Lunch at Krazy Garlik in Resorts World Manila

We recently had lunch at Krazy Garlik at Resorts World Manila. We actually wanted to try something new and ended up going inside this restaurant. The first thing I noticed was the decoration and the theme of the restaurant.  The walls were painted with scenes from  the Mad Hatter tea party in "Alice in Wonderland" except that there was an abundance of garlic.

I half expected that the store will have that distinct garlicky smell but there was none. I like the smell of garlic as long as it is not being cooked or sautéed. The place was small but nice and cozy.

For starter we ordered the Amazing Krazy Garlik Salad.  It's made with the usual salad mix of cucumber, bell pepper, onions with some chicken and shrimped.  To give it its uniquely Asian taste, it was tossed in sesame oil.  It was then topped with fried wanton and peanut oil.  I find it refreshing and cool.

One of us ordered the seafood pasta and was gracious enough to let us try it. It's a bit salty for my taste though. 

The Angus beef sirloin steak was my father's choice.  I wasn't able to try this but my father said that it tastes good and the beef was tender.

I ordered the Tofu and Baby Eggplant.  The tofu and eggplant were braised in light soy sauce and then topped with ground chicken.  It reminded me of a Thai dish.

Although it is not something that I would go crazy for, eating at Krazy Garlik was still a different experience and I somewhat enjoyed it.  You may want to visit it the next time you go to Resorts World Manila at the 2nd floor of the Newport Mall.  

Taal Heritage Town: The Churches

I read about the town of Taal, Batangas and its treasures earlier last month.  I decided to go there with my family to experience first hand the old churches, the preserved colonial houses and of course, the local cuisine.

Going to Taal is a cinch.  It's a two to three hours drive from Manila.  We went there on an early Sunday morning so traffic was relatively easy.  We took the South Luzon Expressway and exited through Sta. Rosa.  We headed for Tagaytay City and took the road leading to Lemery, Batangas, which is a very scenic route because you can see Taal Lake and its volcano on the left side.  One must really be familiar with the place because there are very few signage pointing the direction to Taal town.  

Our first stop was the Taal Basilica or the Basilica de San Martin de Tours .  The church, made of adobe and coral stones, is considered the biggest Catholic Church not only in the Philippines, but in Asia.  It was first built in 1575 by Fr. Diego Espina of the Augustinian Missionaries in what is now the town of San Nicolas.  It was destroyed by the eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754 and transfered to its present site in 1755.  It was destroyed yet again in 1849 by a powerful earthquake.

Construction of the new church began in 1856 and was completed in 1878.  It was declared a minor basilica in 1954.  

While the exterior of the church is already awe inspiring, the interior is even more beautiful.  Artwork covers the arches and column of the building.  The altar is also a sight to behold, with its tabernacle fashioned out of silver.

It's also good to know that this basilica has withstood the test of time through efforts of the people of Taal.  It is something that we Filipinos should really proud of.

Another must see church in Taal is the Our Lady of Caysasay Church, which sits beside the San Lorenzo Ruiz Steps.  It is the shrine of the image of Our Lady which was fished out of the water by a native named Juan Masingkad in 1603.

Historical accounts say that when the image was found, it was given to a widow of a town official who placed it in an urn specially made for Our Lady.  However, the image would disappear at night, only to reappear the following morning.  This happened several times until the image disappeared one day and never found.

Years later, some women saw a reflection of the image in the river where it was found.  They looked up and saw her on a tree.  The women reported what they saw to  the parish priest who concluded that the image wanted to stay in Caysasay. In 1611, a church was built on the spot where Our Lady was found.

The story of Our Lady of Caysasay, including her apparitions to some native girls,  is depicted in a series of murals inside the church.  The image of Our Lady of Caysasay is encased in glass above the altar, with images of two angels on either side.

While the church may be smaller than the Taal Basilica, it is still filled with folk art.  Aside from the murals depicting the discovery and apparitions of its patron, visual representation of the passion of Jesus Christ fill the nave.  Just above the image of the Lady is a painting of the crucifixion.

The painting on the ceiling of the dome of the church depicts the Resurrection of the Christ on Easter Morning.

The people of Taal still believe that the Lady saved their town from the violent eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754.  In 1954, she was canonically crowned at the Basilica of St, Martin de Tours by the representative of the Pope.

I Don't Get It

A friend showed me this picture recently.  He was laughing so hard like it's the funniest photo he's seen. I looked at the photo intently and all I could see were cans of NAN milk and a big BATMAAAN at the bottom.

I asked my friend what's the connection between the cans of milk and Batman. I also asked him what's so funny about the picture.

"Don't you see?" He asked. "What am I supposed to see that's really funny about the picture." I answered.

At this point, my friend stopped laughing and a look of bewilderment was on his face.

"I really don't get it." I said with finality.

He pointed out how the cans were arranged with only the "NA" part of the brand visible.  "So?" I told him. "Wow" he said while he shook his head.  Then he asked me to sing the theme song of the old Batman TV series.

"Nananananananaa... Batmaaan..." I finally got it.

It scared that I am getting old and I couldn't understand these things anymore, the way people the generation before ours couldn't understand what makes us tick.  Now I can relate to them and maybe I should be more patient with them when they just couldn't understand.  I can't imagine myself getting confused at something that I just couldn't catch.

Revisiting My Old Friend, Quiapo

On my way home from a seminar, I passed by a place I frequently go to before. The name of the place is almost synonymous to that of Manila.  Say the name and the listener will readily conjure an image of market stalls, streets crowded with people, in other words,  a bedlam.  I am talking about Quiapo, the old downtown situated smack in the middle of Manila.

Quiapo is also home to perhaps one of the most revered icons in the Philippines, the Black Nazarene. The church where it is at is right in the center of the district.  One could not come to Quiapo and not visit the Poong Nazareno to say even just a little prayer. That was my purpose that afternoon, to say thanks to Him for helping my father recover from his recent health problems.

Aside from the noise of the traffic outside, it was relatively silent inside the church.  I sat a few seats from the back of the church, giving me a good view of the altar.  At the centermost altar, the image of the dark Christ on his knees and carrying the cross rose above us all.

After saying my prayers I silently sat on the pew but then I started looking around the church.    At two in the afternoon on an ordinary weekday,  there were still a lot people inside the church.  Most of them have their head bowed in prayer. I could just guess what they were praying for.  Perhaps the young girl in school uniform was asking for assistance in her assignment or exams.  The young couple in front of me could be praying for a baby or a job, and the elderly woman on the opposite pew may be just like me, praying for good health.

I was about to leave the church when I was attracted by two elderly ladies walking on their knees towards the altar while praying the Rosary.  I watched them for another few minutes because it's been a while since I last saw something like it, may be decades. It was an old practice of people showing penance and subservience to the will of the Lord.  I was mildly surprised that in an age where people attend mass in malls or over the Internet, such piety still exists.  

On my way out of the church, I saw those women who, for a fee, would pray the entire Rosary for anyone who needs a prayer but is too busy to do so.  It is something I do not agree with and I really wonder why the church officials in Quiapo would even allow such practice inside their domain.

Once outside the church, I was instantly drawn to one particular street in the area: Villalobos.  This narrow street is usually filled with vendors selling all kinds of stuff.  If you're looking for low priced vegetables and other food stuff, you can find it here.  Some of the hawkers sell their wares in containers called bilao in the middle of the street, while others have semi-permanent stalls made of wood.  Farther down the street were stores selling kitchen tools such as pots and pans.

That afternoon I went looking for smoked fish or tinapa but I was told that it was still too warily and the delivery has not arrived yet.  I decided to walk down the street to see if I could get something else.  There were fruits like mangoes, papaya, melons that were priced lower than in supermarkets.  The smell of good stuff mixed with the odor of fresh fish and other fresh things.  

As I walked farther, I saw some shellfish I liked a lot.  I was about to buy some when the vendors started bundling their wares and running in all directions.  It turned out that a group of policemen arrived to clear the streets of illegal vendors.  I think some of the vendors were informed in advance of the raid because they left even before the police arrived Those who were caught had their stuff confiscated and hauled to a waiting van.  In minutes, the street was clear except for those who have permanent stalls.

I finally decided to leave and walked towards where the jeepney wait for passengers.  I passed by old stores where we used to buy stuff like clothes and shoes.  Some of the stores were already closed while the others were converted into something else.  That's how my afternoon in Quiapo ended and somehow it was like visiting a friend who has aged a bit but the rest remained the same.

Pinoy Quirk 2: Eat all you can... and cannot

I attended two seminars this week which had a mix of local and foreign participants. In both occasions, we were given free buffet lunch.  Both meals were good but I witnessed another strange behaviour among my fellow participants.

The first instance happened in an inter-agency forum I attended.  While waiting in line for my turn to get my food from the buffet table, I noticed that some of the Filipino participants were taking so much time getting their food.  Three women seemed to be discussing what to get for lunch.  I just watched them as they continue their little chit chat while putting food in their plates.

When the women turned to go back to their seats my eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw their plates.  Each plate was so full, I swear the food in there was good enough for two people each.  Not only that, one of the plates have noodles hanging along the brim.  It was an embarrassing sight and mind you, the women are not the type that you would expect to behave that way. 

I looked around and discovered that several participants also filled their plates so much that one cannot blame someone who sees it and wonders whether there would be famine the following day.  The foreign participants, on the other hand, have just enough or even little food in their plates.

I thought that behaviour was only peculiar to that group but the same thing happened in the next seminar I attended.  This time, a group of men in their 40s was ahead of me in the line to the buffet table.  The men were talking about the topic of the last speaker but as they talked, they were busy piling food onto their plates.  By the time they finished, their plates were brimming and they put the food one on top of the other I swear it looked like a pile of leftovers.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with our French Language instructor.  He told us that he often wondered how we Filipinos are able to enjoy the taste of what we are eating because we often mix our food when we eat.  He told us that we should eat food one at a time.  Like don't eat fried chicken with spaghetti because you won't be able to enjoy the taste of each food.

I didn't see whether both groups ate everything they put in their plates because if they didn't, it would have been really stupid.

This leads us to another strange thing I observed about Filipinos eating in a buffet.  Some of us have the tendency to try everything on the buffet table even if it is the strangest looking food ever.  Well, it's okay to try everything once but there are really some of us who would get so much of the food and when they realized they don't like it, they just stop eating it and leave the food in their plates.  Such practice definitely leads to a lot of wastage so no wonder restaurants who offer buffet meals often have a "no left over policy"; leave something on your plate and you will pay a higher price.

This leaves me thinking about the admonition we often get when we were kids whenever we leave something on our plates, especially rice. 

The old folks would tell us that if we didn't eat everything in our plates and we die, St. Peter will stop us at the gates of Heaven and ask us to pick one by one the grains of rice we left on our plates.  Another version of this was that we would stay in Purgatory for years equivalent to the total number of rice grains we left on our plates.

With what is happening now, perhaps none of us learned from this lesson or we simply stopped believing in old folks' tales.

Books are Evil

Books are evil. They are very addictive. Once a person picks up and opens one, he is put under its spell. The moment he starts reading, he is powerless to stop and put it down until he finishes reading it.

Reading alters the mind, one will start imagining things, go to different places and meet new people. At times, one may even begin to ponder about life itself and develop new ideas and become aware of the world around us. Indeed, books are bad for everyone.

That is why our clever government, the Department of Finance in particular, decided to keep books away from you and me. Starting March this year, government imposed duties on imported books. No more free importation of books. Custom inspectors will now have the sole authority to determine whether books could contribute the education, cultural development and well-being of Filipinos. These type of books are charged 1% duties. If Mr. Inspector thinks a book does not belong to this category, the importer must pay higher duties to get his items. By the way, it takes time to do this sorting thing so Mr. Importer must also pay for the handling and storage fees of the books.

Thank you people in the finance department for this directive. You have single handedly saved Filipinos from the bad effects of books by making books potentially unavailable and unaffordable for them. Now, only the elite who could afford it and have the opportunity to read books. Books are bad for people like you because they could make a new generation of ordinary Filipinos who could question policies like this one.

Let those Filipinos who cannot buy imported books make do with those produced locally but contain factual errors and twisted point of views.

With people like you in government, do we even have to wonder why we continue to lag behind our neighbors in terms of education.

GSIS Madness

Two days ago, I went to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Main Office to apply for a P10,000 cash advance loan. The GSIS came up with a new system they call GW@APS which, according to them, would make transactions easier with the use of Internet technologies. All a member with a GW@PS Card needs to do is swipe his card on a kiosk/computer terminal, use a forefinger print for identification and follow the instructions on the monitor to transact business. This system will make for a wireless, paperless transaction for the benefit of its members.

As a way to introduce the new system, the GSIS offered a cash advance loan of P10,000 to its members, payable in 2 years with very minimal interest. Since most of my officemates have availed of it, I decided to join the bandwagon and off I went to GSIS.

Although there's a center near my place of work, I decided to go all the way to the head office to avail of the loan. An officemate tipped us that fewer people go there so it's easier and faster to file the loan. Boy, was I in for a big surprise!

When I got there, I saw a short line heading for three kiosks. I said to myself that it's worth the trip and I'd probably spend only an hour or so for the whole thing. However, when I told the guard that I was applying for the cash advance loan, he pointed me to the left side of the building.

There was a short line and positioned myself at its end. I followed the direction of the line with my eyes and to my utter shock and disbelief, the line led to gigantic hall full of people sitted on rows upon rows of monobloc chairs!!!

I wanted to leave right then and there but the as the old saying goes, I already spent time and energy to get there, might as well bear it out.

I reached the last row of chairs after almost an hour standing in line, and listening to all possible reasons why one would apply for a loan such as this.

One lady needed it to pay for other bills. The man behind me would added the proceeds of his loan to the tuition fee of his daughter who's studying to be a nurse. Another lady had to send money to her relatives in the province. Others needed the money for some really important reason. Among these people, I must be the only one who had the flimsiest reason.

After another hour or so, we reached the middle row of the line. I looked back where we started and saw that the line was still as long as when I first arrived. It made me feel sad that so many people needed this money.

It was almost lunch time and the people in line didn't want to leave. They were afraid that their turn might come before they could finish eating. So most of us decided to forgo lunch that day. I already skipped my regular coffee break while standing in line!

Time seemed to move slow as we got nearer the kiosks. We have already shared stories about our previous experiences, good and bad, on applying for loans with GSIS and other lending agencies. I even found out about how some of my seatmates end up having loans without even applying for one because some unscrupulous person filed one on their behalf!

About three hours since I fell in line, the worst thing imaginable happened. The kiosks bogged down. All four of them simultaneously "hanged."

Almost immediately, the people who until that point patiently lined up for this turned into warfreaks. GSIS became the common enemy: it has become an inefficient, unsystematic and mismanaged organization that doesn't care much about its members and should therefore be overhauled. Others wanted to form another organization that will provide the same services and benefits as the GSIS.

Me, I was just waiting for the signal to attack so I could grab the ax in the fire cabinet and hack those kiosks to pieces.

It was not until another 30 minutes or so before the kiosks came back to life. A huge sigh of relief was heard across the hall. Some members went back to their usual chatter why I removed my sight from the ax.

All went well after that. My transaction was over in less than five minutes. Err... in less than 4 hours and 5 minutes. There was a lady there to assist those using the kiosk and to make it easier especially for those who are not tech savvy.

As I walk out the building, I wanted to pull my hair in disgust for having spent half a day for P10,000 that I don't even know what to do with. But then, thirsty and hungry, I had enough of torture for one day. Maybe next time, when I apply for another loan.