Huffin’ And Puffin’ December 17, 2008
Posted by Alexander Sawit in Stuff in General.add a comment
By Tisha Samson
12 December 2008
Samu on the junkyard cruiser trying to get to North Carolina to visit the Iona Pig…
[EDITOR’S NOTE: It seems that we can’t get enough of the continuing Samu-Iona love story. The pics and message came straight from Samu’s human guardian and our first ever Cyrano friend, Tisha, whose e-mail text I posted above in its entirety along with the original e-mail subject caption. At least we know Samu can take a seat if it’s a first class ride. –Alex Sawit]
To His Corgi Mistress December 9, 2008
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By Alex Sawit
10 December 2008
Not long ago, I introduced Cyrano friends to our official wild boar hunter, Samu, a soft-spoken but self-confident Shiba-Inu who calls upon the comforts of our wine shop whenever he pleases (or at least whenever his humans deem it convenient).
This time, I’d like to call your attention to his officially designated girlfriend, Iona.
Iona is a seven-year old Pembroke Corgi who lives with her humans in that barbecue paradise of the U.S. East Coast, North Carolina. By all trustworthy accounts, Iona possesses all the qualities that make her a compelling match for our Samu. Allow me to mention a few of them:
- Iona has a nice orange-brown coat, as does Samu (in other words, they are color coordinated together).
- Iona has short legs, which is appropriate since Samu is good at hugging the ground (in other words, when they’re on a date, he’ll be on his knees as they look into each other’s eyes while sharing a bowl of Pinot Noir and a plate of roast beef).
- Iona sort of tried to take down a deer in the woods of North Carolina, which is cool since Samu has it in his pedigree to hunt for wild porkers in the forests of Japan (in other words, they’re a match as romantic hunting companions in keeping with the Greek archetypal love story of Artemis and Orion).
- Iona is an “older woman,” which is fine since Samu probably digs that (in other words, they can take inspiration from the Demi Moore-Ashton Kutcher arrangement).
In other words, Iona and Samu are M.F.E.O. in the opinion of this writer. Never mind that she lives with her humans on the other side of the world separated by twelve time zones. True love can find a way.
Which brings me to today’s pressing matter. I just found out that Iona was taken to the vet for a distressing emergency procedure. On behalf of her boyfriend – who for all his remarkable intelligence still requires a human to set his thoughts to the written English language – I would like to convey his most heartfelt concern for his “Lady” as well as his wishes for her speedy recovery. Teeth extracted or not, Iona is still his girl.
So to comfort her, Sarah, please read to Iona the following poem of Andrew Marvell (my apologies to Marvell, but I’ve taken the liberty of altering the title of his poem just for this post, all for a very good cause). Given all that has yet to transpire between these two love birds… er, dogs, I thought it would make a good read. I hope it makes her day – and hopefully it makes her seize it, too. And make sure she understands it’s from her one and only Samu.
To His Corgi Mistress
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust:
The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Samu – The Wild Boar Hunter
Thank Goodness Bourdain Met The Right Folks December 3, 2008
Posted by Alexander Sawit in Food & Drink, The Opinion Page.add a comment
By Alex Sawit
03 December 2008
Whew… just breathing a sigh of relief.
It’s been well over a month since Anthony Bourdain and his amazing crew visited the country to film, for the first time, an episode of No Reservations in the Philippines. As somebody who watches Bourdain’s food & travel shows with keen interest – how often have I played my favorite episodes of A Cook’s Tour for friends here at the wine shop? – I welcomed the news with a winning sense of satisfaction. This visit was long overdue. For years, we could only watch as cable television’s iconic culinary hero traveled to every food destination in Asia except our own. A lot of episodes and several seasons later, Bourdain was feeling the pressure from smiling Filipino fans online and in person (yeah, lots of Pinoys in America), who relentlessly pressed him with the same question again and again. “So when are you going to the Philippines, Tony? When are you going to the Philippines, Tony? You’ve already been everywhere else in Asia… SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO THE PHILIPPINES, TONY???”
It was enough to make even a cool customer like Bourdain feel under pressure. “Of all the people who watch No Reservations,” he wrote anxiously in his blog after arriving in Manila, “it’s been Filipinos who have been consistently among our biggest fans and most vocal about our having yet to film in their country.”
That’s why I was a bit worried. The pressure was on, both on him and on us, to get it right. Like everyone else, I wanted Bourdain to discover Filipino food that was truly, soulfully good. And the only way this would happen was if they found the right Pinoy food lovers who would arrange to bring them to all the right Pinoy food places. My nagging fear was that the No Reservations team would hook up with just about any well-known local food blogger (I’m suddenly reminded of one very popular fellow who just doesn’t seem to know how to discriminate between what’s good and what’s only so-so) and find themselves brought to yet another glitzy commercial center to dine on characterless, sanitized grub made by some big-name local bar & grill.
In short, they needed the right fixers. If they’ve learned anything from shooting No Reservations over the years, it’s that the fixer in the country they’re filming in can make all the difference between a great show and a forgettable one. Just look at past seasons. That Hong Kong Episode? Absolutely fantastic – I tip my hat to the fixers in that glorious piece of television, above all to Hong Kong food blogger Josh, without whom we would not have gotten that memorable segment about the vanishing art of handmade noodles. But that Romania Episode? Heck, even Bourdain found the food trip, or lack of it, in Transylvania a bloody waste of time, largely because they opted to bring in their fixer from Russia instead of recruiting one from among the locals in Dracula’s home town. Bloody waste of time (sorry, can’t help overdoing the vampiric pun).
Well, as I said earlier, it’s been more than a month. But over the last couple of weeks I’ve been searching the web for clues as to how good or bad the Philippines Episode promises to be. I’m glad to say that, so far, it’s all looking very, very good. Piecing together what the different blogs are willing to reveal at this time, Bourdain was constantly on the road, traveling up and down the country to see if he could faithfully absorb as much as possible of our bewildering yet wonderfully compelling mix of Malay, Chinese, Spanish and American culinary influences. And absorb it he did. Among many things, he got to dig his fork over and over into a hot plate of tasty sisig and other Kapampangan delicacies in Angeles, sampled the honest goodness of everyday carinderia fare in Cubao, tucked into classic Filipino versions of Spanish dishes at an old café outside Manila and, to top it all, demolished what he has enthusiastically deemed to be the “best pig ever” on a scenic hill overlooking Cebu City (hopefully the microphones picked up enough crackling sounds for audiences to get an idea of how incredible lechon skin can be).
For all the negative publicity that our cuisine has suffered to its image abroad for one ridiculous reason or another, Bourdain now knows and loves what real Filipino food is all about. Safe to say, we’ve found a friendly new voice to champion our much-overlooked cuisine.
So let me thank all the Pinoy fixers who helped make everything turn out right. I don’t know all your identities yet, but I owe you – we all owe you. For now, I’ll settle for offering a shout out to Claude Tayag (for the Pampanga segment) and Marketman (for the Cebu segment), who have made an outstanding contribution to changing the way the world looks at Filipino food. Thank goodness Bourdain found you guys.
No Reservations: Philippines should be ready for audiences in North America as early as January 2009.
UPDATE (02 January 2009): Based on the schedule posted today on the Travel Channel website, the all-new No Reservations Season 5 premieres on Monday, 05 January at 10 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time). Unfortunately for Pinoy fans, the new season kicks off with the Mexico Episode, to be followed each succeeding Monday night (same time slot) by the episodes on Venice, Washington, D.C., the Azores and Chicago in that order. This means the Philippines Episode will air on the Travel Channel on 09 February 2009.
UPDATE (10 February 2009): Looks like I wrote hastily the last time. It turns out that No Reservations Season 5 has a special “Food Porn” Episode that precedes the Philippines Episode. As of this writing, I’ve already downloaded torrent files of all the preceding episodes and am just waiting for somebody to upload the special. So be advised: The Philippines Episode will definitely air on the Travel Channel on 16 February 2009, 10 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time). And if any of you folks want to see the previous episodes that I have on file, just drop by the shop.
UPDATE (26 April 2009): If you’ve already seen the Philippines Episode and are aware of the continuing debate it has caused among Pinoy fans of the show, you’ll probably want to read my post Reflecting On “No Reservations: Philippines” so you’ll know where I stand on the issues.
