Band Aid

Look into the thing you were afraid to see before. The truth is ripping off a Band Aid. There's a sting, and then it's over. One realization could turn your mood from mediocre to...fantastic.

An all new experience at M Cafe

Only four years into its introduction, the Museum Café already has the benefit of recall that the mere mention of its name creates visual images of things jaded palates yearn for. Having retained its popularity, it can clearly be attributed to its great location within the bustling Makati business district.

The restaurant also continues to offer a mélange of remarkable cuisine, artistic sensibility and extraordinary service in a relaxed, cosmopolitan atmosphere. There is great attention to detail, an innovative concept of evolving art, and a stimulating ambience. Its versatility to transform from a weekday business lunch crowd, to a family Sunday brunch setting, an events place, to an evening jazz bar and chillout spot, makes it more interesting.

But more than anything, M Café reaches great lengths in providing an absolute dining pleasure, and even more with the introduction of it’s all-new menu courtesy of Nurul Huda Bin Mohammed Radzi, the new Malaysian chef on board. The culinary influence he brings is certainly as sweeping as his global experience from Malaysia, Greece, the Carribeans, Egypt, Ireland, Ukraine, and Brunei among others.

Chef Nurul’s detail is apparent from the flavor, texture, and aroma to the visual composition on a plate. While retaining the modern Asian cuisine concept that M Cafe has been known for, he applies an innovative touch allowing diners to embark on a gustatory experience like no other. This is evident in appetizers such as the Asian crab cakes, Roasted honey duck rolls, and the Sweet basil pork wonton pouches. It is also apparent in its entrees like the Grilled roasted tandoori spiced chicken, one of M Cafe’s line of oven roasted “naan” pizza; the Sour-sweet calamari chop chop in a wonton basket; and the Smoked bangus with salted egg in a lightly creamy dressing.

One can’t go wrong with the Grilled chili lemongrass-scented Australian lamb chops, one of M Cafe’s new signature entrees. Other good ones worth trying include the Sweet and sour whole baby Lapu-Lapu for fish lovers, Honey BBQ roasted pandan chicken, the (full slab) Grilled sweet sesame Asian style baby back ribs, and the Imperial kung pao wok fried chicken among others.

Some may not be aware that M Café is also home of hard-core dessert lovers. Regulars drop by to either pick-up a pre-ordered cake or simply enjoy a quiet bite while having coffee or casual meetings with friends. Among the must-try cakes are the Jackfruit sanrival, Pandan cheesecake, Chocnut valrhona, Caramel chocolate and for the health-conscious, the Sugarfree carrot cake. Other bestselling treats for the sweet toothed include the Mango sticky rice, the Honey Dew melon with sago, and the very popular Crème brulee trio.

Indeed, M Café is all about imagination with its cuisine crafted by creativity. The mystery of its appeal and conscious success inevitably unfolds as one experiences dining in this sanctuary of art and form.

The Museum Café is located on the Ground Floor of the Ayala Museum’s Glass Wing in Greebelt 4, Makati City. It opens daily at 8am offering breakfast, lunch and dinner service until 12 midnight. Sunday brunch is from 11am to 3pm. Patio tables are available for seasonal dining al fresco, along with a full bar offering an array of coffee, tea, signature cocktails and an extensive list of wines. For reservations and more information, call (02) 757-3000 or 757-6000.

**All photos taken by Rob Cariño

Red Shoes

So glad I took a photo of this painting, the only one I ever came up with. A couple of months after finishing the piece, I finally had it framed. Unfortunately, the framers damaged it badly when mounting it, causing the watercolor to fade. That really made me upset and angry!

The good side is they handled their mistake pretty well and ended up buying the piece as settlement. I guess it's to get my hands off 'evidence'. What else could it be?

Now, I'm having quite a difficult time getting my hands on the paintbrush again. But I know I will...

Finally...Again

After so long, I've finally been able to recall my password to get into my blog again. I simply had to answer the mystery question and put the word "the" before it. How could I have forgotten?

And now it's ready...get set...go! All over again...

Borrowed Time

Post originally written in May 4, 2004

“It’s not how many years you live, but how you fulfill the time you spend here. That’s the sort of the point of the show.” -- Jonathan Larson (as told to the New York Times on the eve of the opening of Rent, two hours before his death)


An untapped desire to do something better and relevant struck me the night I saw the local production of “Rent”, directed by my friend Bobby Garcia at the RCBC Theater. Like my sisters and I, the people who saw it were fascinated by the raw exuberance of characters, reaching out no matter how strong their fears.

The mood, the twists, and plots of the musical revolved around a group of friends, struggling young people in one of the most fast-paced city in the world – New York. They hold down numbing jobs to support their artistic dreams, while coping with life, survival, love, friendship, drugs, poverty, sexual confusion and AIDS.

Each of the characters had their moments – in high spirits, heartbreaking peril, victorious jiffy, what not. It is a 35-song score rock opera that loosely transposes the story of “La Boheme” to Manhattan’s present-day downtown bohemia, blending contemporary pop music with theater music. I personally thought it was something daring and experimental that broke the barriers of a typical Broadway play. It amazingly articulates the unspoken hopes and fears of society, moving audiences (like me) powerfully as they do with lyrics that make you ponder about how one must value his time in this borrowed life.

The impact is so enormous 'til this day that each time I hear the main theme song, Seasons of Love, being played it gives me the throat-aching feeling that takes me back to that breezy night in September when I watched the musical. It talks about how we measure the years in our life, how we put meaning to 525,600 minutes, an analysis on what the definition of time really is.

What is it really?! Is time the mere ticking of the clock, the moving of its hands? Is it the years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds?

Upon seeing the opening act – a young, HIV positive punk rocker (played by Calvin Millado)sings of how he lives only for “one song, one glory, before I go”, the whole thing prompted me to research on the life of it’s creator. Such is the yearning of its lyrics’ cry that it would induce chills and even greater throat aching when I learned that its genius, a 35-year old author-composer-lyricist by the name of Jonathan Larson, had not lived long enough to see Rent’s very first run (gulp!).

On January 25, 1996, when it was no more than an experiment scheduled for a limited Broadway run, Larson watched the final dress rehearsal, went home and died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm. Just imagine the throbbing amount of emotion the entire cast and staff dealt with on its opening day! It can only sum to painful triumph.

The unspeakable sad story of Larson’s death on the eve of the triumph for which he had hungered all his life gave even more meaning to the musical (double gulp!). With continued interest, I later on learned how he had sacrificed his life to his work, waiting on tables for years, writing for Sesame Street and Land Before Time at one point, sustaining himself with the “sunny thought” that his talent would one day lead to his breakthrough. It did, only he was gone.

As I write this piece about the relevance of time, my friend Anthony Pangilinan, has commissioned me to mount a presscon and do publicity work to promote his brainchild, a Time Check Planner (talk about coincidence) after 15 years of conducting time management seminars. In its pages, he shares that no one has “more” or “less” time. We all have the same time and we choose to put it where we want to 24 hours a day, 12 months a year. And whether you’re the president of the most powerful nation in this world or a beggar on the street, no one is blessed with “more time”.

I come to realize that time is all about the capacity to love knowing that despite our borrowed moments, it’s really the size of our spirit and how we choose to spend it that matters. For my friend, time means achieving and maintaining momentous life balance, that he shares its real significance to society through his creative Timecheck Planner.

For Jonathan Larson, there was a prophetic urgency to squeeze as much as possible into what time remained of him that he put so much value to it with the staying power of his ceaseless outpouring of melody and song. With lyrics that struck me like thousands of thunder volts, it lingers, refusing to let anyone who hears his voice pay no attention to time and abandon hope.

So, tell me, is time a mere ticking of the clock?

Finally

I have long contemplated on this...creating a blog. I thought, do I really want my musings out there where people will read and be easy to judge considering how I usually keep things to myself? This is so because I feel that a true writer may not necessarily speak well in public but will be out there with a duty and obligation to be understood, at least by his own generation. After much thought, motivation and encouragement from my youngest sister and close friends, I have finally given in. (Not that I'm saying I'm a true writer, hehe!)

Here are some of my never posted posts written last summer that I am, after all, posting...

April 26, 2007 -- now grasp more and have a better understanding of my affection for evenings where there’s darkness... in the dark there may be fear, but there’s always hope. =)

Today, my day ended with a good friend saying that one ME is better than many Oprahs. Wow! Although, the whole universe may disagree, it’s one of the nicest, sweetest, and far-reaching affirmations anyone has ever had about me. It’s like a warm and welcoming connection, the feeling you have when you walk into a calming place and your favorite song is playing - a sense of comfort and belonging. Forever, I will remember…

May 8, 2007 -- Can one play with fire and not get burned?

June 7, 2007 --

It’s someone's birthday.
In this coffee shop, I wait…
I wait for my saving grace to come.
Amen.

July 7, 2007 -- My sister Sam asked me this morning how my sleep was last night and I told her I hadn’t slept until it was 4:45 in the morning. She again asked me why and I said “I was chatting. That’s all I ever do these days, chat.”

She slightly pinched my cheek and said, “Sometimes you sound like Grey, like Meredith Grey!”

Well, it’s the closest I could get to being a fiery surgeon…

July 26, 2007 -- You give an honest and untainted part of yourself to someone and suddenly that someone is no longer consistent, steady, or the same. And you think, has all the mystery that ever bewildered this person faded? Is there some kind of swift brazenness in his being? And guess what? I’m in a coffeeshop again, and my saving grace is without warning, no more…

After what happened, I feel a subtle meaning of grief. But then, there really is no choice but to lift that heavy, gray cloud. And I know one day I will feel blithe and it is all liberating --- sometime, someday.

Are you listening?

Pesto Pasta Perfect

I love Chef Sau Del Rosario. I'm a big fan of his. He's enjoyable, wacky, sincere. Not to mention, one of the most talented, innovative, and creative chefs in our country. He's also very generous when it comes to sharing his expertise and foodie know-how.

One Sunday morning while having brunch at M Cafe, I tried this one-of-a-kind pesto pasta dish and loved the tinge of Filipino taste infused in it. When asked about it, Chef Sau enthusiastically shared this recipe with me.


PESTO PASTA WITH KESONG PUTI

Ingredients:

olive oil
½ bulb of garlic, pounded
¼ cup of tuyo flakes (leave 1 tsp. for topping later)
½ cup of kesong puti, diced (leave some for topping later)
1 whole bottle of pesto in olive oil (best homemade or I suggest the one from Conti’s or any good brand you prefer)
¼ cup of kasuy nuts, grounded
angel hair pasta

Procedure:

Cook angel hair pasta and put some olive oil (so it won’t stick). Set aside.

Fry garlic in olive oil until medium brown. Add tuyo flakes until cooked and crunchy. Pour in the pesto, mix and bring to a boil. Add the kesong puti until a bit melted. Season with salt and pepper and you may also add a dash or two of Italian seasoning.

Toss in the angel hair pasta in the mixture and transfer to a serving dish. Top with kesong puti, tuyo flakes and kasuy nuts. Serve while hot.


Everytime I serve it, I also get asked about the recipe so do try it!