Just thought I'd come up with a list...

Friends of mine who gave birth/became new parents this year:

1.  Chin

2.  Junby and Mitzi

3.  Muchay

4.  Lloyd

5.  Bryan and Inch

6.  Jai

= = = = = = = = = =


Congratulations everyone! 

Random Discovery # 3

Do you ever wonder what gives Max's Fried Chicken its distinctive taste?  It has no visible coating or any external trace of flavor enhancers, yet it is very tasty in a way that seems natural but not overwhelming.

The secret is in the cooking oil.

They first deep-fry chicharon bulaklak in the oil.  The intestines are reputedly the tastiest part of a pig, and it also contains lots of pig fat.  Once the frying is done, the resulting oil already contains a high concentration of tasty pig fat.  This is where they, in turn, deep fry the chicken.

Si Raul, o!

IN case you guys haven't noticed, this month's blog theme is "negative".  And in keeping with this, we are allotting precious blog space to feature a man who can be rightly called "asshole" in the truest sense of the word.  In terms of spewing mud and vermin against hapless justice-seekers, this man has no peer.

This person is no other than so-called Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales.  And he is today's featured asshole.

Never has a mere cabinet secretary exceeded the infamy of an unpopular chief executive.  No one who has ever held the office "Secretary of Justice" has ever been undeserving of the title.  He is as incompetent as he is arrogant - two traits that he has made full use of in perpetuating the tyrannical rule of his boss, the so-called President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It's hard to imagine that Asshole Gonzales actually has judicial pedigree, if one believes in such things, being the son of a former Justice of the Supreme Court.  (Incidentally, this puts him in exactly the same level with another scion of a former Supreme Court Chief Justice - a certain Claudio Tehankee, Jr.)









As always, I don't really care if any of you are related or are friends with this scoundrel's family.  Neither will I bother to prove what I'm saying point by point.  Turn on the TV.  Watch the news.  He is an asshole.

Random Discovery # 2

I just discovered for myself that flat frying pans are bad for frying eggs because it forces the egg to occupy a bigger surface area, thereby making it harder to flip them over.  (Yes, I do flip over sunny-side-up eggs when I fry them.)

Old-style pans are better.  Even if the stove is on uneven ground, the pan's rounded bottom allows it to make it level.

Debating with Papa (also 'I don't give a $h!t if this is dirty laundry.')

FORGIVE me, but one of my sources of satisfaction is winning a debate with either of my parents.  I "love" them as a given, but whenever I enter into disagreements with them, I enjoy hitting them with a barrage of well-thought arguments that they end up contradicting themselves.  It's even better if they resort to raised voices and angry tones just to enforce what they think is a right stand.

          I know it's no justification, but if you know my parents in a household setting (and not a social setting which is very different), you'd realize they represent what we all hate about ourselves as Filipinos.  They are racist, homophobic, ultraconservative, and they attempt to pass on these things to us, their children, as wisdom.

          To be sure, all the peoples of the world have a certain amount of racism, bigotry, ignorance, etc. in them.  With us Filipinos, what makes us worse in my opinion is our hypocrisy.  We love to crucify Americans and Europeans for treating blacks with derision, without realizing that we ourselves loathe basically anyone who is different from the norm.  As a rule, we think a lighter-skinned person is automatically better looking than a darker-skinned person.  We always view South Asians as mabaho.  Worst of all, we can tolerate Muslims as long as they stay miles away from us.

          Going back to the subject, where do these biases surface?  Of course, we won't dare expose our biases and prejudices in the 21st century public.  So we let all of these out in the safety of our own homes.  And it was in one of those times I went home that I chanced my parents watching the news.  The news was about Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama's presidential candidacy.  Here's how my debate with Papa went:

Papa:  (Upon hearing the report.)  Siyempre i-e-endorse niya si Obama.  Negro eh.

Me: (Thinking, "Hmmm...this could be interesting.")

Papa:  (Repeating himself 10 seconds later.)  Ano pa nga ba, eh negro eh!

Me:  Pa, Hindi mo pwedeng sabihing dahil lang negro siya i-e-endorse na niya si Obama.  Bakit si Condoleeza Rice, negra yun pero hindi naman niya inendorse si Obama?

Papa:  Ah, syempre active pa si Rice sa White House eh.  Si Powell retired na.

Me:  Hindi eh, sinabi mo dahil lang negro, i-e-endorse yung kapwa-negro.  Wala ka namang sinabi tungkol sa pagiging-active duty.

Papa:  (Becoming irritated.)  I am merely reflecting what most Americans think.  Marami sa kanila divided rin kay Obama.

Me:  No, you are not reflecting what most Americans think.  I was listening to you.  Your tone of voice reflected what you yourself was thinking.  You even repeated it.  We all heard that.  And besides, hindi ka naman Amerikano.  You have no standing to claim to know what they think.

Papa:  (Raising his voice.)  Ang sinabi ko, young pagiging negro ni Obama could be a reason why Powell endorsed him.  But there could be other reasons.

Me:  Come on, Papa.  If you really meant it was only one of the possible reasons for Powell's endorsement, then you should have specifically said so kanina.  No.  Your exact words were, "Siyempre i-e-endorse niya si Obama.  Negro eh."

Papa:  That's not what I said!  I said....

          It went back and forth.  If this sort of thing had happened a decade ago, it would have resulted to a shouting match that would have ended with us not talking to each other for 1 or 2 weeks.  But I've matured a lot since then, and I didn't allow myself to be baited into showing anger.  What's so satisfying about the whole thing is demonstrating to him how wrong he was, and getting the feeling that he already knows it.  BUT he has to advocate the very same erroneous stand just to enforce what he perceives is his superiority over me.

          I don't know why I relish these exchanges.  Maybe I haven't quite gotten over the realization that my parents aren't God.  Maybe I haven't forgiven them yet for making themselves appear as if they are God.  And maybe I haven't come to terms with the fact that a lot of things that went wrong in my life happened because of them and their biases and prejudices. 

          Oh I know what you would all think - "We are responsible for our own lives, no one else."  I used to think that way too.  But really, there are times when people make wrong decisions and these reverberate through all of eternity.  And of these kinds of mistakes, my parents made a lot of them.  It's hard to explain of course, given the limitations of the written word.

          So I hit back, probably in the hope that if i can't right the mistakes they made, I'd surely be satisfied making them realize I am now better than them despite everything they did.




          OR maybe, I really just like arguing with people in general, and that I could create any reason I can imagine just to relish arguing with anyone.  Come to think of it, there's nothing really special about my parents.  If I had a choice, I would have gladly exchanged them with another couple.

My Baby Book, part 3

STILL on the baby book, there was some information on my baptism, and an unusually detailed listing of the gifts that were given to me and by whom.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

I was christened

by: Fr. Dominic Bao, O.P.

church: UST Chapel

place: España, Manila

date: March 5, 1978

My godparents are: Tito Edgar [Guanco]

Tita Pacita [Flores]

What did I get? (on my baptismal day)

GIFTS GIVEN BY

Blue and yellow socks with Lolo and Lola (Sampaloc)

small bells

Two blue plastic panties Tita Ninang

Three sandos and one set Tito Ninong

printed pants and sando

One dinner set Tito Babes, Tita Tis and Atom

Six diapers and six bibs Tito Jun and Tita Tess

One yellow plastic panty Tita Y-dette

One set sweater, socks Raymond and Katherine Factora

and bonnet

One photo album Tita Ayi and Imelda (Mama's officemates)

One set printed sando Tita Nora Javier

and pants

Two sets sando and Tito Noel and Tita Pet Solim[a]n

pants

This beautiful baby book Tita Caring

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The one thing that struck me when reading this was that I received three panties as gifts.  I guess I should be thankful that they at least were not colored pink (2 blue, 1 yellow).  Seriously, I think that was the generic term for underwear at that time.  One of my earliest memories was of Tita Helen telling me, "Tanggalin mo na iyang panty mo at lalabhan ko na!"

A glance at the names of the givers makes me realize how really long ago that event was.  Lolo and Lola Sampaloc were both still alive.  Atom (who was a baby himself back then) was still the only child of Uncle Babes and Tita Lucille.  Tito Jun and Tita Tess were still together, and Jet-jet wasn't even born yet.  I never knew Tito Pax and Tita Dedeth (parents of Raymond and Kitty) sent me gifts.  I guess the extended family links go back a long way.  I still occasionally hear Mama and Papa mentioning the other names in the list, but from what I gather, most of them are already outside of the country.

Hitler galit sa San Beda

Even if you are not updated on the goings-on in the NCAA, the only way for you to not find this video hilarious is if you are blind. 

Hitler galit sa San Beda  <-----click here.