Saturday, December 24, 2016

PFCDD won Gourmand Awards in national FOOD WRITING category



Just now, I got an email from Gourmand Awards. My knees and hands are shaking. I can't explain what I feel. Here's the mail:

Gourmand Awards <info@gourmandbooks.com>
Today at 5:32 AM

To: avhabulan@anvilpublishing.com jbpantorillo@anvilpublishing.com edgiepolistico@yahoo.com aejazmines@yahoo.com


Congratulations!

The Gourmand Awards jury is delighted to announce that Food Cooking and dining dictionary is the national winner in its category: FOOD WRITING.

This dictionary was very much needed, and it is most welcome. It shows an incredible amount of work, much research, and talented food writing

Edouard Cointreau, President of the Jury - Gourmand World Cookbook Awards


Your book will now compete in its category against winners from other countries for the Best in the World. The results will be announced on May 27 & 28, 2017 at the annual Gourmand Awards Ceremony. If you are planning to attend the ceremony in Yantai, China, please fill the attached “Save the date” document. If you want to order your Winner stickers and certificate, please send us the attached form.

All winners around the world are contacted individually. This letter is your official announcement. The results for all countries will be available on our website in the coming weeks.

Best regards,


Edouard Cointreau

______________________

GOURMAND INTERNATIONAL
Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, President and Founder
WFWF-TV, World Association of Food TV Producers, President
China Food Television, President of Honour
Food, Drinks & Tourism - Beijing International Book Fair
Gourmet Gallery - Frankfurt Book Fair

Now I'm very proud to have the book to represent the more than 7,500 islands of the Philippines and to everything that each island could offer you to eat. 

The Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary (PFCDD) is available in the Powerbooks and the National Book Store. You can also shop a copy online.


Buy a copy for someone dear and someone special. Of course, gift yourself a copy too. A unique and worthwhile gift you can give this Yuletide. It is the first of its kind - the first Philippine food dictionary printed ever. It is published by Anvil Publishing. Get to know more about Pinoy food culture with this book.

Know the local and common names of Pinoy food, ingredients, tastes, implements, and other words Filipino used in culinary and related food culture.

The book is ideal for culinary students and teachers, food researchers, food writers and bloggers, foodies, historians, tourists, local travellers, home cook,  those in food business. and those who want to learn new words of the many languages and dialects we have across the archipelago.
   

PFCDD chosen for the next Gourmand World Awards competition



Last week, December 10, 2016, I received an email from Edouard Cointreau, the President of Gourmand Award. I was surprised that my book, the PFCDD, was chosen to vie for the next Gourmand World Awards competition. I just can't believe what's going on.  I checked the internet and found that Gourmand World Awards do exists. ANVIL, my publisher told me they were the ones who submitted the entry for my book.

Here's the email message from Mr.Cointreau:
"Food, Cooking and Dining Dictionnary is part of the next Gourmand  World  Awards competition.You will receive more information within three weeks. The awards events will be May 28, 2017 in Yantai, China. You will find the plan 2017 on page 11 of the attached document, a General Presentation and History of the Gourmand Awards.
  
Best regards"
                                      
Edouard Cointreau
President
Gourmand Awards

I crossed my fingers (and my toes).  

I need prayers for the PFCDD.

Salamat.



The Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary (PFCDD) is available in the Powerbooks and the National Book Store. You can also shop a copy online.



Buy a copy for someone dear and someone special. Of course, gift yourself a copy too. A unique and worthwhile gift you can give this Yuletide. It is the first of its kind - the first Philipine food dictionary printed ever. It is published by the Anvil Publishing. Get to know more about Pinoy food culture with this book.




Know the local and common names of Pinoy food, ingredients, tastes, implements, and other words Filipino used in culinary and related food culture.



The book is ideal for culinary students and teachers, food researchers, food writers and bloggers, foodies, historians, tourists, local travellers, home cook,  those in food business. and those who want to learn new words of the many languages and dialects we have across the archipelago.



Thursday, December 22, 2016

Magical Field of Lights - a treat for the whole family and your gang of friends


It’s the first of its kind in Ayala Land estate. The Magical Field of Lights is the latest attraction in Nuvali that showcases the swaying and throbbing colorful streaks of laser beams and LED lights as if they are dancing to the beats and rhythm of enjoyable 5-minute medley Yuletide tunes. Thousands of LED light bulbs are laid densely on the field like a garden of crystals among the fallen stars.


The swaying and throbbing colorful streaks of laser beams.
LED light bulbs laid densely on the field like a garden of crystals among the fallen stars
Magical Field of Lights YouTube video

The sparkles are magical, piercing through billows of white smoke that serve as white canvass for those playful lights artfully painted in the air. Everyone is awed by the illumination. Watch out for that part when you can see that mini-version of aurora borealis light of swirling psychedelic laser beams.

Playful colorful lights artfully painted in the air.
Sparkles and glares on billows of white smoke.

The show is flaunting those colorful lights, programmed to pulsate alternately or in unison. Played along with the lights are two sets of Christmas medley tunes that magically add more flavor in the air.
The 50-meter light tunnel, Christmas trees of lights, dandelion of lights, and other light installations.

Be sure to bring along your someone special. Firmly hold hands together, or wrap your arms around that lucky one and you’ll be transported to the magical side of paradise in Nuvali. It will surely be a one-of-a-kind holiday treat experience.


Magical Field of Lights YouTube video



Important rules. Please take time to read. Click image to enlarge.

Magical Field of Lights YouTube video

Before or after the magical show of lights, you can stroll around the field and enjoy another magical moment by passing through the 50-meter light tunnel. Other attractions you can find in that grass-carpeted open field  are Christmas trees of lights, dandelion of lights, and other light installations. A Christmas fair would showcase also traditional Filipino Christmas treats, such as bibingka and the purple puto bumbong.

Ayala Malls Solenad

This magical Ayala Land’s signature of lights and sound will be shown to more cities and communities. Such that the people of Makati enjoyed lately the grandeur of Ayala Triangle Gardens Lights and Sounds Show - a spectacular holiday display of dancing lights and sounds hanging and wrapping around those big trees in the Ayala Triangle Garden.

The Magical Field of Lights in Nuvali 
is ongoing until January 08, 2017.
The show will run every 30 minutes
from 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. daily


Nuvali Christmas Bazaar at Ayala Malls Solenad

As a guest in Nuvali, you can partake also the other festivities. You can take your time to visit the Nuvali Christmas Bazaar at Ayala Malls Solenad and pick some of those featured unique goods from Laguna or find yourself enjoying a bargain sale of modern gift items at the Christkindl Market until the end of December.

Nuvali Christmas Bazaar at Ayala Malls Solenad

On the other side of Nuvali one can find several more activities ideally for family bonding, or for a group of actively outgoing barkadas or tropa, friends, and for other weekenders. You can have the off-road biking and running trails of approximately 50 kilometers long, a multifunctional lake where you can relax watching the scenic greens around, the colorful fishes, or enjoy boat rides. 

Watching Moana in the cinema of Ayala Malls Solenad.
Free tickets for two of us to watch Moana at the Ayala Malls Solenad.

There’s also the Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. Nearby is the Camp N outdoor sports adventure and talents incubator and camping area. You can stay in Seda Hotel for a relaxing Yuletide staycation in any of its 150 hotel rooms.


The residents, employees, and visitors of Nuvali, watch out soon, you will be treated of more spectacular shows with the help of other sponsors, such as Estate Water, Qualimed Hospital, Amaia Steps Parkway, Ayala Malls Solenad, and Nestle Kitkat

A treat at Nonna's Pasta & Pizzeria, an Italian resto just beside the Ayala Malls Solenad.
Enjoying a sumptuous serving in Nonna's Pasta & Pizzeria. Thank you, Nuvali.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!



Monday, December 19, 2016

The launching of ‘RARA’ Art and Tradition of Mat Weaving in the Philippines

 

It was on 30 November 2016 that Elmer G.I.H. Nocheseda of Pateros invited us to attend the special launching of his book, the rara art and tradition of mat weaving of the Philippines at the Villa Monica Clubhouse in Pateros, Metro Manila.

Margette is all smile as she takes the opportunity to sit freely on this beautiful multi-colored mat.  

Elmer G.I.H. Nocheseda is a local historian of Pateros who authored several books.  His latest book is the RARA. It is all about the art and tradition of mat weaving in the Philippines. Shown also in the launching is his awesome personal collection of mats that he gathered throughout the years from his many travels all over the country.

Some of the mats are installed on the wall nailed with thumb tacks serving both as exhibits and wall decoration in the book launching .

All the mats were hand-woven to which he emphasized that even if you can buy the same kind of mat from the same place and maker, the mats are still unique and different from each other. Hence, no two of them, out there, are exactly the same being that each of them are a hand-made artwork of authentic native mat weavers.


The book features the stories and meanings behind every pattern, color, and weaving materials used in every mat the author found across the country. It also tells some personal attributes to the author’s experience and the lives of indigenous mat weavers.

Some colorful mats are simply laid barely on the floor waiting for everybody to lay down, sleep, stand or walk over on them as what mats are really intended for.

Though the best way to appreciate mats is to use them for them to acquire the dimension of time that only time can make, Elmer went beyond that. He documented Philippine mat weaving so by the time the artisans mat weavers were gone and the raw materials were no longer available, the future generation will have the book as their resource and to appreciate the beauty of our local mats. 

Margette assumes the pose of becoming an instant model endorsing hand-woven indigenous  mats. She holds a mat made of sun-dried water lily stalks.  

Considering that life is short and art is long, Elmer once wrote a comment in his Facebook account that he would be donating his mat collection to institution that has the technology to keep the mats safe and well-preserved. He is asking help to find them.


RARA is Elmer’s 3rd book. His first books is the Palaspas: An Appreciation of Palm Leaf Art in the Philippines, the second book is Pateros, featuring the historical small town of Pateros situated between the cities of Makati, Pasig and Taguig. His interesting fourth book is soon to come out.


The book is not authentically signed by the author if it is not stamped with this red marking of Elmer's engraved unique characters.


The RARA book was a sold out that day and many were not able to get their copies. The books were personally signed and stamped by the author, with selfie of course, at the venue.

The author signing a copy of his RARA book.

Elmer is very lucky that the former first couple of Pateros is very kind and fully supportive to his projects. The former mayor of Pateros, Joey Medina and his wife Joyce Flores Medina attended the special launching. The author thanked them and everyone else who helped organized the activities.



The author and historian, Elmer G. Nocheseda at his Rara Book Launch in Pateros.

The launching was supported and attended also by Elmer’s family and relatives, friends, school mates, town folks, and even those from other side of Pateros local political groups


Elmer wrote this in his Facebook account: Hindi matapus-tapos ang paghanga ko sa galing ni Haja Seittie Mariam Tantong Calsido Dakula, now 79 years, old from Kumalarang, Zamboanga del sur. It took her more than a month to finish a pakalangot or dizzying pattern of binitun or swirling stars that is made more complicated by her employing not just two, but nine colors, to represent each of her 9 children, and using very fine strips of pandan balongis or pandan with thorns.

Few local media and bloggers like us covered the event. The people of Pateros must be proud to have a distinguished and dedicated author among them in town.

Elmer introduces a mat that is made of sun-dried water lily stalks, the latest indigenous weaving material that is abundantly found in Pasig River and Laguna Lake of Metro Manila.  Water lilies are also abundant in the marshes of Maguindanao, Cotabato, and Agusan.    

The activity was made lively also by the presence of rondalla ensemble from Mataas na Paaralang Pambansa ng Western Bicutan and folk dance presentation of a dance troupe from Mataas na Paaralang Pambansa ng Pateros. 

Some items that are made of hand-woven mats are bag, pillow, pad, place mats, and others. 

The launching was quite a success and Elmer was surely too grateful as he rolled the mats back in bulk and wrapped them in cotton pouch for storage and keep them leaning on the wall in his bodega. I wondered if he used the same cotton pouch from Tawitawi called pochong with a pull string on top and placed the pouches on top of the almario (closed cabinet) with moth balls to keep the mats away from the reach of rodents and destructive insects. 

Edgie points at his hometown on the map woven by the local mat weavers of Basey, Samar. The woman in the framed photograph was the late Monica de Borja, commonly known as Aling Moneng, whom Elmer G. Nocheseda described as “ang mabait na comadrona na nagpaanak sa nanay ko sa akin sa isang banig habang nagdaraan ang prusisyong pamisa de gracia ng Sta Marta, isang pankaraniwang araw ng Lunes sa tapat ng bahay naming pawid sa M. Almeda.” He mentioned Ti Moneng in his book and personally retold the story when he spoke during the launching of his book in Villa Monica Clubhouse.
However, it appears that most of mats on exhibits were just folded. Thus, the mats have those squares of visible fold marks. 


Edgie and Margette with the author, Elmer Gragera-Ibañez Hernandez-Nocheseda, at the special launching of his book - Rara: Art and Tradition of Mat Weaving in the Philippines. Edgie should have worn one of those "Anak ng P" shirts, being  an "Anak ng Polistico" other than that of Pateros. 


The launching was also a revisit to some of the traditional Paterosino merienda (snack) that were served to the delight of those who attended the special launching. 

The inutak of Pateros would easily melt in your mouth. It is highly recommended to top it with a scoop of ice cream.
The bibingkang abnoy or what Elmer would often tell me that her mother and old folks would call it as bibingkang mabantot.
A serving of lugaw (arros caldo with chicken) garnished with chopped spring onion and bits of roasted garlic.  

The merienda includes inutak with sorbetes (ice cream), lugaw (arros caldo with chicken), tokwa, lumpia, ginataan, sinukmane (biko), palitaw (dila-dila), bibingkang abnoy, and iced tea.


Balot and itlog maalat (salted eggs, a.k.a. itlog na pula) of Pateros
It was learned that the good wife of the former mayor of Pateros, Joyce Flores-Medina, among others, chose the food.  She also helped planned and organized the launching activities.




To order a copy of RARA, call or text to:


Ms.Carol Tingson
Habi Secretary
Unit 4D Carmen Court, 6080 Palma Street, Bgy. Poblacion Makati City

0905-911-1568
0908-114-4010.

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