Keeping it all together: the Family Bonding website

All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl. Sadly, this is the reality in present times -  not just among individuals, but within the family, the basic unit of Philippine society. In our quest to pay the bills and keep body and soul together, some things have to be sacrificed, like precious  time with our loved ones. That is why a proper work-life balance must always be achieved.

I am actually reminded of a study I chanced upon recently. It’s called “The Vanishing Values of the Filipino Family.” These were the results of the survey conducted by Alveo Land, a subsidiary of Ayala Land, among their clients and other interest groups. The results were no less unnerving. It found out that:

- Nine out of 10 Filipinos believe that social values are already disappearing in the Philippines, foremost among them respect for others, and especially elders. Only one out of five perceived their parents to be worth emulating.

- There is hardly time for family bonding. About 60 per cent of Filipino home owners are working overtime. Roughly half of those surveyed spend less than four hours a day with their children, and one out of five Filipino spouses do not spend any time at all with their partners. As a result, couples now argue about their lack of time together, more than arguing about finances or differences in parenting styles. This is worsened by the fact that 50 per cent of Filipino families don’t go out for family vacations.

- One fourth of the respondents feel that health and fitness is an important aspect missing in their lives, and half of the population confess to not having any health or relaxation activities at all (unless you find staring at the computer a detressing activity).

- One third of all Filipino homeowners feel unsafe in their communities. Among such attributes as orderliness, accessibility and the like, safety and security in the community is the most underserved need.

- The last concern was the lack of religious expression. One out of every five Filipinos no longer attend church of any kind. The urge to do good deeds and perform charitable acts is strong within Filipino families; however, this desire is not necessarily backed up with concrete follow-up action.

What is good is that the Ayala real estate group has launched its parenting portal through its  masterplanned suburban project, the Verdana Homes Mamplasan in Laguna. I checked out the site at familybonding.com.ph and found it awash with useful tips and family-oriented activities you can do to benefit your children.

Among the components of the website are Tips for Families, a Family Calendar for posting of related activities, a Family Forum for the discussion of important topics, the  Family Blogs where one can share stories and online Polls.

Users can have real online interaction with fellow parents so that you can share common concerns and be each other’s support network. Aside from this, the Verdana Homes people also conduct live coffee talks and on-site activities to bring parents, their children and the extended family together.

“No one can deny the popularity of the Internet. Instead of treating this medium as an enemy, we utilize this influential medium to provide more expedient, but nonetheless sincere and exciting ways for urban Filipino families to bond,” explains Jennyle S. Tupaz, Alveo Land’s Division Manager for Project Development.

It is nice to see companies like Alveo Land take the initiative to push for the preservation of the Filipino family. We’ve always admired Alveo projects for their top-of-the-line amenities and comprehensive approach to housing. This approach makes sure that no man is ever an island, but lives harmoniously with the greater community. With Family Bonding, we can now see all of their nurturing action on the Web.

Dalaw na!

Heny Sison shares popular Japanese recipes in cooking class

The easiest way to learn a recipe is by using a cookbook. But none really beats attending a cooking class and learning from the masters. The number of lessons is limited, but at last you’ll be able to know insider secrets and precious tips that aren’t otherwise imparted in the books. Most of the classes these days are interactive,which I think is better than sweating it by your lonesome doing ‘trial and error’ in the kitchen.

And this is how I found myself attending a cooking class by Cake Queen Heny Sison one rainy weekend. Ms.Sison has a spacious cooking school-cum-coffee shop in Waltermart Makati which was filled that day with eager students. No, we were not set to learn about how to make her trademark desserts. It was for something Ms. Sison wasn’t really known for, but for which she was an expert just the same - Japanese cuisine.

Am sharing below some recipes, as well as some snippets from the session.

First on the agenda was Temaki-Zushi or do-it-yourself sushi rolls.

First, make the sushi rice. Rinse 360 g. of Japanese rice, strain and let stand for 30 minutes. Add 19 oz. water and put in rice cooker. As the rice is cooked,let it stand for 10 minutes. Prepare ingredients for sushi vinegar: 4 tbsps. rice vinegar, 3 tbsps. sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir together. Transfer hot rice to a large wooden sushi bowl, make a mound. Pour sushi vinegar over and mix rice by cutting across it in a fast slashing motion. Cool by fanning.

Assemble the temaki-zushi. For this, you need 800 grams of the prepared sushi rice, plus 120 grams of tuna,kani stick,mayonnaise,cucumber, eel, nori seaweeds and Kikkoman soy sauce. Squid, shrimp, sea urchin, salmon roe and tamago or rolled omelette can also be used.

Take a half sheet of nori and place it on a rolling mat. Spread a thin layer of cooked rice evenly over the nori, leaving a one-fourth inch of nori on each side. Dab a little wasabi in a line across the rice.Place other ingredients on top or the side of the wasabi,but too many or it will not roll well. Roll it carefully and evenly away from you, pressing it firmly. Remove the rolling mat, trim any ingredients that are protruding from the ends of the roll and cut into 2-3 cm. length.

Serve with wasabi and soy sauce, horseradish and sweet-vinegared ginger.

The second recipe for our cooking lesson was the beef gyudon which is best served as a topping on a hot bowl of rice. Gyudon is a popular dish in most Japanese restaurants,including fastfood joints like Yoshinoya. I was quite happy to know that making it is moderately easy. You just need to have good, thin slices of beef.

How to prepare gyudon or beef on rice: Cut 500 grams of white onions lengthwise and then slice thinly. In a medium-size saucepan, bring a cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of water to a boil over medium heat. Add 500 g. of thinly-sliced beef and simmer for a few minutes, skimming the surface of the broth as it foams.Add 3/4 cup soy sauce, 3/4 cup mirin, and 4 tbsps. sugar. Press down lid of the saucepan and simmer for three minutes.

Remove cover, add the onions and again simmer until the onions are transparent and soft. Ladle cooked beef and onions together with some sauce into a bowl filled with rice and garnish with pickled red ginger.

Kanin Club : one more good reason to go South

For someone like me who works in Manila, heading South is always an exciting moment. The South is a booming region with various technoparks, excellent housing developments, tourist spots, historical churches and cultural landmarks. Of course, it would be be a sin to omit the cuisine. Some of the best culinary fare in the Philippines can be found here, by reason of the fact that a number of Manila’s top chefs have chosen to relocate or establish their restaurants in the quiet suburbs.

A great example of this is Kanin Club. Foodies have been talking of this uniquely Filipino restaurant for a year now. Curiously enough, this growing chain of restos can be found in the South only: the maiden branch is in Paseo de Sta. Rosa in Laguna, which is conveniently along the road to Tagaytay; while the second one just opened recently at the Westgate Commercial Center in Alabang. Both establishments are packed with people during mealtimes, especially weekends; this, in itself, is a testament to Kanin Club’s success among rice-eating Filipinos.

At Kanin Club, rice in its various incarnations is,admittedly, the star of the show. We had this glorious-looking Sinigang na Sinangag which was accented by crunchy vegetable tempura that I was happy enough to munch on. The sinangag or fried rice just had the right sourness of sinigang without a trace of the broth. Being a sinigang lover, I was amused at the seemingly magical concoction. There were tomato slices, sliced green pepper and generous chunks of pork belly or liempo on the big heap of rice, but no soup. It was good enough to appease our sinigang craving just the same.

The different rice variations give one a reason to come back to the Club. A bestseller is their Loaded Fried Rice, deliciously heavy with Chinese sausage, ham, crab meat, green peas, pork, and slices of scrambled eggs on top. Other must-tries are the Chorizo Rice, Tinapa (’Smoked Fish’) Rice, Daing (’Dried Fish’) Fried Rice, Bagoong (’Shrimp Paste’) Rice and Aligue (’Crab Fat’) Rice.

A dish that has made Kanin Club talked about is their Crispy Dinuguan. The dish is traditionally made with pork blood, pork or some innards and flavored with vinegar, garlic and green pepper. The Club’s dinuguan is another magic concoction since it certainly looked like dinuguan on the outside but tasted like lechon kawali on the inside. It’s easy to say that they deep-fried the pork belly first before covering it in the rich stew of pork blood. The result is a dish that even non-dinuguan eaters like me will learn to appreciate.

Aside from the Crispy Dinuguan, there were other ‘crispy’ items on the menu, actually. We tried an appetizer of Crispy Liempo. Then there’s Crispy Pata, Crispy Pork Binagoongan, Crispy Tenga (pork’s ears) and Crispy Tadyang.

The restaurant’s menu is quite long. Some are traditional favorites, while the others are unique twists to Filipino dishes, like the examples just cited.

Here’s what the resto recommends for first timers, aside from the usual ‘crispies’ and rice dishes:

Crispy Liempo and Thai Green Mango Salad for starters; Sinigang na Tadyang ng Baka or Salmon Belly in Miso for soup; Sigarilyas Express and Patola in Olive Oil for the veggies; and their signature dessert, Turon KC.

Turon is saba banana wrapped in spring roll and fried in caramelized sugar. At Kanin Club, it is even made more delicious with the addition of ube haleya, macapuno, sweetened red mongo beans and other ingredients usually reserved for another dessert, the Halo-Halo. The turon can be ordered with ice cream (a la mode) or without, but we preferred it in its pure form. It was a fitting end to our memorable meal at Kanin Club!

For reservations and inquiries, call Kanin Club:

In Laguna - (049) 544-0332

In Alabang - 771-1400

Financial security is a lifestyle choice: 38 ways to save money now

Have you ever felt that our state of contentment or discontentment with money stems from the lifestyle decisions we make?

Simple assumption, but true. Think about it: it was fun treating your friends to a round of Friday night mojito and eating at the new restaurant on The Block, but what a nightmare if you wake up tomorrow and find out that you don’t even have an allowance for the next five days until the next paycheck comes.

Read more

In search of the good life….

The proverbial search for the good life is what drives  countless Filipinos to greener pastures and foreign lands.  Some  succeed in their  odyssey, some return home  where their hearts belong.

But whatever the reason, the Philippines is our Motherland  and images as well as memories of it will forever be etched in our minds - majestic mountains, the bluest seas, unruly jeepneys, summers at the beach,  happy, smiling people and more!

For all its imperfections, there is frankly nothing else  in the world  I’d rather be at this moment.  Perhaps, it is out of a deep-seated sense of loyalty for the country which has not only nurtured me since birth, and now my children as well. Perhaps, because I feel at home in all the familiar and complicated crannies of my homeland. Perhaps,  because I’ve resigned myself to my fate and don’t see the need to get any richer, apart from the old, cramped car I now own.

There is just something about this place that pulls me with its beauty, whether am sipping coffee in an al fresco cafe or watching people take a whiff of the bay breeze amidst the golden sunset. Life is easy here, call it laid-back if you may. But most of all it is knowledge of the fact that this Motherland will always cradle me and welcome me, even it has upset me a number of times, and vice-versa.

To give hope to the Motherland, we should give it hope.

Here are the reasons:

The Philippines is an ever-changing place. What the country was 15 years ago cannot be compared to what  it is now because  the landscape has drastically changed. The Philippines has become a globalized village  where  it is possible  NOT to fly out of the country to get what you want. This is attested to by the rise of cosmopolitan hang-outs, fusion cuisines and other aspects of our life and culture which have clearly become international