Nostalgia in These Times

This is an unsettled and unsettling time in the Philippines and in the US. As a way to temper the tempest that might be creating havoc in our minds and hearts, let's indulge in some nostalgia. As Dr. Neel Burton, a columnist for Psychology Today, states, "The hauntings of times gone by, and the imaginings of times to come, strengthen us in lesser times."

Here are some Read Agains to take you back to relatively gentler times:

Postcards From the Age, a compilation of early 20th century postcards by Jonathan Best, illustrates the link between the US and its new colony, the Philippines.

Before Elorde and Pacquiao, There Was Luis Logan by Myles Garcia, previously untold story about the Spanish immigrant to the Philippines who won numerous boxing medals for his adopted country.

At Play in the Field of the Haves by Lou Gopal gives quite a colorful story of the origins of the Manila Polo Club, when Filipino elites played with the American colonizers.

Back to the present, veteran journalist and regular contributor Cherie Querol Moreno takes us with her as she visits family in Icking, a pastoral town in Bavaria, in southern Germany.

In Oak Forest, Illinois, Kusinang Pinoy touts Ilocano culinary culture as Positively Filipino Contributing Writer Rey de la Cruz reports.

From Kusinang Pinoy comes another version of the Ilocano staple, pinakbet, our Happy Home Cook feature this week.

On Video of the Week, we look back at Marissa Aroy's 2008 documentary "Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland."

Remembering, Celebrating

Of the cluster of celebrations and commemorations this month, often neglected is the Fall of Corregidor in 1942, a sad milestone of World War II in the Philippines. A key figure in the Voice of Freedom broadcast that emanated from the island was Norman Reyes, who voiced the heartbreaking announcement a year earlier of the fall of Bataan. Reyes, a Filipino American mestizo, became a Japanese prisoner of war and was eventually made to broadcast wartime propaganda from Tokyo. In this compelling story by Australia-based contributor Larry Ng, Reyes' high school classmate, Reyes' proper place in history is brought to light -- a fitting commemoration of a war that defined a a generation. Read "The Sad Saga of Norman Reyes" in this issue.

Once upon a time, San Francisco Bay Area Filipinos were hard put looking for a restaurant where they could bring their non-Filipino friends and brag about our cuisine. While there were several operating then, their location, the ambiance (read: cleanliness) and their food wouldn't pass muster. Patio Filipino changed all that. Not only is the restaurant pretty, professionally run and accessible, its Filipino and Spanish dishes are something to return to. Blogger Lorenzo Paran III writes "A Cozy Patio and Its Delights," a fitting celebration of Patio Filipino's 10th anniversary this month. In the Bay Area's fickle and exacting culinary world, 10 years is no mean feat.

Pinoyspotting takes us to a cruise in the Panama Canal, to Athens and to Vienna, with contributions from Albert Romero and Bella Bonner.

In The Happy Home Cook this week, we take a page from the late Filipina culinary superstar Nora Daza's cookbook, Let's Cook with Nora, for Meat Loaf Deluxe with Gravy.

For our Video of the Week, we borrow a CNN report on Filipinos working abroad.

Enjoy the full blooming of spring!