Barno's birthday

these pictures were taken july 20, my roommate's birthday. aside from the two of us, mei (our indonesian friend) came to join us. the cake barno is holding was given by mei.

Pao

another one of those days when there's nothing to do and whipping up something edible in the kitchen was a better alternative to staring into empty space. :)

many call it pao. in the philippines, we call it sio-pao. it's actually a steamed bun filled with meat. this has always been one of my favorite snacks back home, especially the one with asado filling. verdict: not so difficult to make, except that i have yet to perfect making the dough which barno here did for me.

at last...

after nearly 24 months of promising to visit japan, my former boss -- atty. anthony abad -- finally set foot on the land of the rising sun. and boy! did he love shopping <--just kidding! he actually flew to nagoya for a business meeting, took the shinkansen to kyoto for some sight-seeing before finally coming to tokyo to...uhmm...ahhh...ermmm...check the supa in shinjuku. yes, man, supa!!! he wanted to know what the japanese people are eating, drinking, etc. methinks he's planning to do some trading here. :))

he was actually largely instrumental in my coming to japan. had it not been for his prodding, i would never have come. before i left manila in july 2003, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's erstwhile favorite whipping boy promised to visit me in february 2004. when that did not push through, he told me he'd come in october 2004. that too did not materialize. so when i got a message from him telling me he'd finally be coming this month, i took it with a grain of salt. but he did come -- amid the political chaos back in manila.

he may be back soon, he said. this time, though, i am no longer holding my breath. :))

Que Sera, Sera

...not. i suppose the tempest that gloria macapagal-arroyo has experienced the past few weeks had already climaxed last night. it was not exactly the climax that the opposition had envisioned, nor one that pro-administration officials feared...but hopefully it was enough to wake gma up from her stupor.

i have been very vocal about my cynicism towards the arroyo government but i also do not like the way her detractors are handling things. mounting another 'people power' is not the solution to the problem. in fact, that should be the last resort to this.

i am tired of mobs. i am tired of destabilizers. i just cannot understand why the opposition cannot unite and draw a plausible alternative that would prod the country forward. calling for gma's resignation is not enough. the opposition should be able to offer the people a better and more stable alternative. need i wonder why, in spite of the chaos, i have not seen people going out to protest in edsa? i guess, like me, they are also skeptical as to where these events are heading.

noli de castro for president is a hard pill to swallow but we have no other constitutional choice; we elected him into office, didn't we? it's to his credit that noli has not taken advantage of the gulo to grab the presidential seal. he has stayed loyal to his president, at least publicly. the succeeding days may yet validate this observation though.

when i called connie, she voiced out her disappointment with chit escudero, the spokesperson for the opposition. he's been playing safe too, she said. too bad...he was my crush. gosh, if young politicians like chit, mike defensor, and gilbert remulla, among others, only know what they are doing, then the philippines will probably have a better chance at survival. as it is...they too seem lost in the chaotic interplay of political machinery.

soon i'll be heading home to a country poised in a critical balancing act of survival and destruction. it's not an attractive homecoming, after all.

JDS fellows from the Philippines

i have never experienced a joyful goodbye. it has always been met with a heavy heart. today, five of my friends left for manila after completing their master's degree in japan. i sure will miss all of them. mabuhay to the members of the first batch of jds fellows from the philippines!!!