In Propagating Barong Tagalog & Filipino Cuisine

Manila’s WEDDING of the Century

I received last night the wedding invite of my younger brother. He, finally at 32 is jumping into the marriage bandwagon. What’s interesting is, his fiancé is 37 years old just like my Dutchman, but heck she looked way younger than my brother anyway

The wedding and reception will be held in a very chic, convivial and romantic place – The Kasalikasan Gardens, Global City, Fort Bonifacio in Makati City. Now, that’s a really nice place.

Dutchman and I will be doing the “Chord” (of love) in the wedding. This will be Dutchman’s first real Filipino exposure where he will play a significant role. I don’t know if he is keyed up about the forthcoming event, but he already warned me, since the very first time he laid eyes on THIS piece of Pinoy men’s fashion, which was by the way 4.5 years ago… that no one, I repeat, NO ONE can ever force or coerce him to wear the dreaded exotic see-through-suit ---The Barong Tagalog.

I’m guessing it will take him probably a few light years before he can yet entertain the idea of wearing it. He even asked me one time these, “Why Filipino men don’t tuck-in the Barong Tagalog in their pants?” and, “What to do if your nipples are transparent since the material is made of see-through elements?”. Goodness heavens, that makes me pee. LOL! Gawd, these are the kind of questions when you must juggle to answer when you have an imported partner.

The Filipino Barong Tagalog by P.Moreno, the Philippines national costume for men worn by unabashed foreign men. This is the ornate version for special occasions such as weddings, parties, inaugurations and such. A less elaborate-simpler version is worn daily in the corporate setting.

And so, while I was busy examining the entourage list, I had to go through a maze of names to locate ours. I thought it would be easy to spot since Dutchman’s name sounds like Schwarzenegger or Van Damme, but heck I couldn’t find it! Don’t get me wrong, their invite was top, very impressive, modern and original. It’s not your usual gaudy invite with embossed 80’s designs and frilly ribbons… but it literally left me dazed. Dazed because this is going to be a hell of an entourage!

Get this --- The sponsors alone are 20 couples, the groom’s men and bride’s maids are 13 pairs plus 2 pairs of junior’s groom’s men and bride’s maids, totaling to 15 pairs. What is this? I didn’t know there is a senior and junior groom’s men and bride’s maids? That doesn’t include the 2 pairs of best men and maid of honors. Then to light their path, 10 pairs!!! The flower girls and boys (yes they have flower boys!) are 3 pairs! And it’s not enough to have 1 officiating minister, but 2!

Oh dear, I hope my brother and his fiancé won’t spam me when reading this entry. But damn, this wedding can match Princess Charles and Diana’s entourage in the 80’s!

Speaking of this wedding of the century, I haven’t found a dress -yet. Heaven forbid that I will be wearing those usual flowing satiny nuptial gowns, they are too blissful and sugary, that will definitely stain my image. I want to be in a suit, an off white or crème suit with a tudor inspired embroidered bustier and a ball of green corsage. Green by the way is the color theme. I only have 2 weeks to hunt for this. I’m afraid that I have to succumb to my vanity tendencies, I should or must be the 2nd prettiest there at least, after of course the bride, hehe.

In Propagating FILIPINO CUISINE

My sister in law is a bona fide social cat. She has networked herself successfully in many organizations and clubs in her area, well I think. Amazing, she always finds time to ferret and dabble on little things here, there and everywhere. So last Sunday during the birthday of our niece, much to my surprise, she gave me some wonderful news.

“What do you think of handling (teaching) a course on Filipino Cuisine?” Sister in law asked, grinning. “Oh… a what? I will teach a course on how to cook Filipino food?” I asked with eyes wide open and ideas running amok in my head. My brains can run a marathon so I was already on my 5th sprint on recipes and stuff while asking this question.

“Yes, that’s it. We have had in the past Indian, Indonesian, etcetera and currently we are offering Spanish Tapas and Japanese Sushi lessons for this school term. Filipino food would be a great refreshing change for next year” She said.

Wow, splendid. Let me borrow what she said, this too will be a refreshing change for me!

Ensalade de Lato (Seaweed Salad), a typical seafood salad from the central and southern regions of the Philippines. My favorite!

I actually love to cook. In fact the kitchen is my kingdom. Dutchman fervently reasons out to my friends, his friends, his colleagues, my family, his family that he is giving me the ultimate favor of my lifetime by giving me the reigns of command in the kitchen. After all, he would say, it is my hobby.

Nevertheless, I accepted the offer. I will get paid by this which is GOOD. I get to conduct the lessons on a weekday evening or during the weekend, once a week. I also have enough time to formulate my course plan since the next school term will be on the half of next year. In summer we begin enrollment for interested participants.

Isn’t this a good way to propagate our very own Filipino Cuisine, at least here in NL?