Hotel review: Village Hotel Bugis in Singapore

This hotel stands like a queen among creatively restored old buildings that speak much of Singapore’s great multicultural tradition. Its building springs up from the back part of Arab Street where Little India is located, giving a glimpse into the subdued sophistication of service that this hotel offers. Village Hotel Bugis falls right smack in…

Hotel review: Excel Treasure in Yangon, Myanmar

Let me start off by admitting that I did have my doubts about Myanmar, particularly Yangon. I thought it was a place of utter disrepair and poverty. I was wrong. It’s a charming place with a wealth of potential. And it is quite developed with wide roads, new buildings, big houses, and patches of development in…

The willing victims of the ‘lumpiang ubod’

When I asked what they could serve for a gathering in the office this afternoon, Nico of the Silliman Cafeteria, without batting an eyelash,  suggested: “lumpiang ubod”! Of course, I knew what it was; but that for an afternoon snack got my intestines tangled up. Nico was adamant though. “Lumpiang ubod it is then.” No…

(Video) How to cook ‘tortang puso sa saging’

I did a project in 2011 for the Asian University Digital Resource Network. That project involved digital tagging of traditional Filipino food ingredients that are easily grown in the backyard and the documentation of the cooking process of known Filipino dishes. Apart from availability, the project sought to establish the influence of family tradition (how…