By Anna Valmero

HER love for drawing portraits and collecting photographs since childhood led to a business she now dubs a “stylistic preservation of portraits” on canvass.

As I was strolling Shang Ri-La Mall, I chanced upon the month-long Pinoy Pop Art exhibit showcasing 13 pop culture icons of the country painted on canvas.

“The exhibit aims to bring awareness to Filipinos 13 pop icons that can be emulated for their supremacy in their particular field and personal values,” says Bing Bernardo-Gaw, creative head and owner of Gallery 7 or “Art is Me,” the graphics design house that developed the exhibit.

The exhibit included Fernando Poe Jr., Efren “Bata” Reyes” Dolphy, Sharon Cuneta, Judy Ann Santos, The Apo Hiking Society, Gloria Diaz, Gary Valenciano, Michael V., Peque Gallaga, Parokya ni Edgar, Leah Salonga and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. Gaw said the they chose the 13 icons from a list of Filipino idols that can inspire Filipinos.

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YEARNING for a healthy diet this Christmas season?

First off, going on a diet doesn’t mean that you will deprive yourself of mouthwatering food during this festive season. The word “diet” has been often associated with losing weight but nutritionists argue that dieting is about selecting the right food every meal.

After all the parties that you have had this Christmas season, check what you’ve eaten. Did you have any vegetables in your diet? If you haven’t listed veggies, then why not break the meat meals and still have a festive delight. How? It’s a matter of combining the right food.

Chef Bong Ignacio, seasoned instructor of the American Hospitality Academy, prepared this Chicken Roulade and Chinese Broccoli with Raisins and Cashew nuts for health conscious individuals. Watch this latest episode of What’s Cookin’? with AHA?, and see Ignacio demonstrate two recipes.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

LAS Piñas City is known for the bamboo organ and for their bamboo craft. No wonder, even during the Christmas season, some people prefer to have their lanterns be made by the residents of Las Piñas.
I recently met this group called Samahang Magpaparol ng Brgy. E. Aldana Las Piñas Inc. Violeta Santos formed and led this group. It is one of many organizations in Las Piñas that help people find livelihood.

I visited the group’s stalls. Each had something unique to display including the famous Parol or lantern which we often displayed in streets or in Filipino homes. During my visit, I was shown how parols are made.

Depending on the design, building a lantern starts with building a framework. The framework is made of bamboo. They cut the bamboo into thin sticks according to specific measurements. Then a star-shaped pattern is formed by connecting the edges. They then cover of the star-shaped framework with colored plastic. They also create a tail that is later attached to the lantern. It’s that easy. Parol makers eventually sell them for a reasonable amount.

Through the year, Santos said their group also gets orders from the buyers like car companies who request for specific designs.

For the residents of Las Piñas, the lantern is no longer just a Christmas symbol. It has also become a source of livelihood for some.

By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

AFTER attending Misa de Gallo, it is often a tradition to partake of the Puto Bumbong, a Filipino lilac-colored delicacy made of steamed glutinous rice inserted in a small bamboo tubes.

Puto Bumbong is a delicacy that is usually seen during the yuletide season. But in Las Pinas, there is a family that sells Puto Bumbong even beyond Christmas. The Jackson family sell this delicacy everyday to customers who enjoy eating it.

Curios to know how Puto Bumbong is made, I asked the family one day to show me how this well-known Filipino delicacy is made.

The process and ingredients are simple.

Here are the ingredients:

1 kilogram of Malagkit mixed with 125 grams ordinary rice
Sugar
1 pc Shredded mature coconut
Food color (violet/lilac)
Butter or margarine
Banana leaves
Water
Pandan leaves

Here are the steps:

Mix the malagkit (glutinous rice), ordinary rice and the food coloring. Let it dry over night. The process of mixing can also be done using a grinder. If the mixture is ready (usually the following day), add Pandan leaves in water that will be used to steam the Puto Bumbong. Heat steamer. Put the rice mixture inside the bamboo tubes leaving enough space where steam can evaporate. After one minute, check the steamed glutinous rice and prepare banana leaves. Spread the steamed Puto Bumbong on the banana leaves. Apply margarine or butter then add sugar and shredded coconut.

So that’s the simple way of preparing Puto Bumbong. You don’t have to fall in line after mass to get one.

Later I learned that the Jackson family serves Puto Bumbong with tea because the tea compliments the sugar applied on this favorite Filipino delicacy.

(Photo: A wooden Belen made out of uprooted trees in UP Los Banos)

By Marjorie Gorospe

CHRISTMAS is often associated with lanterns, caroling and Christmas trees. But one of the more common symbols of Christmas is Jesus Christ’s nativity, which is portrayed through a Belen.

While people only get to see Belens during the Christmas season, residents and visitors in Marikina can actually find this symbol all year round through a Belen Museum, which is open everyday except on holidays.

The museum has a variety of Belens, which is owned by Carmen Carlos. Carlos started collecting Belens when she was still in high school in the 1950s. Since then, her collection has grown. She has paintings, dioramas and embroidery, which were given as gifts by close friends.

“It is a symbol of hope,” says Dolly Borlongan, the museum’s curator.

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WHEN you think of typhoons, you often think of death and destruction. But amid these unwanted consequences, some people find good things from these sad events.

In September 2006, typhoon Milenyo hit Southern Luzon and brought down hundreds of trees at the University of the Philippines Los Baños campus.

Dr. Fernando Sanchez, assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development, UPLB, said that the typhoon uprooted decades-old trees.

“Before the typhoon Milenyo happened, it was a dream to have a wooden Belen in the campus,” Sanchez added.

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Our search for the giant lanterns of Pampanga led us to Tatang Erning (real name Ernesto Quiwa), one of the most respected lantern makers in the province.

We found him in his home in Barangay Sta. Lucia, a few minutes away from San Fernando city proper. His home also serves as the base for his lantern-making business.

Tatang Erning, however, is more famous for his giant lanterns. He has been making them in time for the city’s annual Giant Lantern festival since the 1960s.

He is a fourth-generation descendant of the Estanislaos, one of the pioneering families who have been making lanterns ever since the “Ligligan Parul” began taking place in the 1930s.

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THE Filipinos’ festive celebration of Christmas begins as early as September. No wonder the Philippines has been known as the country with the longest celebration of Christmas. Filipinos would decorate their homes with garlands, Christmas lights, belen and the Parol or the lantern – which are symbols that represent the spirit of Christmas

The Parol, for instance, is a symbol of the guiding light which wise men followed during their journey to find Jesus Christ. But symbols go hand in hand with traditions that people practice. Christmas is not complete without the caroling, Simbang Gabi, Noche Buena, and the “Mano Po Ninong at Ninang.”

Truly, Filipinos celebrate Christmas like no other.

INQUIRER.net VDO presents these Christmas messages.

May the true spirit of Christmas be etched in your hearts.

THE Noche Buena table is not complete without a Christmas Ham. As early as November, you can already see these cured hams being sold in supermarkets. While these commercial hams are cured, you can make it extra special by glazing it with sweetness mixed with a tinge of sourness. How can you do that?

Watch chef Bong Ignacio as he cooks the Pineapple and Star Anise Glazed Ham.

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“This is the best of them all.”

Thus said former UP president Jose Abueva himself when asked to describe this year’s lantern parade.

The annual Christmas event also became a fitting conclusion — the “climax,” says Abueva — to UP’s year-long centennial celebration.

“So many people are here,” he said, when I interviewed him while he was watching the parade from atop Quezon Hall, overlooking the Oblation statue.

“We are out to make it the best celebration because it’s our centennial year. This year, UP was proclaimed the national university and the amount of people here shows that UP is indeed the people’s university.”

All seven UP universities and 12 campuses were represented in this year’s centennial parade.

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