Insights on Random Things
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International Cooking Made Local
A cooking class in Chiang Mai revealed something deeper than recipes. With tanglad, biasong, and siling labuyo from my own garden, I discovered that the line between foreign and familiar is thinner than we think. International cooking, it turns out, is often already local.
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Memories of World War 2
Documenting the stories of our elders is the best way to keep their memories of WW2.
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Is it Rizal speaking in the Noli Me Tangere?
Each of the Noli’s translators bring a piece of themselves to the story.
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Say Hello to the Japanese Halo-Halo
Shaved ice with red beans and fruits was introduced by Japanese immigrants in Manila before World War II.
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Tasting a Huge Lechon in a Mountain Barangay
A visit to Barangay Adlaon in Cebu showed me that mountain barangays prize the huge lechon baboy or roasted pig more than the smaller pig.
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The Chili in everyone’s kitchen and the Manila Galleon Trade
How the Manila Galleon Trade spiced up the World’s Kitchens Part 2 of 2
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Beans, Chilis, and the Manila Galleon Trade
How the Manila Galleon Trade spiced up the World’s Kitchens Part 1 of 2. Mexican ingredients found its way into Spanish, Filipino, and Chinese kitchens. Africans, Asians, and other Europeans who arrived in Mexico added their cultures into the mix.
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Maria Clara the Tragic
Who is the real Maria Clara? Part 2 of 2 parts. If there has to be a single adjective for Maria Clara of the Noli Me Tangere, it cannot be ideal because author Dr. Jose Rizal never called her that. He called her pure, beautiful, and brave, but each of these words do not sum…
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Who is the real Maria Clara?
Part 1 of 2 parts: Maria Clara the Brave When Jose Rizal’s fictional governor-general in the Noli Me Tangere remarked that Maria Clara was the most virtuous of daughters, he wasn’t referring to her Catholic moral virtues, but rather, to her courage. Yes, Maria Clara was actually brave. Her courage, however, is hardly talked about…
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Dayong is how Visayans do Bayanihan
The Dayong is composed of some 100 neighboring families in Bohol that help the bereaved in the wake and burial rites.
Got any book recommendations?