the one thing i wanted to do in saigon (ho chi minh) was sit in some bar or cafe looking out to the street and see the world happen. add to that a bowl of pho and everything’s perfect.
wish granted. and it’s just day 1. cheers!
Category Archives: food trip
i am love (io sono l’amore)
one of the most gorgeous films ive seen in recent years is practically unknown on this side of the world and i wonder why. tilda swinton stars in I Am Love (2009), a sweeping melodrama directed by luca guadagnino, production design by francesca balestra di mottola, set decoration by monica sironi, costume design by antonella cannarozzi, cinematography by yorick le saux and features previously produced music by john adams. this film is just exquisite, from the opening titles that evoked classical italian cinema to the magnificent modernist interiors of villa necchi and the impeccable tailored costumes by fendi (sylvia venturini fendi is an associate producer) and jil sander (with raf simons) plus the elegant plating and emotion of carlo cracco’s culinary masterpieces.
the deliciously stylish film, set in milan in the year 2000, follows a haute bourgeoisie family through changing times and fortunes, and its disruption by the force of passion. the title is taken from a line from the aria La mamma morta, which is explored in the film philadelphia (starring tom hanks and denzel washington), a scene of which emma is watching while in bed with her husband, during the film. wiki source
the detail that went into the film is beyond words. it was a beautiful showcase of family, tradition and the unmaking of it. every frame of this film is a masterpiece and every scene just breathtaking. i love the real time take on the opening sequence where the whole family arrives and sits for lunch while swinton, gorgeous in a burgundy dress, orchestrates the household serving the perfect meal from her seat.
the opening titles had me at hello. it is reminiscent of many old films by visconti, hitchcock and the like
much of the film was set at the villa necchi campiglio in milan, which is a character in itself. the interiors, reckoned the producers, were a wonderful mix of home, museum and prison. i marveled that the director highlighted the house by showing us not just the main rooms of the villa but also its kitchen, staircases, sitting rooms, entryways and even the househelp’s private quarters.
“I wrote a script that called for a cube of marble with a big staircase and sharp surfaces,” Guadagnino says. “I was banging my head trying to find a home that suggested great wealth but also a restrained sensibility.” After searching for years, he saw Villa Necchi in a book and immediately knew that it was the one. “It shows the obsession with perfection and details that the Milanese bourgeoisie have,” he says. “Old money always comes with great charm. Their real success is making others believe that money doesn’t exist — and luxury, as most people perceive it, doesn’t really exist in this house. It’s very severe, and feels almost unmovable, like a piece of rock.” source
random whatever
on american idol season 10: the season started off promising with steve tyler in the judges’ seat and jennifer lopez in impeccable makeup. we had our early favorites, especially casey abrams (crazy performance on “nature boy”) and the toothy paul mcdonald. in fact, this batch actually had a lot of good ones, including james durbin (who could have won the whole thing), haley reinhart (love her raspy voice) and naima adedapo (such a colorful personality). thia megia, who also tried out in america’s got talent, was another jasmine trias, cute and lots of potential but didnt progress much. i dont mind scotty mccreery in the finals but i am appalled lauren alaina made it to top 2. she should have been eliminated in the 1st week of the live show. didnt bother watching the finals. as it goes in recent years, it pays to be runner-up (chris daughtry, jennifer hudson, adam lambert, etc).
on rupaul’s drag race season 3: love love love manila luzon! if you still don’t know her, you’re missing a lot. and it’s no surprise, and yet frustrating at the same time, that manila luzon, a filipino-american drag queen, is making waves on the show but is not covered by local tv. is it because gay men who dress up are deemed bad role models? come on! here’s a fan-made compilation of all of manila luzon’s looks on the show:
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on food: there’s this crazy resto called stoops on malugay st makati that serves to-die-for bagnet. cholesterol-ridden bagnet! i cant explain further, you just gotta try it. a plate of bagnet with rice and sidings cost less than $2 and you can order by the kilo as well.
on the sing-off season 2: the season has wrapped up long ago but i havent written about it. it’s a live glee competition and we just love it! the runner up from last season comprises the warblers on glee. we tried watching a few episodes of season 1 and i couldnt finish it though. the talents on season 2 is way off the charts, the top 4 groups are just a-mazing! watch their “american idiot” version of “21 guns” featuring all the remaining groups on episode 3:
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on the RH Bill: im all for it. the filipino catholic church is defensive and being archaic without looking at the real issue. truth is, education and information is a right for every citizen and the filipinos need to know about health and sex and have choices on reproduction. why is it such a bad thing? why keep brandishing the abortion issue when it’s not even about that? i do think this bill will be passed despite the stubborness of some.
on stupid TV shows for the sake of airtime: i seldom watch TV and when i do, it’s because other people are watching and im in the same room. tonight i chanced upon GMA’s mind master and it was f***ed up. his so-called telekinetic powers are really just static energy. talking to the dead seemed bogus and the bereaved family are being played on badly on national tv. c’mon!
on fringe season 3: faux olivia was fun but i think i loved season 1 better. there is less walter bishop-ing this season than in the previous, and it lessens his chances of picking up a nomination. we always wonder why he is being overlooked during awards season. the finale is almost here and we’re still about 3 episodes short off our viewing list. gotta catch up!
on glee season 2: was a bit underwhelming but we followed it nevertheless. it was great in about the first four episodes, got boring (really boring), and then picked up in possibly the last 3 episodes. charice’s appearance in the 1st episode was exciting but her song selection in eps17 is frustrating only because “all by myself” is done to death by her and numerous contestants on american idol. and i long for the day she sings “out here on my way” from fame. favorite songs this season include “tik tok (by ke-dollar sign-ha), “unpretty,” “river deep mountain high (or all the santana songs),” all the rocky horror songs except “whatever happened to saturday night,” and all the barbra streisand songs especially the last one, “my man” from funny girl. ok, im still a big fan. kill me
posting the original video of “my man” from the film:
and here’s lea michelle’s version from glee episode 21:
on smash: a new tv show on nbc from steven spielberg. the production values in this film is great but i hope it doesnt turn into “burlesque.” im excited megan hilty is in the cast, she was fantastic as glinda in wicked (after kristin chenoweth, who went on to star in glee). christian borle from the original cast of “legally blonde the musical” is also part of the show and im looking forward to this. casting katherine mcphee is interesting but we’ll see if she succeeds in stealing megan’s spotlight. i highly doubt she can. still, will be watching. the more musical shows, the better.
on the rapture: thank you Lord for postponing because X-Men First Class is opening in a week’s time and the 8th Harry Potter movie is showing in a month. awesome!
another night at the van gogh
early this week carlo and i headed to van gogh is bipolar to drop off some floral teas for jetro. it was around 9pm and since carlo and i havent had dinner, we decided to eat there. cuzin tricie was with us and would have joined us but had to attend to the mother so she left early. there were very few diners that night so it was a treat to find jetro relaxed and had time to sit and talk to us. it’s been a while since we were able to just sit and talk.
we tried his 3-course meal that night: virginia vegetable soup with pieces of shredded chicken and some beans, norwegian salmon belly with bowls of cabbage leaves filled with sting’s spicy marble potatoes (we opted for this instead of rice) and a slice of orange, mel gibson’s darkest sin and a refreshing cucumber tea with sprigs of tarragon and mint (see photo on left). a better lighted photo is posted below but we already dove into the drink, enjoying it like kids who picked on flowers and leaves from the backyard and mixed it up for a dare. sorry for the quality of the photos, had i known we were going back to van gogh and staying longer i would have brought my dslr (photos were taken with my phone cam).
we were already in high spirits finishing the soup when the main course arrived. it was overwhelming and i thought the only way i could deal with it was by eating with my fingers. and so i started picking on the cabbage leaves, the lettuce et. al. the downside to this was carlo and i werent speaking to each other because we were so engrossed with the food and the experience of eating it (we’re normally engaged in conversation while eating), though not entirely bad because we savored every aspect of the meal. and kudos to the well-cooked salmon belly, superb. there might be some truth in jetro’s diet since we were left heady and clearly stoked.
it’s no surprise we are fans of mel gibson’s darkest sin. jetro tells us he tweaked it since then but we still enjoyed it immensely– mel gibson’s darkest sin is a jägermeister shot with a chocolate bottom and finished off by a walnut. call it crazy, we call it love.
winding down, jetro mixed us a tea concoction and pulled out all the stops to setup the bed out in his garden with candles and lace table covers. we then chilled out under the stars and talked until midnight. we could live like this forever 🙂 jetro was kind enough to offer us a suggestion for our bluementritt cafe we couldnt resist. we’ll keep you guys posted. i marveled at the dill flowers blooming in jetro’s garden and asked for a few to bring home to mindanao for mom before we left the cafe.
van gogh remains a large part, jetro’s home and it really was just visiting an old friend and enjoying dinner with him. but more than anything, van gogh will always be that moment where life stands still long enough for you to reflect on it. this universe is always worth visiting, a necessary trip to discovering what you might just need to do and unravel things about yourself. over tea, childhood drinks and cabbage leaves.
gutten nacht! till the next universe hop.
van gogh is cuckoo
had a very interesting night at van gogh is bipolar. FA classmate egan jimenez held a photo exhibit that opened today at the cafe. took me a 2nd tagging of his invites on FB to haul my ass off and go (i dragged jhem manalang along with me). i missed the company of egan and van gogh owner jetro, plus sir tats enriquez (missed cesar hernando by a half hour) and had a wonderful night of conversation over beer and tea.
at the back wall are egan’s photos enlarged on plywood canvasses. i especially loved his amsterdam photo and the steps of the sistine chapel. jetro here decided to take off his shirt and wear the michelangelo’s david apron he got from italy.
listened to jetro’s stories in europe. his new motto in life is apparently hakuna matata. somewhere in scandinavia he met this old man with a thick white beard and long hair. he looked like a bum but jetro found out while talking to the guy that he was 1 of 3 remaining artists in sweden or something. And he plans to move in here in the philippines in november on fulfilling a life-long dream of retiring and dying here. and that he’s planning to buy an island and stay there. oh, and he has a pinay girlfriend. i say, there’s no place like home.
flags of countries from jetro recent euro trip hang outside the cafe.
how is a tea party without tea pots?
jetro’s teas are grown from his own yard out in isabella. with the storm he tells me his trees have been uprooted. i asked, how was his family. well, they have still have a roof, he says.
we dined at next-door black soup cafe but finished here in the red wall boudoir. the piece of knit hanging above i loved. later i find out it was from gilda cordero. much later jetro tells me it was chinchin gutierrez’s costume from the stage musical, luna (aswang romance). so much cooler.
jetro did not serve dinner that day but his cafe became a soup kitchen of sorts. on the foreground is his chicken soup (lovely); in mid ground is his travel journal (which includes an unsent letter to oprah).
jetro confesses his trip eventually became spiritual. by the 3rd week in europe he unloads most of his stuff and sends it back to the pinas. along the way he’d leave behind some of his clothes, realizing he doesnt need so much material stuff. by the 3rd month in europe, he’s left with a shirt, his jeans, shoes and bag. he even gave away his cellphone. he’s slept on floors, in bus stations, dined with the rich and convened with the poor. he tells me his life in manila is complicated, realizing people can live on less and be happy. and he realized he was afraid of so many things. he says, by learning to let go of all anxiety and fear, only then can we really live.
this lace umbrella, used as a shade, was sourced from belgium in jetro’s recent euro tour.
a lot of us have wild dreams of being rich and traveling all over, experiencing what the whole world has to offer. he’s prodding me it’s time to resume pursuing mine. jetro declared to robert he was leaving for europe then. robert asked when, to which he replied soon. jetro surmises if he didnt leave now then he might never will. so off he went, just like that.
if only we could be as adventurous with fate and destiny, we will realize we were always meant to be where we only thought we’d go.
and just like that, i became more inclined to take that trip back to europe to live out a fantasy. ever since carlo was invited to go to europe (for work) in february next year, i wanted to go back there too. my first euro trip 5 years ago was only 5 days long. now i wanna stay for a month or two! i want to go back shooting my short films and a bit of photography so im vying for a good DSLR (how about a canon 550D for now?). my finances will need to brace itself but maybe i need to live off the edge a bit. otherwise i wouldnt get to where i need to be. you only live once. no day but today.
i was once a filmmaker
before all these pd work on tv commercials, before regal films and centerstage, revolver and abracadabra, before doing design for brillante mendoza and jerrold tarog and chito rono and tikoy aguiluz, before getting the urian and a ycc, before graduating and all the bills, i was once a filmmaker. i wouldnt go as far as say i was great, but i was a friggin filmmaker.
and i got reminded of that by eating my instant pancit canton.
and watching the trailer of amorres perros.
in high school and college i got interested in a lot of movies. i read about some highly-praised films that i would never get my hands on. being in the province with no access to obscure movies and art house films, plus technology would not be pirate friendly for another 10 years, i was cinema-starved.
in 2000 i transferred to the college of fine arts and met kindred spirits who were also hungry for good movies. we fed on films by fincher, lynch, inarritu, mike de leon, lav diaz, tornatorre and of course on lucky me pancit canton and red horse beer. after a few years, pirated dvds and players started popping up in quiapo and it was the motherload. we continued feeding on more world cinema along with our unsatiated appetite for pancit canton and moud halal’s roasted chicken and kabsa rice.
back then we dreamed of films, ate films, breathed films. ive been lucky to have shot, produced and directed a few short films. we were living the dream, quite frankly.
before i graduated, my choices of meals were cheap or cheaper. when i started working (with then PD dante mendoza), i could afford to watch more movies on the wide screen and eat in a variety of restaurants. more when i started to do my own PD work in tv commercials and films. now it was a choice of whether we’d eat japanese, italian, pinoy or whatnot, no matter the price.
today i stayed home and waited for the rain. by the time the roofs started their staccato beat, i got hungry and cooked a batch of pancit canton. who’d have thought this bowl got me reminiscing and find enlightenment?
before all these pd work on tv commercials, before regal films and centerstage, revolver and abracadabra, before doing design for brillante mendoza and jerrold tarog and chito rono and tikoy aguiluz, before getting the urian and a ycc, before graduating and all the bills, i was once a filmmaker. i wouldnt go as far as say i was great, but i was a friggin filmmaker.
and i got reminded of that by eating my instant pancit canton. and now maybe it’s time to go back and make my own films.
chorizo love
Everybody who knows me well enough know i go bonkers over the chorizo from cdo. i remember this from my childhood when having chicken a’la carte in cogon market, usually eaten with puso (rice in a woven palm leaves bag). Sweet and best grilled over hot coals, cousin ygan has since been serving this chorizo in his bbq spot in nacalaban st. cagayan de oro.
Probably unknown to him, he was mentioned in an article on street fare by food magazine in nov 2008. Im posting the scan below. three cheers to bbq’ed chorizo and to cagayan de oro! wohoo! 🙂
ygan diaz’s bbq is an a’la carte dining eatery located at 29 nacalaban st, cagayan de oro, near the cagayan medical center. they usually open around 5pm until a little after midnight. aside from my favorite chorizo, they also serve grilled chicken, fish and a lot more. beside the bbq place is mandex bar. more on that in another post 🙂
blufish
After the evening service at the crl in UP, carlo and i headed to eastwood to meetup with his old choirmate, beckbeck. Most of the restos were closed so that narrowed our choices of places to eat. We almost settled for pho’hoa but decided to try something different. We eventually dined at blufish at the new eastwood mall.
Ordered manhattan chowder, louisiana gumbo, calamari salad and paella royale. A bit pricey but very good food, especially the paella. I liked the chowder and the basmati (or was it pilaf) rice they used for the paella.
After dinner, we hoped for desserts but since none were open, we headed for starbucks katipunan instead for some coffee and more chitchat about rollercoasters, new zealand and wax jobs. Fun, relaxed evening. Wish thered be more of this. It almost 2am and we just got home and the new episode of ugly betty has finished downloading so we’re watching that before turning in for the night hehehe cheers! And good night
focaccia @ a.venue
rockstar jhem invited us to one of his gigs at capone’s a.venue in makati ave (mar25). we have been missing out on his gigs so we made it a point to watch this night. carlo and i arrived early so we could dinner at a.venue. it was a tossup between japanese, italian food or those big burgers they were offering there but italian ruled so we ate at focaccia.
ordered their soup trio, putanesca and mushroom cheese rollup pizza. OMG ang sarap! the soup trio (of tomato cream, squash and mushroom) was fantastic. it came in shots actually, a sampler serving, and was really good. the pasta was also good but serving was kinda small though.
the pizza we loved! for those familiar with yellow cab’s dear darly, this is soo much better. apart from the fact that they have various “flavors” for the rollup pizza, the dough is much thinner and the effect is overall fantastic. winner siya haha
and yes we got to the gig part. i was pleasantly surprised i enjoyed the rock gig. it’s been a long while since we ventured to listen to rock music but i liked what The Beltrans had to offer. there were a couple of pitchy notes in the middle of the set but overall, great performance. rockstar jhem, you rock! 🙂
benjamin padero 