Food for the “aliens”

ISCHNOCHITON. Photo courtesy of Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho Fan Page (www.facebook.com/kapusomojessicasoho)

You might be correct with what you are thinking. But you could be wrong, too.

No, I am not talking about food for the extra terrestrial ones, but yes, I am schmoozing about an exotic fave-of-thy-mouth.

Every time I go home to Maydolong, a small town in Eastern Samar, I always crave for “tarukog”.

Tarukogs are marine mollusks that belong to the genus Ischnochiton (or simply chiton) in class Polyplacophora. This is also known as “sea cradles” or “coat-of-mail shells”. But in Eastern Samar,  tarukog it is.

According to Christopher Taylor, an entomologist, “All living chitons share a similar general morphology with a central linear series of eight overlapping shell valves, surrounded by a fleshy girdle that (depending on species) may or may not be covered with small spicules. They live attached to marine rocks where they graze on algae.”

Rather than appealing, the raw, clinging-hardly-to-rocks tarukog is appalling. The light to dark green and black color mollusk, plus the hard as a rock shell valves at its back are indeed disturbing to the eye. However, the still and soundless tarukogs have something, silently to offer. Their scrumptious meat!

TARUKOG IN COCONUT MILK.
Photo courtesy of Lance Abet

I like it best when it is hinatukan (cooked in coconut milk). After the valve shells and innards are removed and cleaned by boiling (there should be a technique in boiling it, to avoid a rubbery chew!), the clean, (now flesh in color) meat is mixed with coconut milk, slice of onion, and black and red bell pepper and a pinch of salt. Solve!

You can try also an adobo tarukog. After boiling and cleaning it, add the usual ingredients for adobo, and boil it again for few minutes. Now you have something to add in your carte du jour!

CHICHARIFFIC TARUKOG
IN A VINAIGRETTE SAUCE.
Photo courtesy of Qoura Bee

Lastly, you can prepare a chicharon tarukog! After the cleaning procedure, deep fry the tarukogs. Prepare your china with coconut vinegar where to dip your roasting chicharon. And for sure, after closing your eyes because of the vinegary taste, you will open your mouth and say, “Oh, momma! Chichariffic!”.

What creates the palatable delights of a place is the peoples’ pride on their delicacies, which sometimes are unique but nevertheless appetizing. I am not expecting that people will create a Tarukog Festival in the future, but at least, be proud of this nature’s treat.

I have had footed different places in the country. Make the most of Ilocos’ tipmost Pagudpod’s coziness. Cross the Visayan Islands. And captivated with the land of promise, Mindanao. In all breakfast, lunch and dinner in those places, never did I meet tarukog in my plate.

This is a must try for the aliens- our tourists and visitors in Eastern Visayas. Well, if aliens (the extra terrestrial ones) would invade the earth, we can probably serve tarukog on their plates, too. And let us see if they will not say: What the heck is this succulent alien food? More!

TGIF.  Have a happy weekend everyone!

Published in Manila Channel, Sept. 7, 2012. (See: http://www.manilachannel.com/2012/09/07/food-for-the-aliens/)

Capiz: the tasty, the yummy, the scrummy

Don’t get me wrong with the title. I am not trying to emulate “the true, the good and the beautiful” slogan of a former First Lady. But consider me guilty because my gush here about Capiz will be the true, the good, and the beautiful anyway.

Turning a blind eye to the conventional gawk of our tourists/travelers- museums, vestiges of the past, beaches, etc. – Capiz has its own way to market its tourism industry- no no (!), not the wakwak, manananggal and the kikik, but its mouthwatering sea foods.

I am not saying the province is poor on the cultural and historical facet. In fact, history tells us that Capiz became the Spanish’s second settlement after Cebu. Moreover, the town of Pan-ay homes the biggest church bell in Asia. Pan-ay was once the capital of the province before it was transferred to Roxas City.

PEALING THE BELLS – The writer and his foster-dad inside the 10.4 tons bell made from 70 sacks of silver coins.

Unsurpassed of course is the province’s reputation as the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. Capiz absolutely deserve the title. The lavishness and diversity of Capiz’s marine life treats vacationers with a variety of sumptuous cuisines- from baked scalloped in garlic and butter, tuna, blue marlin, crabs, lobsters, prawns, oysters and the celebrated diwal ( or angel wings which is endemic in the Panay seas), and I can enumerate more.

Photo courtesy of Ricky Diumayuga for photo 1, 2 and 5

Yes, of course, you can find this in sky-high restaurants, but still, Capiz is over it, because they serve it fresher, if not freshest. Plus, plus, plus, as all travelers would like to hear, the charge is friendlier to your pockets.

We have many reasons why we travel- to unwind, relax, escape from all kinds of glitches, and finally finding ourselves. Will not a nibble of this luscious, succulent marine sumptuousness complement it all?

I had visited quite a few tour destinations of the country- from Ilocos’ timpost Pagudpod to the Land of Promise, Mindanao- but Capiz takes a special place in my heart. Is not there an old adage saying that the nearest organ to one’s heart is the stomach?

Well, Capiz just captivated mine.

Truly, goodly and beautifully, Capiz, that tasty, yummy and scrummy province will be part of my itinerary again, soon.

Published in Manila Channel. August 18, 2012.

Unfolding Underwear Folding

Why wear underwear, in the first place?

Well, there are a dozen and one reasons I heard from friends- from usual to bizarre. Like: to support that hanging thing there; to make your package more appealing; to hold the urine after urinating; to make sex exciting; to promote foreplay when making love; etcetera.

Most, if not all people I know wear one, for different reasons; some maybe the same or different from the ones mentioned. But seriously, why do we cover our thing? Does it make sense? Oh well, the thing is, we are wearing it. Whether it makes sense or not, it doesn’t matter. For if it doesn’t matter anyway, why would our mothers require us to wear it, as early as when we are still in preschool, eh?

Even in history, it is still unclear as to when the people wear undergarments was. It is said that loincloth was considered the earliest undergarment as some archaeologists suggest through dig remains that dates backs thousands of years ago. Maybe, in the far west. But in the Philippines? How come that some of our forefathers, when the Spaniards came, were wearing g-strings made from selected leaves and uway? Maybe they can’t afford loincloth.

That was the primitive society of course. Now then, since all of us will agree that we do wear one, next question is: do you fold your underwear?

That’s a silly question, one might think.

One might even be reminded of Patricia Lorenz’s “Life’s Too Short to Fold Your Underwear”. Conversely however, not a word from Lorenz discourages us to fold our underwear.

Why fold it anyway?

Well, if your closet like mine is not so spacious, doing so will save space.

Likewise, when travelling, not only that it will save space, it will also give you a sense of assurance, if ever by accident your bag dispatched its zipper, and everything in your bag fell of the floor, gee whiz(!) [it happened to me once at NAIA!], at least your underwear will not flaunt in exhibition. Worse if your underwear is not that so presentable due to its loosened garter!

So here is how I fold mine.

PS. Underwear Day is celebrated in the US on the 22nd and 23rd of August. See, even underwear have their Day aside from wash day!

Published in Manila Channel. August 17, 2012.

On Bisayan wine: A barrel of laughs, vino en vidrio and cheers!

I keep at least ten different bottles of wine in my room. Oh,oh, I am not a drunkard, much less a roué. But I drink occasionally.Bevitore saltuariamente.

I am wont to get a bottle of wine, especially during my travels. I had sipped the expensive (but not necessarily classy)- merlot, white zinfandel, white grenache, cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese, shiraz, chablis, etc;  and also swigged to the less expensive, but not necessarily tawdry wines.

When I went to Vigan a couple of years ago, I tasted for the first time, their celebrated rice wine, called basi. It is worth to note that it’s one of my top favorites, clobbering those strange, opaque varieties mentioned. However, I still choose vino de coco(coconut wine) over it.

The Bisayan (i.e. Eastern Visayas) tuba avers to be the finest, if not the best wine made from coconut. Not only because the region yields the second largest volume of production (next to the Davao region, 2005 PCA report) of coconut, but because history tells us that tuba is part of Bisayan’s modo de vida.

When the Spaniards footed the Islands, evident to the Pintados people are their gleeful virtue (which the Filipinos as a whole share), thus the name Bisaya- from the root word saya, meaning happy. And in every social gathering, tuba is at the center of conversations and laughter. The Spaniards themselves, both the missionaries and conquistadores, couldn’t say no to inviting spirit of tuba.

During family occasions and even occasionless nights, tuba gathers everyone in telling tales, cracking laughter and chance of bonding. Lately however, the patronage to this traditional drink has been fading, for reasons like the inability of local tuba producers in product innovation to match the growing competition of liquor industry.

Quite the reverse, lately I was introduced to the new vino de coco product in the region. Boy oh boy, the flavor is refined and classy! I am certainly conclusive that this is a sure-fire! Surely, this is the beginning to regain tuba’s glory.

Wine is renowned as heart healthy. And in moderation, it may be a help in trimming weight and reducing forgetfulness. Likewise, it may boost our immunity and help prevent bone loss.

With friends, we share a barrel of laughs. Alone, we exclaim, vino en vidrio!

Aside from the mentioned, we drink wine for varied reasons.

Whatever the reason is, Isalud!

Article published in Manila Channel, August 19, 2012.

2012 PASIDUNGOG EDUARDO A. MAKABENTA SR. PARA HAN SIDAY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Mga Lagda han Paisan-isan

Abri ini nga paisan-isan ngadto han mga nagsusurat hin siday ha Waray ha bug-os nga kalibotan.

1.  Lima nga mga siday an kinahanglan ipasa para makaapi.

2.  Adton waray pa maimantala an kakarawaton nga obra/entri. Diri paaapihon adton mga obra nga nagdaog na hin mga paisan-isan.

3.  Kinahanglan nga sinurat ha Waray an iaapi nga mga siday ug diri hinubad tikang ha iba nga pinulonagn.

4.  An entri nga ipapasa kinahanglan upat (4) kakopya, naka-double space ha 8 1/2 x 11 pulgada nga papel nga may usa kapulgada nga margin ha mga ligid. Butangi hin numero an kada pakli hin 1 of 5, 2 of 5 ug ipadayon ha sugad nga pamaagi. Gamita an Arial ug font size nga 12. Ipasa an entri gamit an alyas ug waray han ungod nga ngaran han tag-padara. An ungod nga ngaran ug alyas han tagpadara kinahanglan isurat ha papel ug isulod ha iba la nga envelope, upod han bio-data, 2 x 2 ID picture, ug pagkontak nga mga impormasyon. Kinahanglan gihapon iupod pagpasa an usa nga pagpamatuod nga imo ug orihinal an imo entri nga igin-aapi.   I-download an entry form dinhi hini nga sumpay (link) http://www.mediafire.com/?cx8cqonc6dm4c8f.

5.  Makarawat hin P 15,000.00 an Syahan nga Premyo; P 10,000.00 an Ikaduha nga Premyo ug P 5,000.00 an ikatulo nga Premyo.

6.  Ipadara an mga entri hini nga address:

2012 PASIDUNGOG EDUARDO A. MAKABENTA SR. PARA HAN SIDAY 

Panrehiyong Sentro sa Wikang Filipino-R8

Ledesma Hall

Leyte Normal University

P. Paterno St., Tacloban City 6500

7.  August 15, 2012 an kataposan nga adlaw pangarawat han mga entri. Kakarawaton an mga entri nga ipinadara ha koriyo basta may pagpamatuod nga ini iginpadara dida mismo han Agusto 15, 2012 ug diri han kataliwan an nasabi nga adlaw.

8.  An mga entri nga ipapasa pinaagi han email  kinahanglan nga aada ha Word Document file ug ipapadara komo attachment. Upod hini dinhi an biodata han tagpadara, an sertipiko nga nagpapamatuod nga imo ug han kaorihinal han entri. Ipadara an iyo mga entri san-o matapos an Agusto 15, 2012 nga adlaw ha primeoeduardomakabentasr@gmail.com. An orihinal nga kopya han sertipikasyon kinahanglan nga ipadara pinaagi han koriyo ha nasabi nga address ha igbaw.  

9.  An kapakyas makagtuman han nasabi nga mga kalagdaan mahimo magin hinungdan han diri kakarawat han imo entri ha paisan-isan.

10.  An mga entri nga magdadaog pagtatag-iyahan han Sinirangan Culture and

       Arts Development Center (SCADC). Magpapabilin an copyright ha tagsurat pero ihinahatag han tagsurat ngadto ha SCADC an katungod magmantala han nagdaog nga entri nga waray kadugangan nga kabaraydan labot la han premyo nga  nadag-an.

11. May katungod an PASIDUNGOG MAKABENTA/ SCADC magpasaka hin kaso ha tagpadara kun madiskobrihan nga diri hiya an orihinal nga tag-iya ug nagsurat han nagdaog nga entri. Waray responsabilidad ug baratonon an  PASIDUNGOG MAKABENTA/ SCADC ha ano man nga kaso ha korte kun mayda magpapasaka hin kaso batok ha usa nga tagsurat nga tinatahapan nangopya han obra han iba.

12.  Ipapasamwak ha radio ug local nga mga mantalaan an mga magdadaog ug an ngaran han mga Hurado dida hiton Septyembre 15, 2012. Opisyal nga papasabotan/susuratan han  PASIDUNGOG  MAKABENTA adton mamagdaog.

13. Pagbubuhaton an paggawad ug iba pa nga serimonya dida hiton October 13, 2012, ika-127 nga anibersaryo han katawo ni Eduardo A. Makabenta Sr.,  ha LNU House, Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City.

14. Diri maliliwat an magigin desisyon han Hurado.

Para han kadugangan nga impormasyon tawagi hi Mr. Voltaire Q. Oyzon ha 0906-395-3763 o, iemail ha v.oyzon@gmail.com.

Revitalizing Siday: Joey Lianza and the Sirang Theater Ensemble

Some members of the Sirang Theater Ensemble with the writer. Also in photo is Mr. Nick Baquit, assisting director of the ensemble.

Revitalizing Siday:

Joey Lianza and the Sirang Theater Ensemble

By: J. Colima Bajado

Siday, candu, haya, balac, bical, ambahan, and awit are forms of poetry our prehispanic folks take pride. But today, only Siday is known among Waray speakers. Sad thing is, very few reads siday (poem).

It is for this reason why Prof. Joey N. Lianza pledged to share his aptitude in theater by conjoining the elements of theater and poetry. Known for reviving Waray culture, by restaging plays of foremost Waray playwright Illuminado Lucente as well as popularizing zarzuela and pastores, Lianza directed a poetry performance in the recently concluded Pasidungog Eduardo Makabenta Sr. Para Han Siday, the equivalent of Palanca Awards in Waray literary scene.

“And the word was made flesh”

Voltaire Q. Oyzon, himself a poet, commended the poetry performance of the Sirang Theater Ensemble (STE).  “Siguro tikang yana, kinahanglan gud ig perform iton siday, kay mas nabubuhi. Bagat an pulong ba, nabubutangan hin unod” (From now on, I think siday should be performed because the performance gives life to it. Just like (bible quote) the word was made flesh), Oyzon added.

“Namarahiyaw an ak barahibo” (I experienced goose bumps), said another poet Noel Lopido when he saw one of his poems performed. Ms. Bebeth Alunan, granddaughter of the late Eduardo Makabenta Sr. agreed with Lopido and furtherly claimed that “indeed poetry performance is way way better than just plainly reading it.”

The winning poems of the annual Pasidungog Makabenta will then be performed by the members of STE on the 13^th of October every year, in honor of the Waray poet Eduardo Makabenta Sr.’s birthday.

Cultural worker than Director

Prof. Lianza, director of the Cultural Affairs and Special Projects Office of the Leyte Normal University shared that although he gets no material pay off from such endeavors, he is happy with his “little” contributions to the Waray culture in order to “rediscover our identity- our differences, our similarities, our pluralities- by performing, creating and recreating. I see myself less than a director, but more of cultural worker”, he explains.

Prof. Lianza also hopes that his efforts will gain support especially from art-makers and other cultural workers in the region by bringing Siday to everyone’s consciousness at least.

Re-dawning of Sirang

Sirang, literally means dawn, has been established with a social conscience and with performing arts as its medium. But coming up with remarkable performances have never been simple.

Current members of STE have to trounce the stern rehearsals of their uncompromising director. Dessa Reyes shared that she was startled at first, every time the “feisty” Joey Lianza would screech to her puerile acting performance. But as she become proficient at her acting skills, “I think shouting is equal to motivating”, Dessa added with a smirk.

Surely, after successfully popularizing zarzuela and pastores, Prof. Lianza and the STE is dawning again another kick in our culture and the Waray ethos as a whole.

Looking back in order to move forward

“Claiming our context and meaning as peoples is like a journey. We should go back in order to move forward. We cannot move forward if we don’t take a look on our past, because it is from the past that we learn who we are- who we were used to be, who we are now, and who we are becoming”, this is his reply when asked where is Siday now and where are is it going?

Prof. Lianza hopes that through the Sinirangan Theater Ensemble’s performances of poems in Waray, he help not only popularize the poem of the writer but more of popularizing the language and the stories that every poem tells- the stories of the Warays. ###

Prof. Lianza

This article is published in Gahum Weekly, Vol. 2 No. 25. Nov. 14-23, 2011 issue.

Feature: An artist in the making: Chevin Villaflor and his “Muses”

A SIGN. The birthmark covering almost a quarter of Chevin Villaflor’s face could be a sign that he will become a visual artist.

An artist in the making: Chevin Villaflor and his “Muses” 

J. Colima Bajado

With the flourishing of visual arts in the region today, equally budding is an artist- 18 year old Chevin Villaflor.

Starting from pencil sketches and crayon drawings in gradeschool, he once garnered the first place for editorial cartooning in a Regional Schools Press Conference in high school.  Chevin, now a Business Administration student in Samar College, is striving to use other medium of painting.

“Most people (say) that I have the gift of art. I guess that's the major (motivation)”, he said. Surely, his vivid imagination would invigorate his membership to the growing pool of artists in the region.

Chevin’s Muses: Kataw and Kakanog

When asked why the subjects of a collection of his artwork, tagged by him as “My Muses”, were mostly women, he answered, “My themes usually are women…(because) I view them more sublime than men.”

            Chevin added that “…most (of my) themes are (inspired by) folklore, mythology (and) history…(because I) am a big fan of culture and tradition and I guess, that shows in my art. Sometimes, I (do) abstract concepts like my watercolor piece entitled "Pagbaribad han Kalag". I am not an abstract artist though; I always strive to provide readily comprehensible images. Ornate but understated.”

            As a student of art at the same time a proud Waraynon, Chevin endeavors to capture the Waray culture which is prevalent in his works “Kataw” and “Kakanog”, which furtherly belongs to the “My Muses” collection.

            Kataw, the half fish-half human image, though a “fictional” element of our culture, was believed to be existent in our folk tradition as attested by the Jesuit scholar Francisco Ignacio Alzina in his monumental work, Historia de las Islas e indios de Bisayas, published in 1668.

            While the Kakanog, a moth-butterfly, is a prehispanic Waraynon simile used to describe a woman who wears an outfit of varied colors which becomes her with elegance. However, Kakanog is believed to be a bearer of evil omens.

“Artist Gene" ?

Chevin shared that he has been asked not a few times whether he is related to the celebrated Waray visual artist, Leo Villaflor. “I've heard his name numerous times, but I am not, in any way related to him,” the young boy explains.

All “art lover” in the region identify the late Leovigildo “Leo” Villaflor as the “Grand Daddy” of Visual Arts in Eastern Visayas. When he died February this year, Dulz Cuna, herself an artist, remarked that “(losing) him… is a poignant thing (for the artists in the region)” ,  considering his innovative and pioneering contribution in the scene of visual arts, the  “tuba painting”.

            While Maestro Leo Villaflor popularized the tuba painting, Chevin integrates Waray taste in his artworks, as much as possible.  Though not related by consanguinity, Chevin is “flattered” to know that he bears the same family name of a “true visual artist”. Truly, Chevin's parents Gemma and Arnold are not only flattered but also proud to see the first step of their son towards a greater part of artistry.

Future of Visual Arts in EV

Recently concluded Arangay Exhibit 2 which showcased different works of our visual artists from all over the region is a living testament of the growth of visual arts in Eastern Visayas. Works of notable artists like Dante Enage, Ed Rompal, Noel Sagayap, Aris Ventures, Jaime Sagayap and Dulz Cuna to name a few, were exhibited at the UPVTC Humanities Lab and Hall, inside the UP Tacloban campus. Another exhibit, tentatively named as “Waray Tupong” , is set this November.

            Chevin, an artist in the making, true as it may seem, needs to “spill more paints” in order to assume a “name” in visual arts. But with a mix of colored imaginations and strokes of determination and discipline, no doubt, he will become part of our pool of artists, sooner or later. ###

Published in Gahum Weekly Vol.2, # 23.

Kataw, half fish- half human, is believed to be friendly with fishermen, which occasionally leads to a forbidden love; Medium: Water Color and ink.

Kakanog, a moth-butterfly, despite its inviting colors, is believed to be bearer of evil omens; Medium: Oil and pen.

Title: Pagbaribad han Kalag; Medium: Watercolor and ink.