It was just my friend C who is supposed to buy a barong for formal events that we journalists have to attend to chase our sources. I realized I needed a barong as well so I will have my fitting next week.

The owner of the shop said I can wear this with pants or skirt. I’ve seen many politicians and other government officials donning the modern barong for women instead of the traditional baro’t saya, which is so cumbersome to wear. I didn’t really have to have the embroidery handmade (a lot more expensive) since I’m not getting married in the barong—I just need to be presentable.

This was my maternal grandma’s business so my mom knows a thing or two about barongs and embroidery. I also know a little about this since we used to wash, dry and iron barongs and embroidered cloths at home before selling them for my grandma.

I discussed with my friend, C, that he should go for the piña-jusi (pronounced as pinya-husi) instead of the more expensive and formal piña (pineapple fabric woven in a traditional Filipino way) because the latter is more delicate to wear and maintain. Over time the ecru piña turns darker (in my observation). Jusi is silk but more durable and opaque than piña. It is also half the price of a piña barong. Piña is for barongs that you wear when you get married (or a similar formal occasion). Piña-jusi is jusi that is made to look like piña (i.e. to look more expensive) by hand painting the cloth with streaks to resemble piña cloth. Silk cocoon—a more expensive silk—is in between jusi and piña, since the fabric is finer and more expensive than jusi but not as fine and delicate as piña.

I said since we would be chasing sources even in such formal events like the annual cocktails at the central bank, C would be in danger of damaging a piña barong in a media scrum. He agreed and decided to go with piña-jusi with a more ethnic pattern for the embroidery—a hand-embroidered one at that—instead of the more traditional embroidery of vines and flowers.

Prior to going to Lumban, C, checked out Kultura in SM and his eyes watered at the PHP 20,000-PHP 24,000 price tag for a piña barong. The Lumban shop we were at only charges PHP 12,000 for machine-embroidered piña barong. A hand-embroidered one would be a little more expensive but still cheaper than in Kultura. C got the hand-embroidered piña jusi for only PHP 6,000, including the inner long-sleeved shirt called camisa de chino. It was such a good deal.

My barong, on the other hand, would cost me PHP 5,000 because the off-the-rack one won’t fit me. I have to clarify next week that I don’t want a hand-embroidered one. Let’s see if I could haggle the price down.

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We ate lunch in neighboring town of Pagsanjan and I introduced C to balaw-balaw: minced shrimps in coconut milk, ginger, and chilis. 

Since we were already in Lumban, I drove to Caliraya to show C the lake and the campsites and some resorts. He loved it and was entertaining a fanciful thought of buying a property there for a rest house.

And before driving him to the bus terminal in Sta Cruz to go back to Makati, I brought C to an old church in the town of Kalayaan.

We were running out of time and C needs to take the bus at 4 pm because the weekend traffic going northwest to Metro Manila is horrible.

Before anything else, my children and I had been grazing on breads and French butter and camembert cheese all day. I brought these home from dinner two nights ago  at Rockwell.

Anyway, while we were having dinner, K, the Manila boss of a competing news agency, and M, another Manila boss of another competing news agency, and I were stuffing ourselves with good food, K said C, who is my friend and M’s reporter, went on leave and didn’t know where to go to spend his personal time off. K mentioned that C wanted to buy embroidered barong in Lumban.

Later that night C inquired about how to get to Lumban. Told him to drop by my town and I’ll drive him there to check out the barongs. This morning I gave him instructions and told him to book this onsen hotel near my place and I will bring him to Lumban tomorrow.

When he messaged that he was at the resort, I told him that I will pick him up after work.

When I did, we drove through the mountain bypass road and reached the university campus where there is a food fair. That’s where we had dinner.

I then brought him to see my house. Being a gay man, he is very much interested in home decor and home renovations. He checked my kitchen cabinets and door jambs and all the finishes. He bought his Makati condo seven years ago and told me his unit is up for repainting and bathroom refresh.

He said he loved the colors I chose for my tiny home and he said my house is likely 50 sqm, bigger than I initially thought it was. I told him that several people have already commented that my home, being on the second level, is like a treehouse because we’re surrounded by trees.

I drove him back so he can enjoy the onsen and the massage that would follow.

Let’s see what will happen to our trip to Lumban later today.

Filipino food is not just Jollibee. Jollibee and other Filipinized American food is a small fraction of what the ordinary Filipinos eat. A third of our cuisine is comprised of rice and whatever can be bought from the streets from food vendors along the bangketa or from the carinderia, if you can’t cook it yourself. Sadly, the streetfood featured here is still heavy on meat, unlike in the north where there is abundance of vegetables.

Anyway, this food vlogger gravitates toward the more exotic food like betamax (skewered coagulated pig’s blood), isaw (skewered chicken intestines) and a host of other animal body parts that I didn’t think were edible. I don’t think I will try them in this lifetime, I’m squeamish like that.

However, Sonny, the food vlogger, and I agree on sisig, that late-night drinking food made of pork cheeks/face with lots of chilis, onions, cooked on high heat and served on a sizzling plate and topped with raw egg. There is an art to mixing sisig and the condiments once the sizzling plate arrives at your table. This was shown to me by drinking buddies in college and by my bandmates post-college.

If you’re well traveled, you would notice that some of these streetfood are not unique to the Philippines. Sonny even said he ate a similar skewered chicken butt in Taiwan. Actually, many streetfood in Taiwan (the ones I encountered in Jiufen) are similar to the ones I find in Binondo or Sta. Cruz, Manila.

I say that this is only a third of the Filipino cuisine because there’s another third that foreigners skip or look over: the fusion Spanish-Chinese-Malay food scattered across the archipelago. That’s why I adore Chris Zou, the Chinese Canadian TikToker who got famous for ranting about expensive hand soaps 🤣. He loves sinigang prepared for him by his Filipino Canadian friends.

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Another level of Filipino food is what I had for dinner tonight at Taupe by Chef Francis Tolentino, in the pop-up restaurant at Balmori Suites at Rockwell called Chef’s Table. I think it was a seven-course meal and everything was delicious. It was spot-on. The ceviche was 👌. My friends and I met Chef Tolentino and we complimented him for the great food. His staff was superb in servicing us. The sea urchin/uni between macarons was lovely. I didn’t care if I would itch the entire night (I did though) because it was good.

The horrible thing about this whole affair was I drove for 3 hrs to get there. I left my house at 3 pm and I arrived at Power Plant at a little past 6 pm.

It’s hard to attend Christmas dinners these days. ☠️

I don’t have my aircon on yet, even my wall fan as the evening gets more chilly. It’s raining everyday so December being cold and dry is no longer true in the past 10 or 20 years. It used to be that farmers harvest rice in November-December because it’s the start of the dry season. Since climate has gone crazy, this fucked up their planting timetables.

Anyway, I didn’t do a 9-7 today. I gave myself some grace and started to work in the afternoon. I was just attending to messages on chat apps and emails in the morning and did the heavy lifting in the afternoon until evening, editing and arranging calls and whatnot.

I’ve been scanning online appliance stores and Lazada for 40-43″ TVs because I had been thinking of upgrading my 14 to 15-year-old TV. I freaking would love to play Final Fantasy on a bigger screen with crisper visuals. However, I’m also thinking it may be a waste of money and I would be better off buying more ETFs and topping up my mutual fund, which I had been doing the past two days—because I had been feeling very guilty about my Black Friday purchases from the US. I have one box arriving on the 20th. My next boxes would probably arrive on New Year or after.

I promise that next year I would be turbo-boosting my investments because I only have 5 more years left before I return to academe and start a business. My current investment rate is 18% of my monthly income (i.e. regular top-ups of funds and stock purchases) so I should make this 50% by January and slowly make my way to 65%. These exclude my cash in time deposits and emergency funds.

I should stop this nonsense spending.

I am already done with my “love thyself” phase i.e. indulging in luxury or wants since I am doing fine now, mentally and emotionally. My self-soothing phase should be over. I’m done building my house and spending for Twin A’s medical needs. There is no reason why I should be throwing a large portion of my income to spending that I could no longer trace. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I should start disciplining myself.

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My brain is fried.

I guess I will be like this for the entire week and until next Monday or Tue. I need to write the pending stories I got from Singapore and the long pieces that I planned to publish before I go on my year-end break. I prioritized the time-sensitive ones today (two!) and another one I still have to draft tomorrow. I have so many emails to compose and send, interviews to schedule. 🫠

A little push and it would soon be freedom… To do what I want: Play my newly purchased games, read more books, watch Netflix, and paint.

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I just spent two hours driving home from Nuvali last night because traffic was horrendous. It usually just takes an hour on a normal day. Weekends are just brutal for us who live in the province that hosts weekenders/tourists. We got home at 11 pm. 🥴

My girls, my sister, and I watched Wicked before they take it off the cinemas to make way for the Metro Manila Film Fest. I have to say the movie was worth the drive—just the pièce de résistance Defying Gravity number—was worth the drive. The movie gave better context as to how Elphaba discovered her true self, why she is defying the Wizard of Oz and every authority known in Oz.

My sister said she didn’t expect much from Ariana Grande but after the movie, she has a newfound respect for the singer-actress. She embodied Galinda/Glinda very well while making the role her own. Cynthia Erivo ws able to flesh out the character well by making you feel what she feels. There is also no question about their vocal prowess.

Jeff Goldblum was a revelation. He could sing. Not sing-sing Broadway but he can sing decently. What surprised me was he is a jazz pianist—something I can never ever be.

There were special appearances by the original Broadway musical Glinda and Elpaba, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, respectively. It was just fitting that the producers, which include Stephen Schwartz, had singing roles for them.

All in all, I did enjoy the movie for what it is. I’m looking forward to Act II.

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I missed making lassi so I had put on my walking shoes and went to the weekend community market.

I don’t want to cook so I bought as much food as I can stuff in my backpack. It was a lot.

I bought palabok for myself and my girls. I ate mine at the market though.

I couldn’t resist spicy laing to go with rice and some kind of meat viand at home.

Since my girls loved hummus and pita, I stuffed my bag with these.

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I’m trying out this foldable Bluetooth keyboard that I will be gifting to my friend who had expressed her desire for such because she travels a lot. It’s taking some time getting used to this since the keys have uneven sizes and for touch-typers like me, it requires a steep learning curve.

I got it from Lazada. Now that I’ve tried it and it’s working, I will be wrapping this up soon.