Asia's finest

I am not a mall person. I only go to the mall when I have something to buy, sometimes I am even too lazy to do that. I am not easily enticed by sales or tiangges. When going to the mall, I look forward to the eating part more than the shopping part. I hate going to Megamall especially on Sundays number one because it’s impossible to find a decent parking space and number two there’s just too many people. Of course when I was still studying, I always go to Robinson’s Place for lunch and meetings because I see it more as a school annex than a mall. Most of the time, I and my sisters find everything we need at Glorietta so there’s really no use going some place else. My mom mall-hops more than we do. She knows when the one thing she wants is available at Rustan's Shang or Rustan's Harrison. She also makes it a point to visit Megatrade and Greenhills regularly for things she doesn't really need.

I went to SM Makati last Saturday for the first time after its renovation. Boy was I impressed. I felt bad that I finished my Christmas shopping at Glorietta two weeks earlier because there was really a lot of good cheap stuff at SM. I was able to buy my purse for my cousin’s wedding for P200..what a steal.

SM Makati is now one of the cool SM’s next to SM Baguio. Not to be outdone by the Ayalas, It was good the Sy’s decided to upgrade the mall and match it to cosmopolitan Makati. Even the products, I believe, are better than before. I tried really hard not to spend on a new pair of slides or another bag. The brand Parisian, which my sisters and I make fun of after gay comics used it in their spiels in one of the stand-up comedy bars in Malate, also displayed really nice shoes. However, my sister said, the service is still bad. Some things never change.

SM Baguio also sits well in its location. It is not your typical SM shoebox mall. Thanks to the Baguio climate, there is no need for aircondition, making it possible to have large verandas surrounding the stores. Just imagine strolling and shopping in your favorite stores or eating at Teriyaki Boy or at Yellow Cab then enjoy a good smoke while having coffee at Seattle’s Best with the cool breeze of Baguio and smell of pine trees throwing at your face. Real treat..

The construction of SM Baguio was not without opposition. Just to stop its construction, people began a petition for the promotion of Baguio as a national heritage. Of course it didn’t work. Now, there is an SM in just about every corner of the Philippines. Believe it or not, there will be an SM at San Lazaro and even the Mall of Asia, I believe, belongs to the Sy’s. Filipinos certainly are a bunch of mallrats. Economic slump or not, poor or poorer, snake in the fitting room or AIDS scare, nothing can keep pinoys off the malls.

Hey man nice shot

Addressing the country’s poverty situation has been consistently at the forefront of government policies beginning the Aquino leadership. Such prioritization projects poverty as the country’s foremost challenge, with previous and present leaders vowing to alleviate the lives of poor Filipinos and directing all government efforts towards this end.

Although previous governments identified target poverty incidence for the end of their terms, one can not conclude whether the percentage of poor families to the total population has actually declined given that various poverty measures were used. For instance, the first official poverty estimation adopted in 1987 indicates that the poverty incidence of families in 1991 was 55.8% while the new methodology adopted in 1992 places poverty incidence of families for the same year at 39.9%. Using the Aquino target poverty incidence of 45.4% for 1992, it can not be concluded for sure whether the government was successful in its poverty reduction efforts. A third methodology was also developed in 2002. The new official poverty statistics which show provincial estimates gives us a poverty incidence of families in 1997 at 28.1% compared to the old methodology’s 31.8%. It thus appears that there are lesser poor Filipinos not because government interventions have been successful but because the government has redefined who the poor are.

Given that the second poverty methodology was used in most of the Ramos years and that poverty incidence decreased from 39.9% in 1991 to 35.5% in 1994 and 31.8% in 1997, it may be deduced that the industrialization approach made substantial gains in reducing poverty incidence proving yet again that economic growth improves a country’s poverty situation. The Philippine Progress Report on the MDG’s likewise suggested that the years of fiscal surplus were during 1994-1996 and that since 1990, we have made significant improvements in reducing extreme poverty. However, external shocks such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena had long-term consequences to the poor. This is evident at how poverty incidence of families increased from 28.1% in 1997 to 28.4% in 2000.

Consistent with the MDG’s call to halve extreme poverty by 2015, President Arroyo pledged to reduce poverty by half by 2010. Although the NSCB official poverty estimates that will reflect the poverty situation during the Arroyo administration are yet to be produced, the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey conducted by the NSO show that Filipinos fared better in 2002 than in 1999 in terms of employment, education and homes.

We have shown and international bodies such as the UN have recognized that the Philippines can win the war against poverty. The multi-dimensional face of poverty explains the various solutions the past leaders have initiated to address the same problem. The strategy the present administration has adopted is based on past efforts that were deemed effective such as micro-finance and the provision of low-cost medicines. However, the President’s poverty-targeted programs or any such programs for that matter will only be effective if all other government policies are in synergy.

Noodle Dance

For future reference, I’m listing my top-ten favorite pansit. The list does not necessarily indicate rankings, which means that I will be just as happy to have any of these. When I am bored, I find solace in daydreaming about the food I want to eat which naturally results in mindless craving and unwanted binging. Good thing I always remind myself that eating is meant to be enjoyed so there is no need to feel all remorseful. Lucky Me Instant Pansit Canton and Nissin’s Spicy Chicken Yakisoba are not included but they will eternally be up there with the following:

1. Char Kwai Chow – Banana Leaf Curry House
2. Beef Hofan – Mann Hann (or from Binondo)
3. Birthday Noodles – Gloria Maris
4. Pad Thai – Thai in a Box/Oody’s
5. Fried Noodles – North Park
6. King Dao Flat noodles – Luk Yuen
7. Charlie Chan – Yellow Cab
8. Pansit Lomi – Buddy’s
9. Mee Goreng – 10 Noodles
10. Yakisoba – Tokyo Tokyo

Losers say what?

Just when I thought the debates finally did its job, just when I thought The New York Times, The Washington Post and yes, even The Economist made the much needed endorsements and just when I thought the deteriorating situation in Iraq says it all, the American voters decided they wanted four more years of neo-conservative war-mongering leadership.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the end of the world. Has the world’s only superpower successfully isolated itself from the universe, not just in terms of foreign policy, that it seems that the whole world except the Americans realize that Dubya is not just a bitter pill but an ineffective one at that. Now all of us will have to take this bitter pill, thanks to the religious bloc.

Two months into the Nov.2 elections, the Kerry campaign seems to have finally picked-up: winning all of the three presidential debates, showing of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, decline in world oil prices anticipating a Kerry win. But surprise surprise! 51% of American voters chose to endure four more years of US budget deficit, job loss, irresponsible environmental and energy policies, deteriorating social services, civil liberties trampled upon, protection of big business and tax cuts for the wealthy, unilateral foreign policy and bullying of the UN, Abu Ghraib scandal and more Iraq follies and a widespread culture of violence. I could just go on…

In spite of the looming budget deficit, the Americans reelected the President who cut taxes on the 1% rich and increased spending for the military. In spite of the inability to capture Osama Bin Laden and the absence of WMD in Iraq, the impetus for the preemptive strike, the Americans reelected the President who sent soldiers to their death in vain. In spite of world clamor for regime change, the Americans reelected the President who bypassed the United Nations and just about every legitimate alliance for a war that can never be won nor justified.

Apparently, the Americans did not decide on any of the above-mentioned platforms. They voted on the basis of values. The most tolerant and libertarian society that is the United States voted for a candidate who is categorically against abortion, stem-cell research and gay rights but has in all arrogance bombed its way into a sovereign country, killing civilians and sacrificing soldiers, and up to this day has kept Guantanamo Bay sealed from public scrutiny. So much for values.

The people have spoken, Bush has won, Kerry has conceded. Again, the Americans did not listen.

The Addams

My maternal grandmother, lola mama, died when I was just 5 years old. Soon after, 3 years to be exact, lolo daddy followed suit. Since then, my family has been spending All Souls’ Day in La Union.

I’m not sure whether it is our love for food or fondness for get-togethers that we spend one whole day at our grandparents’ tombs every year. My family has mastered the art of finding a reason to celebrate and stuff ourselves till we could take no more. This is probably why we painstakingly brave all traffic and hassle every Halloween just to get to our beloved Agoo and spend one hot day in the cemetery with no decent washroom to speak of.

Last weekend I have come to realize how long we’ve been spending one day each year in the cemetery, despite the discomfort, when we looked at two new scrapbooks my cousin made (my cousin, I think, has developed an obsession in making scrapbooks about ourselves..more on this in another entry). There was one picture taken when we were really really young, in the cemetery, with my full bangs and sando and shorts attire. That picture sure is vintage. It may sound creepy to most people but I and my cousins have a lot of photos taken in the cemetery. I can actually see how my hairstyle and body have evolved through our All Souls’ Day pictures. We have become so familiar with the place that whenever we were on vacation and we feel the need to sneak a few puffs, the cemetery would always be a dependable place not to get caught in. We justified it by telling ourselves that our own grandma smoked herself and even made her own tabako. My grandparents’ final resting place has been remodeled time and again. There was a time when there was a grassy area and we just put up a tent to shield us from the heat. Now, everything’s cemented and we had a permanent roof built.


The best thing about all this is the food. We would have our lunch right there in the graveyard and all kinds of snacks we can bring. There was a time when one passerby asked how much is a plate of pancit because we literally had a table with all our picnic Tupperware on top. The standard lunch used to be chicken pork adobo or polpog (an Ilocano delicacy of grilled pork seasoned with pork brain) and pancit. Thank God we have grown tired of it. This last All Souls’ Day, which was yesterday, we had penne with sundried tomato and shrimp, fetuccine with olive oil and sausage and pork barbecue. For clarification, I did not influence this menu in any way. I remember killing time by solving crossword puzzles and find the word games with my cousins when I was a kid or sleeping on top of either of my grandparents’ tombs (creepy but true). I didn’t engage in playing with candle wax lest I get my hands dirty. We also played pop-com-drama, a team game where you have to sing when your team was chose to do pop, act out a commercial for com and I’m sure you already know for drama. Very silly, I know. When most of us started driving, we would ask our parents to let us go back to the house for a few minutes some time after lunch to use the bathroom. We end up going back to the cemetery two hours later because we took a nap.

So even if I had to rush to work today from a six-hour trip feeling like a zombie and all, I would never trade watching Magandang Gabi Bayan Halloween episode and spending a day at the cemetery with my cousins for anything. No matter how uncomfortable this all seems and actually feels, I always look forward to All Souls’ Day. It is one of three occasions every year that we get to spend time in the province, witness Filipino religiosity, laugh at each other and eat like there’s no tomorrow.