№ 806. 2026 Happy Chinese Lunar New Year

The opening sequence in “ Eat Drink Man Woman,” in which a delectable Taiwanese banquet is prepared by a master chef, is guaranteed to make you contemplate the non-buttered popcorn in your lap and cry. Not quite as delicious -- but nonetheless enjoyable—is the repast that follows: Ang (“The Wedding Banquet”) Lee’s amiable family farce about generational tension and, of course, food.

№ 110. Binondo Rising: Part 1

Say "Ahh" for Tikoy, kid.

Binondo is still a study in controlled chaos.

Many Filipinos already know that Binondo is home to Manila's Chinatown. Many Chinese-Filipinos call it their spiritual home, I think, mainly because it's a transplant of their roots in China. I had lived in Binondo for almost two decades before college beckoned me to the hills of Valencia.

Binondo is so different now and yet oddly familiar in equal parts.

For one, it has become gentrified: cleaner, although the esteros still stink; littered less with horse manure and other organic refuse; and, freshened up with new high rises and coats of paint. Another reason for the ambivalence is while I can still eat at the staple restaurants like The President's, Eng Bee Tin, Ha Yuan and Country Chicken, et cetera, there are many that have already upgraded while a few have not done so well.

Fried garlicky peanuts, chicha-corn
(dried and  fried crisp with coconut oil) and other street delights.

№ 64. Happy New Year, Again!

Yes, it's the Chinese Lunar New Year. Water Dragon.

I drenched the yard, garage and the garden and made sure all the pails, tabo (dipper) and jugs were filled to the brim. I turned on the lights just in case Wushu got lost.

Earlier, I also brought home goodies from San Fernando: macapuno tarts ("loco coco" tarts. Market Manila, the food blogger, says macapuno is a mutant coconut.), cashew boat tarts and puto paowow. We were hoping for more homegrown Pundaquit goods, but there were none. So we went to the Food Capital of the Philippines: Pampanga, which was on the way home. Luck was abundant.

That should be enough bait, right?

As a last siren call for the lost dragon, I banged the piano with a Rachmaninov and a Beethoven piece. On the brink at 11:59 PM.

Wushu, where art thou?

Bring more luck, will you.