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We enjoy political incorrectness, but when we compiled our 100 Favorite Books last year, we did find it strange that less than a fifth were by women. Recently we got acquainted with the work of two women writers we wouldn’t have heard of if their novels had not been reissued by NYRB Classics. So we looked up the literary reputations of Elizabeth Taylor and Olivia Manning, and learned that they had been well-regarded in their lifetimes (they were contemporaries) but have fallen out of fashion. What would you prefer: living obscurity, or posthumous obscurity?

Elizabeth Taylor would probably have more readers today if she didn’t happen to share a name with the movie star. We knew of her novel Angel (1957)—the film adaptation by Francois Ozon costarred Michael Fassbender—but didn’t know she’d written it. As for Olivia Manning, our former publisher had recommended her Balkan Trilogy enthusiastically, but it took us a while to connect those books with Fortunes of War, the BBC series from the 80s starring Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh.

In the end we picked up their books because they were published by NYRB Classics, and because their covers feature cats. In Manning’s novel, the Siamese cat Faro is the young hero’s only ally. In Taylor’s, the spoiled Persian cats living in the anti-heroine’s ruined mansion reflect her state of mind.

Do you hate-watch certain TV shows so you can mock them and rejoice in their failings? We envy Elizabeth Taylor’s sharp, elegant prose so we can’t hate-read Angel, but we were rooting for the protagonist to fall flat on her face. Angelica Deverell is a shopkeeper’s daughter who lives in a fantasy world. She’s a monster—selfish, narcissistic, shameless, ilusyonada, qualities which help her become a wildly popular romance novelist. Critics rip her books to shreds, but the public laps them up. She becomes very rich, indulges her every whim (a grand estate, peacocks, expensive tacky furniture), and lands the man of her dreams.

Even as we loathe the woman, we have to admire her guts. Unlike her aunt and her mother, Angel doesn’t “know her place” or quietly “accept her lot in life”. She’s uppity, but she has the strength of her convictions.

Just when we think this horrible creature will get everything she wants, she encounters her true nemesis. Go self-sabotage!

The hero of Olivia Manning’s School for Love is Felix, an extremely naive English teenager who is shipped off to Jerusalem after the death of his parents in Iraq. It’s 1945, war is raging in Europe, and the city is crammed with refugees. Felix is taken in by his father’s foster sister, Miss Bohun, who runs the world’s most awful boarding house. Miss Bohun is the pastor of the Ever-Readies, one of the many religious groups that have hied off to Jerusalem to await the second coming. She keeps Felix in a state of malnutrition and actually overcharges for the privilege. Faro, the Siamese cat whom she keeps to control the rat population, becomes Felix’s confidant—cat and boy snuggle together to keep from freezing in that awful place.

Every time the hypocritical, miserly, self-righteous crone shows up we grit our teeth and wait for justice. Will it come? Will it be in the person of Mrs. Ellis, the charming young widow whom Miss Bohun regrets having invited to stay in the boarding house? Most importantly, will Faro be all right?

Manning’s prose is keenly observed and psychologically acute. We want more, so we’re finally going to take on Manning’s Balkan Trilogy. After the Balzac stories. And a Nancy Mitford novel or two.

Photo by Ren

Our Philippine Eagle toy arrived yesterday in its own drawstring bag. It’s a good-looking bird.

– Hello, I am Jeffrey, short for Pithecophaga jefferyi.

– I’m Drogon! You’re a funny-looking creature. What are you?
– I’m a Philippine Eagle!

– What’s a Philippine Eagle?
– A giant forest raptor endemic to the Philippines.

– A raptor? Like in Jurassic Park?
– Well we are descended from dinosaurs.
– But you look like a bird.
– I am a bird. Did you know some dinosaurs had feathers?

– Do you taste like chicken? I love chicken! Can I eat you?
– No. You may not eat me. I am rare and critically endangered.
– Oh. Wanna play?
– Okay!

– When I grow up I’ll kick your ass.
– When I grow up I’ll have dragonfire.
– Eagles eat small mammals in the wild.
– We’re not in the wild.

Get your adorable Philippine Eagle stuffed toy at The Library of Babel today. Retail price: Php699 plus shipping to the known world. Your purchase helps fund the Philippine Eagle Foundation, which is dedicated to saving this endangered species and its rainforest habitat.

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8. Dove yourself. Good skin and hair care doesn’t require huge expense; the trusted brand is available in supermarkets everywhere. We especially recommend it to people who get headaches or break out from strong (masangsang) scents. Go buy yourself a whole lot of Dove products—they’ll still fall under Basic Necessities.

9. Cheap date with yourself! Note: Cheap is bad only if your date is paying. If you’re paying, it’s great.

First, buy your favorite Oishi snacks.

Then curl up with Season 3 of BBC’s Sherlock. It’s not just a show, it’s leverage in negotiations with China. (Read Chinese Sherlock Fans Asked David Cameron to Make Producers Hurry Up.)

Baked Porky Popps, Holmes and Watson. Happy.

10. Write.

You can never have too many beautiful notebooks. To justify acquiring them, you’ll just have to write more. The Pantone Artist and Writer’s Notebook from Chronicle Books features a Pantone color chip on every page. Thick cardboard covers, perfect binding, smooth white paper. The notebook measures 7 x 9 inches and retails at Php897 at National Bookstores. (We have a book moratorium; we didn’t say anything about stationery hahahaha.)

Of course we should not reject gifts from lovers, but the only way to ensure that you get the really good stuff is to buy them for yourself.

1. Wear World Domination.

The World Domination shirt declares that you have little patience for dithering. It is especially good for hanging out with friends. Available in three colors and sizes, only at The Library of Babel. Payments are accepted via bank deposit, credit card, and PayPal. Freight charges apply. Deliveries in Metro Manila take 3 working days, elsewhere in the Philippines and overseas in 5.

2. There must be chocolate.

Serious chocolate. Artisanal chocolate made by generations of cioccolato-makers in Padua, where Galileo taught. Have you noticed that with really good chocolate, each bite is so intense that you only need a few pieces? Seems almost disrespectful to eat everything at once.

The Villa del Conte menu should be set to music:

Praline balls in dark chocolate with hazelnut cream and cereals
Praline sticks in dark chocolate with orange cream filling
Dark chocolate domes with cocoa cream and salted toffee chips
Fig fillet truffles covered in extra-dark chocolate
Marron glace truffles covered in dark chocolate and cocoa powder…


Villa Del Conte has stores at Greenbelt 5, Shangri-la Mall, Resorts World, Alabang Town Center, and Robinson’s Magnolia. For bulk orders of Villa del Conte chocolates, contact 893-2575 or 621-6101.

3. Glow from the inside.

Borage oil, the main ingredient of Blooming-G capsules, contains omega-6, essential in the development of skin cells. It helps protect skin cells from damage and maintain adequate moisture levels.

For more information on Blooming-G and Omega-6, go to http://bauchlab.com.

4. Read a fake book that offers real pleasures. S, a collaboration of filmmaker J.J. Abrams and writer Doug Durst, is a fiction about fiction.

The cardboard case contains what looks like an old hardcover library book that’s been borrowed many times. It’s called Ship of Theseus, purportedly the final novel by one V.M. Straka, translated and annotated by an F.X. Caldeira. According to the preface by Caldeira, nobody knows who Straka really was, and there is a raging debate in the academe over who really wrote his books.

Tucked among the pages are old letters, photos, telegrams, postcards, notes—a reminder that before you lend your books to anyone, you should inspect the pages for any damning evidence you may have stashed in them.

In the margins are scribbled notes from Jenny, a college senior, and Eric, a graduate student. Jenny and Eric have not met; they communicate by writing notes in the margins of the Straka, which they borrow and return to the library.

Which obviously has the laziest librarians in the world, because they don’t notice how the book has been defaced.

That’s how you know this is a work of fiction: the margins are large enough to leave notes on, the notes are neatly arranged, and the correspondence can be understood by any random borrower.

A clever idea, and a good-looking book.

S by J.J. Abrams and Doug Durst, Php1399 at National Bookstores.

5. Get yourself a ten-inch bird for Valentine’s.

Everyone hopes for everlasting love; the Philippine Eagle just hopes to avoid extinction. The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is a giant forest raptor endemic to the Philippines and one of the world’s rarest and most critically-endangered species.

The de luxe Philippine Eagle stuffed toy is packed in a cloth pouch and comes with a specially printed information tag. Proceeds will go to the Philippine Eagle Foundation, dedicated to saving the endangered Philippine Eagle and its rainforest habitat.

Buy the Philippine Eagle stuffed toy at library-of-babel.com. Payments are accepted via bank deposit, credit card, and PayPal. Freight charges apply. Deliveries in Metro Manila take 3 working days, elsewhere in the Philippines and overseas in 5.

6. Bring your best friend to see Jazz in Love at UP Cine Adarna.

Jazz in Love, the acclaimed documentary by Baby Ruth Villarama, is the story of Jazz, a young man from Davao whose German boyfriend has just proposed marriage. Obviously they can’t marry in the Philippines, so he must fly to Germany for the wedding. But Jazz speaks no German, and must temporarily relocate to Manila for language lessons. Meanwhile, his parents in Davao have absolutely no idea of their son’s plans.

7. Why not adopt a stray cat or dog? This one adopted us.

CARA (Compassion and Responsibility for Animals) and PAWS (Philippine Animal Welfare Society) match homeless cats and dogs with humans who have large reserves of love for their fellow earthlings. Contact CARA or PAWS today. If you’re not ready to commit to a non-human housemate, consider making a donation.

Five months after the new cat Drogon moved in, and four months after the death of head cat and diva Koosi, order has been reestablished in the household.

Mat, the eldest boy and the one who gets along with everyone, is now head cat. He sleeps on the left side of the bed and enforces discipline among the felines. When Drogon gets too frisky and attempts to wrestle with Saffy, who is extremely antisocial, Mat boxes Drogon’s ear. Drogon may sleep on the bed, but only at the foot of the bed. If he crosses the center line, Mat gives him a little slap.

Saffy has asserted her rights as diva—including a regular supply of Fancy Feast, which the boys only get as biweekly treats. She gained this concession by going on a hunger strike, during which she refused their usual kibble and deigned to eat only Fancy Feast, and only the Classic flavors. She also refused to drink water, preferring milk (Although sometimes, late at night when she thought no one was watching, she would get out of bed and eat kibble and drink water).

It was Saffy who was most distressed by Drogon’s arrival. Drogon, being overly friendly, would insist on joining her every time she went to the litter box. Luckily he has grown tired of these toilet chats, and now allows Saffy her privacy. In return, Saffy occasionally grooms him.

Saffy sleeps on the right side of the bed. With Mat on the left, Saffy on the right, and Drogon at the foot of the bed, the human has to scrunch up in the middle and avoid moving in her sleep.

Drogon, the only sociable one, gets to go out once a month—to the mall, or to friends’ houses. Lately he has been fascinated by the kitchen faucet—soon he’ll be taking showers. He has an enormous appetite, and his hobby is sitting at the window, watching the outside world, and wondering how he can eat it.

The typical Puregold supermarket

Generally we hate domestic chores and do them only because we have no choice (The litterbox must be cleaned lest it turn into some new biological warfare agent), but we have always enjoyed doing the groceries. It’s not so much a chore as an anthropological expedition: we learn not just what things cost (Fancy Feast costs Php42.75 a can??), but what new products have been developed to meet market demands (People need calcium and fiber but don’t have time to prepare their own food. Voila: Oishi Oaties, milk with oats in tetrapaks), and how current trends affect manufacturing (Environmentalism and the emphasis on well-being equals more natural/organic products). Yes, it’s more fun being a nerd.

We tend to shop at whatever supermarket is closest to our house, but we’re always curious about what other stores carry. Our friends have recommended S&R for its vast selection of merchandise, but we don’t need to shop in bulk (the pack of 24 rolls of toilet paper would not fit in our cabinets), plus we can’t have too much food in the house because we will consume everything even if we’re not hungry.

The new Puregold Fairview Terraces in QC

Last week we were invited to check out the new Puregold supermarket at Fairview Terraces in QC. That’s practically cross-country from Makati, but we decided to make a field trip of it. (Make sure you are in a car with people who know all the showbiz chismis. We got all the news, hearsay and speculation on the Vhong Navarro incident.) We’ve never shopped at Puregold, but we hear that their prices are lower than their competitors’. More importantly, we were told that they had ample stocks of cat food and kitty litter.

Fairview Terraces is the new Ayala mall in Quezon City, and Puregold Fairview Terraces is the first mid-market outlet of the top supermarket chain the country.

The supermarket is shiny, brightly-lit, and welcoming, with broad aisles so you don’t accidentally run over people’s feet with your shopping cart.

There is a well-stocked Health and Nutrition section with vitamins, supplements, over-the-counter medications.

And speaking of self-medicating, a fairly impressive liquor section.

As promised, there is cat food and kitty litter. Just the basics for now, but we were assured that their range of pet supplies will grow.

The prices are lower than those of the two supermarkets we shop in. We have a personal price index for supermarkets, based on the retail cost of Palm Corned Beef. Puregold’s price is Php157.55 a can; we’ll check the other supermarkets’ prices this week.

Update: The Palm Corned Beef Price Index:
Puregold: Php157.55
Rustan’s: Php168 (But they’ve never claimed to have the lowest prices)
SM Supermarket (Thanks, wangbumaximus21): Php170-175

Human Nature products used to be available only from dealers; we’re pleased to note that supermarkets now carry them. The Human Nature shelf at Puregold Fairview Terraces is stocked with the latest from the 100% No harmful chemicals brand, including 500ml pump bottles of moisturizer with no synthetic fragrances (Yay, no headaches).

If we had actual cooking skills, we would probably be impressed at the assortment of fresh produce.

Mission accomplished: Cat supplies for the whole month.

And the field trip was educational: we haven’t been north of Tomas Morato Street for so long, we just found out that the UP Integrated School campus is now the UP Town Center. Our friends graduated from a shopping mall, haha.

If Puregold opens in our neighborhood, we would totally shop there. They do have a humongous branch near our sister’s house, so we’ve convinced her to do the groceries with us.