28
May

Oil companies are evil!

So last Monday, I hitched a ride with a former officemate. We had to refill gas at a gas station (where else), and so the driver told the gas boy to fill up Php 300 worth of diesel. How many liters of diesel would Php 300 get?

I knew it! Oil companies are eveel!

28
May

The price of legitimacy

What’s the price of legitimacy? Just ask Gloria Arroyo.

For the past three months, her regime has pulled the populist tack out of nowhere, only to see the regime’s efforts crumble piece by piece. It began with the so-called rice crisis, which is global in nature. The regime tried to take advantage of the situation, only to see this effort blow in its face. By allowing Arthur Yap to take the first shot in bringing this issue to the fore, in the hopes that the people would see it in good light, the regime has only proven its ineptitude. For such a crisis cannot appear out of a vacuum; it builds up till the supply tightens and prices soar. This crisis had shown that the regime lack the foresight to know that it would come to this, even if the signs were already known to them.

Then, Winston Garcia, head of GSIS, trained his sights on Meralco, owned by the Lopez family, who happens to own ABS-CBN, who happens to appear critical of the current dispensation. He raised a lot of issues via the media, like the opposition is wont of doing (at least, according to the Fortress by the Pasig). He could be believable if he had raised his issues on the proper forum – the Energy Regulatory Commission, for starters. For an ardent supporter of Gloria Arroyo, he should have known better. The Fortress keeps on calling its critics to bring the issues to their proper forum; yet here’s an administration lackey, crying like his marbles were stolen. Also, the current woes of GSIS and its members make his calls for better management of Meralco hollow at best.

Next, we have the House of Reprehensibles gunning on mobile telecommunication companies. It is common knowledge that these telcos earn a lot of money from short message service (SMS) or text messaging, and in turn, the government earns taxes via the despised Value Added Tax (VAT). When the VAT was raised to 12%, text messaging is covered by the increase. And there were even efforts to impose more taxes on text messaging, to curb addiction to the service (making text messaging similar to beer and cigarettes). So to find the House take an about-face and entertain the idea of making text messaging a free service is not only ironic, it is also tragically AGREEABLE to everyone. In lieu of tax on text messaging, the House wants to re-impose franchise tax on telcos, who will surely pass this cost on to consumers. So a seemingly pro-consumer policy will not benefit the consumer at all. A tax, by any other name, is still a tax.

And the latest one? She just ordered state universities and colleges (SUCs) not to increase tuition rates (for those who had already increased their rates, to refund these increases). Nice, right? But this action places a big burden on SUCs, who are seeing their budgets slashed over the years. SUCs are hard pressed now to fund their operations, and without a budget increase forthcoming, we now wonder what would they do. And again, lukewarm reaction.

Despite the seemingly populists ideas by this regime (which are not), the reception by the people is lukewarm at best. Either because the people sees through the camouflage (which some commentators will dispute, though I won’t name names, since you know who they are) or they are weary of an administration whose legitimacy is suspect. If Gloria Arroyo has the undisputed support of the people, maybe the majority would hail her policies, specially the poor. If we have another person as president now, it might even be possible to pull off these policies and appear as a hero. But never with the current one.

What’s the price of legitimacy? Just ask Gloria Arroyo.

I forgot to place this anecdote in the previous post, since the context applies to the current woes being faced by Meralco.

Last Sunday, I came from church, and my mother reported that a barangay kagawad (councilor) was making the rounds, asking people to sign a piece of paper. It was supposed to be a petition calling for lower electricity rates. But when my mom scanned the document, she found a list of reasons, and number one referred to the Lopez family. My mom refused to sign, knowing it was political in nature, most likely concocted by a local official allied with the current regime. My mom refused to be used by this regime for its political games.

There is nothing wrong with such a petition, but we must petition for the RIGHT reasons.

Gloria Arroyo continues to claim that the country is a good place to invest in, that we have the best environment for business investments. With the Meralco and telco episodes, I will not be surprised if investors would use a ten-thousand-foot pole before approaching our country.

After rice, electricity, and text messaging, what’s next? The Internet?

28
May

Are you cheap with kitchen stuff?


(This is my first post here, and I thank Arbet for granting me the honor although, technically, I’m not a bachelor anymore. 😉 Comic credit: Stove Ownership by XKCD)

When a bachelor decides to cook “for real” (that is, use a stove and pots and pans instead of a microwave oven) he has to go through this unimaginably excruciating process of deciding what stuff to get.

Of course, of prime consideration is budget. It might occur to him to scrimp on cooking stuff because he’d probably use the stuff only half the time (eating out and, well, microwaving stuff on the other half). But he only needs to remind himself that a.) he’s playing with fire and b.) he’s dealing with stuff he puts in his mouth to realize that being cheap with kitchen stuff isn’t worth the risk.

Of course I learned part of this lesson the hard way.

The only stuff I didn’t scrimp on was the stove. While I didn’t get an expensive La Germania, I took a Nikon dual-burner for 750 pesos and a 400+ peso gas regulator. Fire is something I really didn’t even want to entertain — but I didn’t want to get an electric stove either (curse you Meralco!). I also got a model with automatic ignition — didn’t want to bother with lighters, lighter fluid, and matches anyway.

The pots and pans were a different story. I found these cheap China-made pans in SM Hypermarket that sold for 275 pesos. That’s for 20″, 24″, and 28″ frying pans. I also got a stainless steel pot, a nylon turner/spatula (the one you use for frying), a steel can opener and a steel ladle. I got the cheapest ones I could find. I’m all set.

First sign of trouble came with the can opener. It just wasn’t… sharp enough. It cut through the can on the first “bite” came through fine, but when you turned the handle it just went up the can cover and made a shallow dent.

Crap. I borrowed a can opener from a neighbor just to be able to eat breakfast.

A few weeks later and it was evident just how cheap the pans and the turner were. Plastic flakes was coming off of the turner’s edge, and the non-stick coating on the small and medium pans were mottling after just a few days use. The worst story was the large 28″ pan. The moment I picked it up filled with food, the pan handle just gave. And that was the first time that pan was used.

Crap! Good thing the food did not spill.

When the non-stick material on the cheap pans just whittled away after a few weeks, I finally gave them up and decided to get real pans. Good thing some branded, Teflon coated pans were on sale in SM. Got thicker pans with real Teflon on them for half the price. Great. All of the cheap China pans were retired.

But there’s no such thing as a coincidence, and one of the Teflon pans revealed its reason to come into my kitchen a few weeks later.

I woke up a little earlier than usual, and decided to have the longganisa that I requested that had come from Pangasinan. I got a Teflon pan, put water in it, brought the water to a boil, put in the longganisa. Then, for some reason, I put down the nylon turner ON the pan’s edge, and sat down, waiting.

And fell asleep.

Shit happens when you mix cooking and sleep, of course.

I woke up with the loud sizzling on the pan and the stench of burning plastic. SHIT. I stood up and hurried to the stove to find the nylon turner melted three fourths of its way through the pan’s edge. SHIT! I turned the fire off, picked pan and turner, hurried to the sink and turned on the water.

It was too late. Sticky, molten plastic had trickled down both the inner and outer surface of the pan, with small particles dribbling within the oil that was supposed to cook my breakfast/baon. The turner was beyond repair, and I had lost 8 pieces of absolutely delicious but carcinogen-coated longganisa. Worse, a thick blob of plastic stuck itself on a 500 peso frying pan!

Frustrated, I threw the turner and longganisa in the trash, and poured dishwashing liquid on the pan. Hoping against hope, I scrubbed on the cooking surface of the pan — and just like that, the blob of hardened plastic detached itself from the cooking surface. I was surprised, but then it occurred to me: Teflon was supposed to do this, that is, keep stuff from sticking to it permanently. And that’s why it’s that expensive.

Unfortunately the plastic that dried on the outer surface of the pan won’t come off as easily. It continues to cling to the pan as a reminder of that whole disaster.

I now use a stainless steel turner, making sure I do not scrape the Teflon surface too hard.

28
May

Do Tempura and Razons mix?

So last Friday, the Bachelor Food bloggers Juned, MLQ3, and I went to Greenhills. As Juned was already at Greenhills, it was decided that we meet there to eat. While on the car, we passed by Razon’s Halo Halo. Remembering contrasting comments about Razon’s, so I blurted out that we should try their halo halo. And so we picked up Juned at Krispy Kreme, and on the car debated on where to eat. MLQ3 suggested a Japanese restaurant near Razon’s, so there we went.

The name of the restaurant is Tempura! (with an exclamation point). MLQ3 ordered a lot of appetizers, and because we were hungry, we attacked them before even taking a picture. Here’s two shots taken when I remembered I should take pictures:

I ordered Gyakiniku Ramen (I hope I remembered the name correctly), ramen with thin beef strips, some veggies, and half a boiled egg.

Nothing special about it. I don’t know if Juned and MLQ3 liked theirs.

The place is OK, though there were small flies (teeny weeny flies), too small to notice immediately.

After that, off to Razon’s. So we ordered halo halo (what else?).

All I can say is: heavenly. Too bad I was too full to enjoy it fully.

26
May

Snapping out of hiatus

Well, after a week of refraining from blogging, and after some time of thinking, I have decided to snap out of hiatus and go back to blogging.

While it will not be as frequent as before, I will try my best to stick to my posting schedule. However, I might have to decommission the tech blog.

So here’s to more blog posts, more comments, and more tweets!

26
May

This regime should walk the talk

As the shareholders of Meralco meet tomorrow for their annual meeting, I think it is time to put Winston Garcia in his proper place.

Weeks before, Garcia went on a rampage, complaining a lot of things about Meralco – from high power rates to failure of management to show him documents to Meralco purchasing power from Lopez-owned independent power producers (IPPs). When asked what he wanted to happen, he said that he just wanted a change in management, not a government takeover of Meralco.

His complaints led to the Joint Congressional Power Commission to convene and hear the side of Garcia and Meralco. The Power Commission, like most congressional investigations, led to nowhere, but a few curious facts were uncovered, like systems loss and imposing VAT on systems loss.

Earlier, I had posted that this issue, like the rice crisis, is a diversion. Let me expound further why it is so.

One: Garcia is barking up the wrong tree. Meralco cannot impose rate increases unless it is approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, which is headed by a Gloria Arroyo ally, Rodolfo Albano. Garcia should instead petition ERC to reduce Meralco’s rates. This regime keeps on asking us to follow the rule of law, yet one of its lackeys keeps on ventilating on the wrong forum. “Bring it to the courts” is a favorite line by this regime, and it should walk the talk.

Two: Garcia’s allegation that the Meralco management is withholding important documents. As a board director, he should know what is happening to the company. And if he thinks the Meralco management is indeed withholding the documents that he needs, he should ask the courts to compel Meralco to produce these documents.

Three: The issue on systems loss is actually not a legal issue, but a moral one. The law allows Meralco to pass to its customers up to 9.5% its system losses. So if Meralco charges us 9.5%, it is not illegal. It can be immoral, but rule of law prevails.

Four: Meralco passing on to its customers its electricity expense. This is allowed by the law; heck, all businesses factor in electricity expense in the pricing of their products and services. Singling out Meralco is unfair, I think.

Five: Knowing that it can actually lower rates by petitioning ERC and removing/reducing VAT on electricity, this regime has chosen to do what it says the opposition does – trial by publicity. Why? I can think of several reasons:

1. The regime is trying to bury us with seemingly-real issues, which is a clear attempt to bury the real issues. It takes the initiative to set the issue and muddle the waters.
2. If you notice, the regime is trying to be populist nowadays. First, the rice crisis, then Meralco, and now text messaging. I question its populist sincerity since this regime could have brought up these issues way back in 2001, but it only did so now.

Both of these point to the same thing: the regime is trying to divert our attention from the real issues.

If this regime, through its lackey Winston Garcia, is serious about reducing Meralco’s rates, it should do so via ERC, not through the Power Commission, and certainly not through the media. Yet it has not done so, and I cannot help but think that this regime is insincere in this issue, and that leads me to conclude that this is just a diversion.

PS: I suggest that Garcia should instead attend to the problems of GSIS. He keeps on hitting Meralco’s management, while GSIS pensioners are crying havoc. Clean up your backyard first, Winston.

22
May

Amici with your friends

There is an extremely detailed disquisition by The Theoretical Chef on how to quantify value-for-money in a restaurant. Me no understand but it looks nifty.

Anyway, earlier this week accompanied a cousin, his wife and son to Amici along Tomas Morato.

There’s something ironic about a self-service cafeteria-style restaurant that has valet parking.

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It’s a large, bright, place, pretty full at the time, but there seemed a bit of confusion on our part as to overdering procedures. And what is it with security guards doubling as waitstaff? There ought to be a law! Between security guards in charge of ashtrays at Starbuck’s, handing out trays at DeliFrance, and handing out menus at Amici, this is not part of their job description and it shouldn’t be condoned.

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Asked what the Minestrone was like, and my cousin laconically replied, “filling.”

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And I asked my nephew what the Panini was like, and got an equally laconic answer: “Mmmkay.”

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Did not venture to try to extract an opinion on the pasta.

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This, and the next two dishes, are what I actually got to eat. The (Rosemary) Roast Chicken (170 pesos) was, indeed, “baked to perfection” as the menu promised, the vegetables not mushy, which was all good, but the chicken was rather flavorless. Not bland, but, lacking in flavor, somehow. I personally think it has to do with the chicken being your generic farm-raised Magnolia type, which leads to a predictable but not particularly flavorful, on its own, chicken. The most unremarkable dish of the trio I tried.

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The Canneloni Agli Spinaci, on the other hand, was a triumph. No scrimping on either the spinach or the ricotta cheese, not drowning in tomato sauce but not overcooked and leathery, either, not too fatty. A great combination of texture and flavor and at 180 pesos, actually probably a nice dish for one person, but I had to share it and so it served as our appetizer.

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Doc Emer on Twitter sang the praises of Amici’s pizza, and he was right. Nice, thin, Italian-style slightly flaky crust, this was the Tutta Carne, Italian Sausage and Cooked, Spicy Ham (not spicy at all, and slightly, it seemed to me, more along the lines of generic cold cuts -read, “Spiced Ham” for baon sandwiches- than a real ham. But, filling, with a good combination of real cheese and an apparently non-canned sauce. Good for two but not more than that.

This is really a place for marauding gangs of friends or large families, but this isn’t a place with big share-with-the-world servings.

21
May

Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be

I have fond memories of Rufo’s Tapsilog from oh, 20 years ago, when gimmick nights would end early in the morning with a pre-homecoming feed. Rufo’s used to be across the street from I.S. in Makati and I remembered it as the most delicious Tapsilog in town.

So I went to their branch in Pasig last night.

Apparently, memories embalmed in an alcoholic haze aren’t worth diddly squat.

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Because it looks like poo on a plate. I’m not very fussy about presentation, but please.

And wasn’t very tasty, either.

I should’ve stuck to my memories.

20
May

How to fortify soup

If all else fails, have soup. There are times, however, when you want to fortify your soup, so that it fills you up even better. In most cases, this is best done by means of frying a piece or two of bread in butter and dunking it in your soup. But if you aren’t in the mood to bring out the frying pan (or you’re out of butter), then something else will have to do.

Actually fried bread in soup is best when it comes to creamy soups. When your soup is more along the lines of a stew, then you’re better off finding another way to fortify your soup.

Here’s a simple technique which also adds texture to your soup.

De-can your soup, pour into a bowl.

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Heat the soup in the Microwave.

Get a packet of crackers.

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Get a wooden spoon or somesuch implement. Smash the crackers.

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Take the soup out of the Microwave, open the packet, pour crispy smashed goodness into the bowl.

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Get your handy-dandy essential Vietnamese (actually, from what I understand, Thai) style hot sauce*, which is superior to Tabasco because it’s not vinegary and so doesn’t make everything you eat taste more like Tabasco than what you’re eating, and dribble a little bit into your soup. Hot sauce eliminates the taste of the can.

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Stir and enjoy.

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*Together with Kewpie mayonnaise, a basic food group, along with deli mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire and A1 sauces and Italian dressing.

20
May

Going batchoy with Ted’s

So the Bachelor Food Bloggers went to Ali Mall to check on Ted’s Oldtimer La Paz Batchoy last Friday, upon the recommendation of Bachelor Food Blogger-slash-rockstar Fritz. As Fritz was late, Juned and I stayed at Country Style, where I got a Triple Fancy whatever and regular iced tea for Php 41.

After a few hours, the rockstar arrived, and so we went in, and I ordered their Extra Super Batchoy (for Php 85):

Ted's Extra Super Batchoy

Fritz ordered the same, while Juned got Miswa Batchoy with egg, which costs separately. Fritz was disappointed that puto was not available.

The technique in eating batchoy at Ted’s is to ask for another cup of kaldo, or soup. To do that, first finish the soup without eating the noodles and the meat. Then you can ask for another cup of kaldo. That way, you will get distended fully-filled stomach. That’s what the puto is for.

What can I say about Ted’s batchoy? Well, despite eating at Country Style, I almost emptied my bowl, though I did not ask for another kaldo; my two companions did. The contents of the batchoy: the noodles, soup, several strips of pork, several strips of pork liver, chicharon. Heavenly.

The place was no-frills, nondescript. To be honest, it feels like a cafeteria somewhere, but maybe there’s charm on very simple ambiance.

After exchanging gossip while sipping some soup, we retreated to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Gateway, for some coffee, vanilla ice blend, and free WiFi. Plus more gossip. =P

Ted’s batchoy is a good but sinful comfort food, specially during cold weather, but again, it is not a day-to-day eat.