What's On & Expat - Philippines

MURRAY HERTZ

OUT OF MY MIND: Just when people were beginning to adjust to the recent Glorietta explosion and mall goers (mallers?) were crawling out of their bunkers and heading back to normal shopping habits, comes another big noise – the bomb at the Congress in Quezon City. But, I’m told this one, tragic as it was, will not be too much of a deterrent to shoppers slowly heading back to the malls. Greenbelt 5, though not complete, is open and now and at least two restaurants I know of are starting to do brisk business. On the second floor is “John & Yoko” (so you figured out that it’s a Japanese restaurant. Don’t pat yourself on the back too much. That’s a no brainer) and “Fish Out of Water” on the third floor. John and Yoko is what they call a cosmopolitan Japanese restaurant and one of the more celebrated partners is Marvin Agustin, the widely-known actor. The food is different and delicious. “Fish” is a sophisticated seafood restaurant and also has some unusual and very tasty menu items. Both restaurants are worth a visit… New Orleans and Clawdaddy’s are off and running on High Street at Fort Bonifacio. Many old timers will remember the old, original New Orleans in Greenbelt in Makati. New Orleans introduced authentic baby back ribs to the Philippines and still can make the claim that “the best ribs in America are at New Orleans Restaurant at the Fort.”… And speaking of New Orleans, Americans living in Manila, who are too lazy or to busy to cook their own turkey Thanksgiving dinner, are already making reservations for New Orleans’ big turkey bash including entertainment and a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmin’s. The party will start on American Thanksgiving Day, the 22nd and last all weekend. The new New Orleans restaurant is at B6 Bonifacio High Street in the Fort.
 

* * *

TITA TRILLO, OFTEN CALLED “the Elsa Maxwell of the Philippines” (okay, okay. So you don’t know who Elsa Maxwell is, but you gotta be old to know. Which means, of course that I know. Tita’s too young to know. Elsa Maxwell reigned as America’s top party-giver in the mid-Twentieth Century. Labeled “The Hostess with the Mostest” by the press. See, aren’t you glad you read this column? Now, after you’ve impressed your friends with that useless information, you can put this item in the bottom of the bird cage and continue reading.) Tita is tossing a beeg dinner bash on the 21st and I hope you get invited. It’s her birthday and she will have a very Frenchy dinner with zee wines to beat all wines at her La Vigne Bistro on Yakal in Makati. Donations will be encouraged for the Mother Theresa Orphanage in Tondo, for which Tita is a big patron…Things I like: The iStudio Apple Gold Service Center in Bonifacio High Street. Great, helpful, friendly, knowledgeable staff who make you feel glad all over that you bought a Mac…Things I don’t like: Manila drivers (expats included) who do not respect the white cross lines at intersections and just try to plow through not giving crossing pedestrians the right of way. On the other hand, if they run you over (Pow!), you have a helluva good law suit.
 

* * *

  EAR TO THE DOOR: Senator Loren Legarda was the guest speaker at last week’s Philippines, Inc meeting at the Tower Club in Makati. Senator Loren, always articulate and always serious, gave an interesting report on the sad state of the Philippine environment. Loren pledged to provide seedlings for any member to plant trees and help start a “Forest Park” in a valiant attempt to start a reforestation program and bring back our trees, so many of which have been needlessly destroyed in the Philippines. Loren’s program, called “Luntiang Pilipinas”, received a great response from the members and at least seven commitments were made to start these parks. Later, Loren, in her usual glib

manner and never at a loss for words, deftly handled a lot of hot political questions with no hesitation at all… On what we can do to increase tourism in this country: “We don’t need posh facilities, but we should capitalize on a clean, natural and welcoming environment. We must protect our forests, beaches and dive sites... We need to stop stealing handbags at the airport and develop some “malasakit” (concern, care and love).”… On an open skies policy: We need seats to bring in tourists, of course, but we also need to protect our national flag carrier.”… Will she run for President in 2010? Silly question. Is there any doubt in your mind?… Philippines, Inc. (I was waiting for you to ask) is a healthy, non-profit umbrella organization made up of CEOs of some of the country’s top organizations, dedicated to bringing much-needed new business and investments to the Philippines. The organization is chaired by Jesus “Susing” Pineda and the president is Mike Varela. They do good work. More like them
 

* * *

MURRAY GO ROUND: Want to impress your wife, girlfriend or both? (Ooh. I’m going to hear about that one.) Take her to Lemuria, an unusual sort of French restaurant, barely visible in Quezon City, near Greenhills in the Winery in Horseshoe Village. She’ll love you for taking her to this quaint, quiet and lovely-decorated restaurant that seems to pop out of nowhere in what is really a residential area. You’ll never complain about the good food and wines at this romantic restaurant which is actually in the home of Kitt and Klaus Schroeder. Kitt is a wine importer and hubby Klaus is the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, Philippines, an Aboitiz company…Jeff Cook, Area Manager of Kendall Jackson Sonoma Valley, California wines is in town from his base in Bangkok to promote KJ’s complete and full line of quality wines. Jeff was squired around town by Tita Trillo and Maricar Avellana, of Titania Wines, KJ’s dealer in the Philippines….Ever wonder why Filipinos, who are so fond of eating “kamayan” (with your fingers) eat spare ribs with a knife and fork, carefully and politely cutting the meat away from the bone. Americans and Europeans, on the other hand, who are so careful to almost always use a knife and fork, eat ribs by picking up the bones with their fingers and indelicately (grrr!) ripping the meat off of the bone. Same with chicken. So go figure. We live in a crazy mixed up world.

 

* * *

ODDS AND THE END: This really happened. Ah swear! A live crab crawled out of the pot, where it was about to be boiled in the kitchen of Clawdaddy’s new restaurant at Bonifacio High Street in the Fort. Madly scrambling to stay alive, the crab ran out into the restaurant and directly into the ladies room, where an unsuspecting guest was also in (I should say “on”) the pot. It’s hard to judge who was more terrified, the crab or the screaming lady who was in a most undignified position. The crab lost out and was unceremoniously escorted back to his pot. The lady remained on hers… Last minute recommendation. I attended the premiere of Beowulf at the Imax Theatre at the Mall of Asia last week. It’s a very high tech 3D movie and in spite of the fact that some had to plug their ears from the really loud but realistic sounds, it was more than worthwhile to view. They provide 3D glasses (and you gotta give them back. No stealing allowed, folks.) Great special effects and a fun movie. Sometimes I felt like Angelina Jolie’s perfect body was on my lap and that felt good, too. Dangerous to your health, though. A guy my age could easily have a heart attack looking at what appeared to be Angelina totally (and I mean totally) in the buff.
 

* * *

MURRAY’S COLUMN CAN ALSO BE READ ON THE INTERNET AT
www.whatson-expat.com.ph