This is a new site highlighting my autobiography with my name David B Katague spelled backwards. The photo above is Chateau Du Mer Beach House in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines. Photo taken in the Spring of 2012.
David B. Katague is an online memoirist and cultural essayist whose writing has appeared on HubPages
If not the following photos taken by Dr Joel Cuello, President of PAASE, October 24, this year is a must see.
Entrance to The Palace( Night Time)
The Court Yard
Dr. Cuello wrote of his recent visit to Malacanang: "Arguably the most storied and iconic residence in all of the Philippines, Malacanan Palace has endured and has -- since 1863 -- served as the principal workplace and official residence for 18 Spanish Governors-General, 14 American Military and Civil Governors, and the subsequent Presidents of the Philippines. It is without doubt a national historical treasure and has in recent decades become a powerful locus of contention for the soul of the Philippines' modern-day vibrant, though at times still seemingly tenuous, democracy".
The Reception Hall
I have been to Malacanang Palace a few decades ago when I attended a Paranggal Ceremonies honoring a friend from Maryland. Dr Cuello's photos also showed The Drawings of Juan Luna -a coffee book from the collections of my former classmate in Chemistry in UP, Dr Eleuterio Pascual.
My association with Dr. Pascual and his coffee book about the paintings and drawings of Juan Luna is discussed in my blog as follows:
https://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/search?q=pascual
Note: The photos of Dr Cuello has a SAMPLE mark because I converted it from PDF to JPG format. I have not purchased the converter program, thus the SAMPLE mark. I have the permission of Dr. Cuello to post some of his pictures in this blog.
For the last two weeks, Macrine and I had been enjoying Mexican Food. We have hired two more Mexican-American aides (LC and CB) just these past two weeks on a part time basis and on trial. Both of them love cooking Mexican dishes. One day, I mentioned that my favorite Mexican dish is Chile Relleno. The next day LC brought us 4 Chile Rellenos(CR), she cooked the night before. Besides the CR, she brought with her one dozen tamales. She said her MOM ordered the Tamales from a friend. I have not eaten a Tamale for quite sometime. The first Tamale(TA) I had was in Chicago in the mid-1960's. Both CR and TA were delicious. My taste buds for TA were awaken by this event, I searched for frozen Tamales in our local Mexican-American Grocery store ( Food Maxx). I found the El Montery brand( see photo) that I really enjoy for breakfast.
For the Chile Relleno, two Mexican Restaurants in our neighborhood have it in their menus. However, it is expensive. I was searching for frozen CR that I could just heat in the microwave. The Internet shows, Walmart carries the Goya brand. I called our local Walmart store, and they have no stock. There are several brands you can buy on-line but expensive. I decided to check our Food Maxx store. Food Maxx carries the Frida brand. I purchased a package of 4 for only $10.50. It is still in the freezer, since yesterday LC cooked us again six Chile Rellenos costing me only $10 for the ingredients.
Another Mexican dish that Macrine and I enjoyed just recently is the Menudo soup purchased from our neighborhood Mexican restaurant(TH). I purchased the dish from Tres Hermanos(TH) which is available only on weekends. The dish serving for 4 cost me $10. Besides the tripe it has one pig's feet but no hominy. The dish was good and the tripe was soft. The pigs feet just melted in my mouth. To the left over two servings, I added Garbanzo beans and Macrine and I enjoyed the soup again the next day.
Speaking of tripe, I have a favorite Filipino recipe for tripe that I cooked every now and then. The recipe is listed in my Food blog as follows:
I am not an avid movie goer, but a couple of years ago, I rented a movie because I heard so many good reviews about the above film. In addition, the title attracted my attention having resided in Metro Manila for a number of years during my college years.
The movie was advertised as a crime drama and thriller. However, the first hour of the movie was no thriller at all. It was almost like a love story of a poor couple with two young kids from Northern Philippines who went to Manila for a better life. It was only 45 minutes before the end of the movie when the movie fulfilled its label as a crime drama and thriller
The opening scenes in the movie with the Ifugao Rice terraces in Banaue was mesmerizing and beautiful. It makes me feel like visiting the place again. I was in Banaue in 1970.
As the movie progresses the scenes of the poverty and traffic congestion in Manila was filmed so realistically even including the smog from exhaust of thousands of vehicles including Jeepneys, tricycles, buses and cars of all kinds , The movie was filmed entirely in the Philippines, mostly in Manila. This has save thousands of British pounds for movie director and producer Englishman Sean Ellis. As a Filipino-American, the movie brings me some nostalgia even though some of the scenes were filmed in a neighborhood, I will never visit even in broad day light.
The movie starts with farmer Oscar (played by Jake Macapagal) and his wife, Mai (played by Althea Vega), unable to make a living on rice fields of Banaue Province in the Philippines. decided to migrate to Manila to find work, tagging along their two young children . They obtained a ride on a cramped produce and vegetable truck. Immediately after arriving in the city, they encounter a real estate swindler who rented them a house that is government owned. They were forced to live in the streets for a while and witnessed a kidnapping episode.
Later on the story, Oscar was able to move his family to a slum outside of town. After searching for a job for quite sometime, he was so glad to finally get a modestly paying job as an armored car driver. Mai on the other hand finds work in a bar where she’s routinely exploited and harassed by the male clientele. The manager of the Bar is Charlie( played by Angelina Kapati), a masculine woman, who seems sympathetic to Mai needs for money...
Oscar learned very fast of the ways of downtown, or “metro” Manila, after being taught by his driving partner, Ong (played by John Arcilla). Arcilla's acting ability was fantastic and superb.
The movie, Metro Manila offers a realistic view of a crowded and chaotic place where Oscar and Mai struggle against poverty and indifference. Manila is so unforgiving, and their poverty is so desperate. It is no surprise that when the Ramires Family seem to get a happy welcome to the city, their story turns up to a sad and, deadly ending. Watch the movie for a twist in the end.
I recommend this movie to all especially to those who enjoys a love story with a twist at the end. The movie is in Filipino (tagalog) with English subtitles. Since I understandTagalog there was no need for me to look at at subtitles which was hard to read because it was in a small font on my TV screen. Otherwise I enjoyed the movie very much. It was worth more than the $4.99 rental fee that I paid to Comcast Movie in Demand-My Internet and Cable movie Provider.
The film is unrated. It contains profanity, violence, smoking, adult themes and brief nudity, The running time is 115 minutes. It is available through Amazon Google Play, YouTube and Sony Entertainment Network. Metro Manila is 2013 British-Filipino independently produced crime drama film directed by Sean Ellis. Ellis also co-produced and co-wrote the film. The film was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards.
Metro Manila had its International premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2013. It was also released on 17 July 2013 in France, 28 August 2013 in Belgium, 29 August 2013 in the Netherlands, and 20 September 2013 in the UK. Metro Manila had its Philippine premiere on October 9, 2013. It is now available in Comcast Movie in Demand under Indie and Foreign Films category. The two day rental is $4.99 here in Northern California.
Other Reviews-From the Washington Post
Perhaps inevitably, the complications that ensue in “Metro Manila” begin to look a little contrived and exaggerated. But Ellis has nonetheless created an absorbing, poignant portrait of contemporary life in the Philippines, here pessimistically depicted as a place of cruelty and greed, but also courageous striving. And he’s enlisted a superior group of actors to ground his sometimes schematic story in unguarded sincerity. Macapagal and Arcilla are both solemn and attractive as a young couple the audience never hesitates to root for, and Arcilla handles his character’s own complexities with talky, charismatic flair.
“Metro Manila,” finally, is a sobering portrayal, not just of the abuse of power, but the abuse of hope, which might be even more unforgivable. As Mai tells Oscar at one point, “sometimes the only thing left to hang on to is the blade of the knife.” It cuts even deeper when there’s another human being holding the handle.
Another Review-Telegraph.CO.UK
Metro Manila is so spellbound by its setting that it is a good hour before we discover what kind of film it is going to be. It begins as a swirling drama of survival in the Filipino capital — but then suddenly it slips off down an alleyway, only to emerge a scrupulously engineered, Christopher Nolan-ish crime thriller.
On paper, that sounds awkward: in fact, it’s an entirely logical reflection of the experience of anyone who has ever taken on a city and won. Early in the film, Manila is an inscrutable tangle of bodies and streets, but it gradually takes on the shape of a puzzle that is waiting to be solved. At stake are the life-changing contents of a missing safety deposit box, and a changed life is the reason Oscar Ramirez has come to Manila.
Oscar (Jake Macapagal) is a penniless rice farmer who brings his young family to this city of close to 12 million souls in search of work and food. Slum landlords and brutal employers take an almost overwhelming toll, particularly when Oscar’s pretty wife Mai (Althea Vega) takes a job in a smouldering go-go bar.
Oscar tell his new boss a joke is crisply written and beautifully performed. Moments like that can give you dangerously high hopes for a film, and Metro Manila amply meets them. For details visit the following site.
Today my total page views for my articles on Hubpages reached a total of 24,752. The monthly readership averaged about 500 page views. I am happy with this stats although I wish it could be better. Of my 29 articles only 25 are featured. The rest are not featured due to poor traffic or readership or quality. Of the 25 featured only three are published in a niche( HP network site) or separate domain for better google ranking. The following are the Statistics of my top 10 featured articles as of today. The columns are: Title, Score, Comments, 1 day, 7 days, 30 days and Ever ( Page Views)
( For Example for article #1, my score( rating) is 73. Scoring of articles ranged from 50 to 100. Comments are 33, Page views for 1 day, 7 days, 30 days and ever are 6, 45, 162 and 5,184 respectively.
1. Caste System in the Philippines-Discrimination of Filipinos in the United States and my Pinoy Pride List
73 33
19
60
180
5,222
2. Encounters With Aswangs, Witches, Goblins, and Ghosts in the Philippines
84
12
3
26
128
1,823
3. How to Retire in the Philippines for Less than $1,500 a Month
71
8
0
9
42
1,032
4. Abused against Men: the Battered Husband
69
3
0
7
21
1,501
5. My Bucket List: 101 Things to Do Before I Die
80
4
1
7
33 9,102
6. Book Review of the Tears in the Darkness, The Bataan Death March
72
0
1
7
13
635
7. Our Love Story and 60th Wedding Anniversary
79
13
0
7
21
304
8. Feasting on Fresh Oysters-My Oyster Rockefeller Recipe
70
2
0
2
7
215
9. Obsession for Numbers 7 and 11-Your Name and Numerology
75
2
1
2
6
313
10. Our Time-Share Vacation Experience All over the World
72
4
0
1
2
203
The Average score of my 29 articles is 72. I am happy with it since writing is just only my avocation. I am not a professional writer, although I earned a few cents per day for my hubs and have received around $100 awards from my other writings previously.
My most widely read article is #5 with 9,102 page views. My most widely commented article is Hub #1 with 33 comments.
In addition, I reached another HP milestone hitting 100 Forum Posts, Here's the note from HP:
Hi chateaudumer,
You have hit a pretty impressive milestone—you have made 100 Forum Posts! Fun fact: The first 100 days in office are considered a benchmark for the performance of the President of the United States. Chances are your first 100 Forum posts are a part of your great contribution to our community! Thanks, HubPages
Last week, Macrine and I were talking to our new Mexican-American Home Health aide about Mexican food. I mentioned that Chili Relleno(CR) is my favorite Mexican dish. The next day she brought with her a Chile Relleno dish that she cooked the night before. It was good and it made me craved for more.
So I googled on the nearest Mexican Restaurant that has CR in their menu. There were 4 restaurants and Taquerea listed. Two of the restaurants are only about a mile from our residence. I looked at the two restaurant menus. Valencia Taqueria has the Chile Relleno Combo ( one pepper with rice and beans, tortillas) for $11.99. I purchased this yesterday and it was excellent.
The other restaurant Tres Hermanos has two Rellenos menus with trimmings( rice and beans tomatoes, avocado, lettuce and tortillas) for only $12.50 and one relleno with rice and beans, tortillas for only $8.50. I will try this restaurant in a couple of days.
Today, I ordered my first on-line order and delivery from TugBoat Fish and Chips about 3 miles from us. I was not confident on giving my credit card online, so normally I would order via telephone, have it delivered and just pay cash when the food arrives. However, today I had a longing for Fish and Chips ( London style).
I found that there are three Fish and Chips restaurants within 5 miles from our residence. The nearest one to our residence that we normally patronizes is rated 4.5 Star. However, another Fish and Chips about 1 mile farther is rated 5 star. I have never ordered food from this place, but since the rating is excellent, I decided I will try this restaurant. I called the restaurant and asked if they have delivery service. They said they are associated with Doordash.com. Since this is my first order, the delivery charge is free and tips to the driver is optional.
I went to the Doordash web site, ordered three items, paid it with my credit card. I placed my order at 1.30PM. The screen showed delivery will be at 2:20PM. At about 1:15PM my ordered arrived. The food was warm and excellent. I was delighted with my achievement of the day. The delivery fee was free but I gave a 10% tip to the driver.
I was curious if there are other food delivery service near me besides Doordash.com. In our area there are postmates.com, foodjets.com, grubhub.com and Eat24.com food delivery services. They cover more than 100 restaurants near us. Most of the restaurants have free delivery service for first time orders. Other wise the delivery service varies from $2 to $6.
Today, I also learned I could order Dimsum (chinese dumplings) from the Dumplings and Tea House of Sacramento on line with only a $2 delivery charge. I could have my favorite Dimsum anytime I want it just tapping the keys of my computer.
Note: I am currently enrolled on Recurring Food Service once a week from Munchery.com. I am happy with Munchery but the food is getting expensive.
Ordering Food on line and delivery is a must for those who does not like to cook or those who do not drive or can not drive because of commitments in the house, for example being a primary care giver for a love one just like me.
Another service I have not tried is grocery delivery. I will probably do this when my driver's license expired in two years.
I know that the Barrido, Balleza and Tupas surnames of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo are related to me. The picture below are some of our relatives ( Balleza, Barrido, Tupas, Causing, Espanola married a Balleza) taken during the wedding of my sister, Myrla, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines in 1959.
Myrla (my sister) and Leonor Hilaga Wedding (1959) attended by some Barrido, Balleza, Causing and Tupas Relatives, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines. In the picture: Mayor Luis Tupas, Raul Causing, Pablo Espanola, Jose Balleza, Paz Katague, my sister Agnes, brother Efren and Ruben, Mrs Hilaga, Mrs Hugo Tugbang, Mrs Nena Tad-y Balleza, Mrs Sayong Barrido, Mrs Jaranilla, Mrs Julio Katague and Fr Uvas(parish priest).
The following is a comment by Cecille Tupas Taningco from the Balleza Clan FB page.
Gani man..also Barrido..mas lapad pa gani ang ila duta. Si Lola Dami Barrido sisters nia ang mga mothers nanday Tatay Peping JoseBarrido Balleza nga father nanday primo Danilo Balleza , etc and Nanay Pacing Barrido Balleza, bana nia si Tatay David Katague. and the mother of Nanay Titay Barrido Baldonado-Doligosa, Tatay Manuel Barrido Baldonado and Tatay Tito Barrido Baldonado. Ang Dugman namon sa San Dionisio near Sara side ginpanubli ni Papang ina sa kay Lola Dami Barrido..the only son lang abi si Papang ni Lola Dami. Ang sa likuran sang apartment up to Paywan hasta didto kay Tad-y kay Lolo Generoso Tupas ina iya..That's why si Toto Manny Tupas Balleza nagka subdivision dira kay Mother nila si Tiyay Bebit Tupas sister ni Papang. Napag baligya na sang iban nga sisters ni Papang ang ila parte. Ang sa pihak nga dalan mga sisters ni Papang ang nag inherit 4 sisters..wala pa ina nila na divide..sakay Lolo Generoso Tupas ina halin..Balleza, Villaruel, Doligosa and Juanico ang mga manunubli nga mga apo.
The Rough English Translation: Ganiii man.. also barrido.. It's more width gani. Grandma, she has a lot of sisters, her mothers, peping, balleza balleza primo Danilo Danilo, etc and mom pacing barrido balleza, her Taipei Father David Katague. And the mother of mom titay barrido baldonado-Doligosa, dad manuel barrido baldonado and dad uncle barrido baldonado. The dugman namon in san dionisio near Sara side ginpanubli of papang mother to grandma dami barrido.. the only son Abu Father's father is a lot. The back in the back of the apartment to the paywan video with tad-y with grandpa generoso tupas mother iya.. That's why toto manny tupas balleza had a subdivision dira with their mother tiyay bebit tupas sister of papang. It was said that the sister of papang had a part of her sister. The one who is in the way of daddy's sisters is the one who inherit 4 sisters.. They don't have their mother to divide.. Ride Grandpa Generoso Tupas mother halin.. Balleza, Villaruel, doligosa and juanico are the ones who are.
