butil

hungkag na raw ang istak ng bigas sa ating bansa. dahil dito, humingi ng tulong ang Pilipinas sa Thailand at Vietnam na magparating ng kaukulang saklolong panustos sa suplay nito. magmula Enero ng taong kasalukuyan, halos apat na piso ang itinaas ng presyo ng bigas sa lokal na merkado.

patuloy naman ang pag-aangkat ng bansa ng bigas sa ibang mga bansa. may mga nagsasabing sapat naman ang ani ng ating mga magsasaka. kung gayon, ano ang dahilan ng kakulangan nito? … kasakiman ng iilang nais kumubra ng higit sa dapat na kita. itinatago at itinitinggal ng malalaking negosyante ang suplay upang mapilit na tumaas ang halaga. gusto yata nila ay lumobo hanggang 100 ang bawat kilo ng bigas upang magkamal ng higit pang salapi. madaganan sana saku-sakong bigas ang mga damuhong ito!

ang inutil na gobyerno naman, saka lang kikilos kapag nai-media na ang isyu. dapat sana ay namonitor agad ng ahensiyang may tuwirang responsibilidad ang problemang ito bago pa man sumambulat at maging pambansang isyu. kaya lang, paano naman mangyayari ito kung ang mismong puno ng ahensiya ay may makasariling interes din sa sandaling tumaas ang presyo ng bigas?! di pa kasama diyan ang mga kotong na kailangang kaharapin ng mga magsasaka at maliliit na mangangalakal ng bigas na nakaaapekto rin sa bentahe ng bigas sa pamilihan. haaaayyy…

di ko yata matatagalan na mawala ang bigas sa bawat hapag. tugma ang bigas sa halos lahat na ulam o putahe, mapa-pinoy o banyagang lutuin. isipin na lang ang lahat ng kakaning base sa bigas na pinagmumulan ng kabuhayan ng maraming Pilipino. bagamat maraming indibidwal ang umiiwas sa pagkain ng kanin dahil sa naising magpapayat, ang butil na ito ay integral na sangkap ng pagkatao ng bawat pinoy. maraming gawi, tradisyon at kalinangan ang hinabi mula sa bigas at anupamang porma nito. nararapat lamang na pagtuunan ng ibayong pansin ang pundamental na pangangailangang ito, kaysa ubusin ang oras sa pagtatapunan ng putik na pulitika.

retablo

our Panagbenga trip also allowed me to have a more intimate tour of Vigan (my first was just to have 5 pics taken in Crisologo St., and buy longganisa)!!! actually, Baguio became the side trip, as Cath and I had a blast in Vigan. although it took almost 4 hours (due to the congested streets of Baguio… Panagbenga nga eh!) to get to Vigan from Baguio, the trip was worth it.

upon deciding that we'll stay in Cordillera Inn, we took to customary picture-taking sessions right away… too excited to catch this UNESCO World Heritage site under the lights! the first few shots were blurry, as the photographer (Cathy) was jumpy and afraid that we'll miss the lights! but as we settled in and took the Ilocos almost-summer breeze, Vigan cobblestone street pics became better. a not too out-of-the-ordinary dinner in Chowking might had done its magic, who would've thought?!!






after a sampling of Pinoy breakfast, off we went to what would turn out to be a 3-hour calesa tour of the entire Vigan. we got to see the Crisologo museum, pagburnayan, Chavit's Baluarte (got the tinubong and kalamay from here), simbahan ti bassit, Vigan's secret garden and the glorious Bantay belfry that became a lookout tower during the Japanese occupation. this calesa trip was definitely a welcome delight. (",)










an imposing bahay na bato, our stay in Cordillera Inn completed the colonial air of the whole trip. huge retablos, santos, mirrors, ancestral round tables, populate the first floor main lobby. the third floor has a ballroom and the rooftop provides a good viewing platform of the entire old town. one minus factor 'though was the earsplitting old-tech aircon of the room, hehehe!

after buying all the pasalubongs (longganisa, royal bibingka), getting my native hamper, and Cathy getting a bitter taste of my temper, we got to Partas bus and braved an almost 9-hour drive to Pasay terminal. next UNESCO world heritage site, please!

jagjit

I got this zany email from Sir Allen... I've read a Pinoy version of this in the past, so it was quite amusing to come across an Indian version. Read on.

Letter from India

My Dear Jagjit,

I am in a well here and hoping you are also in a well there. I'm writing this letter slowly, because I knowyou cannot read fast.

We are not living where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from home, so we moved 20miles. I am not able to send the address, as the last Sardar who stayed here took the house numbers with them for their new house so they would not have to change their address. Hopefully by next week we will be able to take our earlier address plate here, and that our address will remain same too. This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine, situated right above the toilet. But I'm not sure it works too well. Last week I put in 3 shirts, pulled the chain, and haven't seen them since. The weather here isn't too bad. It rained only twice last week. The first time it rained for 3 days and second time for 4 days.

The coat you wanted me to send you, your Aunt said it would be a little too heavy to send in the mail with all the metal buttons, so we cut them off and put them in the pocket. Your father has another job. He has 500 men under him. He is cutting the grass at the cemetery.

By the way, I took Bahu to our club's poolside. The manager is Badmash. He told her that two piece swimming suit is not allowed in his club. We were confused as to which piece we should remove? Your sister had a baby this morning. I haven't found out whether it is a girl or a boy, so I don't know whether you are an Aunt or Uncle. Your uncle, Jetinder fell in the nearby well. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off bravely and drowned. We cremated him and he burned for three days. Your best friend, Balwinder, is no more.

He died trying to fulfill his father's last wishes. His father had wished to be buried in the sea after he died. And your friend died while in the process of digging a grave for his father. There isn't much more news this time. Nothing much has happened.

Love,

Mom.

P.S : Jagjit, I was going to send you some money but by the time I realized it, I had already sealed off this letter.

viernes

since almost all establishments were closed during Viernes Santo, i went out with Varbs to try a new food joint. our destination was Washoku Kikufji in Pasong Tamo's Little Tokyo (near MCS). just like most Japanese dishes, the food was pretty simple... deep-fried ebi, grilled aspara bacon, plus gohan, matched with the resto's free green tea. nothing too spectacular, as i wasn't really keen on eating a lot during a day when Catholics were supposed to do fasting. the food was at the pricier side… well maybe because of the resto's modern take on traditional-style Jap food. anyway, new things are always a welcome treat.

when we got home, i finally had the chance to do another Lego creation after carefully dousing the dusty bricks. these lego bricks are relics from my childhood (i think i got this in '85 or even earlier!), as these are the only handful that i was able to salvage from the phenomenon called growing up when you tend to forget or ignore the things that you dearly held when you were younger! anyway, the remaining pieces can still be assembled to come up with a 2 storey house, that is through a good combo of imagination, trial and error and by using everything, even those minifigures or gears intended to construct vehicles. and this is my new house… for the month of March at least or until I get the urge to disassemble the pieces again and come up with a new design. i know that these blocks can still fit even with those that were made in 2008, so i'm thinking of adding some… hmmmm...

gloria

true to what my analyst nth sense told me, our sabado de gloria family trip didn't push through at all. the van that Tita supposedly arranged for us wasn't in good working condition, had major mechanical problem, well on that very day. we could've went for Tatang's fx, even if it meant that i'll shell out money for the rent, but it would be too tiring for Liezl to wait for 2-3 hours coz she has Izh, from their Galera trip. moral of the story… do the arrangements yourself; do not rely on padrino to address logistics; and if possible, just get the folks to hop in without delegated tasks.

haaaay… i was disappointed. really. i was looking forward to spending some quality time with the family during this Holy Week, so that we can have a good road trip chat while visiting some nice churches in Laguna and probably hear mass in one. i don't recall any of these trips in the past, we only had 1 out of town cum swimming trip to Pansol, back in 2003 i think. but other than that, nada. so, i figured we should do something like this. plus this is also a good chance for the Nova folks to get away from the monotonous grind of everyday Capri life and for Papa to have that needed outing. anyway…

since i was up way too early than normal, my supposedly visita iglesia day became a visita de basahan day! i busied myself with washing some hand towels and re-soaking the already black but originally pink curtain that we have. i also rearranged some of the litters that we have in our living room to give space for my 2 small burnay jars from Vigan. moreover, i was able nail down the Kyle XY episodes that I missed during its regular Studio 23 run.

wurd

since i was still having serious bouts with migraine over the past week, i went for an expectedly silly flick to while away my woes over tasks at hand. i watched Weirdsville, starring Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley… a chopsuey about 2 hallucinogenic buddies who are chased by mafia-type gangs, to whom they owe money from and satan-monger quasi cultists looking for sacrificial lambs, whom they met while trying to bury their supposedly dead female friend. along the way, they also met a host of fratmen-acting midgets and a well-off family dealing with the head of the family's freak accident.

to my surprise, the resulting chopsuey was an eclectic mix of entertaining cinema. the mtv-esque surreal junkie visions and obvious, stupid and out-of-this world happenings fleshed out a wurd comical flick. i like the idea of blending shots of Dexter skating in the snow covered streets of Ontario to depict his ecstasy from being high and all, with unexpected twists and characters. the fast-paced depiction of indirectly connected events makes you anticipate the next turn of events, no matter how bizarre these may be. what helped the movie to withstand the stupid stance from the onset was the believable rapport from Speedman and Bentley. their Dexter and Royce may be the regular junkies built on Hollywood standards, but the timing and their effective delivery of the smartly-written dialog and the way they relate with each other aided the movie's not too serious perspective, as seriousness was the last of the movie's aims.

one IMDB entry summarized it aptly: "By turns genuinely engaging and laugh out loud funny, Weirdsville is daft but brilliant."

kubra

while the Supreme Court has yet to issue an official ruling on executive privilege and some senators are still feuding over decision on whether to accept SC's proposal on Sec. Neri's case, here is an apt musing from one of the quick-witted personalities that we have right now, Joey de Leon! and I agree with him... politicos are out there, not to search for the truth, but to ensure that they would be able to kubra, after this moro-moro is done. read on.

‘Kawawang Truth’

Grabe, grabe na ‘to! Ilang linggo na tayong nagbabangayan, nagkakahati-hati at nagaawayan nang dahil lamang sa isang kanseladong proyekto. Hanggang ngayon, puro sumbatan at mga tsismis lamang at wala gaanong ebidensyang nailalabas maliban sa mga salita lang. Puro kayo "in the the name of the truth." Kawawang-kawawa na si "truth." Abusong-abuso na si "truth." Ano ba talaga ang "truth?" Ang "truth" dapat ay ‘yung nakikita — kaya nga, "to see is to believe" eh.

...

At dahil sa isyung pinagmulan nito, narito’t manalamin kayo sa isang tulang sinulat ko …

"LAGAY"

Palimos o donasyon o suhol o bigay

Padulas o regalo o tulong o lagay

Basta perang malutong ay nagbigay buhay

Pare-pareho lang ‘yan sa aking palagay


Panalo o handog o hulog ng langit man

Baon, pabuya, abuloy o pakimkim lang

Basta ba ang kulay ng kwarta’y lumitaw

Basta may salapi at nariya’t binilang

Naglipatan ng kamay at umalingasaw

Tingin ko kaibigan ay iisa lang ‘yan


Hanggang may salapi ay may paguugatan

Halos lahat ng bagay na may kasagwaan

Iba-iba nga lang ang ating pananaw d’yan

Mayrong tama lang at may sobra’t kasakiman

…

Kapalit, kapalit, o wala kang kapalit

Ang lahat ba ay dapat may sukling babalik

At bakit maging sa "salamat" na nakamit

May "walang anuman" pa tayong isasambit?


Matanda pa sa ‘tin ang lagaya’t palitan

Hindi na natin siguro matatanggal ‘yan

Sari-sari lang larawa’t para-paraan

Iba’t-ibang panaho’t pangangailangan

Kaya ang magmalinis ay huwag na lamang

Tanong: Kung wala bang kolekta, may simbahan?

Ewan!


If you’ll notice, each line of my poem has 13 syllables — sa iba kasi, swerte ang trese; sa iba naman, malas daw. Tulad din ng "lagay" — alanganin — ito ba’y masama o likas lang sa tao? Ewan!

love

Nadal scraped a 3-set victory over Kohlschreiber... buti na lang.

he'll face a qualifier in the second round, after which he'll have Roddick in QF... kung lulusot.

i was reading features from analysts/experts of tennis-dom from espn and tennis mag, then i came across this funny define-your-word urban dictionary. one of the best definitions is this: tennis - the sport that takes the most athletic ability. Some matches can last for 4 hours, and the players don't get to sit out for like all those prissy little "athletes" in the NBA.

another interesting entry...

Top 10 Reasons to Date a Tennis Player:

10- They're always looking for a good opportunity to come up.

9- They can do it with two people or four.

8- They have good hands.

7- They grunt when the action heats up.

6- They know how to make a racket.

5- They can hit it from all angles.

4- They got the endurace to last 3 hours - straight!

3- They're good with their balls.

2- They know just what to do with their stick.

1- Even when they aren't scoring, they're in love.

burj

after slumping to another defeat (lost to Italy's Andreas Seppi) at Rotterdam, Rafa is in Dubai. now that Federer is out, thanks to Andy Murray, this is a good chance for Rafa to capture his first title of 2008. but he should be ready for a new hardcourt battle, as he opens his campaign with a match up with Philip Kohlschreiber of Germany, who took out Andy Roddick in this year's Aussie Open.

he's also playing with Feliciano Lopez in doubles, they're already in quarterfinals to play Bhupathi and Knowles... so good luck to them as well!

dig

sunday was a UAAP volleyball final for me… and it was all worth my 2-3 hours spent glued on tv.

with a lot of ways to score a point, volleyball is really a great spectator sport… a lot of technicalities that can produce an opponent error or push a greater play, so you can just imagine the discipline and the needed skills that a player needs to have. hits should be within the 2 antennas of the net; fouls include double touch, net & crossing violations among others, aside from the usual long and wide shots. of course, there are also winning shots, just like in tennis… aces or unreturned serves, blocks, attacks, check balls and digs. a lot of peculiarities as well… a libero may be all around the place, retrieving all difficult balls, even those that are way outside the court, but they don't serve and cannot block shots. a team can also be penalized if they commit wrong player rotation. same as in any net sport, sets make up a match, so even if a team tumbles on one, they can easily bounce back on the next. add to the equation a dose of team spirit and pressure to perform well within a rally point system and what you have is an entertaining sporting spectacle.

in women's final, i was rooting for coach Minerva's lady falcons, but the win by MVP Wendyanne Semana's team was well-deserved. they finally solved the puzzle and managed to beat a team that they succumbed to in the prelims and semis, in two of the most important matches. i like the scrappy team of Adamson. they may not be the most naturally talented out there, but they make up for it through sheer determination and quick thinking. their team is not too tall nor powerful, but a stonewall of defense… "get all balls back in play, but make sure that it's returned with an offensive statement". i think their success is greatly hinged not only on solid defense but on the effective game of the setter, Janet Serafica, coz after they recover from saving an attack, Serafica is quick to plan out their own set of barrage. of course, the motherly rumblings from coach Minerva has a lot to do with their A-game.

on the men's side, UST won over FEU. it was also a nice game, lots of attacks and efficient blocking. but the airing was cut short… bad move on Studio 23… tsk tsk!

diggin the next season! (",)