"Dolphy Alay Tawa: A Musical Tribute to the King of Philippine Comedy" Airs Tonight

On September 19, a musical special dedicated to the late Dolphy, King of Philippine Comedy, was held at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The special, titled Dolphy Alay Tawa: A Musical Tribute to the King of Philippine Comedy, celebrated the life and times of the showbiz luminary. It was originally scheduled on August 31.

SOURCE: Facebook page of SM Mall of Asia Arena

Provincial Bus Tickets

One of the most common modes of transportation in the Philippines is the bus. To ride one, you have to go to the terminal or wait at the bus stop. Inside the bus, the conductor will ask the passenger about the destination.

Using a puncher, perforations will be made on numbers appearing on the ticket. These numbers correspond to the Kilometer Post Numbers of the locations where the passenger rode and will take off. Perforations will also be made on numbers corresponding to the fare amount. Oftentimes, Bus No. and dates have been punched in advance by the conductor.

Provincial bus tickets are commonly bigger than those given out in buses traveling in Metro Manila. Bus tickets from the Pangasinan Five Star Bus Company and Victory Liner are shown:

Front

Back

Comparison of notices on the back of the tickets:

"Based on Article 1998 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, the Pangasinan Five Star Bus Co., Inc. assumes no responsibility for any loss, damages or destruction of personal effects, luggage or other objects carried by passengers on their custody unless same is shown and a list thereof is given to the station agent or conductor and the passenger complies with the instruction of the station agent conductor relative to their eers [sic] and safekeeping."

"Victory Liner, Inc. assumes no reponsibility for loss or damage of effects, luggage or other personal belongings carried by passengers unless these are declared and shown to, and a list thereof is given and freight charges are paid thereon to the shipping clerk or conductor, and the passenger complies with the instructions of the shipping clerk or conductor relative to their care and safekeeping."

(The word "eers" that appears on Five Star's ticket should have been "care.")

Movie Ads: Dugo ng Panday (1993)

More than a week after the 1992 Metro Manila Film Festival, Regal Films released Dugo ng Panday, the initial offering of the production company for 1993. Under the direction of Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes, The film is based on the famous komiks character created by Carlo J. Caparas.

In the original komiks, Flavio is a blacksmith who forged a meteorite into a magical sword which he used in fighting the minions of Lizardo. Fernando Poe, Jr. portrayed the role of Flavio in a four-movie series that was  released from 1980 to 1984. Max Alvarado played the villain Lizardo.   

In the 1993 film, released January 4 that year, Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. stars as a descendant and namesake of Flavio. He inherits the sword from the original blacksmith. Edu Manzano plays the cyborg controlled by Lizardo. Other members of the cast include  Aiko Melendez, Jaime Fabregas, Leo Martinez, Max Laurel, and IC Mendoza.

This is a newspaper advertisement for the film:

Budding Chico

We have a chico tree in our backyard providing us a steady supply of the sweet brown fruit during the third quarter of the year.

Scientifically known as Achras zapota or Manilkara zapota, chico is also called sapodilla. An evergreen native to Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, chico probably reached Philippine shores during the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade from 1565 to 1815.

In Tagalog parlance, amoy-tsiko or 'chico-smelling' refers to the smell of a drunk person. Here is a close-up picture showing the buds of our chico tree. Ripened fruits are expected to appear by November:

Movie Ads: Pretty Boy (1993)

On January 4, 1993, more than a week after the 1992 Metro Manila Film Festival, the comedy film Pretty Boy opened in theaters. Pretty Boy was Viva Films' opening salvo for 1993. It stars the rap singer Andrew E. Other cast members include Janno Gibbs, Anjo Yllana, Chuckie Dreyfuss, Patrick Guzman, I.C. Mendoza, Gelli de Belen, Lea Orosa, Ana Roces, Donna Apols Gutierrez, Jessica Rodriguez, and Gerone Olorocisimo.

Interestingly the film also introduces Christopher de Venecia, who is the youngest son of then-Pangasinan Congressman Jose de Venecia. The elder De Venecia was also House Speaker during that time.

This is a newspaper advertisement for the film:

Trip to SM Mall of Asia

I was browsing through my collection, when I chanced upon pictures of a trip to SM Mall of Asia in May this year. The mall was opened by developer SM Prime Holdings in 2006. It is said to attract a daily average foot traffic of about 200,000 people.

Having a land area of 42 hectares and a gross floor area of about 390,193 square metres, SM Mall of Asia is the second largest mall in the Philippines after SM City North EDSA. Being located in the Bay City reclamation area in Pasay City, the mall offers glimpses of the Manila Bay.

Treats Sold in the Bus

When you ride provincial buses, chances are that ambulant vendors take the opportunity to sell pasalubong items at bus stops: pastillas de leche and yema tarts are examples of such items.  Pastillas are soft candies made of carabao's milk. On the other hand, yema is a slightly-hard-outside, soft-inside candy made with condensed milk and egg yolk

During one of my daily trips to work, I bought these treats. The pastillas is a product from the town of San Miguel, the yema tart came from Calumpit. Each bag costs twenty pesos: