Can You Squeeze It?
Free candy in Taxi
A Tour of the "Oro, Plata, Mata" house
Peque Gallaga's movie is showing for free at the Old Ford Motor Factory from 30 November to 6 December, for free, 12nn and 4pm.
I was lucky to visit the setting for the opening scene's opulent party when I was in Negros this summer. The house belongs to Monsignor Gaston's family and is located in the middle of an hacienda.
Here's the first 10 minutes of the movie:
The house is still intact, undamaged by war, though it's very lonely now that no one lives in it but "Mons". The rooms are in their original state, so it's not so much restoration as it is preservation. Except for this cracked window...
...things are up to snuff, even the machuka tiles where so many feet have trodden, and the pillars.
Below is the pristine dirty kitchen, I love how monastic it looks...
...the patio...
...view of the hacienda from a tower...
...view from the second floor balcony.
That's "Mons", beside a picture of himself that hangs with other family pictures on the 2nd floor foyer.
I hate airports
The line to security check takes too long. There are too many noisy people on queue. And it steals at least 5 hours of your time -- 3 hours before flight, plus preparation and getting to the airport.
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Where to buy pasalubong: Ikea
I'm flying to Manila in two days time, fo I'm at Ikea to look for small gifts and tokens for friends. Everyone goes to Ikea for their cheap but stylish products. Some are durable, some are not meant to last a lifetime.
Cheap steals: flower vase, full-length mirrors, children's toys, plates, utensils.
Not-so-good buys: towels, cabinets, tables.
A trip to Singapore isn't finished until you've gone to Ikea. There are two locations: Tampines, which is supposed to be bigger and more complete (there's after shuttle bus from the MRT station); and Alexandra, which is across Anchorpoint, where they have outlet stores of Charles & Keith and Giordano (take a bus from Redhill MRT).
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Christmas 2009, Singapore
I don't remember Christmas starting so early in Singapore but this year, because it wad hosting APEC, they decked Orchard Road with decors as early as start of November.
The malls soon followed suit. The photo above and below were taken at Raffles Shopping Centre (MRT: City Hall).
Best of Singapore: DTF's xiao long bao
One not-so-fine day, I thought I would drown my sorrows in mami, so I went to Din Tai Fung at Wisma Atria on Orchard Road (Level 3) and ordered my favorite xiao long bao. It's siomai with soup trapped in the pouch. That they call it "bao" means it's actually considered a "pao", not a "mai"...but whatever. Eat this and you forget all your problems. It's light, and that's why I can finish six in one go. I think it has pork or beef inside.
Now, some people say that din tai fung is special because it was once picked by New York Times as one of the world's top 10 restaurants. This is misleading. Yes, it was picked. But that was in the 80s. And it was the original Taiwanese restaurant.
The Singapore franchise is just as good, of course, but just so you know.
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Arnold's Fried Chicken
I've been using City Plaza mall (nearest MRT: Paya Lebar) as a shortcut to home for two years now, and I do know that it is where local pasar malam (tiangge) tenants buy clothes to sell. Nothing interesting in this rundown mall, which gets a shot of life in the arms on Sundays when Indonesian workers hang out. It's the Lucky Plaza of Indos.
There is, however, Arnold's restaurant on the second floor which always has a long queue. The fried chicken is cooked Jollibee/Max's style. A lot of breading and fried to a crisp. It's a delightful experience to hear the chicken skin crackles and cooking oil oozes out of your mouth. Very sinful but delish!
They serve it with tasty buns and gravy. Coleslaw is also served on the side, and it's done right: not too watery, the lettuce isn't soggy.
The key service crew are Pinoy, and so they perform the customary tuksuhan routine with Pinoy customers ("Masarap ba talaga chicken niyo? Baka naman parang ****** lang ang lasa...), which makes it feel like you're home.
They now have an express outlet in pasir ris and newton (i think) and do deliver.
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Pendy's in Bacolod
I like the retro look of these chairs at Pendy's restaurant in Bacolod, Philippines, where I went for my summer vacation. They're very overpriced but known for some good stuff, like paella and spare ribs. When I took this photo, it was morning and we ordered a simple breakfast that cost P250; it was even more expensive than the callos. Apparently, this is where the old rich go to eat. Old = ageing. These are the hacienda matriarchs who live in the exclusive Capitolville subdivision nearby, Bacolod's first "village"-type community.
Bacolod is four hours away from Singapore, by air.
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Best of Singapore: Holistic Chiropractic
I'm typing this as I wait for my turn to see my chiropractor. Since I started going to Gary Tho, I've stopped craving for my weekly massages. I have chronic back and neck pain and no amount of massage battering manages to fix it. This treatment, though it only lasts 15 minutes, works. Doctor says that's because he's not working on the muscles (like massage does) but on my bone and spine. Not that I have muscles to begin with.
He is very thoughtful, and kind. He's barely out of school -- studied in Melbourne and came to Singapore to be with gf. His parents are originally from Malaysia.
I first heard of him when I ran a contest in the website asking members to recommend services. An old lady wrote in to recommend Gary's former clinic, but she especially mentioned Gary. When I rang the clinic months later, they said Gary wasn't connected with them anymore. They refused to give his new contact.
So I did some sleuthing...and found him on the sixth floor of Tanglin Shopping Centre.
When I had to choose between the old clinic and Gary's new practice, I based my decision on a phone call. Gary, who has a gorgeous voice and mannered Aussie accent, picked up the phone.
He had me at hello.
For appointments, call 67331805. Initial consultation costs $110, which is around the same price of a massage here.
PLEASE, don't bother smuggling cigarettes
Fine for each case smuggled = $500.
Cost of cigarette in Singapore = $11.20
You do the Math.
I've heard several near-arrest stories from friends of friends. There was this artist who was held by immigration because they thought he looked subversive. He wasn't worried about that. He was thinking of the cigarettes in his luggage. Good thing the officers personally escorted him out of immigration and customs after realizing he was harmless.
There was this guy who left a ream of cigarettes in the bus. Stupidly, he wrote his name all over the packaging. You know, just in case it gets lost. The police tracked him down, and he spent the night in jail until his amo in Manila could send money to pay his fine.
Then there was this Pinoy who was smoking on the lobby of his condo. Undercover police sidles up to him, asks for a light, then asks what he's smoking. Kaboom! "Did you pay for the duties?" "No, I smuggled it!" Ayun, huli siya.
But the best story I heard was this guy in a bar. Same style as the undercover police, but this time police says, I have the right to search your car. There, he sees boxes and boxes of smuggled cigs. I have the right to search your house. There he sees more cigarettes -- and pirated DVDs.
The poor guy was just having a drink!
So, kabayan, don't smuggle na your Hope or Philip. Not worth it.
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Espasol -- Singapore version
The Malay food stall in my building sells some pretty delicious stuff, like mee rebus and mee goreng. Mee = noodles.
But they also have tidbits like curry puff, and some stuff that resemble Pinoy sweets like pichi-pichi and, the one shown here, something that resembles espasol.
The bread is not as soft as the Pinoy original and it is not rolled in rice flour (in fact, it looks a bit kayumanggi).
There's also a filling inside -- coco jam. Not too great, but interesting.
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Sacred or Scared?
JUST got this in the mail today -- Norberto "Peewee" Roldan will be having a show here this month. It's called "New Profane" and runs from cocktails on 26 November to 21 December (where, hopefully, there will be another round of cocktails). I know Peewee from Manila, where he's become a reliable source whenever I'm writing something about the art scene. He runs the "Green Papaya" gallery in Quezon City's Kamuning area. It used to be located in UP Village, and I remember one story I did which scared off a few galleries in small world Manila.
Since Green Papaya is a not-for-profit cooperative gallery, it would occasionaly hold fund-raising events to raise money for its rent and utilities. One time, Peewee decided to sell his art inventory at a discount, during a "night market". Peewee, of course, has a fabulous portfolio because he's been showing Manila's important young artists before they even became important. By then, some of the artists were already being handled by bigger galleries, who didn't like the idea that a collector who'd pay P30,000 could instead wait for the weekend, head to Peewee's UP Village gallery, have some drinks, and pay only P15,000 for art.
From scaring capitalist art galleries, Peewee now paints the sacred. According to the invite, "Sacred is the New Profane" is a series of mixed-media works examining the twin concepts of sacredness and profanity. What is sacred? What is profane? Two words which suggest dichotomy, could either be one or the other at the same time.
Peewee's works "engages with the deliberate placement of found objects, featuring the peculiar use of medicine cabinets, altar boxes, and framed constructions, to question what we hold sacred in contemporary society."
My tip: You should see this right before or right after "Land Of The Morning: The Philippines And Its People" at the Asian Civilisations Museum where antique religious figurines and statues are also on display -- this time with no trace of irony. Seeing both exhibits will give you a clear idea of how the Philippines may be a Catholic nation, but Filipinos have very varying views on what that means.
Peewee, originally from Negros, was one of the founders of the BAA (Black Artists of Asia) and his works are in the Singapore Art Museum collection. For a more academic reading of Roldan, click here.
Catch Norberto Roldan's solo exhibition, "New Profane," at TAKSU Singapore (Block 43 Workloft@Chip Bee |#01-72 Jalan Merah Saga |Holland Village | Singapore 278115 | sing@taksu.com) from 26 November to 21 December.
Why I'm In Singapore
Parts of this story originally appeared in Philippine Daily Inquirer
Just recently, someone asked me if I ever think of going back to Manila or if I consider Singapore my home now. I thought the question was passé.
Filipinos, more than anyone, have become global citizens. In this day and age—especially for Filipinos who work overseas—there’s not just one home. We work abroad, we assimilate into the culture of our host country, but we retain our Filipino identity.
When I first lived here in Singapore in 2001, I worked as one of eight foreign sub-editors in the country’s biggest publishing company. I learned how to produce at least three newspaper pages a day.
I decided to work again in Singapore exactly a year ago. By then my masochistic side had resurfaced: I missed the daily grind of the newsroom.
Another question I am asked often is if Singapore has changed since the last time I lived here. A lot, I say. It’s like an entire generation has grown up and taken over.
My colleagues, most in their early 20s, are more relaxed and open-minded than the generation before them. The bars are open until early morning, people are smiling, and you see more foreign faces on the streets.
The influential Monocle magazine, for the second year running, has named Singapore as one of the world’s Top 25 Liveable Cities and praised it for having “leapfrogged to First World status in barely two generations.”
Singapore is intent on becoming a major power, and it is doing something concrete to achieve that.
How about you, what brings you to Singapore?
Pinoy prisoners do Queen
Great choreography! The fun starts at 0:50.
What the rest of the world doesn't know is how schools in the Philippines are very big on making its students perform during "intramurals" and "foundation days". That's what makes us -- most of us -- good dancers and singers.
Take note of the cross-dressers!
In Singapore, It's The Year Of The Pinoy
THE year 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and The Philippines. That's why you'll be seeing several Pinoy-themed activities as the year comes to a close. A few weeks ago, the Asian Civilisations Museum opened a spectacular exhibition entitled "Land of the Morning: The Philippines and its People."
Last night at the dinner for the Friends of ACM, Singapore Chika had a chance to meet its curator, David Henkel, who gave a 30-minute speech after the buffet dinner, in his long-sleeved batik shirt. Mr. Henkel will give an insider's tour of the exhibition on 20 November (Friday, 7:30PM - 8:30PM; $12). Limited to 11 people. We'd love to go and ask him how he convinced voracious Filipino collectors like Paulino & Hetty Que and Teyet Pascual to loan their precious pieces.
This unprecedented exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum features more than 290 rare and important artefacts - ancient gold, Catholic imagery, tribal artefacts and contemporary Filipino artworks – from museums and private collections in the Philippines, some of which will be on display for the very first time.
Land of the Morning: The Philippines and its People runs till 10 Jan 2010 at the Special Exhibitions Gallery of ACM Empress Place (Asian Civilisations Museum. 1 Empress Place Singapore 179555. Tel: 65-6332 2982, 65-6332 7798)