita and her family joined Vicky, Monique, Teppie and myself to welcome them; it was lucky that cousin Ed was also in town and he also joined in for the dinner.

We started our meal with fish lip soup, and I made sure that we had lots of dishes that Anita could eat (she has a shrimp allergy).  I got three kinds of fried rice--dried fish, yang chow and scallop, lo han chay (vegetable dish, but without mermaid's hair though), the special boneless Emerald chicken (slightly sweet, honey glazed), deep-fried spare ribs, pata tim with mantou bread (you eat this sandwich style).  We also had fish fillet in soy sauce and camaron rebosado (the only item on the menu that Anita was allergic to).  We finished the meal with the usual desserts--almond gelatin with lychees, buchi balls and mango sago (tapioca pearls).

While the food was generally edible, I honestly can't say that I was excited by the meal.  We last ate here some five years ago, and my memories of that meal were quite good--I was thus instrumental in asking Kong Kong to hold the dinner there.  This time, however, I found the food to be very much on the bland side.  The fish lip soup had a bit too much of pickled cucumber and this made the soup sweet (I like it salty, cooked the traditional way).  The only dish that was up to part was the chicken dish, and I think it is because this Emerald style chicken is the house specialty.  It seemed like the chef was recently reprimanded for excessive salt usage, and, as atonement, decided to halve the usual salt and flavorings for the day.  Well, the meal wasn't that expensive though, we spent something like P450 per head.  I'm hoping that it was just an off-night for the chef, but if this trend continues, I won't be recommending this restaurant anymore.