Konted's Make My Day 2

Thursday, 5 June 2014

The Legend of Mang Tomas

The Legend of Mang Tomas

Once there lived a medium-built man at a sitio located at the foot of a mountain. His name was Mang Tomas. A virtual unknown, very few people knew him. But through hard work and sheer determination, he gained fame and everybody, throughout the land, was talking about him. He became a legend.

  Mang Tomas was La Loma's first lechonero or pig roaster. He used to sell meat in front of La Loma Cockpit Arena which was just across his house. His business was doing good with sabungeros as his customers.

  Mang Tomas decided to expand and started to roast pigs. And he did the roasting right in front of the cockpit very early in the morning. He would stuff the washed pig with lemon grass and herbs and would place it above a heap of burning coals.

His first few lechons turned out to be so good that his good reputation spread far and wide. People began to frequent La Loma to have a taste of the much-talked about Lechon Ni Mang Tomas.

There is this story that, once, President Ramon Magsaysay visited Mang Tomas' place in La Loma just to savor the succulent native lechon. President Magsaysay dined with his bare hand and dipped the meat generously into the liver sauce which he liked very much.

This became the talk of the town. From then on, the President would order roast pigs during special occasions at the Palace.

With the phenomenal success of Mang Tomas, enterprising individuals followed suit. Mila's Lechon, Ping Ping's, Monchie's, Lito's, Aling Nelia's, Lydia's, etc. are clustered in a place along Retiro St., Calavite St., and A. Bonifacio Avenue.

The La Loma Cockpit Arena, where Mang Tomas started, is still operational. La Loma is now officially called The Lechon Capital of the Philippines.

Back to the liver sauce which President Magsaysay, together with the native lechon, liked very much. The forced heirs of Mang Tomas sold their rights to the Mang Tomas Sarsa ng Lechon to the heirs of the original owners of Aristocrat Restaurant. Then South East Asia Food Inc. took over.

This explains the professional approach to the marketing of the famous bottled sauce. We now see countless bottled sauce at shelves of grocery stores and supermarkets throughout the country bearing the name Mang Tomas Sarsa ng Lechon. Mang Tomas is everywhere.

Oh, yes, Mang Tomas' surname was De Los Reyes. Tomas De Los Reyes was the man who started it all. He is long gone yet everybody is still talking about him.

- Konted

La Loma's welcome arch at Retiro St., now Amoranto Avenue, in Quezon City.

Another welcome arch near the Quezon City- Manila boundary.

As indicated above the welcome arch, La Loma is situated at the foot of a mountain. Hence, the name Brgy. Paang Bundok. Bundok here is what is now Santa Mesa Heights. Near the arch is the Chinese General Hospital. If you turn right here on Bonifacio Avenue, you will reach the NLEX tollgate in Balintawak in 15 minutes without traffic.

The La Loma Cockpit Arena erected in 1902. It is the oldest cockpit arena in the country. Mang Tomas started roasting pig near the entrance to the cockpit.

The La Loma Cockpit Arena has been rehabilitated. I used to watch cockfights here in the late 60s and early 70s with close friends Digos Reyes and Manny King.who were cockfighting aficionados. We would eat at Mang Tomas' place after watching, win or lose.

Cluster of lechon stalls along Retiro St. There are other stalls along Calavite St. which is parallel to Retiro St.

Mang Tomas' Lechon Stall on Retiro St.

You can buy one whole lechon or you can buy by the kilo.

The southern side of Mang Tomas Lechon stall. I talked to a bystander and this was what he said: "Bale yung apo na ang nagpapatakbo niyan. Yung mga anak ni Mang Tomas sa building na nakatira. Mayroon na silang malaking building."

Prices at Mang Tomas and at the other stalls start at P3,500. The smallest lechon is good for 20 to 25 persons.

Mila's Lechon has the biggest stall along Retiro St.

The succulent native lechon of Mila's being chopped.

Roast pigs at Mila's

Says a helper at Mila's stall: "Bagong litson lang po ang mga ito. Lagi ko po pinupunasan ang mga ito para naman maging kaakit akit sa mga bumibili."

One last pig being roasted at Mila's roasting place. "Me buyer na po yan.", says a lechonero.

Lito's Lechon. The smallest sells for P3,500 and is good for 25 persons.

More roast pigs at Monchie's

Ping Ping's Lechon along A. Bonifacio Avenue.

Lydia's Lechon along Retiro St. (Amoranto Avenue)

Best-selling liver sauce (alibaba)

President Ramon Magsaysay with then Representative Ferdinand Marcos (flicker)

The Legendary Mang Tomas Delos Reyes (g'gle)

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Saturday, 31 May 2014

The Durable Clint Eastwood

The Durable Clint Eastwood

He was 'The Man with No Name' in The Good,The Bad and The Ugly. But he had a monicker: Blondie. Though Clint Eastwood was still a virtual unknown, the movie was a blockbuster, with SROs in almost all movie theaters where it was shown in Metro Manila. That was in 1968 and I was then a 2nd year college student at the DLSU. He was a tall cowboy who talked less and when he talked, I missed several words he was saying. Amidst the sounds of the flute, ocarina, human voices, gunfire and a coyote howling, there was suspense throughout the story with Blondie occasionally trading shots with rugged men with dubious motives. He would later have a confrontation with Angel Face and Tuco. All were in search of gold. Musical scoring was superb. With two other films-- For a Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More -- the trilogy turned out to be a commercial success. Eastwood attained stardom. I was cutting classes just to watch his movies.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was shown in movie theaters in Metro Manila in 1968. (demonsresume)

He is The Man with No Name. But Tuco calls him "Blondie". (g'gle)

Lee Van Cleef is Angel Eyes. (potpourri)

Eli Wallach is Tuco Ramirez. He steals the thunder from the veteran actors. (theguardian)

The final face-off at the cemetery where Confederate gold is hidden. (freerepublic)

Movie theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4&feature=kp0

He was a tough cop named Harry Callahan in a series of films about a member of the San Francisco Police Force who had the propensity to apply controversial and arbitrary measures in fighting lawless elements. Armed with guts and a Magnum 44, Callahan engaged a psychotic killer on the loose in Dirty Harry, foiled hold-uppers in a downtown restaurant and uttered that famous line "Go ahead, make my day" in Sudden Impact and single-handedly wrote finis to hitherto unsolved crimes traceable to a gang of merciless motorcycle cops in Magnum Force. This was in the 70s and 80s and Eastwood was now a superstar. I was already working by this time.

Clint Eastwood is Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry. (moviefone)

Scorpio is the mad killer in the movie Dirty Harry. (g'gle)

"Go ahead, make my day", Callahan tells bad guy in Sudden Impact (1983). The gun is a Smith & Wesson Model 29. (togif.com)

In the 90s, Eastwood played National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid in the movie adaptation of the best-selling novel Bridges of Madison County. Kincaid had a 4 day romantic liaison with middle-aged Iowa housewife Francesca Johnson played by Meryl Streep. With Eastwood as director, the film received critical acclaim and earned $182,016,617at the box-office. Through the years, he has established his reputation as a durable star, with no signs yet of fading away. In 2003, he directed Mystic River starring Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. He was named Best Director for 2003 by the National Society of Film Critics. In 2006, he directed Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Million-Dollar Baby won for Clint an award for best director in 2007. I was nearing retirement.

The critically acclaimed Bridges of Madison County was shown in movie theaters in Metro Manila in 1995. (g'gle)

The Roseman Bridge in Winterset, Iowa (movielocations)

National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid's assignment is to take photos of the Bridges of Madison County. (g'gle)

Kincaid and Francesca have a 4-day romantic affair.(g'gle)

Directed by Clint Eastwood (g'gle)

Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood turns 83 on May 31st. He is still active and physically strong. Separated from Dina Ruiz Eastwood in 2013, Clint is presently linked to Erica Tomlinson Fisher who is about 40 years younger. Clint had a 14-yr-relationship with actress Sondra Locke who was his co- star in Sudden Impact. Through the years, Clint has contributed enormously to the movie industry. Upon scrutiny, Clint's movies, all in all, have grossed a total of $1.68 billion. Now a senior, all I do almost everyday is watch old Eastwood films.

- Konted