Asparagus and Broccoli Curry

a vegan dish


You will find that the procedure in this recipe is quite cumbersome.  Processes such as boiling and simmering are repeated over and over again to ensure that the proper sauce consistency is achieved.

You must keep in mind that this is a type of stew and stewing always takes time even if it only involves vegetables.

Asparagus and Broccoli Curry

It's a curry that involves asparagus and broccoli.  Best eaten with rice or soft potatoes.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with a bowl that would serve:

- 3 people who really like curry
- 5 people who like curry but don't want to eat too much, or
- 7 to 10 people who don't like curry but are really hungry and have no choice but to eat it

You will need:

- 1 large potato, coarsely chopped
- 1 medium sized carrot, halved lengthwise (leave one half intact & chop the other half)
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 medium sized onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- 1 teaspoon of fresh dill leaves (1/4 teaspoon if dried)
- 1 teaspoon of ginger paste or crushed ginger
- 2 tablespoons of oil/butter/ghee
- 1 tablespoon of plain flour dissolved in half a cup of water
- 1 cup of asparagus
- 1 cup of broccoli
- 1 regular sized western tomato (or 2 medium sized Roma/Bangalore tomatoes), soaked in very hot water for five minutes and peeled
- salt to taste
- muscovado sugar or molasses to balance the flavour
- chilli for an additional kick (optional)

Let's get cookin':

1. Heat two tablespoons of oil/butter/ghee in a sauce pan and drop in the onion and garlic together.
2. Add in the carrot (both chopped and intact) and toss for about a minute.
3. Pour in a cup of water, mix in your tablespoon of curry powder along with the ginger paste and bring to the boil.
4. When it comes to the boil, add in the flour dissolved in a cup of water and stir to thicken.
If you want to add in chilli, this would be the perfect time to do it.
5. Drop in your chopped potatoes and bring again to the boil.
6. When boiling, simmer gently for 30 minutes with occasional stirring.
7. Remove the intact half of the carrot and blend it to purée.  Add the purée to the saucepan right after.
8. Using your bare hands, squeeze the peeled tomato over the saucepan so that its juices fall onto your cooking.  Mince it using your hand, dropping each peace you pull right onto the saucepan.
9. Drop in the dill along with your asparagus and broccoli and stir everything.
10. Add salt and muscovado/molasses to your palate's delight.
11. Bring to the boil and simmer for another 5-7 minutes before serving.

Popeye the Sailor Man is NOT FOR KIDS

Popeye seen tossing the tin of spinach away after taking its contents

I used to enjoy watching Popeye cartoons as a child.  Back when I was eight, I used to steal the remote control from my grandpa each time I visited his house.  My next move would then be to tune in to Cartoon Network to see if they had either of my two favourite shows on.  It was either the Tom and Jerry Show or Popeye the Sailor.  Otherwise, I'd give the remote back to him and leave him to watch the news in peace.

Tom and Jerry gave me cheap laughs and taught me two primary lessons: Not to be a bully and to never allow myself to be bullied.  Popeye, on the other hand, made me love spinach betting on the idea that it would help me become strong and overcome oppressive people.  I would begin punching air and imitating his actions the moment he ate his spinach and started beating the crap out of Bluto--all in the effort to save the love of his life, Olive Oyl.

FUN FACT: I used to walk around my village hiding a small plastic container full of water spinach as a precautionary measure in case someone tried to bully me like Bluto did to Popeye.  And, yes, I used water spinach because no real spinach was sold in any grocery store in my city during those days.

Having grown up and become more socially aware, I recently went to YouTube to revisit a slice of my childhood.  I opted to watch an episode of Popeye and noticed how it was no longer a treat to see the violence he inflicted on Bluto.  Sure, the fat man just gets flung to a nearby hill when Popeye punches him.  However, I have personally experienced delivering an uppercut to a bully and it was not pretty.  His mouth bled and it didn't please me at all.  He didn't fly and land on a tree like I comically imagined he would.  Sad, I know, but I was only 12 then.

Popeye cartoons don't exemplify good values and children should not idolise him!

True, he eats spinach (which is indubitable healthy)!  However, if you watch a few episodes again, you may notice that in some of them, he recklessly and irresponsibly disposes of his rubbish!  After he eats the spinach, he is sometimes shown to just toss tins anywhere without thinking about it.

Another photo showing Popeye tossing the tin away after eating the spinach

While I'm aware that it's not the show's intent to popularise littering, such image is subconsciously embedded in children's minds, leading them to do the same thing without giving it a thought.  Subliminal messaging wasn't given attention in the 1930's when the Popeye character was conceived but we have now learned, from modern discoveries in the field of psychology, that they do matter and play a significant role in character development.

If you argue that littering has been minimised over the years of the cartoon series' existence, there are other themes that are worth attention:

- Smoking:  If you haven't noticed Popeye smoking a pipe, you'd have to be blind.
- Destructive Behaviour:  The fact that he tends to destroy a lot of things that come his way without thinking of his actions' consequences!
- Animal Cruelty:  He has been shown in a number of episodes abusing cattle in bull fighting scenes.
- Racism:  In one episode, Popeye and Pappy are shown subduing an island tribe whose population appears to have a dark complexion.  The tribe members are later stacked by the father-son tandem on a rack and labelled "Cheaper by the dozen."  Now you tell me what message that conveys to children!

Popeye hurting a bull in a bullfight scene
(Self-defence? Why participate in such activities in the first place?)

Pappy labelling the dark-skinned natives "Cheaper by the dozen."
(I can't understand why you need to add insult to injury after defeating your attackers.)

While I appreciate some themes like the encouragement of eating vegetables and the protection of weaker people and helpless small animals (like that young calf he saved from being killed by Bluto; although he killed a bigger bull in the same episode), I do not recommend the show for young children who are in their formative years.

Popeye the Sailor Man is a cartoon classic but should just not be watched by our youngsters who are in the process of formulating values for themselves.

An Open Letter to Arrogant Pricks Who Just Don't Know When to Stop

Dear You,

Please put a lid on your destructively patronising attitude.  It's not helping anyone and it's unnecessarily offending a lot of people.

You live in a free country so you have the liberty to express your opinions as frequently as you want to.  However, do employ common sense to determine where and when a statement is appropriate or not.

Are you trying to call attention to yourself?  Are you trying to make people fall in awe of your deliberate nonconformity to social ethics?  I don't know if you are purposely trying to be ostentatious about your indecency or if your sense of judgement is just way too weak to be able to see where the line between "strongly opinionated citizen" and "pompous, insensitive prick" is drawn.  If it's the former, then it's definitely working.  If it's the latter, go seek psychiatric help because you direly need it.

Your arrogance is way too much.  The fact that you're hurting people isn't the issue here.  What's bothering me is that the pain you're causing isn't the type that amounts to anything constructive.  Sure, you can rant about sensible legislation and political crimes.  News articles about such things are meant to trigger waves of opinion so, by all means, bring yours to the fore.  However, when you use your hammers to merely destroy without the intent to rebuild, it's a different story.  You cannot keep doing it.  You need to stop!  It's one thing to enjoy expressing your points of view; it's another thing to bash and bask in the blood you've drawn out.

Do you expect emotional injuries to simply disappear in the void of oblivion?  For your information: that just doesn't happen.  While some people are evolved enough to let your offences pass, most do not bear such an ability.  For the majority of people you hurt, the pain builds up and causes unspeakable damage to their being.

My advice is for you to now embark on a long journey of self-discovery to examine the aspects of your existence that are worth a ton of not-so-pleasant adjectives.  I couldn't care less if you do it or not, though.  What's important is you come to terms with the fact that you have an attitude that needs adjustment--not to mention a mouth and set of typing fingers that need to undergo intensive rehabilitation.

You need to know when to zip it!


Sincerely,
Ludwig Bon Migriño Quirog


P.S.  Another piece of advice: Please work on your grammar if you wish to continue using the English language in expressing yourself on the internet.

LifestyleBohol * At the End of the Day: A Review of Les Misérables (in Bohol)

This review article's text is exactly as it appears on the August 5th, 2012 issue of LifestyleBohol.  Of course, since this is a webpage, I went crazy with the photos.  I hope they don't end up making this entry confusing for anyone.

Enjoy reading!

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I was in Manila on a trip to see the French play, God of Carnage, when my Aunt Bing told me she was giving me a ticket to see Les Misérables at the Bohol Cultural Centre.  I leaped with joy!  “Two French stage shows on the same week?”  I said to myself, “It’s not even Christmas yet.  What did I do to deserve this awesomeness?”

Over a month before that day, I had known about it.  DreamBig Productions and Cre8tive Thespians Circle Inc, the Cebuano companies that brought the musical to Bohol, had created a lot of noise on Facebook about a supposed Les Miz production but I didn’t take them seriously.  I couldn’t help it; I hadn’t heard about them before and I wasn’t sure if they could deliver.  I was obviously wrong to have doubted them and my aunt’s enthusiasm for art proved to be an enormous blessing!

The Show

July 27^th, opening night, came before I knew it.  It was to be the night of “ultimate Misery,” as West End and Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh would put it.  The ticket said the show would start at 7:00PM but we had to sit through half an hour of dead air before they actually turned the lights off and pulled the curtains up.  It wasn’t the production team’s fault, though.  The place didn’t properly fill up until 7:20.  I guess we’ve gotten used to events starting an hour behind schedule that we tend to take time for granted.

I watched the show again on the second night, where a large part of this review will be based on since I was seated nearer to the stage.  Before I go about it, however, let me make it clear that I won’t be telling the story or talking about character backstories or enumerating every single musical number in this article.  This is a review, not a summary.  If you want to know about Les Misérables, Google it or read the novel.

The show began with the familiar overture and Work Song and I was pleased when I noticed the lapel microphones sticking out of the actors’ ears, knowing the singing was live.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to endure a medley of pre-recorded tracks like I did with a few local productions in the past.  What I had to endure, though, was the very bad audio system.  While the choruses were really good, the solo lines sounded irreconcilably hollow, which was very irritating.  Add to the list of flaws the fact that some of the lapels also had problems, which rendered some songs practically inaudible to people beyond the fifth row.

Jean Valjean with the Male Ensemble in Work Song following the Overture
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Jean Valjean

I noticed that, Sonny Alquizola, the actor playing Jean Valjean had a vocal quality comparable to that of Colm Wilkinson, the Canadian tenor who originated the role in the West End and on Broadway.  When he ages considerably, there’s a good chance he might even achieve the same timbre.  My companions and I were certainly bowled over with his performance of Bring Him Home, a song written specifically for the Canadian Tenor.

Alquizola had a few difficulties here and there, but who didn’t?  His most notable predicament was in achieving a solid grip of the very lofty final note of the song Who Am I, a high B which is normally held for seven seconds.  He was also a good actor—his stage behavior changed as he supposedly got old throughout the musical.  He even added more huskiness to his voice in the latter part, which gave an extra tinge of realism to his characterization.

Jean Valjean with Marius and the Ensemble in Bring Him Home
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Inspector Javert

The main antagonist of the musical, Inspector Javert, was played by Andrew Vincent Esplanada.  His rendition of Stars was classic—punctuated with the eyes of an angry Roman god about to smite the unrighteous.  While Esplanada wasn’t quite the despicable pious prick that Javert was meant to be, he knew how to stare at Valjean and the rest of the cast with such hatred and disdain, which helped him make it perfectly clear that his character meant business.  His abuse directed towards Fantine as a prostitute made me want to throw a can of soda at him—which meant he did it right.

Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert in the duet part of Work Song
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Fantine

Gayle Marie Sinadjan, portraying Fantine, had a smooth voice with a beautiful vibrato—a cross between Joanna Ampil and Ruthie Henshall but definitely neither.  She took my heart away during The Confrontation when she sang of the character’s daughter, Cosette, as though she had a real child to sing about.  Her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream was vocally impressive but I have to say she moved way too much.  Her voice would have been enough to reduce me to a teary pulp but her physical activity while singing proved too distracting to elicit genuine sympathy.  Overall, she was very good.  Her appearance in Valjean’s Death sent chills down my spine.  It was the same experience I had when I first saw the show several years ago.

Fantine and the Foreman with the Ensemble in At the End of the Day
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Valjean and Fantine in Fantine's Death
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

The Thénardiers

Playing Monsieur and Madame Thénardier were Warren Clyde Tompong and April Anne Moncada respectively.  Oh what a comic relief those two were after a series of miserable scenes depicting death and anguish!  Tompong sang Master of the House like a pro—prancing with a naughty tiptoe all over the stage—singing about how he rips his customers off and steals from them.  He even had a faux 18^th century peasant Londoner accent.

Monsieur Thénardier with the Ensemble in Master of the House
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Moncada, on the other hand, really needs to be lauded for her amazing vocal timbre.  She would have very easily stolen the show if her part were longer.  She reminded me so much of Anne Harada, the actress who played the role on Broadway in 2006, with her amazing vocals and wily disposition.  She had the eyebrows of a typical evil villainess and she knew how to use them.  The audience cracked up in laughter when she pulled a tiny banana out while singing the line “thinks he’s quite a lover but there’s not much there.”  That’s something I haven’t seen in any other production of Les Miz.  She’s a bloody wonder!

Madame Thénardier and Young Cosette
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

It’s such a shame the producers decided to cut Beggars at the Feast, the couple’s second big song.  It would have been nice to see them back in their own number.

Marius and Cosette

I was instantly drawn by the vocal prowess of John Michael Fulgencio, who took on the role of Marius.  The moment he first opened his mouth to sing, his voice immediately reminded me of a young Michael Ball, the English tenor who originated the role in the West End.  His notes were smooth and cool—with a stupendous quality showcased when he sang Empty Chairs at Empty Tables on the second night.  On the verge of tears, I remember my cousin, Isa, saying, “He’s way better than Nick Jonas” and she was right to say so.

Marius with the Male Ensemble in Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Cosette was played by Pauline Anne Rosales, a lyric soprano.  I’m glad the production brought back the song, I Saw Him Once, which hasn’t been performed in the musical’s context since the Original West End production in 1985.  It showcased Rosales’ amazing vocal range.  Let me stress, however, that although she and Marius made a cute couple on stage, the strongest chemistry was between the latter and Eponine.

Cosette in I Saw Him Once
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Eponine

Played by Joanna Jane Ang, Eponine was a feisty female waif with a heart-rending sentiment.  Her performance of On My Own was so soul-piercing that I even heard a couple of people clearing their nostrils and throats right before the loud applause.  That could only have meant they were crying.  She portrayed her quiet pain so masterfully that it was agonizing to watch.  A Little Fall of Rain, her duet with Marius right before she dies, drove me to tears on the second night.  With everything that she did before her death, she set the right mood for the audience to weep like they lost their own friend.

Eponine in A Heart Full of Love
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot 

Marius and Eponine (centre) with the Ensemble in A Little Fall of Rain
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Enjolras

Junrey Alayacyac, the young man cast as Enjolras had a remarkable set of pipes which reminded me a lot of David Thaxton, who played the role in 2008 in the West End.  It takes a strong voice to play a leader of the June Rebellion and Alayacyac fit the description perfectly.  The hairs on the back of my neck stood when he began to sing Do You Hear the People Sing to the beat of marching drums.  It was as though he was calling on the audience to join him in battle.  He was as passionate as a real revolutionary and it was clear he was singing with heart.  Perhaps he was singing for a modern kind of revolution.

Javert (left; kneeling), Enjolras (centre) and Gavroche (extreme right) with the Ensemble in Little People
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Young Cosette and Gavroche

Of course, we have to give special mention to these two little people—children with such music-filled futures ahead of them.  It’s clear that it could only get brighter from there on.  Portrayed by Raven Chan, a treble, Young Cosette only appears twice in the entire show—first when she sings Castle on a Cloud and second when she is “bought” by Valjean from the Thenardiers where she is mostly silent.  Little Miss Chan had a memorable angelic voice, which, to this day, still rings in my head like I just heard it an hour ago.

Young Cosette in her iconic pose with the broom
To this day, this pose represents Les Misérables.
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Gavroche, the smart little urchin, was another precious character.  Actor Arjay Chan, who played the role, sang Little People bringing an adorable pause of relief for those who found the preceding events to be too heavy on the heart.  In the end, though, he dies by the guns of the enemy.  Rummaging dead bodies for bullets, Little Mister Chan made our hearts sink when he sang his final solo as his character was being shot repeatedly by the French National Guard, writhing in agony until his last note.

Gavroche in Stars
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Ensemble

I have to laud the ensemble members for their vocal abilities.  With every single number from the Work Song to the reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing, they showed how much of a formidable bunch they all were.  They must have had a very good choir master because they left me in awe every single time.  Being really close to the stage on the second night, I recognized their faces each time they assumed a different character from their last.  From singing prostitutes to mendicants in the streets of Paris to armed rebels, they took on them with all they had and nailed it with pure awesomeness.

The second night concluded with a reprise of One Day More after the curtain call—this time with members of the crew singing alongside the performers.  Everyone had genuine smiles on their faces—no longer adherent to the miserable theme of the musical—singing their hearts out, knowing they did great.  That standing ovation at the end was very well deserved, to say the least.

The Entire Cast in the Finale (Reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing)
by Karen Lara Migriño Libot

Other Matters

This show was not, in any way, sanctioned by Music Theatre International but it doesn’t matter much.  MTI is known to be very lenient with real art lovers.  What’s important is Cre8tive Thespians Circle Inc, through DreamBig Productions, came to Bohol and made us theatre junkies very happy.

For years and years, I’ve been hoping and praying for the musical theatre scene in the province to come alive and take flight again.  I hope Les Misérables’ staging would usher in more productions—even from local art groups—because having a constant urge to fly to other places just to get my fill isn’t a good feeling.  There are many who love theatre here—enough, perhaps, to give a local production company a lucrative source of income.  Who knows?

Bohol has an open door for art.  Do come in, won’t you?

http://bonbonquest.blogspot.com/

______________________________

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Philippine Airlines: Truly Shining Through

Photo source: www.airplane-pictures.net

So I've already written about God of Carnage, the primary reason I flew to Manila for the weekend.  Now, allow me to talk about part of the experience that's usually skipped when people relate their stories.  Let's talk about airport time--specifically NAIA Centennial Terminal (otherwise known as Philippine Airlines Terminal or Terminal 2) and the short couple of minutes I spent there before ultimately boarding my flight back home.

The day after I had the pleasure of watching a play at the RCBC theatre, I was scheduled to return to Bohol.  It was a rainy Monday morning when I woke up and I really didn't want to get out of bed.  Sleep was a formidable challenge the previous night since my brain didn't seem to want to get over the play.

Alas, I had to get up.  My cousin, who had a retreat trip to go to that day, was creating an infernal racket in the room.  I took it as a sign.  I leaped out of bed and onto the dining table for some brunch.  Come 10 minutes past noon, I was all packed and ready to leave.  By that time, my cousin had already left and it was just me and the house help.  I bid her goodbye and exited the condo building to wait for a cab.  That's when the fun began.

It was already 12:25 the next time I checked my watch.  I was still standing there waiting for a cab.  By then, I had already started to perspire and the lotion applied to my arm made it gooey and slippery.  My happiness level dropped dramatically and it was almost as if I didn't get to see Lea Salonga and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo in a play the previous night.

Thankfully, enough, a cab stopped right in front of me a minute later.  I must have been absorbed in deep thought because I only noticed it when the driver called my attention to ask me where I was headed.  I stared blankly at him for about ten seconds before saying "NAIA 2, Manong."  Inside the car, I thanked him for stopping in front of me despite not being flagged down.  He asked me what time my flight was and I responded saying it was at 2:40PM.  He replied with a worrisome tone and I started sweating again.  "Hindi mo ba alam na SONA ni PNoy ngayon?  Ang bigat ng traffic!"  (Didn't you know the president is to give the State of the Nation Address today?  Traffic is very heavy!)

I sat in the cab through San Juan City, through Mandaluyong City, through Quezon City which was where I began to panic after checking my watch and seeing that it was already 1:35.  I remarked, "Hala, Manong! Mga isang oras na lang, flight ko na.  Mahuhuli na po ako."  (Goodness, Mister! My departure's just an hour away.  I might arrive late.)  He responded saying he'd take me there before 2:00.

We entered Pasay City shortly after.  It was 1:55 when we finally made it to the airport compound but I knew Terminal 2 was a long way from there considering the traffic.  I restrained myself from making growling noises.  You know, that noise you make when you're frustrated or irritated.


It was 2:05 when we reached the terminal.  I rushed in after paying my fare.  I wanted to thank him for trying his best but, considering the time, every second from then on counted.  You can't blame a man for being afraid of missing his flight.  Inside, I ran from counter to counter looking for "Tagbilaran City" but I didn't find it.  Hopeful that my eyes might just have failed me, I checked for a second time until I finally realised it wasn't there anymore.  The check-in counter for my flight had been closed.  I felt like hell.


Worried, exhausted and frustrated, I dropped my bag on the floor, grabbed my hair, closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and uttered random French words to myself.  It was then that I noticed a member of the ground crew approach me.  He asked me where my destination was and upon learning that it was Tagbilaran, he led me to a random counter where a nice lady took about 10 seconds to print my boarding pass.  "That was quick," I said.  She responded, "Sir, your flight is now boarding passengers.  Do you mind just carrying your bags instead of checking them in?"  "As long as I'm allowed to board, that's perfectly fine," I replied.  She then told the guy who led me to her, "Make sure he gets to his gate fast."  Ladies behind other counters told me, "Good luck, Sir! Double time, okay?"  I was chaperoned through security check up to my boarding gate.  Then he said, "You're good to go now, sir," and left before I got the chance to thank him.


When I was finally seated inside one of Philippine Airlines' new A320 aircrafts, I said in my head, "Wow! That's what you call 'real service'!"  I've had the same pleasant experience with a different airline overseas but I didn't expect this kind of service back home.  I should really learn to have more faith in local companies.  I was very happy they went an extra mile to get me onboard and I commend them for their excellent service.

I guess you never really know how good a choice is until you find yourself in deep shit and they pull you out of it with ease.  Such an experience made me realise that PAL truly is shining through.


It isn't just because of the company's policies, though.  I believe PAL's greatness is also largely because they have employees who have proliferated among themselves a culture of honourable service that has only gotten better over the scores.  I just wish all the people who've helped give the airline its glimmering name be made happy for it.  You know what they say: "A company is only as good as its employees."

Thank you, NAIA Terminal 2 ground crew!

Thanks to that guy who approached me!

Thanks to the nice lady who checked me in!

Thanks to the ladies behind the other check-in counters who wished me luck!


Thank you Philippine Airlines!  MABUHAY!

God of Carnage Manila: An Amateur's Review

So I just got home from a trip to Manila to see God of Carnage.

Yes, I flew to Manila just to see a play.  Got a problem with that?

Relax, it's just Manila.  It's not like I went to New York to chase a show.  Well, I'm probably going to do that one of these days.  Allegiance, anyone?  Anyway, that's beside the point.

A lot of people I know frown at my vice of flying to places to see shows only to fly back home immediately afterwards.  They especially accuse me of being an addict--in that I spend money on airfare and premium tickets just to see Lea Salonga.  Let me, however, respond that if one wants to witness refined art and expect to utter superlatives about it, money ceases to matter much.  It's not a luxury because art is something very important.

Back to the play.  God of Carnage revolves around a meeting between two sets of parents who make an effort to have a civil discussion about the well-being of their sons who had recently gotten themselves in a fight.  One boy hit the other with a stick resulting in the latter losing two teeth.  This single act play kicks off with a composed (even restrained) grown-up-like exchange of words where an obvious air of nicety pervades the room.  It progresses with the niceties gradually disappearing as they get comfortable with each other.

The pivotal point is when one of the characters vomits after getting an upset stomach from eating clafouti.  From there, the situation rolls fast downhill and the four adults act increasingly like big babies.  Alcohol comes into the picture and causes the doors of decency to get completely unhinged and the sparks of utter chaos to fly free.  They steer off the grid and it gets to a point where they almost abandon the issue at hand--their sons.  The conversation jumps around from topics like the perils of marriage to misogyny to hunger in the third world.  Each person in the play fights with every other in a round robin of abusive personal attacks, no-holds-barred profanity and pillow hitting.

There is no genuine denouement but I guess that's the point.  The play was basically about how grown-up lives go on and on and on restrained by compulsory niceties imposed by social mores.  It was crystal clear to me that the play was telling the audience how everyone has to put up with everyone else's bullshit on a day-to-day basis.

And just in case people are wondering, it was an R18 show so there were no children.  You may sigh in relief now.


The production I had the pleasure of seeing featured an all-star cast with four inimitable giant names of the stage: Lea Salonga, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Art Acuña and the British-Singaporean sensation, Adrian Pang.  It was absolutely epic in every sense of the word!  Running for over 80 minutes, the script written by French playwright, Yasmina Reza, was an explosive mixture of heart attack-inducing comedy, hard reality bitchslaps and gut-wrenching drama.  That standing ovation at the end was very well deserved, to say the least.

If the only version of the text you're familiar with is the 2011 film, Carnage, with Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet and John C. Reilly, you're missing out big time and you should feel largely short-changed!  I'm telling you, the differences are vast.  The film felt like nothing more than a contrived imitation.  I'm not only saying this because I'm a theatre junkie.  Don't get me wrong; I love good films!  It's just that the play mounted on a real stage in front of a live audience is 70 times better than the film adaptation even if you put the big Oscar-winning silver screen names into account.

Here are a few snapshots from the show to give you a hint of what I'm talking about.  And, no, I didn't take these photos myself because that would have been illegal.  I believe these are official press release shots.

Photo source: Broadway's Musician (A Tumblr Page)

Might I add that I sat in the theatre preparing myself to feel awkward that the actors on stage, having musical theatre backgrounds, weren't going to be singing.  The awkwardness never came, though.  They were such naturals that I got too absorbed in their characters to even remember they were just acting.

Menchu, who played Annette, is worth special mention here.  She played piss drunk incredibly well!  The drunk image of her in my head was so difficult to remove that while waiting for her to come out of the backstage door, I was half-expecting her to be walking groggily.

Anyway, here are some of my own photos taken after the show:

Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (Annette Reille in the play)

with Lea Salonga and my cousin, Isa

Lea Salonga (Veronica Houllié in the play)

Art Acuña (Alan Reille in the play)

Behold! The Autographed Playbill!

Marinara Sauce

a vegan dish


I feel like I'm two entries away from turning my site into a food blog.  The last two stuff I posted were recipes and here I am about to post yet another recipe.  Sure, I say a little something before I begin listing ingredients but, other than talk about the dish I just cooked, I don't really talk say anything revealing about my current frame of mind.

I'll try to do that before posting the recipe.  Bear with me here: this is a personal blog; not a cookbook.

Anyway, Mama and I did some grocery shopping last night.  Yeah, it's 12 in the morning now so I guess the expression "last night" is in order.  I didn't buy anything particularly notable--just the usual fruits, veggies, spices and condiments--except I bagged like, a kilo of tomatoes.  At home, I ended up with a storage predicament.  I didn't know where to put them since my vegetable compartment had already been stuffed with heads of broccoli and cauliflower, potatoes, basil stalks, carrots, cucumbers, oranges, limes and bulbs of garlic.  As a solution, I decided to cook marinara sauce.  Yeah, baby!

So, here's recipe #3!

Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce is an Italian style tomato-based sauce best consumed with spaghetti, spaghettini, cheese sticks, bread sticks, and flat breads like chapati, pita and naan.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with a bowl of sauce that would serve:

- 5 to 7 people if you use it as a dip for finger food like bread sticks and cheese sticks, or
- 3 to 5 people if you use it for pasta or for flat bread

You will need:


- 3 normal sized western tomatoes (or 5 medium sized Roma/Bangalore tomatoes), peeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 normal sized western tomatoes (or 3 medium sized Roma/Bangalore tomatoes), blended into a paste
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley (1/2 if dried)
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh marjoram/oregano (1 teaspoon if dried)
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil (1 teaspoon if dried but it makes a huge difference because you will really want fresh basil for this recipe)
- 1/3 cup finely diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 7 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of water

To make it:

1. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil onto a pan over medium heat.
2. Sauté the diced onion for about a minute to sweat it but make sure it doesn't burn.  Remove the onion from the pan afterwards and set it aside.
3. Pour the rest of the olive oil onto the pan, followed by the garlic which you need to sauté for 3 minutes as well.
4. Drop the chopped tomatoes in and agitate them around the pan for about 3 minutes.
5. Add in the parsley, marjoram and basil, and mix in.
6. Bring the heat to low and cover for 5 minutes with occasional stirring.
7. Stir in the tomato paste, water, and salt.
8. Cover for five minutes and stir in the salt afterwards.
9. Simmer gently with occasional stirring for 10 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated and the sauce is thick enough to qualify as a pasta sauce.  You be the judge.

NOTE: If you're going to use this sauce for pasta, use it as it is.  However, if you're going to use it as a dip for bread sticks and cheese sticks or if you want to put it on your flat bread, you may want to add in a teaspoon of flour to thicken it a little and to give it a paste-like consistency which would help it stick to bread.  Of course, dissolve the flour in a little cold water before stirring in.  The best time to do this is after simmering.  You may use less than a teaspoon of flour but never more than that.