Food/Life Lessons

Monday, June 30, 2008

Let's face it - bad food is made without a hint of pride nor affection, by people who have no pride, and of no love. Bad food is made by people who are indifferent, or who are trying to be everything to everybody, who are trying to please themselves.

Bad food is fake food. Food that shows fear and lack of confidence in one's ability to discern or to make decisions about their lives. Food that's too safe, too pasteurized, too healthy - it sickens me.

There should be some risk, like unpasteurized cheese. Food sometimes is about fermentation, maturity... as much as it is also about freshness.

Thank you, B.

Posted by : G at 2:05 AM
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Untitled

Monday, June 23, 2008

Posted by : G at 10:08 PM
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Season of Mist and Mellow Fruitfulness (03)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Of Blueberry Cheesecakes and Dessert Wines

(3 Weeks ago)

That night, the rain was coming down like all the angels in heaven decided to take a piss at the same time. When you're in a situation like mine, you can only think in metaphors.

This time, dinner was with Carol (whom by the way ruined the shot with her waving hand), Jim, Eug, and Terence. We sat there that Saturday evening in Bizu discussing about where we are in our lives and in our personal goals.

Parental pressures. Relationships. Our priorities in life. Career advancement. Expectations, etc. 

What really stuck into me was what Terence shared - on being a good provider to the people dearest to you, and how little we are earning in our age to be good providers. After all, not all of us are born with silver spoons in our mouths.

Now, we could talk about the things that comfort us in life, on finding someone attractive, someone witty, someone rich, someone you like because you have had a good long history with. Yes, they have their weights.

One cannot help but beg the question, what remains when these are taken away? After all, these things are temporary. Moods change. We think ahead. We look beyond the before and the now. We transcend things into abstractions. If there’s one thing that I’m not, it’s nostalgic.

What do you hold on to? 

For me, at the core of it all is being a good person, a good person who treats others with respect.

One very good reason for becoming a good person is because you have to be a good person in order to have good – and real – friends. It is only good people who are capable of being good friends. And for the very same reason, who are capable of having good friends. Someone who constantly puts them down, who resents their weaknesses without appreciating their strengths, well, not much could be said.

In retrospect, to say that my life over the past few months has been like dessert wine, I would say, is more than apt. It was a journey to fruitful maturity.

Let me begin by saying that I have so much to thank for, to supportive friends. Who can be and are there, just because.

Cheers.

Posted by : G at 4:53 PM
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Season of Mist and Mellow Fruitfulness (02)

Friday, June 13, 2008

Everything I Know I learned in a Swanky Neo-Italian Restaurant

(4 weeks ago)

Indeed, your past has a way of sneaking up on you. You'll hear broken echoes of it everywhere, like a bad replay. You'll get mad at everyone for reminding you about it, even if it's all in your head.

I had a dinner with a good friend back in college about a month ago. Needless to say, everything I know now I learned in a swanky Italian Fusion Restaurant in Gateway.

Yes, in Cibo, Gateway Mall.

...I know.

If there are two things that stand out from one’s account of friendship, it is equality and empathy. True friendship can only be between two people who are equals, at least roughly, you can’t be friends with the truly clingy; nor can you be friends with someone who sees you beneath them, but it’s more than just rough equality.

It’s the ability to put yourself in the place of the other person, understand what they are thinking and feeling, forgiving them when it is appropriate to forgive them, and speaking your mind when you think it is needed.

Thank you for the dinner and for the evening. I’ve learned and realized much in the past year because of you.

*****

Posted by : G at 10:04 PM
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Priceless

One evening in BK, E Rodriguez
(I was thankful that it didn't blow up.)

Xocolat, Eastwood City, Libis
(Crumpled Paper Whipped Cream & Pentel Pen Coffee Swirls)

Posted by : G at 1:19 AM
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Season of Mist and Mellow Fruitfulness (01)

Monday, June 9, 2008

Sushi and Zen

(5 weeks ago)

My friend was right. There are no choices. Nothing but a straight line; the illusion comes afterwards, when you ask, “Why me?”, “What if?”. Now, if we all have a penny every time it swirled around our heads, we’d be friggin’ rich.

Friggin’ rich, but living a meaningless life.

See, when you look back and see the branches, like a pruned bonsai tree, or a forked lightning, or what you ordered in a sushi place, if you had done something differently, it wouldn’t be your choice; it wouldn’t be you. It would be someone else looking back, asking a different set of questions, and ordering a different set of dish.