Inside the Center for Culinary Arts USDA Theater: "Malabon's Best" Class

Disclosure: As part of my invite to the Manila Food and Wine Festival 2013, I got a free pass to one of the Center for Culinary Arts Manila's two hour-long cooking classes. Still, this review is going to be unsugarcoated: praise what needs to be praised, criticize what needs to be criticized.

 

The "Malabon's Best" class was a demonstration cooking class that focused on Filipino rice cakes. The class was headed by Ms. Annie Pascual Guerrero, a proud native of Malabon. It was held last February 23 at the USDA Theater of the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA)-Manila in Katipunan.

From what I know, the USDA Theater was the result of the partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture and CCA. The USDA provided the culinary school with equipment for a fully equipped training facility, complete with audio-visual capabilities.

It was my first time to enter the CCA grounds. I approached the guard, expecting to be asked for some identification or purpose of my visit. I asked him where the USDA Theater was located and he pointed me inside. I was not asked to present any ID or to sign in any logbook. Part of me was touched at manong guard's vote of confidence on me being a good guy but part of me wished he was stricter in letting visitors in.

Ambeth Ocampo's "Fernando Amorsolo" Lecture

Yes, another Ambeth Ocampo post.

This time, it's about the Philippine's first National Artist Fernando Amorsolo in Ambeth's lecture titled "Fernando Amorsolo: Portrait of the Artist as Historian".

I have to admit, I only know Amorsolo by name. I did not know much else about him, but after the lecture, I had a newfound respect for his talent.

Ambeth Ocampo's "Before the Japayuki: Japan in Philippine History" Lecture

Many Filipinos are familiar with the Japanese culture. We watch tons of anime and eat lots of Japanese food. However, when it comes to the intersection of the Japanese history and our own, many Pinoys are limited to talking about World War II or some girl they know who became a Japayuki (a term which originally referred to Filipinas who went to Japan to be cultural entertainers but later came to refer to Filipinas who went there to prostitute themselves).

In Ambeth Ocampo's recent lecture titled "Before the Japayuki: Japan in Philippine History", I learned about the karayuki-san. They were poor Japanese girls who went to East Asia and Southeast Asia (including the Philippines) to work as prostitutes during the 1800s. According to a Japanese sociology blog, many of these girls did not really set out to sell their bodies, but were made to believe by mediators that there were many good working opportunities in other countries and that they could make enough money to support their families. Heavily indebted to the mediators for transporting them out of Japan and not knowing the language of their destination countries, they were forced to work as prostitutes to pay off their debts and to be able to send money to their families.

English Proficiency Workshop at Speech Coach (JC Santos Speech Training Center)

I have decent enough English writing skills but I am not comfortable with speaking in English at length. I know many Filipinos can relate to this. We've been taught English since we were toddlers. We watch a lot of Hollywood movies and American TV shows. We read a lot of English books and magazines. We use written English a lot in our work/business and we type a lot of our thoughts in English to converse with people online, BUT we only speak in English when it is required. Try speaking in straight English out of the blue and chances are, other people will find it amusing or maarte. Double that if you speak with an accent. Triple that if you have no mestizo features at all.

When I chanced upon the Speech Coach ad for a 1-day intensive English fluency and self-confidence workshop, I told bf that we should check it out. He was skeptical; he wasn't sold with the idea that a life-long awkwardness with English speaking would be solved in just 8 hours of work. We went anyway.

Speech Coach has two branches, both in Marikina: one in C&B Mall and one across Santolan LRT-2 station. We chose the Santolan branch since going there was more convenient for us (via LRT-1 and 2). When we were already in the Santolan station, we couldn't see Speech Coach's sign so I called them up and we were told to cross the overpass and someone from their office would be waiting for us at the 7-11 store. True enough, a guy was waiting for us in front of 7-11 and he accompanied us to Speech Coach. Their office was just a few steps away but was not conspicuous when standing in the LRT station due to the way the road curved.

Ambeth Ocampo's "Doble Kara: Rizal in Art and Monuments" Lecture at the Ayala Museum

Dr. Ambeth Ocampo's "Doble Kara: Rizal in Art and Monuments," lecture last December 3 was the last in his 2011 History Comes Alive! series. David Beckham was in the Philippines, playing with the Azkals, but Ambeth's loyal fans couldn't care less. (FYI: I mean no disrespect. For some reason, I feel more comfortable calling him Ambeth rather than Dr. Ocampo -- well, probably not to his face hehe). Anyway, the lecture was still well-attended and was as lively as the previous ones (see here and here).

Ambeth's slideshow included photos of several Rizal monuments. Before seeing those pictures, I did not know that there were so many Rizal monuments around and that some of them looked a bit goofy.

The history of the Rizal monument in Luneta was also discussed, from the time it was commissioned to the time it was modernized. It was my first time to see that towering steel pylon they erected in the 60s. Good thing they removed it a few years after, since it looked out of place and made the Rizal statue look like a footnote.

Ambeth Ocampo's "Queridas ni Rizal" Lecture at the Ayala Musem

Bf, ever the fanboy, wanted to attend Ambeth Ocampo's new lecture. I was impressed with the famed historian's previous lecture so I readily agreed.

Ayala Museum was already bursting with people when we arrived. We had no choice but to stand at the back.

All of us Pinoys know who Jose Rizal is. We've been taught stuff about him since we were tiny snotty brats. Still, Ambeth had to clarify:

No, Rizal was NOT Hitler's dad.

(But he might have or might not have been Jack the Ripper.)

Rizal has always been put on a pedestal by most teachers and historians. He was the perfect son, the perfect student, yadda yadda. He was virtually untouchable. Anyone who disagreed would be struck down and taken to a private field trip, never to be heard from again. Sure, Jose got involved with several girls but those girls were more of admirers who our hero found impolite to turn down. Jose was always serious and pure. He wouldn't have become as great as he was if he wasted time with vices or clowning around.

In Ambeth's lecture, he took Rizal off his pedestal and put him in the same room as us. We realized that Rizal was not perfect. He was not a demigod, but a human being just like us. He joked around, ribbed his friends, engaged in activities his parents would not have approved of. He didn't walk majestically, living and breathing heroism every freaking day. He also had his share of doubts and regrets, as well as cowardice when it came to romantic matters, which led to a string of broken-hearted women.

In short, he was normal.

The audience appreciated this approach in tackling Rizal's private life. It was refreshing and inspirational to know that we flawed mortals could be awesome too. After all, Rizal is a hero, not a god. What good is a hero if his greatness can't be emulated, right?

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Aside from the lecture, we also got Ambeth's new book Chulalongkorn's Elephants.

You can find pictures of the Queridas ni Rizal lecture at the Ayala Museum's Facebook page.

Ambeth Ocampo's "Queridas ni Rizal" Lecture
Ayala Musem
Makati City, Metro Manila
September 10, 2011

Ambeth Ocampo's "Mukhang Pera" Lecture at the Ayala Museum

I've never been into Filipiniana stuff. I became conscious of that in college, when I was in the Filipiniana part of the campus library, looking at the books, and all of a sudden this thought flashed in my head: "These books don't interest me."

I've always been a book lover. I'm not a history buff but I could see myself poring over world history books, just not Filipiniana stuff. I guess I was one of those people who overlook things in their own backyard.

So when bf expressed his interest to attend Ambeth Ocampo's lecture (it was already expected that I would be coming along), I wasn't exactly jumping for joy. Ambeth Ocampo's name was familiar but that was it. The ticket was at P350. A complimentary book was included, which surprised me -- P350 was already more than affordable for a popular historian's lecture; a free book sounded too good to be true.

Bf was excited to go to the lecture so we ensured seats by paying in advance. Unfortunately, the lecture had to be rescheduled due to bad weather. So we went July 9 instead of June 25.

We were 20 minutes late. I was expecting the Mukhang Pera lecture to start a little late since the weather was bad, but I was mistaken. By the time we arrived at the Ayala Museum, the place was already jampacked with people. Since we were late, we had to stand even though we had prepaid tickets. It was understandable that our seats were given to others; however, when a group of guys arrived later and insisted to be seated, the ushers were somehow able to point them to vacant seats. This annoyed me so during the first few minutes, my attention was not completely on the lecture. A few minutes afterwards, the ushers, probably seeing my sour face, brought in some seats for us. That changed my mood and I was able to enjoy the lecture then.

A big part of the audience was composed of students and young professionals. A good thing, definitely. It was reassuring to know that kids nowadays still care about substantial and intellectual things.

The lecture was very informative and interesting. Ambeth Ocampo delivered some humorous quips every now and then. He had a good way of telling stories. You won't be tuning out or surreptitiously looking at your watch, waiting for the lecture to end.

What can I say, I'm a convert! Now I look forward to more of his lectures.

And yes, there really was a complimentary book, his recent one, Meaning and History - The Rizal Lectures. So let's see, for P350, you get to listen to an acclaimed historian's lively and intellectually stimulating lecture about currencies, you're free to roam around the Ayala Museum, and you get his latest book. Quite a deal, huh? And if you're a student, a teacher, a senior citizen or an Ayala Museum member, you only pay P200, so even more sulit!

Prof. Ocampo is also a columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He regularly posts interesting tidbits and pictures at his Facebook page. The poster pictures used above were copied from his page.



Ambeth Ocampo's "Mukhang Pera" Lecture
Ayala Museum
Makati City, Metro Manila
July 9, 2011