If the title of this week’s column confuses you, read on and you’ll discover a couple of delightful offerings which I’m sure will arouse your interest.
China Blue by Jereme Leung
This award-winning restaurant of Conrad Manila celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival with handcrafted mooncakes elegantly presented in signature designer bags produced by the hotel and Malaysian style icon Christy Ng.
The delicious mooncakes, specially prepared by Executive Chinese Chef Eng Yew Khor, have to be pre-ordered and may be available from September 8 until October 1.
This culinary delight comes in boxes of four with the following flavors: baked traditional red bean single yolk, baked white lotus with lava custard, and baked fragrant pandan with lava coconut.
What makes them doubly attractive are the stylish bags that they are presented in: the hotel’s design, Pacific Pearl, highlights East Asian-inspired gold markings on a purple weave accentuated by a pearl handle; Tropical Allure by Christy Ng, is available in royal purple and crimson red, and features hibiscus prints, gilded zippers, and trimmings. These bags can actually be used later to highlight any fashion statement, casual or otherwise.
More information on these unique Mid-Autumn delights from my favorite seaside hotel may be obtained from 0917-650-4043 or (02) 8833-9999.
500 Years Without Love
This new book of Alex Lacson is a gripping novel that takes a comprehensive and holistic view of our country’s present-day social entanglements and was launched the other day in an online event, with speakers Senator Panfilo Lacson, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Professor Solita Monsod and Ben Punongbayan, and moderated by Boy Abunda.
In this novel, the author painstakingly exposes the various root causes of the country’s social malaise through the story of Anton Hinirang and the members of his family, highlighting their daily struggles and the reality experienced by some Filipinos. Anton’s family members work in different sectors of society, each of which suffers from ills that contribute to the country’s collective social ills.
The author also points out that the Spaniards drew the first map of the Philippines in 1734, defining our territory, helping us become a country. So, if we count the coming of the Spaniards in 1521 as the beginning of our quest for nationhood, next year, 2021, will not only be our 500th year of Christianity but also of our being a country.
For almost four centuries, the Filipinos were colonized and enslaved by foreign rulers—first by the Spaniards, followed by the Americans, then by the Japanese. Nowadays, the author points out, many of our people continue to be enslaved by their own kind, in many political territories and corporate fences.
Towards the end of the book, the author offers his ideas of “A Dream Philippines,” a package of reforms which, he believes, could make a lasting change in our country. More information on the book’s availability may be obtained from [email protected].
YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE
I never thought the comment “I wouldn’t touch him/her with a six-foot pole” would become a national policy, but, here we are!
For feedback, I’m at [email protected].
