Showing posts with label Philippine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippine. Show all posts

Friday, June 15, 2012

Global 2012: Son of Prince Charles' wife raves about Pinoy dishes

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 27: Camilla, Duchess...LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 27: Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (2R), with her son Tom Parker-Bowles meet students from Greencroft School, winners of the British Food Fortnight Secondary School Competition at Clarence House, on January 27, 2011 in London, England. The students prepared a meal for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and guests as part of the competition prize. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
After eating sisig, kare-kare, adobo and sinigang, the son of the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles, Tom Parker Bowles, raved about Filipino dishes in an article he wrote for a magazine in the United Kingdom.

Bowles, food editor of Esquire magazine, visited Manila recently to have a taste of Philippine cuisine.

He also dined with former first lady Imelda Marcos who, he said, was “clever, funny, and charming.”

In the article titled “Anyone for Filipino?” in Esquire’s Aug. 11, 2011 issue, Parker Bowles talked about dishes he enjoyed in Pampanga and Manila, food ingredients such as sili, bawang, sibuyas, and calamansi, and heirloom recipés.

He also gave recipés of Pampanga’s crunchy sisig and Manila’s adobong manok.

He also found delight in balut, which most, if not all, foreigners dread eating.

“Street food is not a big draw here, certainly when compared to Thailand or Vietnam. But then, there’s balut, the pavement equivalent of Animal Farm, the porno version you saw as a teenager on grainy VHS. It’s a fertilized duck egg, complete with embryo,” he wrote.

And finally, there’s lechon, a great shiny roasted pig, he said.

“It’s the finest piece of pigskin I’ve ever eaten. One of the best things I’ve ever tried, full stop. It’s a celebratory dish, but also a very traditional one, eaten before the Spaniards arrived.”

Parker Bowles also praised Filipino food prepared for him by top chefs such as Claude Tayag, Margarita Fores and Juanita Vazquez.

He also toured Market, Market! in Taguig where one can have a taste of food from various regions of the country.

And in his tours, culinary masters and historians Joel Binamira, Ivan Henares, and Ivan Man Dy guided him.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=709703&publicationSubCategoryId=63

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Global 2012: Underground River inaugurated as among New 7 Wonders of Nature

Entrance to the Puerto Princesa Underground River.Entrance to the Puerto Princesa Underground River. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
President Aquino inaugurated last night the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and hailed it as a collective success for the Filipinos.

The President, along with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, thanked everyone for the achievement, during the inauguration in Pasay City.

Hagedorn said the PPUR victory was for all Filipinos to share.

The President himself led the campaign for PPUR and called on more Filipinos to visit the site.

Aquino said Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. would market other eco-tourism sites that the country could offer the world to visit.

“The Puerto Princesa Underground River is the pride of Palawan, and now, it is the pride of the world, because it has officially been named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature,” he said.

“In the face of tremendous competition - 27 other finalists and millions of other voters from all over the world - we pulled together, and once again put the Philippines on the map.”

“I thank everyone who participated in this effort - from those who led the campaign, to those who sent in their text and Internet votes,” he said.  

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=799469&publicationSubCategoryId=63

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Friday, December 24, 2010

Manila 2010: Sunset wedding for Filipino celebrity couple

The online Barong Tagalog tailor, MyBarong, cu...Image via Wikipedia
The bride wore a flaming red gown, her signature colour, to her wedding.

Filipino singer-actress Regine Velasquez, who tied the knot Wednesday (December 22) with long-time boyfriend, singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid, "derives power from that colour," her friend, fashion designer Rajo Laurel, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

The off-shoulder outfit was a creation of Monique Lhuiller, the US-based Filipino designer who has also designed gowns for Hollywood celebrities Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Kristen Stewart and Hillary Duff.

Alcasid's gray suit was by Filipino designer Randy Ortiz. "I have nothing against the barong Tagalog (traditional men's formal wear). It's just that parang mas pogi kasi ako (I look more dashing in a suit)," he told the Inquirer in a previous interview.

The ceremony was held at The Peak, Terrazas de Punta Fuego Resort, Nasugbu, Batangas province, about two hours outside Manila.

The wedding was set in time for the sunset. "A thousand butterflies were released while Regine was walking down the aisle. They all clung to her. It was an amazing sight," Laurel said. "Everyone cried when the couple exchanged their marriage vows."



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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Manila 2010: Former Philippine president Arroyo 'disappears' from new P200 bill

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited by United Stat...Image via Wikipedia
Next time you get hold of a new, crisp 200-peso bill, don't be surprised if you find it difficult to locate the picture of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It has been relegated to a small corner of the bill and the new dominant photo is that of the tarsier, a specially protected animal species found in a few places in the Philippines.

Due for circulation this month, the newly designed peso bank notes will showcase on the reverse side the country's top tourism spots.

The picture of Arroyo's inaugural ceremony in 2001--printed at the back of the existing P200 bill--will still appear on the bill, this time on the front side, although a bit too small for anyone to even decipher her face.

It is on the side dominated by the picture of her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal.

"The swearing in of GMA is on the front side of the [new] 200-peso note," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message to the Inquirer, answering insinuations that the former President was downgraded in the new design.

The new notes were launched the other day in Malacanang (the presidential palace).

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ann/20101218/tph-former-philippine-president-arroyo-d-fb8bb4f.html


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