"Turning Japanese" ten years ago

[warning: this is not about The Vapors' popular song]

I set foot on Narita Airport ten years ago today (October 30, 1998).

I was then 24 and considered myself fortunate to have obtained an all-expense paid chance to travel abroad. It was my first time to go out of the country and though it was a brief stay and work-related, it was nonetheless one memorable experience.

My first four days were spent in Tsukuba Science City (Ibaraki, Japan) where I attended the 2^nd International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics at the University of Tsukuba. From there, I headed on to Tokyo as a participant to the 4^th World Congress of Bioethics held at Nihon University.

That 9-day trip to Japan was a treat! I saw a different earth in that part of the equator. The language, culture and its people were incredibly fascinating. Nihonggo was difficult to understand yet the culture conveyed a great deal about the land and its people. Green tea, sake, tatami mats, artfully served Japanese cuisines, communal baths (that culture-shocked me!), Shinto temples, the world-renowned Imperial Palace, genuine Japanese kois and the Ainus—all these fed my senses like no other! It was undeniably one unique immersion.

While I was there, I also obtained an awesome crash course in high-tech living. Autoflushing toilets; cable cars; flashy fashion trends; humungous, colorful digital advertisements appearing on buildings; huge freeways; machine-generated fare receipts from taxi cabs with automatic doors; mountain trains; skyscrapers; state-of-the-art buildings; subways and the Shinkansen. All these educated me greatly on the enormous gap separating 3^rd world reality from a highly-industrialized existence. I was swept away.

My comprehension and wits were certainly overwhelmed by the brief encounter I had with the country. I remember arriving there lost in translation—only the use of chopsticks felt right amidst Japanese skies. But now, oddly, I feel nostalgic… vividly recalling how in that country I have quietly experienced cloud nine on board one of its bullet train.

If an opportunity comes again, I will definitely go back. Fujiyama still awaits for my return… reminiscing how (regretfully) it hid itself from eyesight that foggy autumn morning I took the Hakone Tour with colleagues.

SPAGHETTI & KIDS

What is it really about spaghetti that many kids are crazy about?

I. Appearance & color

Ellie Krieger, nutritionist and Healthy Appetite TV show host, once said that “we eat with our eyes.” I think this is true especially among children.

I believe the worm-like appearance of spaghetti noodles is one big appealing factor. Such can definitely intrigue curious little minds. Children love to invent. Their imagination is quite immense and the idea of “worm-eating” just so much charms them. To adults, the whole concept may be disgusting BUT not to kids with wild imagination. The entire experience of eating “wormy” spaghetti stirs and delights not only their taste buds but their minds as well.

Another thing that makes spaghetti tempting to little boys and girls is its attractive color ranging from light orange to extremely deep red-orange tones. Scientifically, it has been discovered that orange or any variations of it subliminally suggests “hunger.” This hints then that the orangy color of the sauce-coated spaghetti noodles stimulates craving for food. By mere sight of the scrumptious attractive noodles, kids become absolutely, in due time, famished.

II. Odd but fun

Kids are always fascinated by things new and unfamiliar—“odd” flavors included. The creamy, salty taste of cheese on spaghetti blends well with the meat and/or hotdogs that are usually mixed with the sauce. This strange yet tasty combination can actually entertain any child’s mouth.

The spaghetti sauce is in itself a taste to reckon with! The combination of flavors can surely challenge the taste of even the most picky of eaters. The tinge of chili spice perfectly jazzes up with the contrasting sweet and sour taste of the sauce. In its entirety, eating spaghetti becomes, to the child, a delightful, aromatic and tasty experience of the senses.

Apart from the above, I think to kids, eating spaghetti is fun. As it is normally eaten using fork, the experience is all-together an engaging activity. Children are always ready to take on new challenges including the motor skill test of curling spaghetti noodles up their forks. As they attempt and struggle to get a mouthful of spaghetti into their hungry stomachs, fun and learning occurs. It is definitely entertaining to spin the noodles up and observe how the strands go around in ringlets eventually wrapping up the fork. In the process, kids realize that the smooth and slippery texture of the noodles makes it difficult to roll up.

Dealing with the noodles not only stimulates children to think of more innovative ways to handle and use fork. The situation also encourages many to freely react to this learning process by instinct. They may resort to eating spaghetti using bare hands instead. Eventually, they will find out that the long thread-like noodles can be conveniently picked up by hands. Children will also realize in due course that tilting their heads up will make eating up and nibbling down the string-like food easy and fun. Of course, this is something that adults will find messy. However for the kids, that is where the ultimate fun is—to be grubby and messy! By this, eating spaghetti then becomes entertaining as well as educating.

III. How I prepare it

Spaghetti is easy and quick to make. There are many ways to prepare it but below is my own version.

One just needs to have the spaghetti noodles boiled until tender in a large pan with water that has been seasoned with oil and salt. My sauce is actually just a blend of any spaghetti sauce available in the market. Though there are many variations in the ingredients, cooking it basically just entail sautéing the onions and garlic along with the ground meat (lean beef or pork) and/or hotdog. When the meat is well-cooked, pour in the ready-made spaghetti sauce. Put in the right amount of cheese, butter and milk. Do not forget to season it with black pepper for a wonderful chili taste. Once these are all thoroughly mixed under medium heat, put off the stove. Combine the cooked noodles with the sauce. Put it in a big container and garnish it with generous amount of cheese. The result is... tan-ta-ta-tan-ta-tannnnn...

My LTO Experience

Recently I had my driver’s license renewed. As renewal schedule for driver’s licenses was mandated by law to be on or before one’s birthday, I began to work out the other requirements ahead of schedule to avoid processing lags and penalties. I underwent drug testing at an earlier date.

On the day I set to deal with the rest of the renewal requirements, I failed to be early as originally planned. Domestic responsibilities have unfortunately delayed me. Nevertheless, my concern was at once addressed upon arrival at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) of General Santos City.

With the LTO personnel easily recognizable from the crowd, it was effortless for me to identify who to appropriately approach for assistance. Apart from this, the LTO complex was surprisingly quiet. There were many people but there were definitely no ear-splitting call outs. In addition, there were amazingly no lengthy queues (and to think it was already 10 a.m. when I got there!). The atmosphere was relaxed. It was undeniably, a “remarkable change” that welcomed me to the LTO compound that day.

I got my new Driver’s License ID card without sweat. My renewal application was done hassle-free in two hours--a lot quicker than the last time which took me the entire day to wait!

Certainly, the LTO people have somehow found a better way to deal with the daily influx of clientele. I did not have the same stressful and tedious experience as before. The long queues were gone. The office atmosphere was no longer uptight. Office personnel no longer yelled out names and strained their voices as microphones were now being utilized. The clients were quite comfortable in the lounge area. The agitation I used to sense as people waited for their names to be mentioned was absent. That day assurance was much felt by the people—they felt their needs were being processed accordingly.

I would therefore, like to call on those who have shunned the grueling experience of Driver’s License processing/renewal to visit the LTO in the city of General Santos and delightfully experience first-hand the improvement and efficiency of its service delivery.

The following requirements are needed for Non-Professional Driver’s License Renewal:

1. Drug Test Result from any LTO-recognized laboratory
2. Medical Examination Result from a LTO-accredited clinic
3. Old plastic Driver’s License ID card
4. P250.00 renewal fee

My next renewal will be on 2011. I hope to see more developments by then. Meantime, I want to congratulate all employees of LTO General Santos City for a job well done!

Unsa?!!! No More Bariles?!!!

Last October 5, 2008 (Sunday), as a weekly routine, I left for the market with my husband at around 6 a.m.. We always buy fish and vegetables for consumption at the City Public Market. This is because we believe it is where the freshest of fishes are found and also because we think it is still the best source of affordable garden-fresh vegetables.

We were, however, unprepared with what we were faced with when we got there. To our utter surprise, we could not find any fresh small tuna fish colloquially known as “barilison”! There were several vendors selling bariles (huge tuna) but were ignored by consumers because the dried-up fish meat displayed nothing else but total staleness.

There was an assortment of milkfish (bangus), tilapia and squid to choose from. But since my husband and I weren’t fond of these available choices, we roved around the fish section several times to ensure we did not miss out any vendor. We failed in our quest for the famous (and our favorite) barilison.

We did get fortunate though to find a small heap of fresh matang-baka/tulay being sold by one vendor. People instantly crowded over to buy and I found myself embroiled in a buying frenzy of some sort. I clearly remember (quite shamefully now) how I ghastly competed with fellow consumers for my own share of the rare matang-baka supply that was available that day! My performance was poor. I was only able to secure 1 kilo of it, can you believe that!

In dismay, I blurted out the following remarks: Is General Santos City still the Tuna Capital of the Philippines? What did we celebrate our recent 10th Tuna Festival for? Was it to rejoice on the dwindling tuna supply? Are there answers to these? Or should we just go find and ask Nemo?…

That day we had fried tulay on our table to go with the sautéed vegetable for lunch.

Up to this minute I can not think past the experience I had in the City Public Market. I can not help but brood over the lack of fresh bariles and barilison for local consumption that particular Sunday. I sure want to remain positive about the situation and think of it as just weather-related and temporary. I refuse to think beyond.