CRISTY IN THE CITY

Thursday, March 7, 2024

February rolled by so swiftly, a contrast to how painfully long January was. It's my favorite time of the year as the weather is cool and mellow. For two weeks in a year, we get to enjoy below 30C weather which is quite a welcome break from the usual 34C temperature we live with all year long. It’s also a month for planting seeds of hope dreams.

I finally had a potting shed built to house all my garden tools and garden related curios. The neighborhood cat visits once in a while to bask in warm sunshine or climb our giant Bushida tree. He gets to hang out in the tiny garden shed which is delightful.This year,I vow to spend more time outdoors so creating an enjoyable outdoor space is a priority. The next project would have to be a corner vegetable garden to grow edible crops. Since I cook on my own, having my own vegetable/herbal garden would be a first step towards sustainability. Now onward to March!

In the meantime here are some random weekend projects...

Weekends are awesome for sunset chasing. Once in a while, a beautiful lavender hued sunset makes a grand display. It reminds me of Taylor Swift’s song Lavender Haze.

After extending my Photobook voucher three times, I finally got to finish my photobook of an autumn trip to Tokyo last November.

Built a doll house cat house "Snow White and the Seven Cats"

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Maneki Neko's Temple in Autumn

Sanju-no-to (3 storied pagoda) which enshrines statues of Shakanyorai, Kasho-sonzya, Anan-sonzya and Manekineko-kannon

Today, February 22 is National Cat Day Japan or Neko no Hi (猫の日), a day fittingly chosen as 2-22 sounds like nyan nyan nyan in Japanese or meow, meow, meow for the rest of us. Japan is home to the most cat loving culture in the world with felines being an integral part of the annals of Japanese history Today I take you to Gotokuji Temple in Setagaya, a special ward in the Tokyo metropolis.

Late November last year, me and best travel buddy Cathy explored Tokyo in the peak of its autumnal beauty. Gotokuji Temple is a must-visit cultural landmark to view and enjoy the serene, fiery beauty of momiji (Japanese maple leaves) and make a wish at the temple that enshrines the manekineko or the lucky cat that brings good fortune. We did not arrive on time to make a wish at the temple since it took us quite a while to walk through the charmingly offbeat Setagaya neighborhood. We sauntered leisurely through the narrow streets distracted and hypnotized by every shop that had a waving manekineko. Quaint bakery and cake shops, coffee stalls, whimsical gift shops, as well as hole in the wall ramen joints line the streets en route to the temple. Once in a while, the sound of bicycle bells from a mamachari Japanese bike or the rumbling of train tracks from a nearby distance creates an ASMR soundscape that feels very comforting to a jaded urban soul. The neighborhood streets leading to the temple are typically narrow allowing only foot, bicycle or small car traffic. Parallel to the streets runs the Tokyu-Setagaya tram line, a delightful sight reminiscent of an anime suburban daydream.

Google Maps tells you Gotokuji Temple is about a 13 minute walk from Gotokuji Station. In reality, it's a 30-45 minute walk if you want to soak in the sights or stop for a manekineko-themed baby castella cake and hot/iced matcha latte at Rarasand. Of course, you'd want to stop for some roasted sweet potatoes at Baked Sweet Potato Fuji along the way.

Towering pine trees rustle in the wind amidst the sound of birdsong as one approaches the stone gate leading to the main temple gate. I expected to see those mystical temple cats loitering near the gate but instead we saw a native Japanese dog (probably a Shikoku) guarding the gates.

It was a delightfully windy, chilly day when we visited Gotokuji Temple. Tall maple trees in deepening shades of red glistened in the sunlight, blanketing the temple grounds in soft, filtered light. Melodious waves of crisp autumn breeze caressed the trees, sending maple leaves fluttering through the air, wistfully resting on the pinecone adorned graves of Edo Period feudal lords.

One feels a sense of peace walking around the temple grounds. Each temple, shrine or hall is framed by trees changing colors in the four seasons. Perhaps the most striking area of Gotokuji Temple is the Shofuku-den where you can see an overwhelming number of Manekineko dolls in all sizes. The lucky cats are left by visitors after offering prayers for good luck and prosperity, family happiness, health and healing as well as blessings for pet or companion animals. Manekineko souvenirs and amulets are available to buy at the temple office from 8am to 3 pm. Too bad we didn't get to buy any as the temple shop closes at 12nn. However, we got some manekineko pins at the Japanese castella cake shop on the way home.

Unfortunately, we were not able to tour the temple grounds in its entirety due to time constraints hence no sighting of any real, live temple cat. I would have loved to see one! Gotokuji temple cats are considered sacred and therefore cannot be adopted. Maybe in my next visit to the lovely Setagaya neighborhood, I might chance upon seeing one. Gotokuji Temple is worth visiting over and over again in all the four seasons.

On this note, I say Happy National Cat Day! May Manekineko luck be with us!

May Manekineko bring you good fortune and luck! Happy National Cat Day!

Sunday, February 18, 2024

My comfort food in the city of good eats

It's difficult to not think of food all the time when you live in a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy like Iloilo City. Aside from the homegrown Ilonggo dishes and delicacies that have titillated the palates of both local and foreign visitors, there's also a myriad of food choices available for people who crave a certain cuisine or are nostalgic about flavors that they associate with youthful, happy times. Notably, Pinoys love to eat but Ilonggos have an even deeper relationship with food. A certain dish may remind them of their grandmother's cooking in the dapog (dirty kitchen), all the while conjuring a string of happy memories. Likewise, a dish may remind a person of favorite cities and countries travelled locally and abroad. Truly, there's nothing like food to open up a magical baul (treasure chest) of memories.

We all have our comfort food to turn to when we want our bodies and spirits to feel bolstered. My favorite comfort foods are not necessarily homegrown but I do crave them regularly as I have a preference for certain flavor profiles:

1. Authentic Chicken Mandi Biryani and Chicken Tikka Masala from Mong’s Kitchen

2. Full English Breakfast from Cafe Augusto

3. Ramen ftom Hakata Ramen Bar

4.Dimsum and Salted Egg Calamares from Spring Palace

What about you? What’s your favorite comfort food?

Thursday, February 15, 2024

UPV Cinematheque: : Celebrating cinema and a timeless life

“We love films because they makes us feel something. They speak to our desires, which are never small. They allow us to escape and to dream and to gaze into the eyes that are impossibly beautiful and huge. They fill us with longing. But also. They tell us to remember; they remind us of life. Remember, they say, how much it hurts to have your heart broken. -

”Nina LaCour, Everything Leads to You

I’ve always been a movie buff since my college days in UP Diliman. Most of my vacant time was spent watching free or twenty peso movies at the UP Film Center which was just a 10-minute walk from my dormitory. I had a penchant for obscure, subtitled foreign movies, experimental or cult classics. Given my choice of movies, I would always find the theater either empty or find two or three lonely souls strategically dispersed in the 800- seater movie theater.

I knew that despite the communal nature of cinema, we still tend to view movies as a highly personal, guarded experience hence we draw an invisible line between ourselves and other movie goers. Yet, the vicarious emotions that cinema allow us to feel are all too well universal. So we laugh, cry or feel intense bursts of rage and ecstasy while a visual narrative plays before our eyes. Whether it’s pathos, pain, pleasure, or parody we share in the same thematic unfolding brought about by the human condition. I enjoy watching movies on streaming media but there’s still nothing like cinema to bring our splintered, emotional selves together.

My Film 100 (Intro to Film) elective class under Prof. Rolando Tolentino also deepened my love for film analysis which has its roots in literary criticism. I remember the agony of having to sit through Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind and other notoriously long movies with nary an eye blink or a bathroom break with the fear of missing a critical subtext. Film 100 introduced me to starter kit movies that encompassed all cinematic genres and subgenres.

On the homefront, one of the pleasures that an Ilonggo cineaste can enjoy is an occasional, free Sunday movie at the 77-seater UPV Cinematheque-Cinema Exmundo at the UP in the Visayas Iloilo campus. A fellow cinephile friend who particulatly loves bygone Hollywood films always send me invites. Schedule permitting, I would trade a Sunday afternoon otherwise devoted to bottomless laundry or ironing to a few hours at UPV Cinematheque to screen a classic film noir I haven’t seen before. Compared to a commercial movie house, the crimson walled cinematheque has a ceiling with tiny strobing lights reminscent of a constellation filled summer night sky and vintage lacquered chairs upcycled from the now defunct Allegro Theater. Of course, the heavy red velvet drapes add an authentic vintage ambiance to the cinematic experience. In the theater, I sit quietly like an old soul in the company of senior citizens who long for bygone love, life and romance like a sweet rewind to the ardent days of youth. Only cinema can transport you to another time, another place.

Just this Sunday, I got invited to attend a cinema themed 100th posthumous birthday celebration of my friend’s father, a war veteran who loved the movie Fiddler on the Roof when he was still alive. Sunrise, Sunset taken from the soundtrack of the said movie along with You are my Sunshine were two of his favorite songs and the guests fittingly sung them at the end of the screening. The family also prepared a special snack box for the guests filled with nostalgic treats with home baked cookies and chips. It was my first time to witness a posthumous birthday celebration done in very memorable, heartwarming way. To celebrate the 100th birthday of a dearly departed loved one with his favorite movie and songs while trading memories and reminiscing good times is probably the best way to celebrate a life well lived.