Friday, August 31, 2007

What's Cooking

I happened to catch another Tagalized episode of Yakitate Ja-pan on local TV (apparently, I misplaced the title’s hyphen in a previous post), back when the students had a six-day weekend (well, five and a half, according to Thy Kingdom Camia’s Josh). Again, the episode didn’t fail to entertain. On a hotdog contest, a competitor tried to lure the judges by lavish proportions: scallop, crab, shrimp, and other seafood were cramped in the hotdog bun to make it more appetizing. Our hero’s friend, meanwhile, only had a plain-looking hotdog in a bun, but he eventually won, because of the concentrated flavor that his entry possessed. He said he had to do it in real life: since he hailed from a poor family, he had to improvise with vegetables and make them appear as cold cuts for his siblings. Tear. The episode was unsurprisingly wacky all throughout (food judging is always the fun part); even the American character pitted opposite our hero was voiced in typical Taglish with the exaggerated nuances.

Speaking of scallops, the seafood was featured in the only Iron Chef America episode I ever watched (in the same long weekend). The contest format is very exciting: two chefs (the iron chef and his challenger) are tasked to prepare five dishes in an hour, given the theme for the day. Wow, that’s roughly a dish every 12 minutes, and plating and presentation is also part of the criteria. Not only should they cook fast, but the food should appear as if prepared by a 5-star restaurant. Well, I suppose the contestants are professionals, or experienced in the culinary arts at the least. The challenger only came up with two dishes, whose intricate names indeed sound yummy (I believe food-naming is an art to attract potential eaters); the iron chef, with 5 savory dishes, ended up as a winner. I like to judge this show: eating yet-unknown food, and getting the chance to criticize. By the way, I was watching the show while eating breakfast; the usually tolerable hotdog and beef tapa seemed insufficient for about an hour.

It seems an uberlong weekend dedicated to food isn’t complete without a full-length feature. Hours after watching Iron Chef America, I went to Glorietta, hoping to catch Disney and Pixar’s Ratatouille, which is about to be pulled out already after weeks of release. I was about to settle for Surf’s Up already, but luckily, it is still showing in Greenbelt, so my college friend and I trooped the classier cinema.

Conjecture: the newer the animated film, the finer the graphics. Some scenes are too realistic: the Paris skyline, the buildings, and the rats, especially when the ceiling fell down and the irrational old maid aimed the shotgun at them. Given that I’m not too fond of pets, I am not too eager to taste any food prepared by any animal, let alone a rat. Near the end of the film, when the cooking crew turned their backs on Linguini and the rats formed an assembly line, I almost swore to prepare food by myself.

The film had its slow and uneventful parts, but the movie became more engaging when the two protagonists encountered each other. The feasibility of controlling motor skills by activating (or mutating?) follicle nerve endings might be an improbable Intel-worthy research venture, but, if any mad scientist will succeed, I hope the results will reach me. Wow, if a student falls asleep in class, I will just strategically pull his hair to make him do a dreaded seatwork. The possibilities are endless.

The film also featured a grim-looking food critique, whose approval is craved for by any restaurant. When he tasted the ratatouille (I never heard of this dish) that Little Chef prepared, he was transported back to his past, in a quaint home where he grew up, with his mother preparing food for him. This storytelling technique is often utilized in Yakitate Ja-pan, though implying that Pixar borrowed from the Japanese hit series (or any previous cartoon) is both baseless and unnecessary.

Still, Little Chef is amusing to watch when he is on a kitchen momentum. I wish we can be like him, in the sense that we find what we really want to do with our lives, and do whatever that is with passion and dedication.

Maybe anyone can cook, but a select few can cook well.

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Saturday, August 25, 2007

Storm's Up

Weeks ago, the church urged the congregation to pray for rain. Oratio Imperata. The prolonged dry season is already affecting the farmers, and dams are in a critical level already. It seems there was too much prayer; storms entered the Philippine area of responsibility one after another.

Classes were disrupted. 5 school days were cancelled due to a certain typhoon, or at least the anticipation of one. Prevention is indeed at play, for there were days that were oddly un-stormly. Two consecutive Mondays will also extend the weekend of the students, in accordance with the new law regarding holiday economics.

I left my laptop at the Math Unit; I was also done with my grades and all my checking. Therefore, I had practically nothing to do. Even all my siblings were out; I’m the only soul who still gets the no-classes benefit, working in the premier high school of the country.

The premise seemed to promise boredom, to which I’m an expert. I can lie on the bed for hours catatonically. Fortunately, I borrowed a Coelho novel from Ma’am Dinah, and I remembered that I haven’t opened yet one birthday gift: two books written by engaging authors, given last December 2006. So I finished the Coelho novel first, intentionally flipping back, to prolong the time spent for reading.

Since the “vacation” took an unexpected extension, I randomly picked one birthday gift, tore out the plastic, slightly opened the room’s window to feel the cool (but potentially raging) wind outside, and plunged on the pillows for a good slow read. Coffee and doughnuts (from Cello’s) would have completed the scene.

I miss lazing around.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Straw Stories

I had lunch one Saturday at the Ateneo cafeteria with Rob Roque (’07) ( I was done with my Algebraic Structures class; he just finished shooting his political party’s ad for the freshmen elections). We reserved our table by leaving our stuff on it, and got our food at the sizzling counter.

I kidded Rob for getting a drinking straw for his complimentary iced tea (this last statement should be hilarious in an esoteric way); a lot of environmentalists discourage the use of straw for drinks, including Lakbay Kalikasan (the group responsible for all the Pisay sophomore Outbound Activities the last three years), for straws contribute to non-biodegradable trash. Rob countered by saying that he avoids immediate contact with the liquid; the cold drink causes pangingilo for him, thus his need for a straw. I rebutted by saying that using straws (especially in fast-food chains) make me accident-prone. I once tipped my drink by its straw, and saving all the food and things on the table from the wetness is such an adrenaline moment. By not using straws, I am lessening the chances of minor disasters. “Ang negative naman ng paradigm,” Rob commented.

It seems a drinking straw is useful for a lot of reasons. Aside from Rob’s dilemma, drinking a cold drink directly by the rim might not be the optimum way to maximize taste. Since ice floats, the drink’s flavor is more diluted near the rim than the bottom of the cup; with a straw, a person sips a more concentrated drink that is considerably cold. Of course, practicality should also be considered. There are tall and slim glasses that require straws. Zagu products and the like dictate huge straws for the sago and other solid ingredients. However, drinks in tetra pack do not actually require straws, even though they give complimentary ones. One can easily cut along the flap or in the corner and gulp.

A drinking straw is also one of the simplest tools that exhibit a lot of Physics phenomena, specifically air pressure. I remember a simple experiment in grade school, wherein a student is challenged to drink using two straws simultaneously: one in the water-filled glass, the other outside the glass, exposed to the air. It will take a bionic man to accomplish this.

Probably my first straw encounter happened when my siblings and I buy Coke at the sari-sari store in front of our house. We do not want to leave a monetary deposit for the bottles, so we just ask the vendor to put our soft drinks in plastic (I have always wondered as a child how these vendors perfected the art of transferring soda from the bottle to the plastic while containing all the “bubbles” that results from the action). We then walk back to our house happily, each sipping with a straw. We sometimes tie up the opening of the plastic and bite the bottom, drinking dextrose-style.

We actually buy the Family Size Coke more often since this is less expensive. Wow, the joy of transferring the soda to your cup and letting the effervescence tickle your nose. Thus my rule: straw when plastic, no straw when cup (sorry, Rob). How I miss soft drinks in general; I stopped drinking more than two years ago (in an effort to eat more healthful foods).

I was also fond of collecting our used straws and connect them end to end (I just realized now that they were unwashed). The unlimited polygons (especially quadrilaterals) formed amazed me. But I will not attribute my fondness of Mathematics to this events, though it might have helped.

Straw dispensers are another story. The first time I saw them in Jollibee, I was struck with awe. I just had to get ten straws for myself, while the person at the counter tried to stop me, all the while smiling. Bright people never stop inventing cool stuff.

Rob and I finished our lunch, and we had to part ways. I hope he wins; Rob has a lot to offer Ateneo, as witnessed by the Pisay community. If indeed he does, Ateneo’s SOSE (School of Science and Engineering) can just sip and relax.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

The Pisay Movie 2 (Or Our Inadvertently Long Trip to CCP)

Making a movie about PSHS showcasing the iskolar ng bayan should be a big deal to the Main Campus. When school officials permitted the four batches (three on Friday, July 27) to watch the film right at CCP, I wasn’t surprised, even if it was the week before the first quarter periodic exams. I know that the class advisers will have to play a key role in this event, especially when I learned that the Batch 2010 PTA couldn’t provide buses for the sections. Apparently, the cost per student is around P250 for the transportation alone.

A student will just have to show up and watch Pisay (directed by Auraeus Solito; I misspelled his name in my previous post); the advisers, meanwhile, are in the thick of preparations even the week before the screening. Each homeroom class was surveyed if they were willing to watch and pay the ticket at a discounted price; all 30 Thy Kingdom Camia students said yes. Next came the reply slip and payment for the tickets. It’s a good thing that the class officers (Juan and Portia) took care of this one with my minimal intervention.

The biggest problem was the transportation. Batch 2010’s plan was carpooling, and as of Monday before the screening, Camia only has two vehicles. Even if there were enough cars already, monitoring all vehicles - if they are in the proper route, or if they are spared from any accident - is such a logistic nightmare. I have signified to my other sections (from Hello ARCI) that we might have to hitch a ride with them just in case we cannot find enough cars. Fortunately, Camia produced 6 cars by Thursday (courtesy of Kit, Aldrich, Aveline, Justine, Marckie, and last minute Josh).

Next came the vehicle designations. Who rides which car and with whom? Haha, I thoroughly enjoyed this part, to the point of spending too much time that I forgot to do my Abstract Algebra homework (bad, bad). This might be one of the finest real-life Operations Research example which imposes constraints and tasks the solver to maximize, in this case, space and fun. These are the constraints, some given, and some self-imposed:

1) Each vehicle owner should ride his/her vehicle. Easy.

2) Each vehicle should have at least one class officer or the adviser on board, as required by the batch adviser. With six officers plus me, this is still attainable, even if the set containing car owners and the set of class officers intersect. (sigh I miss Venn diagrams)

3) Kit’s Filipino 2 groupmates should stick with Kit. Apparently, Kit wanted to bring his groupmates to their house in Parañaque from CCP after the viewing. This means that we will have less cars heading back to Agham Road, so I might as well pack Kit’s van with his groupmates. However, Aldrich is a groupmate too, so that means two less cars for Camia! Well, I have to assign non-groupmates in their cars (who will ride other cars going back to Pisay) to satisfy the first two conditions.

4) Vehicle owners should have a say as to who they want to ride with. Well, with three more important concerns, the other car owners do not much options left in the end.

5) Spread less-space-consuming students evenly. Meaning: size matters.

6) Spread potentially rowdy boys evenly. From elementary Physics, a lot of external factors may cause potential energy to become kinetic energy.

7) Participating parents will have to be designated too. Parents (each a vehicle owner) expressed their intention to watch with the class. I didn’t anrticipate this, and since they owned the cars too, I simply assigned them to their respective cars and displaced some students (little did I know that they wanted to be together; they eventually agreed to my assignment).

Come Friday, the front lobby was swamped with students, mostly bagless, from the three batches. The sophomores were in the flagpole area, with yellow cloth distributed to each student for easy recognition, and yellow stickers on the windshields of carpool participants (for convoy purposes). This looked like a prelude to Family Day come September. After minutes of checking attendance and grouping by cars, each “team” headed to their respective vehicles. I assigned myself to C5, with Aldrich, David, and Conrad.

I was busy texting the officers in each car that I didn’t notice that we took the EDSA route to CCP (we were following car I2); all other Camia (and Ilang-ilang) vehicles took the faster España route. Of course all of them reached CCP way, way before we did as I anticipated, and told Juan to take over first. We were stuck in classic EDSA traffic, and when we were in busy Buendia, the time interval of class president Juan’s calls were becoming shorter and shorter; they were being told to line up already. Of course they were concerned about us, but they care for themselves too; all Camia tickets are with me (even those of parents)! It was really fun at first, since we do not have to suffer the long wait just like the others did, but the excitement was just too extreme. We lost sight of car I2 and saw them many minutes and stoplights after, and realized that Ilang-ilang tickets were also with them. It’s a good thing that the batch adviser just made a way for the students to enter without the tickets at hand.

When we were three right turns away from CCP, we then hit another problem: there were road barriers positioned such that we cannot alight the vehicles right in front of the theater. This is a super so-near-yet-so-far moment, and I know that the screening is about to start in a few minutes. So cars C5 and I2 were about to perform the three right turns again to CCP, when a speeding vehicle behind is honked its way past us. The driver is so much in a hurry this means only one thing: the car is from Pisay too. And true enough, it’s R6 from Rosal (as I remember it).

Sometimes when things couldn’t possibly get worse, they will. As R6 was about to make its second right turn, it collided with a motorcycle. In front of our very eyes, the bike wobbled, and the rider and its passengers were on the ground seconds after. Thankfully, there was no sight of blood or hurt people getting wild, only evil stares. Of course, running late is less important than the safety of the people riding R6 and the motorcycle riders, so we slowed down to check on them. Apparently, aside from the driver, only Mr. Espinas (Adelfa adviser) rode R6. He went to our car and asked us to go ahead while handing the Adelfa tickets. Wow: tickets of three sections were late.

So we proceeded on our photofinish journey. There indeed was no way to alight right in front of CCP, so we just walked a fairly long distance just to make the screening, under the blazing sun. Since we were late, we were accommodated in the balcony already. Seconds after we entered, the national anthem was played. Wow. We were very much on time (for the screening).

As expected, the Pisay crowd became restless and noisy during the film viewing: when the title was flashed onscreen with a nice shot of the flagpole area, when an extra turns out to be a friend, when matters discussed are actual class lessons, or when there will be an inside Pisay joke or comment. Solito was again present at the end, and he received a standing ovation. He acknowledged Shayne again, and asked the extras to join him onstage. Claps.

After the film, the sections again assembled at the lobby, and Camia had nice class pictures at the CCP stairs. I like class pictures. We were actually one of the last sections to leave CCP. Back in car C5 heading for Pisay, Aldrich, Conrad, and Jethro (traded for David) were soundly sleeping after having a few bites. My body was feeling tired too, but somehow, recalling what had happened hours earlier amused me. I learned that real-life (accident-free) adventures filled with adrenaline rush are very much welcome especially when the predictability of routine kills the fun already.

The sight of Agham Road signalled the end of today’s journey. I wish that, after watching the movie, the students realize the hope that they carry. And may each of them master the roads and sidestreets of Metro Manila.

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