Loy whipped up an array of delicious Iloilo dishes — made from her family's secret recipes — to celebrate Annie's visit from the Netherlands. Here's her menu:
Pancit molo soup made with freshly-slaughtered native chicken that has been fattening free-range style in her mom's backyard for the past 2 weeks. Then adobo made with atsuete and aged in the freezer for a week, chicken inasal, and apan-apan (kangkong cooked in vinegar and guinamos — fine bagoong flown in from Iloilo). Bulgan fish, which is the visayan version of sea bass, to stew in some sour fruits. And lukon, which is really just daing na sugpo, dipped in Wakuyat (literally means "no fear"), which is vinegar made from tuba (fermented palm "wine"). Siempre, it goes without saying that everything was simply superb!!!

Happy Birthday and Happy Earthday, eduardo!!!

Did you know that your name means Wealthy Guardian, from the Old English words ead (meaning rich) and weard (not WEIRD ... meaning guard). I don't know what year you were born but here are special events in world history that happened on April 22. :-)

My friend Mae (actress/commercial director extraordinaire)
is back from her Tokyo adventure where she was part of a
theatre show, A collaboration with Japanese actors and
directed by a Japanese. She said: '3 plays ito, yung dalawa
('aswang' and 'hubad') may kanya-kanyang version ang
pinoy at japs, tapos yung 'ligaya' joined na ang kami. at
syempre mas nagustuhan ng audience yung mga pinoy sa
lahat ng versions. inaantok daw sila pag yung hapon ang
nagpapalabas. say!" Okaerinasai, Tita Mae!!! :-)

Different for me, from what I usually do, that is. It's really exciting to do something new — cleanses the jaded "palate". But, most of all, it feels great to be part of a TV show, from idea to airing. The show is called Welcome Home, a brainchild of my pal, RJ, which aired its initial episode today on Studio-23. This is a shot from the formal launch of the show held at the M Café last Wednesday, 1 March, (in the midst of a sudden earthquake and an unexpected squall) with the show's host.

*with deep thanks to Monty Python for the subject title from one of their films And Now For Something Completely Different that I loved so much that I watched it twice in a row ... and will gladly do so again!

Spent the whole evening at the Fort Strip with friends
from our JWT days — cocktails at Gourdo's, dinner of
Spanish cuisine at Minggoy's, and nightcap at Trio. We
were all so hungry by the time we had gathered that
I forgot to photograph the sumptuous food we ate.

My good friends Bet & Keith swung by Manila for
a visit — shorter than I wished but long enough
for get-togethers with old friends. Here we are
at a dinner hosted by Jack — enjoying Iloilo's
famous Molo Soup and crispy Lechon Kawali,
among other delicious fare.

The central element in the invitation to Mia & Jay's wedding —
"The design on the cover is inspired by a collection of wedding
symbols: the pomegranate, literally, is a wish for a couple to
have many children. Lovebirds on hearts and round flowers
symbolize friendship & eternal love while the squirrels are a
wish for a carefree life." I wish them all that... and more!

Unexpected downpours cast a very wet blanket over
my friends' plans for a garden wedding. But the rain
hardly dampened everybody's enthusiasm for this
long-awaited happy event, least of all the couple's.