Saturday, May 31, 2008

Down with the flu or Just how difficult it is to be checked-up in Pinas


I have been really sick for the last three days, hence the silence over here in my blog. I unfortunately and unwittingly caught the flu that's been going around here recently. Summer ended quite abruptly for us here in the tropics. This hasty change of weather has been harsh on the healthy and not-so-healthy.

I really hate it when I get sick. Aside from the physical and emotional suffering it brings, it is a pain in the butt and the wallet to schedule appointments with local doctors here.

Take the case of my Dad, who is asthmatic. His doctor is THE top pulmonary specialist in the city. Now, because this doctor's expertise is so heavily in-demand, a long line of people is stretched out on the corridor outside his office. Say, if you call today for an appointment, his secretary will tell you that the doctor will be able to see you three weeks later. It got to the point that the secretary shooed my Dad away and told him to go see another doctor since he wants to be checked-up immediately.

Although the situation is not the same anymore with my Dad and his doc (my father can see him anytime, anyday even without appointments *wink*), my point is this: this current set-up between patients and doctors in this country, to be blunt about it, sucks. The ideal situation would be if you feel sick, you call your doctor, tell the secretary you need to see him, she says yes just come over, and then you haul your sick tush over to the clinic, period.

But in the Philippines, it's simply a hassle getting checked-up by a physician. If the clinic is housed inside a hospital, most likely your doctor's clinic would be more aptly described as a cubicle; very tiny, very fishbowl-like. While outside, there's a long line of sick people stretched out on the corridor waiting for their turn. And inside there's the cranky secretary who gives curt replies. And when it's your turn to step inside the doctor's clinic, what you get is a few minutes of hurried, perfunctory clinical exchange with your doctor. You walk out with a prescription for medicines worth more than what you get paid for in a week at work (that is, if you're lucky) as you almost gasp when the secretary bills you 350 pesos (roughly 8 USD) for that it's-over-before-you-know-it moment with the good doctor.

I'm not saying this pitiable situation is true everywhere in the Philippines. Most likely it's not true for the "high-end" physicians whose clients are, of course, getting what they are paying so much for. But in the provinces, it is. In my case, when I went to see my doctor last Wednesday, I waited for a little over 3 hours before she showed up, and another almost-an-hour wait again before she finally saw me. And all the time, I was feverish, tired, with my nose feeling like it was stuffed with cottons.

Needless to say, the cold medicine cocktails that my doctor prescribed me worked. It was darn expensive, all four medicines. I'm about a thousand and three hundred pesos poorer right now.

Like they say, bawal ang magkasakit sa Pilipinas ngayon. Ha-choo!

Anyway, before I sign off and since I'm on the topic of doctors anyway, I'd like to insert a shameless plug here for my all-time favorite nasty doctor Dr. Gregory House who is currently on the prowl for the next set of elite medical dream team that he can offend, scold and abuse. As of last count, 40 applicants have dared to submit themselves to the grueling, bordering on sadistic "auditions" ala-Survivor style that House will make them go through. It would be fun watching as House breaks them in one by one when Season 4 kicks off on AXN on June 2. Only five will survive. Only the most courageous, brilliant, and practically brain-dead if you ask me, will make it. This is one job interview you don't want to miss :-)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

So hard to be yourself (myself)

If there's one thing I learned from tonight's events, it's this: it's so darn hard to be truthful, especially to oneself.

I have for so long believed that I am okay, that I'm fine despite what most people think I was missing in life, that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Tonight though just rammed home the painful truth that I'm not okay, I'm not fine and I'm wishing that I was somewhere else.

It is so strange how simple conversations, a simple bringing up to speed between friends who haven't seen each other in a while, can lead to an emotionally exhausting baring of deep-rooted secrets. You then find out that someone else is walking on the same rocky road. Someone else is carrying the same heavy cross. What's staggering is, that someone turns out to be a really close friend.

I don't know though if this knowledge of a kindred hurting soul will help even the tiniest bit in soothing those unseen open wounds that have long been festering. If it won't, then I don't know what will.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Consumer woes

I am posting here the comment that my colleague Judy Flores-Partlow wrote in response to my entry about corporate greed and indifference. Her experience pretty much says how establishments, especially in the Philippines, can be so apathetic to their consumers.

Big stores like Super Lee Plaza make money out of the people who, day in and day out, buy stuff from their shelves. And what do their customers get in return? A cold shoulder when they raise product-related complaints.

Corporate social responsibility is obviously still an alien concept to most establishments in the provinces. Customers who have been wronged by business establishments often get only a paltry apology and an offer to replace the product, which is quite pathetic considering that the customer had wasted extra time and money to go back to the store again to raise the complaint.

Anyway, here's Dood's story:

"Super Lee Plaza!!! Well, well, I'm not surprised with this. Did I ever tell you pipz that I filed a complaint with the DTI because they charged me twice for one item? It was a few months back, and I did the grocery shopping myself. I have this tendency to be cautious when it comes to shopping, checking out the bill to make sure everything is in order. When I got home, I told my maids to check the taped receipt while they were storing the groceries. It was then that they found out that a container of imported butter (P174.00 ++) was punched in twice. No, not punched in nor swiped, actually they used this "gun"??? That thingy that looks like a gun and reads off the magnetic bars?? Anyways, I went to see the cashier and the Customer Desk representative at Super Lee Plaza but they would not hear of it. To cut the story short, I went to DTI and Hermel took care of the complaint. You bet it's not about the money when things like this happen. My husband, Kano as he is, thinks it is not worth my time for only P170 ++ to fight it off with the respondents. But, hey, I am a journalist who keeps on writing and griping about the laws, whether people follow or violate them, and here I am being told to pass up a thing like this? No way, Jose!!! No wonder consumerism is not a big thing in Dumaguete yet. Think about the girl I knew from Bayawan who bought an item for less than P100 at a downtown department store well-known for China-made items. As soon as she returned home to Bayawan, and that's 100 plus plus kilometers south of here, she discovered the item was defective, perhaps from all the bumps and humps it took from the travel! She said she didn't want to waste the time and fare money just to come to Dumaguete to file a complaint with DTI!!! So, you see, Ching, sometimes our principles make us steadfast in what we espouse and believe in. Compassion can be tricky...it fools us into giving up what we have been trained to fight for, and in the end, we lose. I also felt sorry for the cashier that double-charged me, but I wanted to stress a point here. Stores, big or small, do have responsibilities to their clients and it is only when management understands this that they can offer better services to all who do business with them. :-)"

Goodbye, Annica


It's been a rough day today. We had a death in the family. I received the bad news this afternoon that my “cousin” had to give birth prematurely last night and consequently lost the baby. A girl, who I was going to name Anne Catherine, or Annica for short.

When my then-pregnant Manang and her family moved back from Saudi Arabia to my hometown about two months ago, I insisted on naming the baby. She has two sons already, whose names all start with “A”. So I was thinking of naming the baby Anderson if it was a boy (after my favorite CNN reporter Anderson Cooper) and Anne Catherine if it was a girl (after the Great Russian Empress Catherine II and Anne of Green Gables).

I was excited about this baby so the pain I felt over her passing is more intense, like a thousand paper cuts to the heart. It’s strange how I can feel this much for someone I haven’t seen nor touched yet. And she isn't even mine.

Maybe it’s because I’ve already named her that’s why I feel a loss this deep. Because if she was just an “it” or “a baby” to me – a nameless, unseen and untouched bundle of flesh— then her passing might have been greeted with just a tinge of sadness. Like how one would feel losing a book or a key.

But Annica proved to be a very special baby, made more precious because she was a fleeting dream, a gust of precious air that was gone before I knew it. I can only imagine the pain that Manang Bing and Kuya Totoy must be going through right now. It's probably like having a part of you brutally cut off, leaving behind this yawning, throbbing hole. I don't have the slightest idea, but it must surely feel that way in view of how I crappy I feel right now.

I just console myself with the thought that Annica was born an angel, not meant for life on earth, but meant only to be with God.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Dear MAILER-DAEMON

In case you need a good laugh today, I am posting here (see below) an amusing collection of e-mails from this website. An ISP systems administrator posted emails from unsuspecting users who responded to MAILER-DAEMON's bounced-back notifications. It got me in stitches when I read it.

For the record, MAILER-DAEMON is a software and not a breathing, living person. A daemon (DEE-mun or DAY-mun) is a process that works behind the scenes on an internet server. Among its many tasks is to track your e-mails and inform you if they were not delivered. The term is taken from Greek mythology where a daemon is a guardian spirit.

You get bounced-back notifications from MAILER-DAEMON either because you sent the email to an incorrect address or the recipient's email address is no longer valid (more info here).

People who are newbies to the world of technology often make the common mistake of replying to bounced email messages, believing that MAILER-DAEMON is a person. Of course they are forgiven for thinking that. I once thought the same, too, although I never got around to sending a reply. But still, some of the messages they sent to MAILER-DAEMON that are posted on the website are just too funny you can't help but laugh at it. Especially Idiot #22!

PS- Names have been changed to protect the unwitting :-)

May 26- I removed the succeeding posts here as it somehow messed up the formatting of my previous posts. So please head on to
http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/dearmd.html if you are in dire need of a laugh today ;-)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Grrr

I am just so pissed off right now I could probably exhale fire. I’m writing this to let off steam or else I might go ballistic.

In my ten years as a government journalist, nobody has ever accused me of any hanky-panky. Mainly because I’m proud to say my parents have raised me well. I’m not perfect, like the rest of the human populace. I have my own flaws. But I have always gone out of my way to make sure that I never step on anyone’s shoes, never insult anyone even if it is called for, and basically never do anything to cause harm either emotionally or physically to other people.

Today, for the very first time, somebody did.

To add insult to injury, the said accusations were done thru text (an act of cowardice). But there’s an advantage to this, I guess. I can “save” these accusations and use it as proof should the accusing person turn the tables against me later on.

I was, in a nutshell, accused of being unfair, inconsiderate and devious. This person, a "reporter", believed that I was intentionally not sending her the press releases I regularly email to all local reporters every week because she did not pay her debt to my father and my boss on time.

The said accusations basically insinuated that I have, for reasons stated above, let myself be prejudiced by personal matters and in turn, I’m supposedly retaliating by depriving a local “reporter” of press releases.

I don’t know which I should be mad about: that I was accused of being small-minded enough to let such a petty thing affect my work and my dealings with the press, or that I was being insulted by a person who’s a newbie in this business and one who is not exactly popular for reasons that I am decent enough not to blurt out here.

I rarely get mad but in this case where I am insulted and accused of such baloney, I let my temper get the best of me. I shot from the hip and fought back, sending her a long, angry reply.

To make a long “text” story short, she ended up apologizing, almost groveling, for her “line of questioning” but added that I was being “sensitive” about the whole thing as she was just “asking”.

Asking, my foot. I’m not stupid; I know how asking sounds like and her text was far from being one. And I’m being sensitive? Wow, I’ve just been insulted twice!

Should, for some reason, this person I am talking about is you, then I have but one advice to give you:

“It’s better to close your mouth and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Updates

When I started this blog, I aimed to post entries here at least three times a week, but this week I have been sort of swamped with work and health issues.

For one, the erratic weather has been hard on my sinuses, and I wake up sneezing a lot in the mornings with itchy, watery eyes the rest of the day and pounding headache at night.

It's the tail end of summer right now in the Philippines and the throbbing heat seems to be in a tug-of-war with the rainy season. This push-pull between the dry and rainy seasons, resulting to sudden changes in temperature and humidity, is simply maddening.

I also finished this week an already long overdue design work for a colleague in the media. I admit that I have been procrastinating on this one, aside from reasons of technical issues. My desktop PC's motherboard got fried (again) earlier this year. However, soon as I had the m'board replaced, my printer followed suit. But after I got that fixed, that's when procrastination set in. Somehow, it just got buried under more recent things-to-do's. So finally I got to put closure on this one.

Here is the final design:



Of course, I "scratched" out the name and contact details to protect his privacy.

My client wanted his card to look simple and professional, so I avoided putting a lot of colors and graphics in it. Besides, you don't really want to crowd your business card with too much text and visuals. Keep it understated.

Your card should reflect only the important details that you want your potential customers or networks to know, which basically, are: your name, where you work, what you do and how to reach you. Other than that, if they really want to know more then they can contact you, which is the whole point in handing out business cards in the first place, right?

Tip: If you would like to whip up your own business card but don't want to start from scratch, then you can visit this site which offers links to various websites that offer biz card templates for free.

Just be sure that you are downloading the right file compatible to your program and OS (whether Pagemaker or Quark and Mac or Windows).

Some of the downloads come with a PDF how-to file that you can check out before working on the templates.

Monday, May 12, 2008

From .docx to RTF or how to tiptoe around MW's back

I just figured out how to convert .docx files into RTF (rich text format), basically going behind the back of the big bully that is you-know-who.

My first encounter with Open XML files was last month, when I copied to my thumb drive a PowerPoint presentation of a resource person at a security briefing. To my dismay, the file won't open in my computer at work which runs on Win XP. I knew the culprit had to be the extra "x" on the file extension, so I went online and made a little research.

It turns out that Microsoft released last year its newest version, Office 2007, which uses new formats for Office documents, such as PowerPoint, Word, etc. What this means is that users using older versions of Office will not be able to open the files created in Office 2007. You will recognize these files from the "x" on its file extension such as".docx" or ".pptx".

From what I read online, the only way - or so I thought back then - for me to be able to open the .pptx file was to download the compatibility pack from Microsoft's website. When I went to the site, I was however instructed to first download "priority updates" before I can download the compatibility pack.

It was too much of a hassle just to open one file, so I just dropped it and forgot about it. Until today.

The newest columnist for my father's newspaper, Don (who writes from Hawaii) sent his two latest items with- guess what- a .docx file extension.

As it is now a necessity for me to resolve this on my end and not bother Don with the hassle of saving his files in RTF, I went back to the Microsoft site and started downloading the priority updates.

However, when the download started, I saw that the first file being downloaded was the Genuine Advantage Validation Tool. Uh-oh. No can do. I knew then that downloading the compatibility pack was not going to happen for me.

But if there's a will, then there is a way.

I aborted the download and Googled for other ways to convert Office 2007 files into a format that can be opened and edited as well in previous Office versions. The first few search results Google churned out offered utilities that only allowed me to either view the files (un-editable) or online converters only, meaning I have to wait after 24 hours before the file is converted. No way. Patience is not one of my virtues.

Then I hit the jackpot with this site, offering a free nifty utility that will convert Word 2007 and OpenOffice files to RTF. It downloaded as a zip file and I extracted the "docx2rtf" file on my desktop and the rest inside the Program Files directory. It took only less than a minute to download and it takes only seconds to convert a file. Sweet.

So take that, you big, bully you-know-who, making what so far is an empty promise of interoperability.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

To my Mom

I am my Mother's daughter. I admit there were (and are) times I wish I wasn't, especially when she's driving me crazy to the point I feel like pulling my hair out, but what can I say? She's my Mother. The woman who would fight tooth and nails for me and my Dad. The woman who took care of me (still does), raised me (still does, I think) and loves me. She's half of the reason why I'm always aiming high at whatever I do, and also half of the reason why I am who I am now.

To write about my Mom will require way more space than what blogspot can offer me. Seriously. My Mother is a unique person, one of those rare, probably dying breed of women who are strong-willed with a lot of guts and gumption and a quicksilver tongue that doesn't hold back nor mince words. She's one of those people who you either love or hate. It took almost 30 years for me to fully understand why my Mom is the way she is, and I am so thankful now that she's the way she is.

Back in my immature teenage years, there were so many times I wish I could swap Moms with my friends, particularly the ones whose Mothers allow them to go hang out with their friends till late at night. But when I got into my 20's, I finally realized that had my Mom not been as strict as she was with me back then, who knows how or where I would have ended up. Probably pregnant and married to a bum, or pregnant and not married, or both- pregnant and a bum.

Now, I know my Mom will never be able to read what I've posted here (the only thing she knows about computers is that it's called one and that's it). This is just my way of shouting out to the world that one, my Mom is great, and two, I love her.

I would also like to make special mention of my Mama Corazon, who if not for her, I wouldn't be here. And if not for her, I wouldn't have lived the life I am so blessed with right now. She made a sacrifice for me that only a Mother can do for her child. For this reason alone, and not due to conception, I love her.

Another mother to whom I owe a lot is the woman who took care of me when I was a baby- my Tita Fely. Memories of my childhood will always include her. My cousins Gray, Sisy and KC are all so blessed to have her as their mother.


Happy Mother's Day, too, to my cousins who are now Mothers: Karen (the brand-new Mama), Lea, Teena, Teene, Nang Rosie, Nang Haydee and my Manang Bing. Also to my friends who are Moms now and the ones who are about to be: Sheila, Marife, Marissa, my boss Ma'am Jen and co-worker Ma'am Linds, my mentor Ma'am Romil, Doydo, Lorena in Turkey, Chly in England and Naide in Chicago.

To all my Aunts on both my Mom and Dad's side of the family in Sagay, Manila, Bacolod, Cebu and USA, Happy Mother's Day to you all! There's too many of you to mention, but please know that I love each of you.

Oh I hate to leave out anyone but my memory isn't as sharp as it was before. So to those I've forgotten to mention here, you will have to forgive me. You have my persmission to berate me (by text , phone or email) so I can apologize, grovel and make special mention of you here.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Review: Back to Black

This album turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me. I wasn't expecting to actually end up liking her songs, but Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album, in a word, rocks.

Let me clarify that I haven't heard any of Amy Winehouse's songs before, but of her reputation, that I know of as it is quite hard not to when her 'antics' (which is quite a lame word to describe what she's been up to) is all over the TV and Internet.

She's been described as a soul singer but I didn't know how a darn good one she is until my favorite Filipina international singer Lea Salonga did a review of her Back to Black album on her blog over at Multiply (Ms. Lea is not only a great singer, she also writes really well. Go to her blog to find out for yourself).

So when Ms. Lea said "fantastic album!" I went ahead and searched for the album. I mean, it's Lea Salonga! If she says it's fantastic, you don't hit pause and say "Uhmm...are you sure?" No. You take her word for it, period.

Man, was she so right. All the songs in Back to Black are awesome. Freaking awesome. From "Rehab" to "Addicted", I'm floored. After all, the album got six Grammy Award nominations and five wins. This girl's personal life might be troubled, but her songs bear no traces whatsoever of this.

When I typed to my friend Chris the lyrics from the song Rehab: "They're trying to make me go to rehab, but I said no, no, no", he typed back : "Well, yeah, look where it got her." Haha!

PS to Chrissie: You gotta read this. She played Bioshock! And what's more, she loved it! Ahh, a girl after my own heart. Another reason why I MUST play this game!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Test post on new blog design


Just a test post on this new blog design. I must have changed this blog's design more than 20 times today. Yes, I'm that fickle-minded. I blame my Mom for this irritating trait. It's in the genes, you see. 


I think the design sported by my blog now called Aspire is THE one. I really hope so. I'm getting tired of always changing my blog's look. Reminds me of those days when I can't decide on what to wear, when nothing just seems to look right. 

I like designs that are clean and organized. Minimal. Posts and elements are partitioned off and I want one that will highlight my posts. I don't like crowded designs, with sidebars that compete with what I have to say. 

Don't get me wrong, I like widgets. But only when they're at a minimum. I absolutely adhere to the belief that less is more. 

With that said, I have a strong feeling I will be using this design for a long time. 

More posts to come, peeps. Stay smart and be safe!

PS- Happy Birthday to my cousin Gray! May you be blessed with more of the best things that life has to offer. Love yah!


Saturday, May 3, 2008

A belated birthday 'bash' and how we waited for more than an hour for lunch


I met up with my BFF Gi today for lunch, which also served as her belated luncheon 'party' for two. She turned 30-something (when we girls hit our 30's, we stop counting!) on April 24, and since I missed her birthday celeb due to the crazy preps for The Eagle's arrival on the 25th, I made it up to her today.

As usually is our dilemma in a city as small as the one we live in, we always have a hard time deciding where to eat. The usual Chowking, McDo, Jollibee, etc. are too boring, too common and too crowded. We're always on the lookout for small, cozy, yet-to-be-discovered restos where the food is cheap on the price but not on the taste.
Sadly, there aren't much of those here. Most of the ones that we think have potential end up closing shop even before we have even tried it. Anyway, today for lunch we decided to check out this cute-looking cafe that we saw months ago. It is basically an internet cafe but what initially caught our attention was their front window display- cute photos hanging from a string, and the photos were clipped in place by tiny, wooden craft clothespins. (I first saw a similar idea on Flickr and on this site and thought that it's a creative and great way to display photos on my bedroom wall or closet door. I've been meaning to do something like this but have yet to find the time to print my photos.)

However, we learned that they don't serve lunch but the girl on the counter was nice enough to point us next door, a "kitchenette" that just had their soft opening a couple of minutes earlier I presume, as the balloons were still on their front door.

When we went in, we first noted the decor. It was so trendy with its bright colors and the tall-back slim chairs. The place was not too large, lending a coziness to its ambience. After flipping through their menu (aside from the usual Pinoy fare, they also serve European, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican food), I ordered Chicken Teriyaki (it was spelled as 'Terryaki" on their menu) while Gi chose Chili Con Carne with Mexican rice.

While waiting for the food to be served, Gi and I decided to check out the second floor. As we climbed the stairs, we saw mounted on the deep pink-colored wall this huge gold-framed hot pink wallpaper with yellow flowers print. The effect was gorgeous. The gorgeousness continued when we reached the second floor, which mimicked the traditional Japanese restaurants- elevated platforms on top of which are those low Japanese style wooden tables surrounded by cushions. No chairs, of course. Each dining area platform is enfolded with sheer deep red curtains. The effect is Oriental romance with a splash of Western boudoir. I love it!


We just swooned over the beautiful decor, especially Gi who will soon move into her brand new house and we "oohed" and "aahed" to our heart's delight (we were the only people in the floor) as we smoothed our hands over the rich texture of the gold and red wallpaper and the multi-colored cushions.

Heady from the allure of our surroundings (we go gaga over decor that rocks), Gi decided to open her gift, which she also went gaga over. Since she was moving into a new home soon, I picked out decor-related gifts for her- two tall yellow green-tinted wineglasses and a figurine of an African lady holding a drum (a symbol of fertility? *wink*).

Since we had a lot of catching up to do, we chatted for some time before we realized that it's been almost an hour and our food hasn't arrived yet! We later learned that they confused our orders with the customers who came in later than us, and mistakenly cooked their order first. But surely it won't take a cook an hour to prepare our orders. Unless they ran out of main ingredients and had to rush to the grocery store to buy them, or they ran out of gas for cooking and had to go get one. But wait, they just opened today so it's impossible for them to run out of stuff!

We were already hungry so we decided to just bear it out and wait for our orders. I muttered to Gi that the food better be worth the wait. It was already 1:30 p.m. when our food was served, and after the first bite, I sighed in disappointment. It was just... okay. Well, forgettable. Let's just say that when we stepped out of that place, the decor was the only thing that impressed us.

My chicken "Terryaki"


Gi's Chili Con Carne with Mexican rice

But we're willing to cut them some slack as it was just their first day. At least our eyes were able to feast on their decor. They just need to work on their service and food.

But bad food aside, I had a great time. Whenever you're in good company, you'll always have a great time, even if the food sucks.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Only in Pinas

If you’re a foreigner living in or have lived at one point in the Philippines, I’m pretty sure that if you were made to write something about this country, the easiest subject would be on the oddities and idiosyncrasies of the Pinoys (or Flips, as my kano friend Chris would say).

I remember Anthony Bourdain, whose show “No Reservations” on Travel and Living channel I make a point to watch during the rare times I get to hold the remote control at home (the remote control is the only electronic gadget that my Mom knows how to use and constantly lords over it).

Now, I don’t know if the brave-will-eat-everything Mr. Bourdain has filmed in the Philippines yet, but if he hasn’t, then I highly suggest that he pen in this country in his list of exotic places to go to. We have so much to offer that foreigners would find bizarre, weird and wonderful, especially when it comes to food and this is right up in Mr. Bourdain’s alley.

Sometime last week, a day before The Eagle was to fly in, I was with the group composed of The Eagle’s advance party who was doing the rounds of the areas that The Eagle will visit and making sure these sites are “friendly” and ticking off the sites that weren’t. It was already way past 12:00 noon when we wrapped up and headed to a local, newly-opened restaurant. Tired, hot and extremely hungry, I devoured the delicious and spicy sisig. Try as I might, I have forgotten the other dishes served up that day, and I’m sure they were all yummy but the sisig was the only one that made quite an impression on my stomach. (It made such an impression that I was feeling its after-effects that night and the day after. I so love spicy food, which I eat a lot of despite my IBS).

So, sated and with a happy stomach, I waited for the dessert which was locally made ice cream placed inside small, white, plastic cups. As it turns out, the ice cream came with two surprises as well for me: first that it was made by a local hardware store and secondly, it was really delicious. It came in three flavors I think- mango, cheese and mocha. It had the flavor of fresh fruits in it and it wasn’t too sweet like its more popular commercial counterparts. While I was eating it though, I was fervently hoping that their secret ingredients have nothing at all to do with nails or copper wire.

Now, I know that an ice cream made by a hardware store is not bizarre enough to be seen as a “weird and wonderful” Pinoy eccentricity as compared to our balut, barbecued chicken and pig entrails, or fried pig skin or our penchant for eating fish in its entirety – from head to tail. But I was just reminded of this while I was eating that ice cream. We Pinoys love to eat, and we eat almost everything that other people in other countries shun from.

For example, I love to eat fish eyes. Yes, I really do. It’s scrumptious. Especially when the fish is cooked in vegetable stew. Pig’s brains? Yummy. But I stopped eating it a long time ago because it is said to be high in cholesterol. What about fried ice cream? It’s not as yummy as just ice cream, but it’s a taste that needs getting used to. In fact, The Eagle, while touring the local cultural booths in her visit here, was given a treat of it and I saw her nodding and smiling as she spooned in a healthy slice.

Now, not all Pinoy food eccentricities fall under the “weird and wonderful” category. There’s one Pinoy fare that I am guilty of eating, something that I shouldn’t have eaten but at that time when I ate it, it was considered normal.

I once ate a dog.

Yes, I am guilty of this crime and I’m not exactly proud of it. But I was about 6 years old and at that time, the Animal Welfare Act or kindness to animals was totally unheard of. My uncles would catch stray dogs wandering in the barrio (village) in my Mom’s hometown and they would either roast them or make menudo out of them. I remember it tasted like chicken, only that it was leathery.

I also remember that when the dish was served, my Dad – who absolutely will never eat any four-legged animal except pig – wasn’t told by my Mom’s mischievous relatives that the menudo was made from dog meat. He thought it was pork as he feasted on it, blissfully unaware. It was only a day after when he was told about the whole thing and until now, he doesn’t feel too happy about it.

Let me clarify, for the record, that I am a huge dog lover. I would never commit the same crime again now, that’s for sure. It was one of those Pinoy food oddities that was certainly weird but totally not wonderful.

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