Author: ajay

As I said in my Plurk, I need to evolve in my blogging and that’s why I joined Barrio Siete, the refuge of all barrio folks who have made their mark in the city. It is always nice to go back to one’s roots and smell the breeze. My only mistake is that I thought we would all reminisce about all things promdi. I didn’t quite expect that we would talk about current affairs and intellectual chorva of the highest order. Napasabak tuloy ako!

Take for instance my post yesterday. Usually, I prefer writing about food, travel and other kakikayan sa buhay. I never really thought I’d go back to writing about Katrina Halili and the danged video scandal again. I had to because I need to blend in and be a trying hard social climber with all those heavyweights in BarrioCity like Reynz, the CPA with MBA from George Washington U, Cath ~ the CPA with doctorate and former dean, and other twinkle twinkle little stars (stand up to be counted na lang mga bro…. at bra).

The members are so prolific in Barrio Siete and the place is always packed with comments and posts. Not a dull moment here. If you’re a Filipino who wants to see a different dimension to present day blogging come on in. The only disadvantage is that the blog is predominantly written in Tagalog and might not be tailored for foreigner-kibitzers who don’t understand our native tongue. In that case, there’s always Yahoo or Google translator.

With all the action and reaction… mark my word, Barrio Siete will be an emerging influencer.

I mean, my votes for DigitalFilipino’s Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2009 is up soon. Masaya ito!

What could be more Filipino than pandesal? One good part of living in the Philippines is being able to partake of piping hot pandesal during breakfast, or merienda. There is nothing like the taste of this rounded bread full of crumbs, about the size of a fist, which is versatile enough to be eaten with a lot of fillings, with coffee or with native hot chocolate.

Pandesal has social relevance too. Observers are fond of equating the size and price of the pandesal with the state of the economy. Indeed, it has upped its value from one peso each to about two pesos now, depending on the bakery or store. Signs of the times.

There are also gourmet purveyors of this national bread. Take for example, The Breadbag Pandesal Bar which we tried, upon a friend’s recommendation. Their neat hole-in-the-wall at the Ortigas Home Depot in Pasig is set to expand soon to Megamall and the Fort. One of the owners happens to belong to the family of the defunct Casa Marcos. Even though the once-popular restaurant is closed, they’ve kept the wood-fired brick oven used for baking their pan de sal and it’s now at The Bread Bag. You will know it differs from the others because of the texture and superior quality.

The Pan Ala Cubana (P111) is their take on the mainstream Pinoy dish with sauteed ground meat, a slice of fried saba banana and sunny side up egg ~ large enough to fill a big bun. These are served with sauce and kamote chips.

Another meal (or snack, if you prefer) is the pan de sal with adobo flakes and kesong puti (P111), served with a separate adobo sauce.

The Bread Bag’s fillings are rather fancy, although you can just order plain pan de sal at P6 each and the whole wheat variety is more expensive at P7. When I asked why they’re a bit pricey, the owner replied that their pan de sal isn’t just full of air, but are standardized at 50 grams each

This is the Cream of Mushroom Soup on a Pandesal Bread Bowl that my son had. It was yummy.

I also liked their new offering, the Pandesal Pudding (P99) – day-old bread made even more delicious with a generous dash of caramel sauce. Great with their native hot chocolate, a comfort brew in every sense of the word.

The store’s official website rocks! Take a look to see the many things they’ve done with the poor man’s bread. Not missing are the palaman made from menudo, caldereta, corned beef, sardines, and embutido, to name just a few.

When I teased them about their user-friendly website, I found out that it wasn’t really a wonder since our host (and one of the owners) Mr. Kevin Khoe, used to be the CEO of Yehey.com and heads the company which overhauled Manila Bulletin Online recently. Thanks Kevin!

The Bread Bag Pandesal Bar
Unit 20A/21A Ortigas Home Depot
J. Vargas St., Pasig City
Call 7037784 for delivery

This blog is glad to host the June 3 edition of the Carnival of Cities, an interesting study in geography where bloggers write about an aspect of a city they live in or have visited which other people may not know about.

This festival was started by Ms. Sheila Scarborough of The Family Travel Guide and was hosted last April 22 by Jack of Eyeflare Travel Advice and Tips.

What goes in here: any narrative you have of any place in the world you have visited or lived in. The better if you have pictures to show for it.

To submit an entry, head on over to the blog carnival submission page, preferably with a link back to this announcement. Spam articles will not be entertained. I will read your stories until June 2, 2009 and post the round-up on June 3. Maraming salamat That’s thank you in Filipino folks.

I didn’t stay long enough to catch the announcement of the winners among the beauteous sagalas that graced the Flores de Mayo 2009 last May 24 at the Mall of Asia. So here they are: (via Unilever Philippines)

Shown (from left) are: Anna Marie Burgos, awarded Miss Cream Silk; Janina San Miguel, crowned La Flor de Manila; Reissa Ileto, bagging the night’s most coveted Rosa Mystica; Andrea Abesamis, as the Reina de las Flores; and Glennifer Perido, as Miss Ponds.

Here are some pics of the winning girls which I didn’t include the last time, and their exquisitely-designed ternos.

Miss Cream Silk wore a predominantly off-white terno with swirls of petals on the skirt. It looked good enough for a Filipiniana-themed wedding.

Miss Pond’s wore a fetching aqua blue gown, accented again by flowers.

This brocade gown won honors for designer Jan Garcia, and sagala Andrea Abesamis, voted this year’s Reyna de las Flores.

Incidentally, photographers who took pictures of the event have until May 29 to submit their entries to the Flores de Mayo 2009 Photo Contest. Submissions must be printed in full-color, 8 x 10 format, with an accompanying receipt worth P250 of any Unilever product.

Prizes at stake are P50,000, P25,000 and P15,000 plus gift packs and a special prize of P10,000.

The merry month of May ushers in the Santacruzan festival across the country. This is the queen of all fiestas honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary. Even people from other faiths find reason to celebrate during this annual event as it takes on a significance other than the cultural and religious. Townsfolk usually ogle at lovely sagalas (with their escorts) and the beautiful gowns they’re wearing.

Manila’s annual Flores de Mayo is no exception. In previous years, it was held at the Manila Hotel and the Rajah Sulayman Park. This time around, the venue was the sprawling Mall of Asia.The much-awaited parade featured the city’s fairest ladies wearing the creations of top couturiers. It was time to practice with my camera again, and take a few pics. All of the ladies wore designer interpretations of the terno, the native Filipino clothing popularized by Imelda Marcos.

Resigned Bb. Pilipinas World 2008 Janina San Miguel was an eyecatching sign in this elaborate brocade gown by Jontie Martinez.

The hair and accessories of the beauty queens were really impressive. Look at the details. Of course, Filipinas don’t go out like this everyday. But hey, this happens only once a year!

This year’s theme was “Bellissima Filipina” and had the Venetian touch. Hence, the ladies carried Venetian masks. Above gown by in-demand designer Danilo Franco even had a painting of the Sistine Chapel on the skirt.

Overall, the works of the Filipino designers were really impressive. They were able to show not only the elegance of the Filiino terno, but the terno with a global touch. Take for instance this colorful Mexican-inspired creation by Gin Villamayor.

Long-time couturier Renee Salud is shown with the costume he fashioned for Miss Earth 2008 Karla Henry.

Waiting and preparation time! This was before the fashion show and parade around the MOA stores.

More of the winsome sagalas:

Flores de Mayo 2009 was organized by the Congregacion del Santisimo Nombre del Nino Jesus headed by Ben Farrales, in cooperation with SM MOA, the Department of Tourism and Unilever Philippines.