IF the film industry has a lot of award-giving bodies for over a decade, the Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets (MBKRS) Awards unrolled its own red carpet to recognize the best in the food and beverage industry beginning this year.
The MBKRS Awards was born from the MBKRS book published last year, according to Ines Cabarrus, President and CEO of Manila’s Best Kept Secrets, Inc.
“I think we haven’t really haven’t had a chance in this town to really celebrate the best of the dining scene. We have so much to offer as a city,” added Cabarrus.
Dinosaurs from the Jurassic and cretaceous periods will be invading Manila, courtesy of the Dinosaurs Alive World Tour (DAT).
These interactive dinosaurs (almost real creatures of prehistory) will dazzle you starting November 28 until January 11, 2009.
The dinosaurs will be housed in a 12,000-square-meter theme park — which is the size of 30 basketball courts combined– at the SM Mall of Asia, according to James White, vice president for Sales and Marketing of Max Entertainment.
“The dinosaurs will be quite interactive. They move, make the sounds that dinosaurs would have made. They will also jump out at you. You will be scared by them. You will be surprised by them,” said White during a recent briefing.
Editor’s note: You can also read this story on Talk of the Town on the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
I am Dino Alberto E. Subingsubing, 44, a communication specialist working with a non-government organization (NGO) health project. Married with three kids, I’m just your regular working dude — except that I’ve been a regular bicycle commuter for the past 15 years.
Yup, I bike to work three to four days a week from Novaliches (where I live) to TM Kalaw (where I work). Let’s see…that would be about 20 kilometers one way. It takes me one and a half hours of leisurely cycling along my regular bike route, which covers Quirino Highway, Mindanao Avenue, C5, North Avenue, Agham Road, Quezon Boulevard, España, Earnshaw, Legarda / Mendiola, Ayala Bridge, Taft Avenue and TM Kalaw (where my office is located).
That would be 40 kilometers in a day, 160 kilometers in a week, 640 kilometers in a month, 7,680 kilometers in a year. Imagine how it translates into the number of calories burned!
Translated in the amount of money saved in terms of transportation fare, that would be about P150 a day, or P600 a week, or P2,400 a month and P28,800 a year. Imagine what you could buy with that.
I really didn’t start out a hardcore bike commuter. In fact, I only learned to ride a bike in 1992. But the appeal of being able to travel at your own pace, being free to choose your own route at will and not getting stuck in traffic gridlock made me choose biking as my ideal commuting mode.
The decision to bike to work (and almost everywhere) came at a time when I turned by all things ecological and environment-friendly — organic backyard gardening, home birth and Lamaze birthing techniques (two out of my three children were born at home, with my partner being assisted in childbirth by a health center midwife), traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and eating lower on the food chain (vegetarianism and macrobiotic diets).
According to Wikipedia, the Manila Chinese cemetery is the second oldest cemetery in the city, built during the Spanish times for non-Christian Chinese residing in the country.
Since then, however, it has become the resting place for the Chinese community in the country regardless of religious affiliation.
The cemetery is said to be the burial of many prominent Chinese in local history, including those who led uprisings during the Japanese occupation, but one name caught my attention.
So I went there the day before All Saints’ Day and I did find his tomb but unfortunately, I can only peek from outside the locked gate, seeing there were no visitors yet then.
ASIDE from soldiers and former presidents, the “Libingan ng mga Bayani” (Cemetery of Heroes) is also the resting place of some 30 of the country’s national artists including Levi Celerio, Nick Joaquin and Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero.
INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Lawrence Casiraya visits the graves of these artists and finds out how they became eligible for burial at this sacred resting place.
TAGUIG CITY, Philippines — Soldiers don’t die, they just fade away.
At the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio, this rings true. In the Philippines, deceased personnel who has brought honor and has served the country were interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in recognition of their faithful and dedicated service.
Under Proclamation 208 under late president Ferdinand Marcos, a total of 142 hectares were reserved from the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation for National Shrine purposes.
By virtue of AFP Regulation 161-375, government dignitaries, statesmen, national artists and scientists, former presidents, chief of staff and widow of the last two categories can be interred at the cemetery. At present, it is under the administration and maintenance of the Grave Services Unit (GSU), a unit of the Army Support Command, Philippine Army (ASCOM PA).
A total of 45,680 remains were interred in the cemetery at Fort Bonifacio, said Laine Barbosa, database programmer of GSU, ASCOM PA.
IT was 10 years ago in November when three friends, Alberto Besa, Vincent Santos, and Cheryl Del Rosario decided to put up the restobar with the help of chef Romy Garchitorena who lived in Italy for 20 years.
“Italian cuisine has a worldwide appeal,” said Patrick Santos, managing director of Italian restobar called Il Ponticello.
When asked what kept the business strong for the last 10 years, operations manager Besa said that being consistent and keeping the standards of the food they serve were keys to success. Santos, for one, said they don’t use any preservatives in their dishes.
While Il Ponticello serves Italian cuisine, the restobar has to make some adjustments. For instance, tomatoes grown in Asia are different from those coming from Europe, said Besa.
FILIPINO celebrities Maxene Magalona, Jay Jay Lozano, Angel Aquino and Jaycee Parker reveal what movie characters scare them in these video interviews for INQUIRER.net VDO Halloween special.
Also, watch this video story about pumpkins sold in Dangwa, which is popularly known as the place where you can buy affordable flowers. INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Marjorie Gorospe discovers a special flower shop that not only sells flowers, but also peculiar pumpkins harvested for the Halloween season. Rene Carreon, staff at Puentespina Orchids and Tropical Plants, Inc., discusses the variety of pumpkins the store sells and how the business is surviving despite the strong competition in the area.
MAKATI CITY, Philippines – Yes, delicious and healthy defines new dishes today.
Increasing healthier food alternatives has been the focus of Bubba Gump, said Chef Paul Abalan of Bubba Gump Makati.
Local fishes pompano, talakitok, labahita and maya-maya (Red Snapper) are now included in Bubba Gump’s local menu, he added, as he revealed that the seafood restaurant is now using more local varieties to make sure the fish will arrive fresh, not frozen at the restaurants.
“This helps us serve delicious and healthy dishes and allows us to use simple cooking methods like pan-searing and grilling which also preserves the juices intact in the fish—thus more nutrients for health eaters,” Abalan said.
Tales of the Nomad, the travel blog of INQUIRER.net. Manila-based INQUIRER.net is the online home of the Philippine Daily Inquirer group of publications.
IF the film industry has a lot of award-giving bodies for over a decade, the Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets (MBKRS) Awards unrolled its own red carpet to recognize the best in the food and beverage industry beginning this year.
MAKATI CITY, Philippines – Yes, delicious and healthy defines new dishes today.