At the foot of the Carillon

"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong." -Job 6:24

My Carillon

This is the time when the arts are celebrated. You find your February calendar filling up so fast, and the choices are so many, the schedules conflicting, thereby cancelling one another out. But I dedicated the first Sunday of February to the Carillon, especially when I learned that there was a concert series at the plaza area fronting the bells.

I always look forward to visiting the Diliman campus. And the Carillon bells are special to me--their sound brings back memories of my afternoons as a journalism major when I'd hurry from Palma Hall (or AS as we called it, short for Arts and Sciences) to get to the then Institute of Mass Communication. The bells would be playing something soothing while I walked in a rush because I didn't want to be marked late by the teacher. Soothing like "The Long and Winding Road." Whenever I hear that song, I remember a young me making that walk.

And so it was with a nostalgic heart that I returned to the Carillon to find out more about acoustic music as played by some UP students, mostly music majors from the neighboring College of Music.

Charming ukulele player and vocalist

Because they also do covers of bossa nova and other bands' hits apart from composing their own songs, Mana Band members call themselves a "hindi" band--neither here nor there.

Oh Flamingo heats up the evening.

The duo I appreciated most was the all-girl Lullaband who sang pop music while dressed in their tees and shorts. It was an outdoor concert, after all. They did covers of the Beegees' "How Deep Is Your Love" from the movie Saturday Night Fever (another hit from my generation), "The Way You Look Tonight," "I Will," Fleet Foxes' "White Winter" which sounded like a rondo and River Maya's "Bye Bye Na."

There were other indie bands featured with such odd names like Mana Band and Oh Flamingo. But nothing charmed me more than those two girls. One strummed the ukulele, the other tried to get a rise from the audience, even reading her codigo from her left palm. Atta Lullaband!

It was a lovely way to spend an evening.

Here I am looking serene on a Sunday and looking forward to the acoustic series. Thanks for capturing my mood, Sister Suzy. Photos by Babeth and Suzy Lolarga

How was your Sunday? Ask Sandy

Mine went so well--it had food, music, my sister's company. So well I'm a little at a loss on what to do this Monday.

Everyone else is elsewhere, and here I am caught up in volunteer work I love but choose not to get paid for. I'm crazy that way. It's the type of "work" that brings me to the dream life I've wanted: being close to the arts, especially music and literature, and the culinary arts (partaking of good food)!

As if I didn't have enough on an already full plate, Carlos Garchitorena of the Manila Symphony Orchestra Foundation just rounded me up to "woman" the ticket table at the one-night concert "The Late Romantics: Music by Strauss and Rachmaninov and Strauss" on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Cultural Center Main Theater. Pianist Aries Caces is the soloist. Of course, I texted him back the code word "Rachmaninov" which means a "Yes." You know the other composer's name if it's a "No." Easy to answer "Rach" if you're enticed with free seating plus snack. Babaw ba?

Interiors of Wooden Spoon. Note the spoons transformed into lighting fixtures.

That benign tumor excised out of me has done wonders. There is an urgency to everything I give myself to, whether it's sharing a meal with my sister Suzy at the new Wooden Spoon of Sandy Daza in our Kapitolyo neighborhood or learning to appreciate acoustic music at a free outdoor concert at the Carillon Plaza, UP Diliman.

It was my second visit to Wooden Spoon, and I again ordered that simple but savory appetizer of red and century egg salad with peanuts. It's described in the menu as "a delightful mildly spicy dish that will wake up your palate because of the variety of textures and flavors." It's a meal in itself if you pour it on piping hot jasmine rice.

Are you en egg lover like I am? This one's got slices of century eggs, itlog na maalat (salted duck's egg) and hard-boiled chicken's egg. When I was too young to know better, I always imagined that the Chinese cooks buried eggs for a hundred years to get the black color and the jello-like consistency.

I could've swooned and fainted from a cholesterol attack if the sauce had been made of crab fat which I don't mind having. But this dish has coconut milk with spices and red chilies. There's still some leftovers in the fridge for reheating as my afternoon snack! (My evil design means I'm not sharing it with anyone!)

Suzy and I wanted to eat healthy so we also ordered stuffed pechay (with tinapa inside) in coconut sauce. But she couldn't resist adding something more filling: the kaldereta. Members of the Lolarga clan never skip dessert, but we sometimes split it like we did with the Reyna Blanca, a coconut custard with crisp pinipig. It transported me to the white sapin-sapin that my mother's friend used to make. It had no food coloring. Like like the one at Wooden Spoon, it was arranged in layers. I can't accurately describe that elixir of my youth.

I am always thankful for a sister like Suzy. I don't have to spell out in detail to her the state of my finances. She immediately offers to treat me.

Carillon chronicles will be for another day.

Meanwhile, God bless you, Nora Daza, for raising a Sandy in your Quezon City, Makati, Malate and Paris kitchens.

A decoupage photo of Sandy Daza

Nora Villanueva Daza, doyenne of good food and fine living Photos by Babeth Lolarga