Wednesday, October 19, 2011
I once spoke with a Singaporean restauranteur and I shared to him my thoughts on why I thought Filipino cuisine paled in comparison with its Southeast Asian neighbors. Of course being the non-Filipino that he is and the fact that I was inside his Singaporean/Malay restaurant, he whole-heartedly agreed with what I said and even made mention that Filipino food is bland.
Let me explain why we both think Filipino cuisine is bland.
We lack the kick that other Southeast Asian cuisines have. Let's take Malaysian cuisine for example. While sauteeing, they include this paste made from chillies, curries and other stuff. It's not enough that the food being cooked is already great tasting, they include a few stuff more to make the experience even better. They add stuff like galangal leaves, kaffir leaves, more chili, ginger and top it all of with coconut milk. Having said that, I think Filipino cuisine really pales in comparison to its neighbors.
Don't get me wrong - I love my Filipino cuisine. Tapsilog is my ultimate comfort food. Kare-kare, Bulalo, and Tinola are among my favorite dishes. No trip to a Filipino restaurant would be complete for me without tasting their pancit there. But comparing the Pancit Canton to the Char Kway Teow (or the Pad Thai), or the Sinigang na Hipon to the Tom Yum Goong, or the localized Chicken Curry to the Thai Green Curry Chicken, we do pale in comparison to our neighbors. That's why all foodies at home should start thinking of ways on how they can revolutionize the way they cook their Filipino dishes.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 0
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
I swear I was trying to come up with a different article - until I saw a picture of this mother who I thought exuded an alpha female attitude. She annoys me a lot whenever I get to see her and the sweat marks on the lines of her multi-layered neck didn't help much either.
Alpha dogs (for me) can be classified into 2 categories, the ones that have it (the have's) and those who thought they did (have-nots) but actually didn't (like the mom I'm referring to). I'll focus on the former cos they're the real alphas.
Jinno Rufino (on the picture) would be a perfect example of an alpha male in a Filipino setting. He's pretty darn confident, knows how to carry himself well, he's got like Alpha written all over him. If you get what I'm trying to say, then yeah, we're on the same page.
So how do we Betas (or Gammas) deal with these people?
1. Assert to them that you're on equal footing. Good thing, I'm surrounded by family members who are alphas. Paternal grandmother's an alpha, two sisters are alphas, some guy and girl cousins are alphas, uncles and aunts also alphas. So I'm pretty much brought up in an environment full of people with strong personalities. It makes a (weaker) person like me to feel that they too are human and shouldn't be given special treatments. Although I assure you that alphas have a certain way to assert that you should treat them differently.
2. No matter what'll happen, don't make them notice that you're intimidated. Although it does help if you could be totally honest with what you really felt. Maturity level plays a big part here. If you had to tell the alpha that you're intimidated by them, at least tell it to them on a dignified and unshaken manner. Being obvious on your fright would only boost their ego.
3. Learn from their strong personalities. Think of it as a way for you to channel in their strong energies. The assertive aura they emanate will be very helpful in helping you on your day-to-day dealings with the rest of the world. Please don't think bully-ing is all about having an alpha dog personality as I do think they're different. Alpha dogs know their place in this world and are completely comfortable with everything about themselves. Those alpha characteristics are stuff that are worth-emulating.
Alpha dogs (for me) can be classified into 2 categories, the ones that have it (the have's) and those who thought they did (have-nots) but actually didn't (like the mom I'm referring to). I'll focus on the former cos they're the real alphas.
Jinno Rufino (on the picture) would be a perfect example of an alpha male in a Filipino setting. He's pretty darn confident, knows how to carry himself well, he's got like Alpha written all over him. If you get what I'm trying to say, then yeah, we're on the same page.
So how do we Betas (or Gammas) deal with these people?
1. Assert to them that you're on equal footing. Good thing, I'm surrounded by family members who are alphas. Paternal grandmother's an alpha, two sisters are alphas, some guy and girl cousins are alphas, uncles and aunts also alphas. So I'm pretty much brought up in an environment full of people with strong personalities. It makes a (weaker) person like me to feel that they too are human and shouldn't be given special treatments. Although I assure you that alphas have a certain way to assert that you should treat them differently.
2. No matter what'll happen, don't make them notice that you're intimidated. Although it does help if you could be totally honest with what you really felt. Maturity level plays a big part here. If you had to tell the alpha that you're intimidated by them, at least tell it to them on a dignified and unshaken manner. Being obvious on your fright would only boost their ego.
3. Learn from their strong personalities. Think of it as a way for you to channel in their strong energies. The assertive aura they emanate will be very helpful in helping you on your day-to-day dealings with the rest of the world. Please don't think bully-ing is all about having an alpha dog personality as I do think they're different. Alpha dogs know their place in this world and are completely comfortable with everything about themselves. Those alpha characteristics are stuff that are worth-emulating.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 1
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Nothing's much worse reading than an article laced with a ton of negative vibes. Who wants to depress themselves by reading through paragraphs-long rants anyways? I guess there are types of people who would want to read that: 1.) a friend or a family - of course they love you. 2.) a mature individual who's interested to read through people's thoughts. 3.) a curious cat who wants to read because he just wants to and 4.) a fellow emo who understands what ranting is all about.
It's a great outlet, ranting that is. There are rants that needs to be blurted out, then the feeling becomes fine. There are rants that needed attention and a nice pat on the back from a friend would help ease out the pain. There are rants that appear because the person just loved to rant about everything. And that third one, I know for sure that I am not.
Which is worse, to feel inadequate and uncomfortable all the time over a certain group of people from a certain aspect of your being OR realizing that you find it difficult to look for a person to confide with since the people you thought belonged to your inner circle isn't exactly there? Those two felt like a two-edged sword. A lose-lose situation. A no-win situation. A testament that life can be full of crap. A situation in life when the best thing to do with your hands is to raise both middle fingers and exclaim whatever phrase felt should be said connecting to it.
Oh my freak, I'm ranting.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 0
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