Last Sunday, while I was standing in front of a restaurant in Quezon City, a man obliquely across the street stopped walking, positioned himself between a post and wall and urinated. An all too familiar scene in Metro Manila. Yes, men and women have biological differences. Women menstruate, get pregnant, give birth and breastfeed, and ... (more)
Electoral reforms
Posted on November 25, 2008 · 12 Comments
(Today’s column) What if we can hold the 2010 elections without printing ballots, without fear that ballot boxes would be stolen and switched and without worrying about “dagdag-bawas”? No, I am not talking about the kind of computerized voting that the Commission on Elections has in mind. Think hanging chad in the 2000 battle between ... (more)
The future (vice) president of the Philippines?
Posted on October 13, 2008 · 11 Comments
This is a true story. There’s this girl, a high school junior, whom I’ll call Anita. She was a candidate for Vice President in the student government and she won by a slim two-vote victory. She won. There was no doubt about that. There were no accusations of cheating or anything. As far as the ... (more)
Drunks don’t cook delicious meals?
Posted on August 28, 2008 · 17 Comments
British chef Jamie Oliver has hit the headlines again. He criticized his fellow Brits by saying the quality of British cuisine has deteriorated because the Britons prefer to get drunk rather than eat. Based on comments posted in The Telegraph, some of his countrymen agree while others are furious, one even calling Oliver a “self-opinionated ... (more)
The girl worth marrying
Posted on August 14, 2008 · 27 Comments
In an earlier entry about “pikot”, Jon commented: My wife sometimes asked me if I would’ve married her had she been a fling or a one-night stand. My answer was “of course not!” Marriage is reserved for people worth marrying. Anything less is a broken family in the making. I asked him to define what ... (more)
What is pikot?
Posted on August 12, 2008 · 44 Comments
(Today’s column) Every three years, my husband’s eldest brother, his wife and two sons spend three weeks in the Philippines. He and his wife have been living in a suburb of Chicago for over 20 years and both of their sons were born and raised there. They arrived over a week ago and, last Sunday, ... (more)
The less than perfect child
Posted on August 7, 2008 · 9 Comments
I was reading the case of Danielle (via Dooce), now called Dani, and please go read about this mind-blowing case of child neglect, about a feral child adopted by a couple with a young son. I am simply amazed at the care that the adoptive parents are giving her. Part of me says the article ... (more)
Coffee, dear?
Posted on July 24, 2008 · 37 Comments
(Today’s column) We had our occasional red meat last Sunday. We really wanted steaks and mashed potatoes but S&R ran out of rib eye steaks so my husband bought pork loin instead. Then, he cooked tequila porkloin, a beloved dish from Tucker Shaw’s “Gentlemen, Start Your Ovens: Killer Recipes for Guys”. Sunday in our house ... (more)
Emergency
Posted on July 23, 2008 · 16 Comments
At 10.30 a.m. today, one of the house helpers came up to my study to tell me that we had no more rice to cook for lunch. Wow, and I was hoping for a leisurely day. We had a huge bowl of leftover stir fried beef and vegetables that I cooked for the kids’ packed ... (more)
The Cinderella mentality in a democracy
Posted on July 23, 2008 · 19 Comments
My current desk editor (she’s my third) in Manila Standard Today also writes an op-ed column. In her column published a month ago, she wrote her thoughts after seeing The Other Boleyn Girl. As to what led me to that particular column, well, I was digging through the archives looking for Emil Jurado’s column lambasting ... (more)
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