Ricky's Fish Ball, 'The Fried of Victorias'

On March 12, 2019, the home and livelihood of Manong Ricky and his family were razed by a fire that broke out at their neighborhood in Barangay 4 in Victorias City (read blog here), a 4th class city in the Philippines, whose economy revolved around sugar, usurious financing, and small-town lottery.😆 That afternoon as the fire was raging, I witnessed the anguish of the family as they endured the tragedy, and although all the family members were safe, they lost everything but their hope and the will to rise up against the adversity they were facing. That night and during the next two weeks, his family had to seek shelter at one of the rooms of a public elementary school across the street.😪 

(Ricky's home reduced to ashes)

Manong Ricky and his wife, Gina, were ambulant vendors selling fried fish balls, tempura, and 'kwek-kwek' on their 'kariton' (cart) at busy intersections in Victorias, including those near public schools. This was their only livelihood that provided them with income that was enough to cover their daily expenses on food, utilities, and allowances for their four children, who were still in grade school and high school. That day, they weren't able to save their kariton and all their cooking utensils and equipment.😭

In the Philippines, just like in Korea, fried snacks sold by street vendors are popular because they are easy to eat and cheap. In Seoul, busy workers and students usually stopped by a food stall to grab some quick snacks (read blog here) teokpeokki, soondae, mini-kimbap, and other snacks classified as 퉈김 (pronounced as 'twi-kim') that means 'fried snacks'. There was one small alley near our office full of these small restaurants, but they all disappeared because of gentrification.😓

Since the fire, Manong Ricky and his family have slowly put their lives together with the help of strangers and the people of Victorias. Although they have yet to rebuild their home, they received clothes, household items, and the most helpful, a new kariton with cooking utensils. Even the high school classmates of their daughter gave up a part of their daily allowance and collected an amount to help the family. Placed in a small plastic were coins and a few paper bills as help from her classmates and schoolmates. One should never lose faith in humanity, particularly the young.🙏

(I don't see coins and paper bills. 

I see kindness and compassion.😂)

Manong Ricky and Gina have started selling their snacks again. I am sure you're familiar with these snacks: fish ball, tempura (or tem-poora but is not exactly made of big shrimps), and 'kwek-kwek' (quail egg in orange batter). To enjoy, these are put in a cup, bathed in either sweet sauce or hot sauce, and sold for P10 per cup. 

(Fish ball, tem-poora, and kwek-kwek)

These simple, yet popular, snacks have again provided for Ricky and Gina's family, and if you chance upon their kariton on the streets of Victorias, do make sure to buy a cup or two (or more!) of their snacks to help them get back on their feet. Salamat in advance. 🙏

 "Ricky's Fish Ball 

The Fried of Victorias".😀
('The Fried of Victorias' is a wordplay
for 'The Pride of Victorias')

Carrozzas de La Semana Santa: The Most Attended and The Most Popular is a Procession of Faith and Style

Catholicism is the most significant contribution by the Spanish colonizers to the Philippines, although I'd put jamón and Spanish pastries up there, alongside saints and angels. And the religious procession of Jesus, Mary, and the saints who were part of His Passion during Semana Santa or Holy Week is the most colorful display of style, art, and creativity in the whole Catholic calendar. This is also the most attended and the most popular of all religious parades. This Lenten procession has colorful floats that make your Christmas trees look like grade school art projects.

(The Agony in the Garden carro in 
2011 was decorated with white picket fences. 
What's missing is a rocking chair.)

 (The Good Friday crowd gathers for the procession)

That's why when I was a kid, I had fun memories of helping prepare the Agony in the Garden carro, short for 'carrozza' (the Spanish word for carriage), here in my hometown of Victorias City in the Philippines, (they're also called pasos in other parts of the Philippines) during the Holy Week when school was out and the summer heat was in. 

Back then, there were just a handful of carros participating in the procession that was held on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Currently, the procession in only held on Good Friday and involves more than a dozen carros.

(Agony in the Garden) 

(Jesus Cautivo)

(Scourging at the Pillar)

While most of the carros during the procession in our hometown in Victorias City was obviously made during the last decade or two, the Agony in the Garden, owned by the Montinola family of Victorias, dates back to the 1950s, after World War II. 

Commissioned by Don Felix Montinola and his wife, Doña Dorothea, from artisans and craftsmen in the Iloilo Province, the sculpted image is that of a kneeling Jesus looking up to a winged angel holding a chalice that seems to be bringing Him the prophecy of his impending suffering and death on the cross; it is made of heavy wood that was cured and had not shrunk or deteriorated all these years. (Wood from santol, I learned, is not a good material for statues because the wood shrinks over time, although the santol fruit itself is a delight to eat!😍).

 (Above: Inday Lydia Quiatchon with the Montinola Family's Agony in the Garden carro that she decorated for the annual Lenten procession)

The Agony in the Garden depicts Christ kneeling with His face expressing sadness and anguish as He prayed on the eve of His Crucifixion in a garden which was located at the foot of Mount Olives in Jerusalem, where water has always been a problem as it is in a desert region, next to the Judaean Desert. 

Olive trees naturally survive in arid conditions and the ones at Gethsemane have been tested to be the oldest olive trees in the world with some aging as 900 years old. Those trees have witnessed more biblical events than any living organism on Earth.

(Jesus de la Paciencia)

(St. Peter's carroza was the most creative. His 

golden robes paired with emerald green was 

a color combination that was attractive to the eyes. 

A 'palm tree' made the carro a standout as 

this added a tropical Philippine flavor) 

(Gold and emerald green with devotees 

in matching gold shirts. The faithful are tasteful.😉)

If you look closely at Christ's statue on the Agony in the Garden while ignoring His red cape and white vest with glittery sequins, you'd see a face in a state of surrender and sadness. 

For me, the expression on His face summarizes His suffering; the Five Sorrowful Mysteries are right there on the Lord's face. 😢

(The Carrying of the Cross)

 (The Crucified Christ)

The late Inday Lydia Ledesma-Quiatchon, who was tasked by the late Doña Luz Montinola with the annual responsibility to oversee the preparation and decoration of the Agony in the Garden when she was still alive and able, once exclaimed upon gazing at Christ's face, "Katahum guid sang nawong sang aton Gino-o. (The face of our Lord is so beautiful)."

The decorations of the carros decades ago were only plastic flowers as there were no vendors who could supply huge quantities of flowers required by the local owners of carros in Bacolod City then.

 (Red anthuriums on the Agony in the Garden carro)

(Putting the angel's wings)

During the parade when darkness falls and the lights are turned on, there's a spotlight that directly illuminates His face, and amidst the weariness of walking, any faithful could still draw strength and inspiration upon gazing at this apparition.

(A spotlight illuminates Christ's face)

If you're wondering why the saints' faces look very European with high noses and chiseled bone structure, it's because when the Spanish friars and religious men came to the Philippines, they brought with them icons and statues whose faces were patterned after Spanish and European features. And when the Philippine craftsmen and artisans learned how to carve intricate statues, that's what they have been told to copy ever since.

 (Father Rafa and Father Vince greet and 

bless the passing carros)

(La Pieta)

(San Juan Evangelista)

That's why it's no wonder that many of the faithful are in awe of these images and statues being paraded during Good Friday. 

And as these are blessed by the priests, they are considered sacred with some people even grabbing them from the carros after the procession to keep them as 'pangalap' or items they'd use for their livelihood like a piece of the saint's vest fishermen brought to the sea with the belief that these would bring in a bountiful catch. Yes, there were times people would bring scissors to cut off the statue's clothing, although the most common practice now is just to grab the flowers that adorned the carros.

(Santo Entierro or Holy Burial) 

(Saint Veronica whose statue for me was the most elegant and dramatic of all. Sadly, this statue was lost in a fire in 2018.)

(Virgen Dolorosa)

Aside from the 'pangalap' tradition, people bring white cloths or handkerchieves to wipe the saint's faces or raise their children up to the carros so that they could kiss the saints.

(Santa Marta)

(Saint Mary Magdalene) 

(Parish altar boys lead the procession)

Although this is not a competition but a profession of our faith, we subconsciously (or maybe not!) compare the floats as to their decorations, the saints' glittery vestments, the size of the carriage, and the flowers that adorn the carro as if the whole thing was a beauty pageant. 

I know this as kid with a direct hand in decorating a carro (well, it was just handing thumb tacks to whoever was putting on the silky purple skirt around the carriage or handing flowers to whoever was decorating), I used to compare, too, even boasting then that the Agony in the Garden was the only one with accompanying music. 

Weeks before the procession, my mom would go to a music shop in Bacolod City to have religious music copied into a cassette tape. That's why days before Good Friday, you'd already hear Mario Lanza singing at home The Lord's Prayer before he even belted the same songs for two hours all over town on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

(Mary Magdalene)

(People raise their white cloths to

 wipe the saint's face)

(A child is raised to kiss the saint)

And on this Holy Week, as we Catholics ponder on Christ's passion, most of us will probably be attending the procession to have more photos for Instagram and Facebook but I hope we'll all remember that the procession is a profession of our faith and not a parade of style and creativity.🙏

On Fire Prevention Month: Let's All Save Lives & Property

According to the website of the Department of Interior and Local Government of the Philippines, March is the designated fire prevention month because the most number of fires happens during this month.🚒

And yet, on March 12, 2019, the second Tuesday of the Fire Prevention Month, all hell broke loose in the city center of Victorias just after lunch! Well, it was literally hell as a fire razed 14 houses and caused damage to three others in the city's Barangay 4 right next to a public elementary school, causing panic and grief to the students and the whole neighborhood.

The firemen and volunteers gathered 

at Quezon Street to help)

I experienced a fire in my neighborhood during my early years in Manila, Philippines. One was in Tambo in Parañaque City, where the third house from ours caught fire. It was a late Friday afternoon, just as I got back from work at Ayala Avenue in Makati City. There wasn't any fire truck in sight yet and Vina, our help, was crying when I got home; she didn't know what to do. I immediately got her upstairs, laid out a huge blanket, and put clothes on it: shirts, trousers, socks, underwear, towels and everything one would need in case you need to evacuate; and then tied them inside the blanket ready to be dragged out of the house if the fire came too close. I also told her to do the same with their own things. Fortunately, the fire didn't cross over to our fence but we ended up having a souvenir photo as the fire was razing the neighbor's two-story house along MIA Road. The next-door neighbor's (Tita Elsa Ardosa's) sofa was brought out into the street during the fire and we were already comfortably seated when I realized I had my film camera with me! Well, what do you do then? Take a photo, of course! Imagine this: it was early in the evening with no electricity on our four-lane road temporarily closed to vehicular traffic, the fire sirens were wailing, and the firemen were busy putting the fire under control. And there we were, sitting and posing on the sofa as the pedestrians walking past us were staring at the 'fire victims' who were having a photo shoot! In the middle of a fire! Ha-ha-ha!😆

(Students from a public school were 

nervously watching the fire from the school)

This time, however, at the Victorias City's fire, there were anguish and anger as the victims lamented the delay in the response of the local firemen. (Yes, I spoke to these crying victims as the fire was raging!). Witnesses even told me the city's fire truck didn't even have enough water in it, and it was the firemen and trucks from the neighboring cities and municipalities, including the Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigade and Amity Fire Brigade from Bacolod City, that successfully put the fire out. Thanks to all of them!🙇 Fortunately, no one was killed in the fire, only some livelihood of the victims who badly needed help after.

(Fire trucks from neighboring cities and 

municipalities came to help)

I would have enumerated the shortcomings of the local firemen's response but I was thinking they should know better how to tweak their system after the hullabaloo at the municipality of the neighboring Manapla when an early morning fire on February 15, 2019, broke out at their public market and the firemen had to be awakened from their sleep by a security guard of a neighboring convenience store and an empty fire truck had still to be filled with water. Sadly, all was razed that day. 😥

Compared to Manapla's, the fire in Victorias City was smaller. Here's the video of the fire:

It has been two weeks since the fire, and the victims have received a lot of help from their fellow Victoriahanons and are starting to get their lives back. Of course, local politicians were quick to grab the opportunity for a free ride on the publicity they could get using the fire victims for their political campaign as they posed for photos and uploaded these on social media. Well, this reminds of an American TV series titled 'Shameless'. Ha-ha-ha!😾 

I was thinking: these victims already lost their livelihood, but as local politicians were using them for publicity, the victims also lost their dignity.😡

(The yellow fire truck of Chamber Volunteer 

Fire Brigade from Bacolod City)

(The site of the fire has been cleared of some 

debris and burnt houses)

With help from private individuals as well as from the city and provincial governments using the taxpayers' money, the families are slowly rebuilding their lives and livelihood.

But you can still help them by visiting the area at Quezon Street (next to the public elementary school) where some of them have put up improvised shelters. You can just ask around where it is.😢

In the meantime, click this link on how to prevent fire:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/metro-manila/03/17/14/15-tips-keep-your-house-safe-fire

Dancing With The Cars: Meet Mr. Rene, Traffic Enforcer and Street Dancer

        (Street dancers at the Kadalag-an Festival)

The other day, I watched the 12 groups of barangay dancers that competed at the 2019 Kadalag-an Festival of Victorias City in the Philippines.

With their colorful costumes, make-up, and choreography set to upbeat music, they charmed and entertained the crowds lining up along the city's main streets. That night, the best costumed and choreographed street-dance performances went 
home with the top prizes.

(Graceful dancers in colorful costumes 

at the street dance competition.)

Strangely, a few days later and on the same street, a highway, actually, I chanced upon the most entertaining street-dance performance I have ever seen. This performance was unrehearsed and the performer was not even wearing any colorful costume unlike the dancers at the competition. 

As I was watching him dance, I told myself that if there's 'Dancing With The Stars' on television, in our highway, there's 'Dancing With The Cars'. I had to take his video!😛

The performer is Mr. Rene Abellano, an amiable traffic enforcer for 15 years. His traffic-enforcing-shift-slash-dance-routine was simultaneous with the dance number of a group of city employees performing at the plaza. The employees' music, blasting all over, provided something for Mr. Abellano to dance to.

And under the warm noontime sun, he gave the motorists, pedestrians, and me something to watch and enjoy! Carefully, the drivers of the passing vehicles, especially those big dump trucks and trucks carrying tons of sugarcane, kept their eyes on the road and not on his dance moves!😆

(Mr. Rene and his audience)

While he was giving out hand signals to the drivers of tricycles, transport buses, private cars, and trucks, his turns, side steps, and footwork were all synchronized with the beat of the music of Psy, Momoland, and other artists. Not only does he have traffic gestures, but he's also got rhythm!🙌

                (Traffic enforcer and street dancer)

After his performance, I had to run after him as he was making his way to another intersection. I showed him the video and told him that what he did was the real public service. He was not only effectively guiding the traffic but also providing light entertainment! Sorry to the winners of the street dance competition, but Mr. Rene is the best street dancer there is!

I'm not sure when I'd stumble again into's Mr. Rene's performance. But with traffic or no traffic, with music or no music, he is definitely the best street dancer this side of the globe. Or lane.😎

In the meantime, here's his performance:

Iloilo City's La Paz Public Market: Netong's Batchoy & Madge Café

The Philippines has a lot of popular merienda dishes and one of them is 'batchoy', a hot broth with noodles and a lot of other flavorful ingredients which I will enumerate later while salivating.😋

While I was growing up, I was never a fan of this dish because nobody at home seemed interested in dragging me to a 'batchoyan', the common name of a restaurant that serves this dish.  That's why batchoy never became a comfort food.😆

But over the years, whenever I got caught in a food arcade in Bacolod City where I didn't have any option but 'batchoy', I ended up slurping a bowl.

(Netong's is full)

In the menus and names of restaurants serving this dish, the words 'La Paz' always precede 'batchoy' because that's where this dish originated and these restaurants always claimed that their recipe followed the original one invented at La Paz, a district in Iloilo City, an old charming city in the middle part of the Philippines.

(Instagrammable Netong carrying 

a bowl of hot batchoy)

So, when my sister and I were in Iloilo City during the Dinagyang Festival, we made sure we got to slurp the real batchoy at the place where it was invented: the La Paz public market!😀

Right in the middle of the La Paz public market is Netong's, a batchoyan whose owner's great grandfather was said to have invented it by putting innards, noodles and flavorings into a hot broth from beef stock. Actually, it's more complicated than that.

                        (My batchoy and soda)

The real batchoy we were served at Netong's (the nickname of Leonito, the founder) was made of beef broth with bones (just like bulalo🐂) that has been cooked over low fire for hours, extracting the beef flavor, and added with fermented shrimp paste (bago-ong), with strands of egg noodles (locally known as miki) and slices of liver, pork, innards and cholesterol-high bone marrow, and topped with fried garlic, scallions and, my favorite topping, crushed chicharon!☝You can sprinkle black pepper or soy sauce, depending on your taste, and you can also have raw egg cracked into it for added taste and nutrition. 🐓

The feel of bits of crushed chicharon (deep-fried pig skin) in my mouth dancing in a spoonful of hot, flavorful broth mixed with innards was a lot different from the ones I tasted outside Iloilo City. This one was the real - the authentic - Batchoy!

(Outside the restaurant, they were 

cooking these innards for another dish)

At Netong's, you can pair the batchoy with puto, the kind that tastes creamier because it is made with coconut milk, although, for me, I'd rather have my batchoy with my favorite soda.

After batchoy, we wanted to neutralize the beefy flavor left in our mouths with coffee and dessert, and since we were already at La Paz public market, we headed to Madge Café, the market's famous and unique coffee shop.

As I ordered my go-to coffee drink of iced cafe mocha, the Madge Café waitress recommended cake to pair with it, and what do you know, she offered chocolate cake from Calea! Calea is a popular cake shop in Bacolod City and its popularity (and obviously chocolate cake) has crossed the Iloilo Strait! So we got a slice! 

But when she served us the chocolate cake, I had to tell her that we were from Bacolod City and that the best chocolate cake wasn't Calea's nor Felicia's chocolate cakes. It was Bar 21's! Yes, if you're in Bacolod City, make sure you visit Bar 21 and have a taste of their moist, chocolate cake with custard filling. 

Calea's chocolate cake and 

Madge Café's iced cafe mocha)

Madge Café, named after Magdalena, the wife of the original owner, has been there since 1951, and decades of serving good coffee inside an unassuming place right in the middle of a public market have turned it into an institution, attracting locals as well as tourists.

Well, after tasting Netong's, reputedly the best batchoy, not only in Iloilo City but everywhere else, my palate can now measure other people's batchoy version. 😄

So, if you're visiting Iloilo City soon, I highly recommend you drop by the La Paz public market to discover a real batchoyan🍲 and hang out at the city's most famous coffee shop☕.