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Quick trip to Cagayan de Oro for the My City, My SM launch. Indigenous trips performed a ritual dance.

Photo by Wayne Lim.

Since CDO is an eco-tourism and adventure tourism destination, some of the featured performers rappelled into the venue from the upper floors.

Tribal handicrafts were on display, including these soil paintings.

The different tribes live at the Eco-Tourism Village in the Gardens of Malasag. There they can practice their traditions in peace. Admirable idea; we have to do something for our indigenous tribes. I wanted to ask a bunch of questions but we were in a hurry. Questions like, How do they live? Does the government pay for their upkeep? Aren’t they entitled to some compensation for their ancestral land?

Or do the tribes make enough money off their traditional activities (Hunting and fishing? Farming? Weaving?) to support themselves? Do the children go to school?

How do they feel about being a tourist attraction?

We visited the agricultural fair at the Capitol. The towns and cities of Misamis Oriental displayed their produce and crafts.

Afterwards we had a snack at Vandep, makers of the famous pasalubong Pastel that originated in Camiguin.

Pastel is a soft roll with a delicious yema filling. There are new flavors—ube, strawberry, cheese, but yema is still the bestseller. Pastel keeps for a week, but if you chill it, it can last up to 45 days. The owners were adamant: Do not microwave! To heat, steam the pastry by putting it on top of newly-cooked rice.

The factory in Cagayan de Oro produces 2,000 pieces of pastel a day; a few of them make it to Manila, where they are sold at places like Market Market.

The Vandep store also carries Cagayan delicacies and Bukidnon coffee.

We had lunch at Tabing-Dagat, which is like Harborview except that the water is clean so you can see the rocks below.

While writing a column about Italian brunch I remembered that I had an unread copy of The Monster of Florence, so I opened it and promptly ruined a good night’s sleep. Bad idea to start reading a true story about a serial killer who kills couples making out in parked cars—and then cuts out the woman’s vagina—at 11 pm.

The Monster of Florence murdered 16 people between 1968 and 1985, and according to authors Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, he’s still out there. Three people were arrested and convicted as the Monster, but their convictions were based on testimony that was probably manufactured, given by witnesses who were mostly unreliable, to support wacko conspiracy theories pushed by prosecutors and judges who leveraged the very high-profile case into plum official positions for themselves. Evidence that did not support the conspiracy theory (A Satanic cult hired the killers to murder couples and steal the vaginas for their black masses!) was thrown out, and a profile requested from FBI’s famous Behavioral Science Unit completely ignored.

At one point journalist Mario Spezi, who had covered the Monster from the beginning and knows more about the case than anyone besides the serial killer himself, was arrested for obstruction of justice. So the book is actually two horror stories: the bloody crimes of a serial killer, and the Stygian labyrinth of the criminal justice system.

The man whom Preston and Spezi believe is the real Monster was never tried. He continues to maintain his innocence. He is now in his early 50s (The authors say he did not commit the 1968 murders but he started while he was still in his teens). In interviews he seemed less bothered by the suspicion that he was the Monster than by the implication that he was sexually impotent.

According to Preston (who also writes a bestselling series of crime novels with Lincoln Child featuring FBI Agent Pendergrast), the Monster investigation provided Thomas Harris with a lot of material for Hannibal, his sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. (Apparently there is a whole Monster subplot in the book that was not included in the film.) For instance, Sardinians were among the initial suspects, and Sardinian clans were known to engage in kidnapping for ransom. In one case the ransom wasn’t paid, so the victim was fed to man-eating pigs. Like the Gary Oldman character in Ridley Scott’s film adaptation. (There are also man-eating pigs in Deadwood.)

Ridley Scott himself has a cameo in the Monster story—a tape of the Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis was playing in a van where two of the victims were killed. (Which Filipino classic movie features music by Vangelis? Temptation Island! Walang tubig, walang pagkain, magsayaw na lang tayo.)

Thomas Harris also borrows from Florentine history—the policeman played by Giancarlo Giannini in the film is a descendant of the Pazzi who tried to assassinate Lorenzo de Medici. The historical Pazzi’s gory end was similar to his fictional descendant’s. Harris had asked the noble Capponi family if it would be all right to make Dr. Hannibal Lecter the curator of the Capponi archive. The Capponi family agreed, as long as the family would not be the main course.

The following day we went to Malagos Farm Resort in Calinan, Davao. Malagos has a bird park, a petting zoo, a butterfly sanctuary, gardens, and a waling-waling orchid forest.

There are Abueva sculptures all over the gardens.

You can buy flowers,

fresh fruit,

and Cheese!

There’s a herd of goats on Malagos farm, and they breed fast. Olive Puentespina, who majored in Animal Sciences, thought of making goat cheese. She read a lot of books on cheesemaking and learned the process through trial and error. That was four years ago, and now her artisanal cheeses are in demand among cheese lovers.

When PAL ordered a ton of feta cheese for their business class flights, Olive figured it was time to go to cheesemaking school, so she took a course in San Francisco. It was the first time her classmates had ever heard of cheesemaking in the tropics. Now she produces a wide range including Kesong Puti, Chevre, Blush, Blue Peppato, and Feta.

Malagos Farmhouse products are the first locally-produced cheeses to have been chosen by the Cheese Club. They’re available at Wine Depot, The Market, and at the gourmet counter of Rustan’s supermarkets. I first heard of them through the bibingka waffle with Malagos cheese at Pia y Damaso in Greenbelt 5.

If the writing thing doesn’t work out, I’m moving to Malagos Farmhouse to be an apprentice falconer and cheesemaker.

Friday I was in Davao for the launch of My City, My SM. (The PAL pilot shortage had been resolved, at least temporarily, so no stress there.)

The endorsers for My City, My SM in Davao are Dr. Bo Puentespina, the veterinarian and wildlife conservationist who runs the bird sanctuary in Malagos, Olive Puentespina who makes the wonderful Malagos Farmhouse artisanal cheeses, and Margie Moran who has been a tireless promoter of Davao for many years.

Sidebar: On Thursday I saw Gloria Diaz in Greenbelt, and on Friday I saw Margie Moran in Davao. Two Miss Universes in a row—what does it mean? “It means Miss Philippines will win Miss Universe!” my gay friends declared.

Nigel, a beautiful hawk eagle, was unfazed by the spotlights. Photo by Mang Wayne Lim.

The food was by Binggoy’s—Davao delicacies, different kinds of kilawin, including a delightful kilawin with red eggs.

Whenever I’m in Davao I visit Aldevinco, the shopping center across the street from Marco Polo Hotel. The first time I went in 1999 they had mostly batik shirts, bags, muu-muus and “daster”, durian candy and souvenirs. Now they have batik items, durian candy, souvenirs, pearls and accessories—like the Greenhills tiangge, but less stressful, and a lot of clothes and bags from Thailand and Nepal.

Bag, P200.

This necklace should be presented to whoever blows up the Death Star.

Tomorrow: Blessed are the Cheesemakers.

The next morning after breakfast we resumed our tour of the Norwegian Epic. A thorough tour of the ship and all its facilities would take about a week; we had 36 hours.

The Epic has all the facilities and conveniences known to woman and man, including a barbershop/beauty salon. The portraits hanging on the wall are of people whose hairstyles have not walked the earth since the 1970s, so I’m hoping they are there for atmosphere and not as samples of the staff’s aesthetic handiwork.

According to the website the Mandara Spa aboard the Epic is the biggest spa at sea. I believe it. It is certainly bigger than any spa I’ve seen on land.

The Spa Staterooms have private access to the Mandara Spa so you could spend the entire cruise getting massages, facials, the whole range of treatments. You might not want to get off the ship at all.

We tend to think as cruises as something seniors do after they’ve retired, but in recent years more and more families and people in their 20s to 40s have taken to cruising as a convenient and comparatively stress-free vacation option. The Epic has a partnership with Nickoledeon so there are all sorts of activities and entertainments to keep your spawn brats offspring occupied while you de-stress. Think about it: you only pack once, you get to visit a lot more places without having to book connecting flights, you don’t have to plan for meals because there are two dozen restaurants of various culinary persuasions on board, and everything’s included in your fare.

You like going to the spa? You can live in the spa. And if you’re too lazy to traverse those few meters between your Spa Stateroom and the Mandara Spa, look what’s in the corner of your suite.

Your own jacuzzi.

The Norwegian Epic offers “freestyle cruising”, meaning you can choose from a boggling assortment of restaurants and cuisines—Asian fusion, French gourmet, classic Italian, Tex-Mex, American steaks, Brazilian churrasco, and more—and you can dress up or dress down as you wish. Of course if you like those old Hollywood movies (An Affair To Remember? Now Voyager? Titanic?) you will want to dress for dinner.

We had lunch at Teppanyaki, the excellent Japanese grill, then dessert at La Cucina.

If you have breakfast, lunch and dinner at a different restaurant every day, it will take you a week to try all of the Norwegian Epic’s dining outlets. Boredom is forbidden on this cruise.

The Lounge

Salad was followed by Chef Jessie’s famous bread rolls and the special dip, an alternative to delicious, evil butter.

“We had a regular at Le Souffle, Mr. Jose Periquet, whose diet did not allow butter. So I made a dip out of the stuff in the cold kitchen, and he liked it, and now we serve it with the rolls.”

“Guess what this is,” she said. I took a spoonful—Tinolang manok! “What I want to do is to serve traditional Filipino food along with Mediterranean cuisine in a fine dining setting. I think our foreign customers will get it.”

Dalandan sorbet to clear the palate and then:

Bistek. Thick juicy slices of wagyu beef with garlic rice and eggplant salad. You take something this scrumptious and you know it will probably go straight to your hips but you also know that there’s little point in struggling—we all have to eat, right?

“How can you be around food all the time and not get fat?” I asked. “I have to stay at my working weight, 110 lbs,” Chef Jessie said. “Every day I have a big breakfast with rice, and then the rest of the day I only eat when I’m hungry. Also when you work with food, just the smell makes you feel full.”

Dessert, which in my world is called the main course, consisted of small portions of three top hits: Princess Carmen Pistachio Sans Rival, Crepes Samurai, and French Chocolate Kiss. I had an espresso, then a cup of moringa (malunggay, the veggie du jour) tea. Not only was everything heavenly, but I could actually get up from the table. Pacing is key. When I eat alone I tend to wolf everything and give myself indigestion. Pacing.

“These are the most popular tables,” Chef Jessie pointed out. “We call them the Proposal Tables, so if your date reserves one of these you know what to expect.”

“Or you could end up fantastically disappointed because he just likes the spot. And the drapery. Hmm.”

Enchanté Restaurant and Bar by Chef Jessie is on the third floor of Joy-Nostalg Center (Oakwood) on ADB Avenue in front of The Podium, Ortigas Center, Pasig. Reservations: 4704828 and 4704210.