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ALL ANGLES

rasterize, rock, Rothko, rhyme, Rohmer

Tired feet brought us to the best-looking restaurant around the block. We wanted to go somewhere that at least looked familiar, and it wasn't hard to spot this well-lit place that looked like just another American food franchise. At the same time, it didn't seem to be an ordinary fast food.


Bicol-based food chain Bigg's Diner brings its customers back to the unforgettable 1960s, though I'm sure we've nothing to forget since our parents were just born at that time.

But we won't talk much about the food here. Though it tasted better than the more genuine but way pricier T.G.I. Friday's, the dishes offered at Bigg's were still commonplace. But what sets this resto apart is its attention to design details and the spot-on service of its staff. And these, my friends, are what make this merely American-inspired spot wholly Filipino.


The diner makes more than a few pop culture and lifestyle references on its walls. One corner has photos of John Lennon, Elvis and the eternal James Dean.



Above our heads was Audrey Hepburn's iconic Holly Golightly lighted with colored LED and enhanced with psychedelic patterns.


There's even a life-sized replica of the frigider and an old Caltex fuel dispenser by the counter--wherever the owners got those.


Go to Bigg's not mainly for the food, but the experience. #

All photos by Camille Diola. Please cite Creative Commons license for use.

The day my friends and I were leaving Naga for Manila, I texted Mom to report briefly on the trip, knowing how worried she gets whenever I fly. "Mom, I think I'm Bicolana because I can't get enough of the food here. I remember how I've always loved Lola's kandinga (bopis in Tagalog, a spicy dish of beef lungs), and I just discovered I like every Bicolano dish there is."

Camarines Sur's Naga City, though physically like other urbanized areas in the country,
still stands out for its untainted provincial life. 
Though I didn't mention it anymore, I also recalled my unexplained fondness for pili tarts, made of the "rarest nuts in the world," as my native Bicolana companion Clarice boasted. Mom replied in a few seconds along the lines of: "Are you kidding? You are Bicolana. Your grandparents hail from there. And can you get me and your Lolo a jar of balaw?"

Thus began my short-lived quest for an alien delicacy, finding out afterward from a nearby stall that balaw is just what Tagalogs call Bicol Express, a fusion-type spicy stew. I was floored but pleased to learn I have Bicol roots. At the same time, with or without Bicolano blood, any Filipino must love Naga.

The historic Saint Francis Church, erected in 1578 in Nueva Caceres, is the first in Naga.
The central figure of Jesus Christ on the cross reaching out to the saint is a Franciscan trademark.
Besides the slow-paced city with a small town feel and the natural piety and warmth of its people, Naga is readily fascinating for its daring dishes. Food, after all, is the most obvious cultural encounter tarrying tourists on a work-related mission can get.

Red Platter can be found along Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City, CamSur.
Sorry for the low-res photos. Taken with cellphone camera.
Red Platter's Bicol Express and pinangat made from freshwater shrimp and taro leaves, topped with thick coconut milk.
The restaurant serves classic Asian dishes, and carries the best of Bicol, too.
Red Platter, with its artistic but homelike interiors, is a bit pricier than the average Naga restaurant, yet still cheaper than similar places in Manila. It's a family dining venue that's perfect for newbie taste buds who want to experience the best of Bicol cuisine.

Mainly serving traditional Filipino dishes with a twist, the resto also innovates in some of its offerings. Below is a creamy, uncanny Malunggay Cake at Php75.00 that looks exactly like the one pictured in the tabletop ad.

Malunggay (moringa oleifera) cake topped with white chocolate roll.
All photos by Camille Diola. Please cite Creative Commons license for use.
First off, applause to Team Manila for the refreshing look of Tourism department's newest campaign for our beloved country, "It's more fun in the Philippines!" (But I still refuse to support your firm's merch for your RH bill backing). Who knew there's any good in that typeface? It's genius. And of course, BBDO Guerrero for the concept. Add a hashtag to that and you've already joined the most recent Internet meme embraced by both former DoT cynics and the usual warm bandwagons of cyberspace.

Screen capture of itsmorefuninthePhilippines.com by popular design firm Team Manila.
A few weeks ago, one of our more esteemed journalism professors Luis Teodoro from my alma mater criticized the appointment of the new tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez for being a former advertising executive whose profession, he says, consists in "hyping" virtues and "concealing" vices. I admit that most of my ingrained prejudices against marketing, advertising and public relations were borne from this very  education in independent and adversarial journalism, but the It's More Fun campaign is when I'd have to disagree with one of my educators.

Prof. Teodoro's views remind me of the problem in David Hume's empiricism that emphasizes what's seen and touched and denies other realities, especially the invisible ones. The Philippines does have its vices--terrorism, traffic, red tape, the list goes on--but there is profound benefit in making the public perceive virtues. Highlighting the positives does not make the negatives non-existent, nor does it mean denying them. And it's not as if we don't continue to seek cures for those negative traits.

Perceiving virtues, the public are encouraged to emulate and reinforce these good qualities to make them truer. They also foster a healthy pride in their home country--an attitude that precedes real patriotism.

Tourism after all is driven by positives. Tourists don't choose to travel to a place for its drawbacks. DoT does have to work with national government to eliminate the Philippines' frailties, but its foremost job is to contribute to the economy by making travelling thrive. There's also a sense of fulfillment borne from marketing something one believes in wholeheartedly such as this dear nation. It is then just proper for Jimenez, a rockstar ad guy with political savvy, to occupy that cabinet seat.

An appeal to the Department of Tourism:


Given all that praise for the new campaign, I do hope, however, that DoT does not compromise on the "It's More Fun in the Philippines" slogan. Fun, after all, is so easily misconstrued. It can refer to pleasure, even its less dignified forms. I gotta be straight to say that it might lead to attracting tourists for the culture of the night, the bingeing, the consumerist environments, and even for the more sensual vice crimes.

Please stick to what is principled and honorable in selling "fun," or the benefits I've mentioned above will just be for naught. #
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About Me

ART AS A PEDESTRIAN

Hi, I'm Camille, and I'm a real journalist from Manila. Without claiming expertise on the subjects, I try to write about my artistic and cultural encounters on this 17-year-old spot.

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Whut!

We will have but one option: We will have to adapt. The future will present itself with a ruthlessness yet unknown.
~Michelangelo Antonioni, filmmaker

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ...
~first lines of Charles Dickens' The Tale of Two Cities

Culture is to know the best that has been said and thought in the world.
~Matthew Arnold, cultural critic

The only way to really change society is through culture ... it's not through force, it's not through armies, it's not through politics (but) through freedom.
~Dony McManus, artist

You are a fine person, Mr. Baggins ... but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!
~Gandalf in The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"I find television very educating. Every time someone turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
~Groucho Marx, actor

Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find a face of his own.
~Logan P. Smith, essayist

God is in the details.
~Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect

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