Halo-halo season: Things to do this summer
April 1, 2007 | 12:00am
There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.  Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes cartoon
Where’er you walk cool gales shall fan the glade, trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade. Where’er you tread the blushing flowers shall rise. And all things flourish where you turn your eyes.  Alexander Pope
Why am I like a kid forever? Even though I’m no longer a student, and I’m a business owner who doesn’t like our government’s irresponsible predilection for declaring too many holidays, I’m still excited by the onset of summer and the coming of the long Holy Week holiday.
Almost like the Christmas vacation, the Holy Week holiday and the onset of summer is an ideal time to draw up a list of 1,001 things to do, just like a New Year’s resolution. This list is not in order of importance:
• Look for the best halo-halo. There’s no better time to savor this mouthwateringly delicious dessert than in this increasingly hot summer season.
• Enjoy native fruits that are now in season, such as my all-time favorite, mangoes. I believe Philippine mangoes are the most delicious in summer. Up to now, I’m not sure if the most delicious mangoes are from Cebu, the Ilonggo-speaking provinces, or from northern Luzon. All my life I used to eat only ripe golden mangoes, not green mangoes with bagoong and not even green mango shakes. But recently, I had some young businessmen guests from Beijing and Nanjing whom I met during a tour of China last Christmas, and their wives had researched on Chinese tourism Internet blogs to discover that our green mango shakes were not to be missed. So I tried drinking green mango shake, too, for the first time, out of curiosity, and now I’m hooked!
• Travel to other parts of the Philippines, beyond the usual favorite, Boracay. I was flabbergasted last Christmas when I met a European family in a hotel in Xian, China who told me they had been to the world-famous Banawe Rice Terraces and scuba dived in Malapascua Isle somewhere in Cebu, then offered to be my tour guide next time they come here again after learning that I hadn’t seen those places yet.
• Retrace history. To further spice up travel plans in other parts of the Philippines, get a good history book, then tour Corregidor, Bataan and other areas, which will remind you of our forgotten past. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently angered women’s groups here in the Philippines and all over Asia for denying the truth behind the tragedy of "comfort women," only to retract his statement when the US and other governments protested. We should not forget it. It is a Christian virtue to forgive, but we should never forget.
• Read books instead of wasting hours on computer games. As far as I can remember, summer is the time when bookstores like the National Book Store chain holds sales, like its annual Cut Price Book Sale, which I always look forward to. This is always the time for the annual book fairs.
• Learn some-thing new its summer, whether a new sport, hobby, musical instrument, language (I prefer to brush up on my Mandarin in that second-floor school at Ayala’s Serendra or at Ateneo’s Leong Center, Spanish at Instituto Cervantes, or learn German at the Goethe Institute), or anything fun.
• Sweat it out in sports, beyond basketball. Go swimming, diving. Do martial arts Chinese-style like wushu, Korean-style like taek-wondo, or Japanese-style as in judo. Try out the world’s most popular spectator sport, soccer, or other sports, which will encourage kids to someday become Olympic champions. (Unfortunately, I do not believe we can realistically be Olympic champions in basketball due to height constraints, and other favorite Philippine sports like billiards, bowling, ballroom dancing and politics are not yet Olympic sports.)
• Clean up, throw away and rearrange things at home. Don’t procrastinate. Do it this summer.
•Plant something new in your garden. If you do not have a garden or if you live in a condominium, there is no excuse not to beautify your home with indoor and potted plants, cacti, orchids and even bonsais.
• Go fishing, or learn how this summer. Why do we see so many Americans and their families going fishing in Hollywood movies, yet strangely, even if the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands bounded by the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, we don’t fish for recreation? The Philippines reportedly has two million square kilometers of fishing grounds with an amazing array of 2,400 fish species, including game fish favored by fishing aficionados such as giant tuna, swordfish, marlins, tanguingues, king mackerels and barracudas.
• Do like Angelina Jolie, who recently adopted a Vietnamese boy. But be less ambitious. Just adopt a new pet this summer. You can try a bird, a turtle, or something else. My summer plan is to adopt a new pet dog. My favorite Labrador Retriever, Duchess, is already so old. I forgot to keep one of her puppies before. I’m really planning to get a new Labrador Retriever or Golden Retriever pup this summer. (If you have any good ones out there, you can e-mail me, because I don’t like to buy from pet shops.)
• Do something creative this summer. In my case, I promised myself to finish writing a short story or novella, or write poetry.
• Start a new business this summer, whether helping your kids sell lemonade or other stuff in the neighborhood, or turning a hobby into a moneymaking venture.
• Enjoy the sight of tropical flowers blooming in all colors and fragrances throughout the Philippines, which is one of the blessings of our summer.
• Write and mail handwritten letters, don’t just e-mail or chat over Yahoo Messenger or Friendster.
• Visit relatives, old friends and former schoolmates. Our late mom advised us that family and friends are to be cherished more than material wealth.
• Try to visit and experience at least one local fiesta in the provinces.
• Explore the city, especially during Holy Week when most Metro Manila streets are usually blissfully deserted. If not going abroad, I would explore the Hispanic past in Intramuros, the ancient streets and timeless commercial bustle of Binondo (look for the best authentic Chinese home-cooked style foods), or even unforgettable Quiapo!
• Pray and go to church during Holy Week, especially on Easter Sunday. I recently told the Saudi Arabian Ambassador that it’s ironic that lots of Christians tend to do unholy things during the Holy Week. Let the Holy Week humble us in seeking out God and in reminding us of our own mortality.
• Last but definitely not least, be sure to vote, and vote wisely this summer.
I wish to clarify that though I said I will vote for Pep, Comelec has disqualified it as a party-list group. So, I will now vote for Agham led by scientist and former UP president Dr. Emil Javier.
Thanks for your messages, all will be answered. Comments or suggestions welcome at willsoonflourish@gmail.com or wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com.
Where’er you walk cool gales shall fan the glade, trees where you sit shall crowd into a shade. Where’er you tread the blushing flowers shall rise. And all things flourish where you turn your eyes.  Alexander Pope
Why am I like a kid forever? Even though I’m no longer a student, and I’m a business owner who doesn’t like our government’s irresponsible predilection for declaring too many holidays, I’m still excited by the onset of summer and the coming of the long Holy Week holiday.
Almost like the Christmas vacation, the Holy Week holiday and the onset of summer is an ideal time to draw up a list of 1,001 things to do, just like a New Year’s resolution. This list is not in order of importance:
• Look for the best halo-halo. There’s no better time to savor this mouthwateringly delicious dessert than in this increasingly hot summer season.
• Enjoy native fruits that are now in season, such as my all-time favorite, mangoes. I believe Philippine mangoes are the most delicious in summer. Up to now, I’m not sure if the most delicious mangoes are from Cebu, the Ilonggo-speaking provinces, or from northern Luzon. All my life I used to eat only ripe golden mangoes, not green mangoes with bagoong and not even green mango shakes. But recently, I had some young businessmen guests from Beijing and Nanjing whom I met during a tour of China last Christmas, and their wives had researched on Chinese tourism Internet blogs to discover that our green mango shakes were not to be missed. So I tried drinking green mango shake, too, for the first time, out of curiosity, and now I’m hooked!
• Travel to other parts of the Philippines, beyond the usual favorite, Boracay. I was flabbergasted last Christmas when I met a European family in a hotel in Xian, China who told me they had been to the world-famous Banawe Rice Terraces and scuba dived in Malapascua Isle somewhere in Cebu, then offered to be my tour guide next time they come here again after learning that I hadn’t seen those places yet.
• Retrace history. To further spice up travel plans in other parts of the Philippines, get a good history book, then tour Corregidor, Bataan and other areas, which will remind you of our forgotten past. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently angered women’s groups here in the Philippines and all over Asia for denying the truth behind the tragedy of "comfort women," only to retract his statement when the US and other governments protested. We should not forget it. It is a Christian virtue to forgive, but we should never forget.
• Read books instead of wasting hours on computer games. As far as I can remember, summer is the time when bookstores like the National Book Store chain holds sales, like its annual Cut Price Book Sale, which I always look forward to. This is always the time for the annual book fairs.
• Learn some-thing new its summer, whether a new sport, hobby, musical instrument, language (I prefer to brush up on my Mandarin in that second-floor school at Ayala’s Serendra or at Ateneo’s Leong Center, Spanish at Instituto Cervantes, or learn German at the Goethe Institute), or anything fun.
• Sweat it out in sports, beyond basketball. Go swimming, diving. Do martial arts Chinese-style like wushu, Korean-style like taek-wondo, or Japanese-style as in judo. Try out the world’s most popular spectator sport, soccer, or other sports, which will encourage kids to someday become Olympic champions. (Unfortunately, I do not believe we can realistically be Olympic champions in basketball due to height constraints, and other favorite Philippine sports like billiards, bowling, ballroom dancing and politics are not yet Olympic sports.)
• Clean up, throw away and rearrange things at home. Don’t procrastinate. Do it this summer.
•Plant something new in your garden. If you do not have a garden or if you live in a condominium, there is no excuse not to beautify your home with indoor and potted plants, cacti, orchids and even bonsais.
• Go fishing, or learn how this summer. Why do we see so many Americans and their families going fishing in Hollywood movies, yet strangely, even if the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands bounded by the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, we don’t fish for recreation? The Philippines reportedly has two million square kilometers of fishing grounds with an amazing array of 2,400 fish species, including game fish favored by fishing aficionados such as giant tuna, swordfish, marlins, tanguingues, king mackerels and barracudas.
• Do like Angelina Jolie, who recently adopted a Vietnamese boy. But be less ambitious. Just adopt a new pet this summer. You can try a bird, a turtle, or something else. My summer plan is to adopt a new pet dog. My favorite Labrador Retriever, Duchess, is already so old. I forgot to keep one of her puppies before. I’m really planning to get a new Labrador Retriever or Golden Retriever pup this summer. (If you have any good ones out there, you can e-mail me, because I don’t like to buy from pet shops.)
• Do something creative this summer. In my case, I promised myself to finish writing a short story or novella, or write poetry.
• Start a new business this summer, whether helping your kids sell lemonade or other stuff in the neighborhood, or turning a hobby into a moneymaking venture.
• Enjoy the sight of tropical flowers blooming in all colors and fragrances throughout the Philippines, which is one of the blessings of our summer.
• Write and mail handwritten letters, don’t just e-mail or chat over Yahoo Messenger or Friendster.
• Visit relatives, old friends and former schoolmates. Our late mom advised us that family and friends are to be cherished more than material wealth.
• Try to visit and experience at least one local fiesta in the provinces.
• Explore the city, especially during Holy Week when most Metro Manila streets are usually blissfully deserted. If not going abroad, I would explore the Hispanic past in Intramuros, the ancient streets and timeless commercial bustle of Binondo (look for the best authentic Chinese home-cooked style foods), or even unforgettable Quiapo!
• Pray and go to church during Holy Week, especially on Easter Sunday. I recently told the Saudi Arabian Ambassador that it’s ironic that lots of Christians tend to do unholy things during the Holy Week. Let the Holy Week humble us in seeking out God and in reminding us of our own mortality.
• Last but definitely not least, be sure to vote, and vote wisely this summer.
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