Ever since I featured the  “Healing Through Healthy Food” lecture series of Kusinero Negrense Ronnie Guance, I received several inquiries for the next schedule. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait long.  This Friday, May 18, 2012 at 8am to 12noon the Session 3 of Ronnie’s talk and cooking demo will be held at Aboy’s Restaurant.

The lecture will still be free so let the Kusinero Negrense help you start a healthy lifestyle!

Who would have thought it will take Manny Pacquiao to beat China to end the Philippines and China’s month long standoff at Scarborough Shoal? Well, at least in this anime video produced by a Taiwanese news site New Media Animation TV. The site called China’s claim of the whole South China Sea as “ridiculous” and encouraged those who agree to like the video.

The video is really funny. First, President Aquino hit the Chine (Panda) several times with what looked like a briefcase but failed to cause some damage. All it took was one punch from Manny Pacquiao to knock out China. Well, wished it’s that easy in real life.

Watch the video below of Pacquiao beating China (Panda).

Meet Ronnie Guance, he doesn’t want to be called Chef but rather wants to be referred to as Kusinero Negrense. I’ve known Ronnie since I started working here in Bacolod eight years ago as one of our clients. When he learned that our agency is assisting a group in developing a product from sugarcane juice he eagerly offered to help. That’s Ronnie, always willing to share his knowledge.

Once again, he has shared his knowledge on healthy cooking using his own resources through a series of lectures he calls Healing Through Healthy Food. He believes our food should not only nourish our body but heal it as well. With Mr. Aboy Evaristo opening the doors of Aboy’s Restaurant for his lectures, Ronnie has found a venue for his advocacy. It’s very personal for him since he has once been diagnosed with pancreatitis more than ten years ago. His change of lifestyle and diet helped him overcome his illness.

Ronnie never had a formal education in cooking. He has a degree in Agriculture, worked in a multi-national  food company, left the corporate world and started his bakery business. In spite of his lack of formal culinary education, his passion for cooking and natural innovativeness made him develop healthy food recipes from local ingredients. And he is all too willing to share all these so he can help other people start eating healthy foods.

Locally Available Organic Vegetables

Ronnie lectured on the benefits of healthy eating and demonstrated how to prepare different healthy recipes he has developed over the years which the attendees also get to taste. All these for free.

Ronnie makes healthy breads with a mixture of taro root and vegetables such as saluyot and malunggay sweetened with fresh sugarcane syrup. He didn’t use lard with the bread but instead used coconut oil. Lard has trans fatty acid which is said to cause hypertension. He also makes veggie siopao with okra and takway filling which doesn’t taste like vegetables.

Kusinero Negrense’s version of breakfast oatmeal is Pinipig Porridge with coconut milk and fresh mullberry toppings. Pinipig is more healthy than regular rice because it still has rice husks which has most of the nutrients.

Pinipig Porridge

He also concocts a delicious Organic Salad of  fruits, vegetable and rootcrop salad with mullberry, coconut oil and pure tuba vinegar as vinaigrette.

Organic Salad

Fresh Lumpia has fresh vegetables in it but Ronnie’s version has lots of fresh vegetables found locally with lots of nutrients and medicinal values – lupo, kulitis , alosiman, kangkong, malungay, cabbage, carrots, takway, saluyot, and okra.  For the sauce, he blends together taro , garlic, camias flowers , honey, and mulberry.

Kusinero Negrense's version of Fresh Lumpia

It’s already been two sessions of Healing Through Healthy Food with the Kusinero Negrense and so far there’s been a great turn-out of participants.

Health Conscious participants

If that’s an indication that more people are becoming health conscious then I guess our Kusinero Negrense is influencing more people to live a healthy lifestyle.

Subscribe to our feeds for the next schedule of Healing through Healthy Food.

Rinjin Japanese Restaurant opened only a few months ago at Eroreco Subdivision but it has already gained a lot of attention through word of mouth.  Rinjin means neighbor in Japanese and the fact that it’s located in a residential subdivision that makes it your neighbor if you live in the area.

The restaurant was on the former garage of a family and can accommodate around 30 people on a packed seating.  The restaurant is very cozy and you can see the kitchen area through the glass partition so you know how they prepare your food. It has no fancy decoration and what might catch your eyes is the large metal clock on the wall which is rather artistically made.

Rinjin Japanese Restaurant Interior

Bang Agustin, the daughter of the owner is a friend of ours so it’s a must that Team Tikim visit Rinjin Japanese  Restaurant.

Betsy and I ordered Miso Soup while waiting for our friend Pushpa. Miso soup is probably the most popular Japanese soup. Its ingredients are very simple, dashi soup stock, miso paste, tofu and chopped onions. Rinjin’s Miso Soup really tasted good, it’s not too salty and the serving size is just enough to prepare you for the next dish.

Rinjin's Miso Soup

We ordered Spicy Rinjin Salad as recommended by Bang since it’s one of their best selling dishes. It’s raw tuna with tugarashi sauce, bread crumbs and mayo. I love spicy foods, so it’s definitely a hit for me.

Spicy Rinjin Salad

We decided to have a light dinner so we did not order anything with rice. Instead, we had Soba which is cold noodles which you dip in a sauce with raw egg and wasabi.  Most of us are fond of eating hot noodles but Soba is served chilled so that the texture of the noodles is retained.

Rinjin's Soba

Soba is very healthy since it’s made from buckwheat noodles which have low caloric and glycemic values compared to wheat noodles.  Buckwheat is also gluten free, which makes it an ideal food for those with allergy or sensitive to the gluten found in wheat.  I love the texture and the balance of flavors when you dip the noodles in its sauce.

Fake or Authentic?

I’m not sure if it’s because it’s near the so called “fake Bob’s” why some people refer to Rinjin as the “fake Inaka”, a famous Japanese restaurant in Bacolod. For me, to call it fake Inaka would be unfair to both Inaka and Rinjin.

A fake is something that is not authentic and Rinjin does not try to be a copycat of Inaka. When I asked Bang of her opinion when people call them the “fake Inaka” she says it’s ok but then they want to make a name of their own. They do not compromise their quality and use authentic Japanese ingredients since using local substitutes just don’t make the taste the same. That’s probably why you can’t even consider their price as cheap, more like reasonable but definitely more affordable than the other Japanese restaurants in Bacolod.

How to get to Rinjin Japanese Restaurant

Eroreco may be a little out of the way for most people but getting there is very easy. Rinjin is along Margarita St., Eroreco’s main road. Take the Eroreco jeep  from downtown Bacolod and once you’re inside Eroreco Subdivision, watch out for the wall painted with dolphins on the right side of the road. Next to it is Rinjin Japanese Restaurant

Rinjin opens from  11:30am – 2pm and 5:30 – 9pm. For those in the neighborhood, they serve Filipino breakfast upon request.  Call them at 708-8188

Have you been to Rinjin? Tell us what you think of their food.

After much controversy and court battles, the contract for the sale and lease of the 7.7-hectare prime property of the Negros Occidental provincial government in Bacolod City was signed by AyalaLand  and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental last April 27, 2012. The signed contract will be ratified by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in a special session tomorrow, April 30, 2012.

The Capitol-Ayala deal has been sitting with COA for eight months and the delay in handing down a decision means a delay in a development project which will benefit Bacolod City and Negros Occidental. The signed contract is said to be one of the requirements of the Commission on Audit for approval of the deal.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Gary Consing, the Chieftain of an Eata tribe in Cadiz Cit, addressed the small crowd that gathered at the Negros Museum last February 29 during the launching of the exhibit of the Saulog! Celebrating an Ancient Culture & Way of Life in the Visayas.

Albeit quite shyly, Manong Gary thanked the organizers for giving them the chance to share their culture. He apologized that he doesn’t know how to speak English yet even with his lack of mastery of the English language, it couldn’t hide the fact that he’s a leader since he’s quite adept at speaking in front of a crowd.

Eata Chieftain Gary Consing (Photo by Lee Santiago)

Eatas are hunter-gatherer and as what we learned during interviews with them, they are not nomadic unlike the Aytas. Theirs is an ancient culture handed down for centuries and if you think about it, they are the original inhabitants of Negros Island. They are the Negritos that the Spanish explorers saw when they arrived in the island thus they name d the island Negros.

Their life in the hinterlands of Negros is quite fascinating. Despite being exposed to the culture of the lowland people, they still practice their ancient way of life. For the Eatas, the forest is their life that’s why they protect it. Their food comes from the forest as well as their source of income.

The Eatas have mastered how to survive in the forest. Can you imagine yourself cooking without a stove or pot for that matter? They don’t need those. They start fire by using stones and they cook using young anahaw leaves. They usually gather food found in the river and the riverbanks like bunog (fish), banag (shell), and padampang (vegetable). A usual fair would include boiled camote, banana or cassava and a stew of padampang, ubod of balasya palm, flavored with batwan and wrapped in young anahaw leaves. When cooking, they apply bulitik, the sap from the bark of almaciga tree, under the anahaw leaves. When placed above the fire, the bottom of the anahaw leaves with the bulitik will be on fire but will not burn.

The Eatas use simple tools in hunting such as the bow and arrow and spear. They make brooms and bags from rattan which they sell to the lowlanders as a source of income.

Broom and Rattan Bag made by Eatas

They also gather honey by smoking the hive by burning a bunch of palm leaves they call banuot. The trick is not to put the smoke too near the hive so as not to kill the bees but only to make them escape from the smoke. We tasted the honey they brought and they really tasted different. As what Lee Santiago said, you can taste the forest with it. It’s sweet with a hint of sourness.

Banuot is used by Eatas to gather honey in the wild.

All natural honey gathered by the Eatas in the wild.

It was an interesting look into the lives of our indigenous people. Modern technology may have reached them with their use of cellphones but I hope they retain their culture. Manong Gary says they’re poor but perhaps by our standards only. The forest has given them more than enough for their needs and if kept protected from exploitations of lowlanders, it will continue to provide for them for generations to come.

Get a chance to have a glimpse of their life and culture during the exhibit culmination of the Saulog! Celebrating an Ancient Culture & Way of Life in the Visayas  on May 2, 2012 at 10am at the Negros Museum. It will be followed by Dulhog, a symbolism of the traditional barter system where products of the indigenous people can be bought.

Those who want to buy honey for sale at the Saulog/Dulhog (May 2, 2012) can pre-order a 750ml bottle for 230 php (discounted pre-order price, original price at 270 php) at the Negros Museum. Look for Phoebe or Niña.

Bacolod MassKara was adjudged as the Showtime Inter-Town Grand Champion. Despite a slight technical problem at the start of their performance, the Bacolod MassKara dancers went on with their world-class performance garnering a perfect 10 score from all the judges. The group went home with the P2M prize and another P1M for the City of Bacolod.

Bacolod MassKara became a trending topic worldwide on Twitter even hours after Showtime. The show was aired a few hours behind on TFC in other countries and eventhough most OFWs know which group became the Champion, a lot of them posted on Facebook and on Twitter that they’re still going to watch the winning performance of Bacolod MassKara dancers.

The Masskara Dancers at the Bacolod Government Center were represented by Brgy 17 and 23 while Brgy Alijis performed at the ABS-CBN studio.

Watch the replay of Bacolod MassKara’s performance below:

Another contingent from Negros Occidental, the La Castellana’s Bailes de Luces came one point short of the perfect score. They also gave a spectacular performance and many were expecting a tie between Bacolod MassKara and Bailes de Luces.

Watch the replay of Bailes de Luces performance below:

Google will sponsor Google Map Maker Summits in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The summit is envisioned to kick off  Mapping Activities to help Philippine tourism and disaster preparedness all over the country with the use of  Google Map Maker.

Google Map Maker allows you to add and update geographic information for millions of users to see in Google Maps and Google Earth. By sharing information about the places you know, like businesses in your town or places in your school campus, you can ensure the map accurately reflects the world around you. Your updates will be reviewed and once approved, will appear online for people from all over the world to see.

I personally have not tried using the Google Map Maker so I am really interested to join the summit. Part of the workshops are practical sessions on the use of Google Map Maker and orientations on Panoramio and Sketch Up.  Map Makers and Mapping advocates from different parts of the country will also share their experience. The three summits will be facilitated bu a Google Geo Advocate Team with some flying in from Singapore and India. The event will be a whole day event, Registration is Free and Google will also sponsor the Lunch and Snacks. Participants are advised to bring their own Laptops.

The Visayas leg will be held at the Santuario de La Salle, University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City on April 12, 2012. Those interested may register here.

The Luzon leg will be held on April 14, 2012 at the University of Baguio in Baguio City. Those in Luzon may register here.

The Mindanao leg will be on April 21, 2012 at the STI Campus, J. Catolico Avenue, General Santos City. Register online here.

If you believe Negros is the Sweet Spot of the Philippines and you have idle time to spare, please volunteer in mapping out tourist spots in Bacolod and Negros. Aside from tourism, the information provided in Google Maps may also be used in disaster preparedness, so we need all the help we can get.

Summer is here and the beach beckons. Southern Negros Occidental has some of the beach beaches in the country but Boracay is still the Philippine’s top beach destination.  Traveling from Bacolod to Boracay used to be a grueling 6 to 8 hours boat and bus ride but fortunately, Sky Pasada will connect Boracay and Negros Occidental cutting the trip to only 35 minutes.

Direct flights between Boracay and Bacolod offer exciting travel options to tourists  since it is now possible to enjoy the white sand beaches of Boracay, culinary treats and cultural attractions of Bacolod without having to endure the long and grueling travel. Tourists from Negros Oriental, Guimaras and Iloilo may also take the Sky Pasada flights to take advantage of the shorter travel time, more comfortable and  safer travel.

Sky Pasada will commence its Bacolod-Silay International Airport to Boracay (Caticlan) Internation Airport and vice versa on April 20, 2012. Skypasada will will be using a 19-seater LET 410 UVP-E passenger turbo prop aircraft. There will be two  flights every week (Monday and Friday) with the schedule below:

• BACOLOD – BORACAY 9:15 A.M.- 9:50 A.M. SPO422
• BORACAY- BACOLOD 8:00 A.M.- 8.35 A.M. SP0421

Promo Fares for Sky Pasada flights for April 20 April 20, 23 and 27, 2012 will be PHP 2,599 per way for the first ten (10) seats, PHP 2,899 per way for the next four (4) seats and PHP 3,299 per way for the last three (3) seats.

From April 30, 2012 onwards, Sky Pasada fares shall be:

• Ecosaver- 1ST ten (10) seats PHP 3,299 per way;
• ECOPROMO- the next four (4) seats PHP 3,399 per way;
• Eco regular- the last (3) seats – PHP 3,599 per way;

To secure your Sky Pasada air tickets and Boracay tour packages, please contact now: Filipiniana Tours and Travel,a DOT-accredited tour operator and Sales Agency Partner of SKY PASADA. Call-(034)432 3061,0906 458 0027, teleFax- 435 0445, send SMS- 0939 792 9072, email- filtoursbcd@yahoo.com or visit them- at Door 2, The Sugarland Hotel, Araneta St., Bacolod City.

The result of 2012 DOST Scholarship examinations held last November 20, 2011 were released by DOST-SEI, with a total of 3,400 high school students passing th exam. The scholarship offered two (2) programs: RA 7687 and DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program.  There are 3,000 national qualifiers for RA 7687 and 400 for the DOST-SEI Merit Program.

Qualifiers are advised to wait for the official notice from the DOST. Click the link below for the complete list of 2012 DOST Scholarship exam passers. The Merit Program result is on Page 67. Just zoom in to get a larger image.

2012 DOST Scholarship Passers

A total of  297 students in Western Visayas passed the qualifying exam and 120 of them came from Negros Occidental. Iloilo has 109 passers; Aklan, 27; Capiz, 24; Antique, 14; and Guimaras two. Click the link below for the 2012 DOST Scholarship passers for Negros Occidental.

2012 DOST Scholarship Passers for Negros Occidental

Those who qualified may avail of the following privileges:

1. Tuition and other school fees not to exceed Php 6,000/semester/term.
2. Allowance for prescribed textbooks and essential school supplies at Php 5,000/academic
   year.
3. Outright grant for prescribed Military Science/Physical Education uniform of Php 500.00 for first semester, first year only.
4. Free transportation for one economy-class round trip fare between permanent residence and place of study on reimbursement basis (for those studying outside of their home province).
5. Monthly living allowance for a 10-11month duration depending on the awardee’s scholarships category as full, partial, or special which shall be based on certain socioeconomic indicators:
   • For those who will pursue BS Physics, BS Applied Physics, BS Physics for Teachers and BSE Physics Teaching, Geology and Mining Engineering, a monthly living allowance of Php 5,000/P3,150/P2,825; for full/partial/special scholarship, respectively.
   • For those who will pursue other DOST priority courses, a monthly living allowance of Php 4,000.00/Php2,400/Php 2,200 for full/partial/special scholarship, respectively
6. Post-graduation clothing allowance of P1,000