Once more, Donya Buding! - DIRECT LINE by Boy Abunda

Mrs. Maria Leonila Evaporada Casinday viuda de Ford – better known as Donya Buding – has returned from her hiatus of visible-low-profile absence to make her presence felt all over the country again. It is Post-People-Power 2 and Donya Buding can no longer contain her silence. After the series of scandals involving the Actor-Who-Became-President, after the brouhaha over the millions of jueteng money, the mistresses, the mansions and the Senate Impeachment Trial… and the EDSA Extravaganza Sequel, Donya Buding must have her say. And she wants to make it known, once and for all, that she is going to try to run this country!

Yes, Donya Buding is running for the Senate and she has formed her own political party called Partido ng mga Umasenso sa Tikbakang Aksiyon (never mind the acronym or I stand to lose this column!) for she refuses to be affiliated with any of the traditional politicians (trapos) or the genuine alternative politicos (guapos). She will prove to the citizenry that se can make it out there with or without colorful pashminas or a greater vocabulary (anong colloquy? Kaloqui siya ano?) and will do an absolute expose that promises to make Chavit Singson’s sensational revelations resemble a letter to Dear Ate Charo.
Catch her as she goes public with her political agenda in Donya Buding 4 Senator at the Music Museum on April 20 and 21; then at Onstage Greenbelt on May 2, 3, 9 and 10; then back at The Music Museum on May 11 and 12.

She will talk about the deposed president and his malicious designs at her, the wife and the mistresses, the 21 senators and what happened at EDSA and what she really thinks of Korina and Noli. She will bash all her senatorial opponents and will reveal how she used to beat up GMA when they were little girls cavorting in Guagua.

Two other characters will help Donya Buding reach the winning heights of the Senatorial race. These are Drago, her trusted aide-de-camp who is all brawn but no brains (Which is okay with her. After all, she claims that an aide does not have to have a mind… only enough brawn to mind her needs.) And there is Boni, her dance instructor – who she claims also taught Tessie Aquino-Oreta how to do the jig.

Buding will tackle everything you’ve always wanted to know about how to make the country work... including a special section of question-and-answer with select members of the audience. She will candidly provide solutions to poverty ("Hindi mahirap ang Pilipinas. Kulang lang sa mayaman. And that’s okay," she says), the Mindanao crisis, the garbage problem, the true President of the Republic, the problem of morality and the scorching hot controversy about Live Show.

Yes, Buding is definitely back! And nothing is gonna stop her now.

Not just coffee

Now for something really hot, at the Megastrip of SM Megamall is a place where you can have your fill of the best tasting hot brew… and it’s not just coffee.

Finally you can experience original homemade goodness from The Soup Kitchen and have a sample of their more than 150 soup recipes: from seafood and meat to vegetarian soups. The Soup Kitchen also serves refreshing salads, freshly-baked breads, hearty sandwiches and scintillating desserts.

The Soup Kitchen began brewing 20 years ago in Oak Ridge Tennessee. Its branches in Manila (the first one is located in Glorietta 2, Ayala Center) are the first outside the US and the franchise owners have ensured the same consistency in quality and preparation of their soup recipes by using only the best natural ingredients.

"Most of our soup recipes are made from scratch. So imagine the endless possibilities through which you can enjoy this age-old recipe. And our servings are really big so a bowl of soup can really be filling enough for lunch or dinner. And to help you savor the more than 150 soups recipes we have, we will be changing soups everyday so that customers can have a different choice each time they visit," says Florence Yao, one of the owners of The Soup Kitchen.

Other than this, The Soup Kitchen also seeks to deliver guilt-free soup recipes to health-conscious busy individuals who crave for something more than the usual fat-laden fare they have now.

With the proliferation of expensive cafes here in the metropolis, isn’t it heart and stomach warming to be able to load up with filling and tasty soup concoctions for a change?

Visit The Soup Kitchen and have your fill of the best-tasting soups in town!

And, who knows, Donya Buding might just be on the next table!