Foot and Fire

DHSBNHS’ 75th Founding Year Revisiting our alma mater through Gabaldon Buildings By Gerlie M. Uy Have you visited your alma mater lately? If so, your eyes had surely feasted on the newly-painted old buildings of the school, and such a visual feast surely turned into walking back to the memory lane. This happened to me twice this year when I requested for my high school diploma in August and saw the main building of Dona Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School and then later in October when I accompanied my mother who is a current PTA officer to a meeting and saw the HE (Home Economics) building. The latter is located behind the main building so I haven’t noticed it the first time. What are Gabaldon Buildings? The Gabaldon buildings are school buildings built under the authority of Act 1801 of 1907 or what is called as Gabaldon Law as it was authored by then Philippine Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon. The said law appropriated P1 million for the construction of modern pub...

I thought I have eaten and seen everything in our backyards but I was wrong. It was the first time I tasted raspberry and I picked it fresh from the shrub growing at the La Carlota City Pavillon in Sitio Guintubdan, Brgy. Ara-al where the  cold spring and tall falls are located. Aside from the mulberries, I was lucky to have picked raspberries on the third week of January this year.

Fruits

Writing Home: 19 Writers Remember Thier Hometowns Edited by Ruel S. De Vera Anvil Publishing 191 pages, An anthology of essays, poems and short stories As of writing this review, I am yet to finish four more entries: The Bacon vendetta by Eileen R. Tabios (Santo Tomas, Candon, Ilocos Sur), The Adopted Hometown by Alfred Yuson (Dumaguete), Habit of Space by Karina Africa Bolasco (Lipa) and Outward Journey by Jaime An Lim (Cagayan De Oro). Just immediately before I sat down to write this review, I read one which is closer to home: EBJ Freedom Park by Alex de los Santos (Antique) which is a poem that remembers how the park came to be when "we heard the volley of gunfire that made this park a tomb. " EBJ stands for Evelio B. Javier who was a much-beloved Antique Assemblyman and governor who was assassinated in 1986. In the poem's opening lines, the park for Antiquenos is "here is where we rise, here we bury victories." And as closing lines, the...

Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day is a commemoration of the Negros Revolution in 1898. It is now observed every November 5 as a special non-working holiday in the province through the enactment of Republic Act No. 6709 signed on February 10, 1989 during the incumbency of President Corazon Aquino. Wikipedia entries narrate that: " The Negros Revolution, now commemorated and popularly known as Al Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day, was a political movement that in 1898 created a government in Negros Island in the Philippines, informally ending Spanish control of the island and resulting in a government run by the Negrense natives, at least for that part of the archipelago and for a relatively short period. The newly established Negros Republic would last for approximately three months. American forces landed on the island unopposed on February 2, 1899, ending the island's independence." "  It has been stipulated that the Spanish civil and religious authoritie...

One of the best sugarcane strains is called la carlota... It is robust with purplish green peeling and quite expensive and a delicacy back then. Pang us is exclusive hiligaynon term for eating or chewing sugarcane and extracting its juice while it is still in the mouth! Munching is not an exact translation of pang us but it can do... Here is my nephew munching his sugarcane stick and the remnant of his chewed and juiceless portions.... Munching tubo is a happy childhood activity which is great to be revisited from time to time by a "batang negros."

By GERLIE M. UY For those who "love" Durian, they can eat this "King of Fruits" straight from the peelings or straight from the freezer and it does not matter. But for those who "hate" Durian, I can only ask why and grin at the same time, as one competitor's down. All I can say to the haters: they have to come near the Durian rather than go away in order to immerse themselves with the smell of the fruit. According to one local expert, one has to wash his hands in the peelings and eat the fruit using his bare hand. I must guarantee, once you are there on the table, you won't go away. And you will find yourself saying, it has no "Durian" smell anymore. Here are some information I have gathered which might help. According to the Durian experts, if one is a first-time Durian attacker, he has to be introduced to TD4 variety and I must say it is sweet, creamy and a bit crunchy in some portions. For those who wants some minty and a bit of bitter...

THE FOUNTAIN OF SUGARCANE, CARABAO, TRAIN, COCK, AND DRUM. Series of 2010. Detail, Carabao. Detail, train. A MONUMENT OF PASALAMAT DRUM BEATERS...known for the upbeat, mardigras-like festivity, Pasalamat has its signature dance and drumbeats. Detail of the fountain. Must be Goddess of Thankfulness... The heart of the city, the city hall. Offering thanks to the heavens... a red bloom after the rain. a yellow rose saying hi to me! another red lovable awesome rose! roses in bunch... don't pick. Detail, carabao. another rosey rose.  RANDOM SHOTS! All series of 2010.