Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Little Pinoy Humor




My friend Carl dropped by to deliver some fountain pen ink, and to check out where his kids were going to attend Halloween. While we were chatting at the steps of our building, HE notices the business name.
So I whip out my phone cam.

Nothing innocuous about a truck delivering bottled water. Until you enlarge this photo and see that the business name is "Watering Heights". LOL!!! Of course the humor is totally wasted on the bewildered guy making the delivery.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Pacdal Dreaming

I woke up too early today. I then went back to bed holding Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything. True enough, I fell asleep after three pages discussing The French Paradox, particularly how red wine could be good for the heart.

I dreamed we were at the house where my dad grew up on Pacdal Road, in Baguio. There was a big reunion and Auntie Caring was serving her famous buko pandan dessert. I was minding three small children, when suddenly Lola Mama walked over and put her arm around me. She was speaking in a mix of schoolteacher English and Ilokano, and then she shoved a USD50 bill into my hand. I was surprised, and straightened up, and behind me there was my dad chatting with my two aunties Lota and Josie. At that moment the air smelled like pine resin, and I looked down at my grandma and smiled. She used to be taller than me, but today I was the taller one. I leaned over to kiss her and smelled her hair that had been brushed with coconut oil. That used to be my job when I came home from school, massaging her hair with coconut oil. I gave her back her money and told her to give it to Auntie Caring instead.

Behind me, Auntie Josie was pink with laughter. Lola Mama had gone to the kitchen.

And then I awoke. In real life this sort of gathering happened only twice - once when the Caccams and the Sisons went on a tour of Northern Luzon, and later, when Lola Mama passed away when I was 16; I hadn't dreamt of her in years. Auntie Lota passed away shortly after that, and Auntie Josie a few years ago. The dream felt like Christmas when I was a kid. The only thing missing was Auntie Josie's cookies.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Waking

Holding your heart to my ear
I slept, and dreamed of swimming in a sea
Salted by sixteen million unnamed living colors.
I reveled in the refracted sunlight, in the
Pleasant, muted low roll of waves.

You’d think sound has no weight
But it does, on the second hand of a clock
Ticking its way to rude, real daylight.
The snooze button is set for a bit more
Time to float around inside my head, enough
Time to surface gently, to slide my heart
From the crook of your arms carefully back
Into its own breast pocket, and my self
Back behind my eyes.

All the sounds of traffic have been
Singing a raucous welcome a while now.
From the mosquito to the barking dog, to the
Frying bacon sputtering in fat, to the neighbor
Sweeping her yard, happily singing off-key,
To the mobile phones of the world. It is Saturday.
There's the pied piper bell of the ice cream man,
And children running, running.

Outside, our butter sun is coaxing leafy
Transformations. My morning voice loses its croak.
You pluck my smile to stir into your cup
Full of the liquid blackness between stars.
The repeated peals of silver against porcelain
Have a satisfying rhythm. You swallow love whole,
Your Adam’s apple bobbing in approval.


Copyright 2009 Mona Caccam
(for TDM, after reading Margaret Atwood)

TED: The Power Of Time Off




NY designer Stefan Sagmeister talks about the value of taking a periodic sabbatical. After every seven years he closes his studio for an entire year and takes off in search of inspiration, a new paradigm and life lessons to bring into the next succeeding years of work.

You think: "Of course he can afford to do it. I can't." Well, standing away from your own work for an hour out of every four pays homage to the idea. In a world where everything seems to be due yesterday, rest and resting the brain still makes sense, only some people make better use of those "free" hours to think of ways to do quality work that only takes two hours instead of four. There are days I am the latter, and there are days I wish I was.

Check out the dog humor - particularly the "walking dog lamp" - and see how a seemingly innocuous image creeps into surreal, self-indulgent projects that in themselves initially don't seem to have commercial value, but are actually a thought process at work.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Flying Inside Your Own Body

Link

FLYING INSIDE YOUR OWN BODY
by Margaret Atwood

Your lungs fill & spread themselves,
wings of pink blood, and your bones
empty themselves and become hollow.
When you breathe in you'll lift like a balloon
and your heart is light too & huge,
beating with pure joy, pure helium.
The sun's white winds blow through you,
there's nothing above you,
you see the earth now as an oval jewel,
radiant & seablue with love.
It's only in dreams you can do this.
Waking, your heart is a shaken fist,
a fine dust clogs the air you breathe in;
the sun's a hot copper weight pressing straight
down on the thin pink rind of your skull.
It's always the moment just before gunshot.
You try & try to rise but you cannot.

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Margaret Atwood speaks the language of my head best. I try to go on anyway.

Other poems by Margaret Atwood here.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Cassava Bibingka


The other day our cook came upon a treasure trove of cassava at the fresh market. She decided to make one of our favorite comfort foods, cassava bibingka. We like this particular recipe because it reminds us of the cassava bibingka we used to buy from the UP Shopping Center from Aling Mary, way back when I was a kid. Aling Mary's bibingka had lots of salty cheese and had a dry-ish topping to counteract the sweetness. We've adjusted the recipe below (our version in parentheses) to reflect that. I'd like to credit the book this recipe came from, but I believe it was photocopied from someone else's recipe book.

Cassava Bibingka by Mariquita Villanueva Adriano (from a photocopy)

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 cups sugar (home version: 1 cup sugar only)
3 cups thick coconut milk
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups raw cassava, grated
1/4 cup butter, melted
young buko strips (optional)
banana leaves for lining pan (optional)

For the topping:

1 cup thick coconut milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 can condensed milk
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons grated cheese (or more, to taste. Use salty cheddar or a mix of leftovers.)

Recipe: Serves 12

1. Beat eggs and sugar till lemon colored. Add the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a greased 9" x 9" pan lined with banana leaves. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 175 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.

2. Mix coconut milk with the flour. Add condensed milk and cook over medium heat till thick. Add egg yolks and mix well. Return to heat and cook 5 minutes more. Pour over baked bibingka, sprinkle with grated cheese and broil till golden brown.



I posted this because people asked on Facebook. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Typhoon Survival Kit

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT IS REPOSTED WITH PERMISSION FROM BAYANIHAN ONLINE.

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Being prepared is always one step towards survival. Here are some things that we think is important to have during times like these. Prepare them beforehand and keep them in a safe place at all times. Better yet, keep them with you, or in an area that is easy to reach and won’t get in the way of raging floods, etc.

YOUR TYPHOON SURVIVAL KIT

  1. Clean drinking water. Good enough for a week. Consider having at least 1 gallon per person.
  2. Other drinks. Consider: juices in packs, carbonated drinks, coffee.
  3. Food. Also good enough for a week. Consider:
    • Snacks that are easy to store and carry (biscuits, cookies)
    • Non-perishable canned food (corned beef, tuna, pork and beans, vienna sausage, etc.)
    • Candies to maintain sugar in body and keep acidity at bay
    • Bread that will last for a few days, for carbo load
    • Instant noodles, if you have the means to cook
    • IMPORTANT: food for babies and the elderly if you have some staying with you
  4. Food utensils.
    • Spoons, forks, knives, paper plates, drinking cups
    • Non-electric can opener
    • Cooking stove and fuel, if possible
    • Plastic bags
  5. Medicines. Consider having medicines for the following:
    • Fever and nausea
    • Coughs and colds
    • Hypertension
    • Diabetes
    • Diarrhea
    • Anti-tetanus
    • Anti-leptospirosis
    • Other prescription drugs that you need to take
  6. First Aid kit. Must contain band-aids, gauze, tweezers, alcohol, antibiotic ointment, hydrogen peroxide, bandage scissors, absorbent dressings, antiseptic wipe packets, cold compress, gloves and thermometer.
  7. Sanitation kit. Make sure that you have tissue wipes, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, diapers.
  8. Toiletries. These include toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap.
  9. Blankets, towels, comforters, pillows. You can put them in large garbage bags to keep from getting wet.
  10. Extra clothes and underwear. Put them in plastic bags to avoid from getting wet. If you can, pack something that will last you for a few days.
  11. Jackets, sweaters, socks, caps. And anything else that will keep you warm and dry.
  12. Emergency lights and flashlights
  13. Fresh batteries. Have reserves for batteries of different sizes, especially for radios and flashlights.
  14. Radio. Must be portable, battery operated, has functional AM station.
  15. Mobile phone. Make sure the battery is fully charged, and that you have a spare one, too, in case of emergency. Also consider walkie-talkies.
  16. Cash. Banks and ATMs might not be available so make sure that you have cash with you.
  17. Keys. Have copies of keys to the front door, back door, garage, car keys, etc.
  18. Items for pets. Consider also having a leash, muzzle, cage and food for your pets.
  19. Umbrellas and tents
  20. Water pails and dippers
  21. Floatation devices like life jackets, styrofoams, old tires, etc.
  22. Rope
  23. Plastic whistles

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS TO PROTECT

Many people have died trying to go back for these things, so it’s important that you are well-prepared already at this point in time. Keep these documents in a water-proof container:

  1. Birth certificates
  2. Insurance records
  3. Medical records
  4. SSS, Pag-ibig and Philhealth records
  5. Identification cards
  6. Passports
  7. Bank account numbers and records
  8. Emergency contact numbers
  9. Contact numbers of family, friends and loved ones

It is important that you have an ID with you wherever you go. Also, a list of people to contact in case something happens to you. If you can, put your emergency contacts on speed dial.