Thursday, February 01, 2007 Magsaysay: Killing me softly, sweetly By Jo Magsaysay Whatever
HOME cooking was never like this. Inato lang. Kono.
*****
For starters: artichokes on saltines. Pistachio nuts. White wine. Out in the wind-swept balcony, high, wide and handsome, stretching all the way.
Raising the ceiling, that’s all. Our hostess, Mariquita Yeung was matter-of-fact. She advised it, the living room, furniture and all. Like it? Loved it! Tess Schoeff, interior decorator from Hong Kong, a decorative piece of work herself: tanned, leggy, tawny hair. A "single" she agreed. ‘I come up here every so often to unwind,’ Gwen Garcia sighed. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was happily wiggling her toes contentedly under the table. It was that kind of place, opulent but not showy. It was that kind of down-to-earth-no-nonsense people letting their hair down.
Down the steps, past the swimming pool, past the koi, golden flashes shimmering in the dark waters of the winding pond. Into the cupola commanding a dazzling panorama of city lights below. Dinner. The Hong Kong chef must have been given the night off, the resident cocinera taking over the kitchen. The menu: completely bisdak! Still, waiters waited in long sleeves, bow tie, wrap around ankle-length aprons, highly- polished chafing dishes uncovering pochero, ampalaya, green beans, tofu, broiled lapulapu, and the ubiquitous lechon. If anyone ever slurps daintily, Jimmy Picornell who did just that, doing fine justice to a steaming bowl of pochero. From the thermoregulated cellar of Carlos Yeung, where nothing but the best vintage wines breathe and age beautifully, bottles of red and white were uncorked and poured. Toast to the Cebu Governor for the CICC, for the success of the Asean summit. Toasts to Dr. Jorge "Bebe" Barba for just being there, the best ever. Earlier that afternoon no less than His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had dropped in on the Yeungs and then over to Dr. Barba’s condo in City Lights to bless a portrait of Pope Benedict that a young seminarian painted for Bebe. But more about this good doctor who is one of m y choices for best dressed, he is always impeccable, always so crisp and neat-looking like he just had a fresh scrub, always a sartorial model of understated elegance.
*****
"To a couple who makes me believe that marriage really works!" Gwen raising her class to Carlos and Mariquita blissfully married for almost 30 years. A pleasure to see that the ruddy, robust, broad shouldered, silver-haired guy with the physique of an athlete turned out to be an old acquaintance: Ben Hur Salimbangon who owes it all to golf.
Along with brothers Cesar and Fred, they make an avid-rabid trio of golfers, I hear.
Joining Mariquita’s brothers in the other table, Flor Ynclino, who is a kissing cousin, and Monette Aliño, practically a “fixture” of the family, being present in all gatherings of the clan to plan Mariquita’s Operation Smile next month.
A late coming Benjie Diola giving breathless hugs and kisses and vocalizing Aida!Aida! (pronounced ayeeda), the Broadway musical by Tim Rice and Elton John, inspired by Verdi’s opera about love and betrayal, the stuff that drama and tragedy are made of. Benjie‘s directing and hopes Gwen will play the part of the Nubian princess Aida whom the Egyptian military chief Radames loved. With her high cheekbones, angular features and graceful neck, Gwen looks more like the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, but she would be grand as Aida. But can she sing? Who cares? She can start singing lessons now and by August she will be a sensation!
*****
Home cooking, Barili-style over at Dr. Bebe Barba’s condo. The unit was dominated by a couple of big Viennese mirrors and a gallery of paintings. On the dining tableu (hey! Could have been a baby grand under the tablecloth)…platters of sotanghon, lumpia, fried shrimp, sweet sour lapulapu, crab cakes and caldereta, so tender and spicy it was delicious! From where I was ensconced, a side table blossomed with cloissone enamel plates hand-painted with portraits of royal ladies Queen Elizabeth, the Queen mother and Princess Diana. A culture buff, Dr. Barba one of New York’s leading oncologists, whose sprawling mansion in the enclave of the rich and famous in upper New York where my friends Nelia N., Chinggay U. and Jimmy P., were house-guests many times over, gurgle and burble over Bebe, who has year-round tickets for Broadway, the Kennedy Center and the Opera House. Who but Dr. Barba would be lugging heavy leather-bound, gilt-edged volumes, classic works for pasalubong to his friends. For me, Melville’s Moby Dick. Far more priceless than any work of art he owns is a photograph of Oliver, his grandson, son of his (with wife Fidelis') only daughter Gia.
A darling child, Oliver, with big, bright, beautiful eyes, curly hair and a smile that God gives only to angels and children. If Dr. Barba could wear that picture on his sleeve like an honor badge, he would!
*****
Dessert? Over at Bebe’s, fruit salad…at Kit’s strawberry ice cream topped with lychees. Killing me softly…sweetly…What a way to go!
