Who’s Afraid of Virginia Cu?

I ATTENDED the Writing from Within: Memoir-Writing Workshop at the Museum Café last August 5, Friday. It was a mixed cozy group of 21 bloggers, mothers, homemakers, businesswomen, art and culture lovers, writers, and educators that underwent the almost three-hour seminar meant to guide us in search of our inner memoirist.

Our mentor that late afternoon was New York-based educator Dr. Virginia Cu of the Association of Filipino Teachers in America (Afta) and formerly of St. John’s Institute. She is a trainer of English as a Second Language (ESL) program for immigrants in New York.

Jurassic Park 4: Extinction

FROM August 7 to 11, more than 15,000 artists, research scientists, gaming experts and developers, film makers, students and academicians from 74 countries gathered at the coastal harbor city of Vancouver in Canada for SIGGRAPH 2011, the world’s premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Power Napping

Let’s just say you’ve just come home from a hard day’s work. You feel like doing nothing else but collapsing in bed and going off to dreamland – and you do just that. Before you realize it you’re back up again and you’re almost late for work – just like you were yesterday. You curse the morning light and dash to the bathroom for your morning rituals. Then you think to yourself, “This wouldn’t be happening if I hadn’t overslept.”

Edifice in Focus: The NOHS Building

DID you know that Rizal Elementary School was Instituto Rizal and was referred to as the provincial high school?

Founded in 1902 by Governor Melencio Severino and Thomasite George W. Bettie, Instituto Rizal became known as Rizal Institute in 1905 when education official reports were written in English.

Of gold and glaciers

AS I was going through the ports of call from Ketchikan, Juneau and, most especially, Skagway, there was the observation of the predominance of Russian stores and icons. My history lessons must have escaped me, for I truly cannot remember that Alaska was once a territory of Russia.

Heart and soul bared through Art

FOR the Alla Prima Art Circle Visual Artists, it was the second time around for a group art exhibit at the Casino Filipino Hotel-Bacolod.

PAGCOR-Bacolod Branch Manager Miss Estrella Luz Macabebe welcomed everybody to the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the hotel's ground floor lobby last July 26, 2011 at 6 in the evening which was graced by Art Association of Bacolod-Negros President Miss Sony Golez and Fr. Wilson Capellan OSA, Vice President for Student Affairs of the Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod.

Home on the range

LAST weekend I had the privilege of joining the ASAF gun club in one of their monthly shooting competitions at the Sta. Fe resort. The competitors shared a brother-like bond with each other – and they were very fair, sharing tips and shooting advice with one another before every match. As the lyrics in the song used as this article’s title state, “Seldom is heard a discouraging word” – unfortunately there wasn’t a single deer or antelope down on the range. The hunting aficionados would’ve done ‘em all in within the first 24 hours.

Fresh Icons 2011

NEWBIE, greenhorn, beginner. These are just some of the terms that describe a freshman. But as every girl and boy can claim his or her place under the sun, then a freshman can also have his “baptism of fire” by asserting his /her presence in the big wide world of university life.

Thus, a newbie can either join the sports varsity club if he has athletic prowess, or be part of the musical group if he possesses a good alto, soprano or tenor voice, or maybe join the theater guild if he can temper his emotions and identify with the character in the script provided.

Spate of the Nation

I MISSED watching the President’s State of the Nation Address on television but surmised that it’s the “same old, same old”, with a marked improvement on the intensity of serious, sincere, genuine desire to see a better Philippines under his helm.

Subject: Crisostomo Ibarra on His Toes

OUR country's history was relevantly written by Dr. Jose Rizal in his Noli Me Tangere. The names of the unforgettable characters became part of the Filipino vocabulary. How could we forget Crisostomo Ibarra whose life was patterned after Dr. Rizal's himself? And Maria Clara the circumstances of whose birth still is a controversy and involved deceit and immoral conduct? (Come to think of it. Maria Clara as poster girl for the RH Bill.)

Ketchikan and the Captain's Dinner

THE Alaskan cruise, which started from Vancouver, Canada traverses through the South East Inside Passage. The first day was at sea and the very first port of call was in Ketchikan already in Alaska shores.

Ketchikan is the salmon capital of the world. In the late 1880’s, pioneers arrived to try their hands at salmon harvesting. Thus, Ketchikan's economy is based on commercial fishing activity, marine and retail services.

What’s on at Watsons

ONCE in a while, an opportunity comes along which makes me feel the perks of being in the media industry. Last July 26, I had the opportunity to go on a privilege shopping tour of the newly renovated Watsons Your Personal Store upon the invitation of Miss Lorena Martinez, Public Relations Officer of SM City Bacolod.

On hand to welcome the invited guests were Store Manager John Sotito, Area Manager for Visayas and Mindanao Joy Oyco and Richelle Lou Rabina, Marketing Supervisor of Watsons who came all the way from Manila and Lorena Martinez.

The Rise of the Pastafarians

There is no easy way to introduce this topic -- the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is quite possibly the dumbest religion on Earth.

TUP-Visayas Sinadya 2011

EVEN if it is to some people, a student’s life is not necessarily a bore. With the thrust of delivering holistic education for life, there are always activities, which color and spice up a geek, nerd, plebian or a scholar’s life. Moreover, there’s the found wisdom in “all work and no play makes Juan a dull boy” adage.

So what happens when 1,300 and more students gather in one place sans the books, projects or exams? Well, it is just but plain fun, fun and fun.

Cruising with the Diamond Princess

SOMTIME in March, my aunt Carmela Lizares Du gave me a most welcome surprise with an invitation to join her and her husband’s family, Benjamin Du, for an Alaska Cruise. Ecstatic was the first reaction to go to far-off Alaska, the place we know from grade school as the land of Eskimos and igloos.

The cruise was to depart from Vancouver, so there was the need to secure a Canadian visa. So I held my euphoria at bay until that visa could be granted.

The Mighty Meatloaf

I LOVE making meatloaf. For us Filipinos, it’s just a posh way to say a bigger “embutido”. But the difference between an American meatloaf to a Filipino embutido is how it is cooked. Embutido is wrapped in foil and steamed (others even boil them), but meatloaf is baked in the oven.

The Flavors of Sabor Bisaya: A culinary competition & food expo

I HAD the most satisfying lunch with chef Miner del Mundo at the O Hotel, one of the places where he does consultancy work.

Hello Vancouver and Victoria

AFTER over a month’s vacation in North America, allow me to share with you wonderful moments I experienced during a most blest trip reconnecting with old friends and visiting places I have never ventured before.

My first stop after almost living a day in the plane with two stops in Narita, Tokyo and Portland in Oregon USA was Vancouver.

On brown rice and 'Twin Cyclops'

RICE is always the staple food of us Filipinos. We eat either steamed or fried rice regularly and we seem not to be able to live without it.

Whatever may be our viand, be it fried galunggong or lechon paksiw, or even another carbo-rich bihon or pancit (yes, queer to some, but this is true), Filipinos’ three square meals a day is dotted with rice.

Night at the Museum

RECENTLY, I made my way to the 2nd floor of Lopue’s Mandalagan to claim my discount card from their issuing office.

After climbing up the flight of stairs, I walked across a large furniture gallery where various fiberglass figures were positioned among the different pieces of furniture. There was a zebra, a camel, an Indian tribal chieftain, an Indian warrior doing a rain dance, an Indian with a wolf, a pirate and even a dinosaur of the Velociraptor variety.

The future of gaming

IN ANCIENT times (circa 1980) a video game was a 2D mash of pixels and images that one could barely recognize, with one set objective for the player – no matter if it was saving the princess like in Super Mario Brothers (or Prince of Persia), clearing away lines and lines of blocks in Tetris, beating your opponent in a tennis game like in pong, so on and so forth.

There was always a single goal that the player had to accomplish, and it was what he did to complete that goal that made the game fun.

E Models Asia on the ramp

WHAT started last year as a request from a mall to stage monthly fashion shows there has turned into an association of 107 models from the initial 34 when E Models Asia was founded in January 29 this year. At last year's Moda Masskara, eight of the E Models qualified to be part of the fashion show. After that, E Models got invitations to grace Bacolaodiat 2011, SM's Earth Day celebration, and the Panaad festival where the models became live mannequins for the costume exhibit. So far, the fashion mannequins participated in four grand fashion shows produced by E Models Asia.

'O' is for OISCA (One Family, One Roof, One Sky)

NEGROS Occidental has been chosen as the site of OISCA's 50th International Anniversary Celebration with OISCA International Philippines Chapter as host.

Angels as we see them

ANGELS are commonly regarded as benevolent celestial beings who are God's followers. They are usually visualized as having human form with halos and wings. As youngsters, we first got acquainted with angels through the concept of a guardian angel who watches over us in our everyday lives. "Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here" opens the beautiful prayer we learned in our childhood years.

Almost Free in the City: Fitness by Tai Chi

IF WALKING around the Capitol Lagoon Park gets too monotonous for you, the Wushu Federation Phils. (Bacolod and Negros Chapter) hosts tai chi classes at the New Government Center (6 a.m. on Saturdays), SM Mall (7 a.m. on Sundays), and Yong Tho Temple gym at Montelibano Avenue (6 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays).

OSPA–Farmers’ Medical Center celebrates 40th anniversary

LAST June 25, the Ormoc Sugarcane Planters Association–Farmers’ Medical Center (OSPA-FMC) celebrated its 40th anniversary with the theme “40 Years of Providing Quality Healthcare Through Excellent Service”.

What distinguishes this hospital from other hospitals is that OSPA-FMC was initially conceived to serve the medical needs of OSPA planter-members and their families, as well as their farm workers and their dependents.

Pasta!

I’M almost certain that the first pasta you’ve ever tasted in your entire life was spaghetti – and it was at your kid cousin’s birthday party – and it had ground beef, hotdogs, grated cheese, and tomato sauce.

The Museum Café reopens

THE reopening of the Museum Cafe was a glittering affair. The cafe was all aglow when it opened its doors to excited guests on June 24, 2011.

It was not only well-attended by the who's who of the local social scene but showed promise to keep them coming back with its mainly European fare. My Team Tikim members Bambi Borromeo, Maricar Dabao, and Glady Tomulto were there and we waited in eager anticipation for a sampling from their menu.

Patatas, Potatoes, Taters, Kamja, etc.

THE humble potato. We call it ‘patatas’ like our Spanish brethren, Taters in American slang, and here in Korea, it is called ‘kamja’. Those on a low carb diet avoid potatoes at all cost but me and my family, we love this starchy vegetable in our meals. As a side dish, snack, even as an entrée, the potato is very versatile and can even help stretch out a meal for the budget-conscious.

Saving lives through photographs

WHEN words are not enough, one can look at a painting, or a photograph.