STAYING IN

Hungry in Cavite

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By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

Book
Food Holidays
Published by Colors Integrated
Travel Media, Inc.

HUNGRY is the heart that yearns for an adventure, and so is the stomach that craves authentic fare. With the promise of fulfilling the pangs of these hungers comes the book called Food Holidays, a 195-page culinary guide-cum-travelogue-cum-recipe book that highlights the Philippines’s best tourist destinations and its (not so) secret heirloom dishes. The Philippines — its sights and its food — is still begging to be discovered, both by local and foreign visitors. This is what the book is for.

Published by the Colors Integrated Travel Media, Inc., the book was two years in the making and focuses on provinces that are already tourism-ready, meaning they are easily accessible. The compilation of essays has side notes including fares, suggested itineraries, and route guidelines.

The book is mainly intended for hungry travelers who want to have a memorable culinary journey. At the book launch on April 4 in Kawit, Cavite, the book’s publisher, writer and travel agent Clang M. Garcia, said she is open to compiling more destinations once they are more accessible.

Priced at P500 and available in all leading bookstores, the book provides heirloom recipes paired with stories of the regions, presented in five sections. “Divine Dining” has two essays, one that looks at the “confluence of culinary offerings” that make “Manila a veritable food paradise,” and one that describes Philippine history through a 10-course degustacion meal. “Culinary Day Tours” describes areas which one can visit in a day from the capital city, including Bulacan’s Malolos, and Pampanga up north, and Cavite and Quezon’s Villa Escudero down south. “Overnight Food Trips” range from a tour of Laguna, Quezon and Batangas, to sanctuaries for the body and soul. “Three Delicious Days” tackles longer trips — tours of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Bukidnon in Mindanao; Negros, Guimaras and Iloilo, Siquijor, and Dumaguete in the Visayas; Ilocos Norte in Luzon, among many other stops. “The Philippine Cuisine in the Global Spotlight” is self-explanatory, focusing on restaurants and chefs bringing Pinoy cuisine abroad.

Ten writers contributed essays for the book: Marilen Fontanilla, Boboi Costas, Eugene Jamerlan, Ige Ramos, Cyrene Dela Rosa, Marianne Crandang, Anson Yu, Ruth Minerva Cruz, Roly Marcelino and Ivan Henares.

SPOTLIGHT: CAVITE
The book’s launch was held in Cavite because the province played a vital role during the Galleon Trade (1565-1815) — it was where the galleons were built and repaired. According to Cavite-born food historian Ryan Sebastian, the trade route in the Philippines included the Ilocos, Bicol, Cebu, Manila and Cavite. Yet, the food culture of Cavite has remained relatively under-celebrated, unlike the provinces of Pampanga, Bicol, Cebu, Negros and Iloilo.

Cavite and the rest of the Calabarzon region (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) are now being billed as culinary destinations.

“Food, restaurants and historical cuisines in the region could well play an important role in linking and looping together the destinations and attractions in the region,” said Department of Tourism IV-A Director Rebecca Labit, who told BusinessWorld that the Calabarzon region recorded 2.1 million same-day tourist arrivals and 3 million overnight tourist arrivals in 2015 (mostly Japanese, Koreans, Americans and Indians).

To highlight the province’s best food, the Culinary Generals and the Razor Chefs of Cavite — an organization of Cavite-based chefs, food businessmen and members of the academe — presented a feast for the journalists who attended the launch. The fiesta-like celebration highlighted the area’s best local dishes.

Founded by chef Christopher Carangian in 2008, the organization “advocates the revival of the food culture” in the province. Cavite is a culinary hot spot, he said. Thanks to the Galleon Trade, the province had access to spices and other ingredients from Spain, Mexico and China, which it went on to incorporate in its dishes.

A favorite during Christmastime is tamales, a localized version of the Mexican dish. While the Mexican tamale is made of a starchy, usually corn-based dough which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf, the Philippine version is made from ground peanuts and rice flour wrapped in slightly toasted banana leaves. Both versions are filled — with meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, or chilies for the Mexican tamale, and hard-boiled egg, slices of liempo (pork belly), or chicken breasts cookedadobo-style (stewed in vinegar), among other items, in the local version. It is sweet, salty and spicy all at the same time.

Another Cavite favorite is pancit pusit or pancit negra, a noodle dish made from sotanghon (vermicelli noodles) with squid ink, and garnished with siling labuyo (chili), kintsay (celery) and fried garlic. This noodle dish is a bit sweet and sour because of the squid ink.

Rivaling the Bicol Region’s Bicol Express, a dish of pork cooked in coconut milk and chilies, is Cavite’s own version called the ciento quince(115 in Spanish). Though not literally made with 115 pieces of sili(chili), Mr. Carangian said ciento quince is made with cocount milk, pork,langka (jackfruit) and an overdose of chili.

“It has more kick and spice than Bicol Express,” assured Mr. Carangian.

These are just some of the region’s best dishes you don’t want to miss when heading south or when grabbing a copy of the book.

Chocolate: sweet and savory

Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

CHOCOLATE IS GOOD. This is a universal truth. While it is good when eaten alone, chocolate may be even better when paired with something else: chocolate and fruits, chocolate and caramel, even chocolate and chilli flakes. Thanks to its versatility, chocolate has become a favored ingredient in food experimentation.

  

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MAGNUM’s two new flavors: Chocolate and caramel, and Chocolate and raspberry

RELATED STORIES The bitter and the sweet Bid to trademark shape of Kit Kats scuppered by UK court Fancy chocolate gets couture wrappers Davao’s Malagos Chocolate bags another int’l award

This was the challenge for chef Jordy Navarra of the newest casual restaurant in the city Toyo Eatery, which pays homage to Filipino food and flavors. He was asked to curate a menu that made chocolate the hero and he came up with choco veggie flan and wagyu beef with chocolate.

“It was challenging to come up with a [savory] dish with chocolate,” he told BusinessWorld on April 28, at the sidelines of the event that launched Magnum ice cream’s two newest flavors: caramel and raspberry. He said the local palate isn’t used to chocolate-infused dishes yet, but the international culinary scene is more experimental. “There’s a chocolate pasta available abroad,” he pointed out as an example.

Mr. Navarra made a name for himself when he handled the kitchen of Black Sheep Manila, which CNN dubbed as one of the world’s hottest restaurants in 2014. He was also the first Filipino chef to work with world renowned British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck kitchen, the three-Michelin starred restaurant in Britain.

The first dish on the table that day was the chocolate vegetable flan. Chef Navarra said before a hungry audience that he was hesitant to make the dish. “I played on the bitterness of the chocolate to bring out the sweetness of the vegetables,” he said.

While this writer is no food critic, I could taste his reluctance in the dish. The flan did not seem to go well with chocolate. But the rest of my tablemates said they liked it. Taste is personal, after all.

What came next was a hands down, crowd favorite: tender Wagyu beef cubes on a bed of squid-inked creamy mashed potato, drizzled with 85% dark chocolate syrup and chocolate nibbles.

“I used the texture of the mashed potatoes and the mouth-feel of the chocolate,” said the chef when explaining the dish.

The dish was good, but not good-looking, appearing unappetizing and bleak because of the color, but as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. We sliced the tender wagyu beef cubes, dunked them in the mashed potatoes and chocolate syrup, and enjoyed ourselves.

Unfortunately, because the lunch was specially commissioned by Magnum, the dishes the media enjoyed were one-offs. While Mr. Navarra said he is open to creating chocolate-infused dishes in Toyo Eatery, he said he’s currently satisfied with using chocolate as a dessert. “I find it challenging,” he said when asked of what he thought of the special menu.

While the two dishes are not available in the market (yet), what is Magnum’s two newest flavors: Chocolate and caramel with sea salt swirl, and Chocolate and raspberry swirl. The two new flavors, dubbed as “Magnum Infinity,” are made from Belgian chocolate mixed with Tanzania cocoa nibs for texture and extra flavor.

According to senior brand manager Diane Tan, the newest ice cream treats are dipped in Belgian chocolate twice and showered with a hefty serving of Tanzanian nibs making them chocolatier, thicker, and more flavorful.

The two new limited edition flavors are available in leading supermarkets, but not at the Magnum pop-up DIY store at the Mall of Asia. -- Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

FOCUS

Spoken Word Poetry, an art beyond the hugot

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By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

It’s 10:30 in the evening, and the night is still young and yearning. It’s spoken poetry night at Le Café Curieux in Makati. The bar is packed, and people keep on coming and going and coming. Amid the crowd, an imposing looking woman greets everyone at the bar. Aslie Aslanian first gave spoken poetry acts a home back in 2000. The scene for poetry performance has grown since then, and is now spoken and heard in many bars and cafés in the city.

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  Just some of the performers during the Sanctum 2.0/The Spoken Word event at Cafe Curieux. -- Screenshots from eyesee saguisag film’s Sanctum 2.0/The Spoken Word, courtesy of Aslie Aslanian

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“I will dream big and amazing and spectacular and awesome dreams.”

Jourdan Sebastian opened the night with “Dreamer’s Manifesto,” a piece he wrote in his twenties and performed back when he was one of the few spoken poetry artists in the Philippines. He started in 2000.

“I will face my fear. I will stop running away from it and turn around. And when I am face-to-face and eye-to-eye with it, I will grab the bull by its balls and make it scream surrender.”

“Nobody was really watching back then,” Mr. Sebastian told BusinessWorld. The majority of spoken word performances back then were held at the bars in Malate, Manila. “Then it gained traction in Intramuros, Manila,” he said. 

This is where Ms. Aslanian comes into the picture. She, along with her partner, opened the bar called Sanctum Unmasked, tucked into the walls of Intramuros.

“It (the bar) institutionalized spoken word poetry and other open mic performances. We gave it a home. It’s a classic case of building community and a place of expression, which we lack in this country,” said Ms. Aslanian, cigarette in hand.

The bar opened in 2000 and closed in 2004. “How do you sustain a bar in Intramuros? It was time. We did what had to be done,” she said when asked why the café closed.

While she moved on to Manila’s clubbing scene, Mr. Sebastian, a “Sanctum baby,” continued his performances in small cafés like I Love You Store and Open Spoken.

He started doing spoken poetry when he was 23 years old. His contemporaries include artists Myke Solomon, the musical director of PETA; and Teddy Corpuz, the vocalist of Rocksteady band and an ABS-CBN TV personality.

The “Dreamer’s Manifesto” that he performed with such vigor on the night BusinessWorld watched, he had launched in Sanctum Unmasked. He said he has performed it more than 12,000 hours combined since then. Audiences both here and abroad have heard it.

“We were the old generation. The ‘OGs.’ We were hungry young poets back then,” he said, smiling.

The saga of spoken poetry is like a lilt of a poet in action: up, down, and with pregnant pauses. Their attempt to continue the spoken word after Sanctum Unmasked was not linear and continuous, because “we were doing other things.”

Aside from being a poet, Mr. Sebastian is a filmmaker, director, artist, and social advocate.

While the OG’s were busy, some younger poets took up the art of spoken word poetry and started to create their own personalities and voices. One of the most popular contemporary groups these days is Words Anonymous (WA), of which artist Juan Miguel Severo is a member.

One of Mr. Severo’s performances, “Ang Huling Tula na Isusulat ko Para Sa’yo” garnered more than one million hits when it was uploaded on YouTube in 2015. Now his spoken poetry has been compiled in a book called Habang Wala Pa Sila.

“Gumawa tayo ng kasunduan, patatawarin kita pero patatawarin mo rin ako para sa wakas ay matapos ko na itong tula na masyado ng matagal na nakatira dito

At patawad kung magiging masyadong mahaba at marami masyadong bulanas pero pangako huli na ‘to, huli na ‘to, huli na ‘to…”  — “Ang Huling Tula Na Isusulat Ko Sa 'yo”

(Let us make an agreement, I will forgive you but you will also forgive me so that in the end I will be able finish this poem that has lived here too long

And forgive me if it becomes too long and has far too many twists and turns but I promise this is the last, this is the last, this is the last…) — “Ang Huling Tula Na Isusulat Ko Sa' yo”

Sev’s Café, where the viral video was shot, closed down last year. But WA, born in 2014 with only five members, has found other places to perform — in schools, cafés, and collectives, and at private occasions like the second anniversary of the PETA Theater Center. Now it has 15 artists, ages 20 to 30. The goal is to continue and grow live art expressions “one poem at a time,” said one of its members, Kat Roxas.

 “We don’t have a universal organization [among spoken word artists in the Philippines], but we do enjoy working with the other poetry collectives in the country, and we support each other. I think we’re all just pushing each other to get spoken word to where we want it to be, and we work together to achieve that,” said Ms. Roxas.

BEYOND HUGOT
There are many spoken word groups and artists in the country besides WA and Sanctum. One of them is celebrated performance poet and social advocate Kooky Tuason, who was one of the performers that night at Le Café Curieux.

She started working with spoken poetry in 2005 when she produced an album called Romancing Venus Vol. 1. This was followed by Romancing Venus Vol. 2 in 2006, and Bigkas Pilipinas in 2007.

Bigkas Pilipinas went on to become the first spoken-word themed radio show in the Philippines, and ran until 2009. Currently, her spoken word poetry show, For Word and By Word, on view on her Web sitethinkingmansclassroom.com, is in its fourth season.

“Spoken poetry is a tool for healing. I live and breathe words — words that are positive. Spoken word has been my advocacy because I believe in the power of words. I am not Christian or a Catholic but I believe in God… We are created by the Creator and we should be creating also because we’re created in the likeness of Him. And it’s a matter of creating words, the right kind of words. Instead of curse why not bless?,” she told BusinessWorld.

She said she likes to empower and chooses not to dwell on the past with sappy, sadistic, and sad hugot lines (slang for deeply drawn sentimental emotions, usually about love). She prefers to bask in the positivity of love and life.

“Instead of talking of pain about love, I’d rather talk about the positive side of it. I thrive on being in love, being in that moment. I see love around me. I’d rather not dwell on what was, because to me every single day you have is [an opportunity to make a] sound decision to make your life happen. You have to find ways to be in love.

“I know what it’s like to be there. And it’s not a good feeling. In the end, I am the only one suffering because those are my words. The more you allow yourself to embrace the thought of pain and swim in it, the more you feel stuck. You want to be happy. You want to talk about love. We are the ones who fail love. Kaya nasisira ang image ng love (The reason why love’s image is tarnished) is because we do not understand what love is. Unlearn what we have learned about love and use it as a tool for healing.”

While there are many spoken word groups and artists in the country that speak of hugot — because many Millennials can relate to it — members of WA are quick to say their poetry goes beyond that. This perception that it is all hugot is something they want to change.

“As writers, our topics, as well as our writing styles, vary. We write about love, but we also have pieces on mental health, country, feminism, environmentalism, the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual), bullying, sex. A lot of people say that the pieces are about hugot, automatically assuming that hugottranslates to love. We’re trying to change that connotation. We write about the things we’re passionate about, about the things we love, so in a sense, we do write about love — but it’s not confined to a romantic love,” said Ms. Roxas.

NOISE
Back at Le Café Curieux, Ms. Aslanian is doing the thing that she loves: connecting people. “There is so much talent in this country, it’s mind-blowing. Who is going to connect them?”

Sometimes though she would cut into the performances of her friend-artists to tell the crowd: “I’m getting mad. Listen to the performance folks!”

She told me in private amid the buzz of the bar: “I’ve heckled people. I’ve called them off the stage.”

“I am a natural editor,” she said.

A few months ago, Ms. Aslanian, reenergized and missing the vibe of live performance nights, called Mr. Sebastian to continue their calling.

Sanctum 2.0, which has a home at Le Café Curieux, has been reborn.

“We (the OGs) never really jumped in [today’s spoken word scene]. Then recently Aslie called us together, eh nasarapan ulit kami (we felt good). I still haven’t met that guy (Severo) though. Now we’re back, (and I’m) incorporating it as a platform for my advocacies,” said Mr. Sebastian.

If back in the day, Mr. Sebastian and the OGs performed poetry about teenage angst and rants and identity crises, their acts today have become avenues for social connection. His advocacy centers on three Cs: climate change, conflict, and corruption, which are reflected in his current pieces.

Some performances that night at the café were personal but relatable, with topics including body issues and self-esteem. There were also rap songs and comedic pieces tackling social, political, and economic issues.

For Mr. Sebastian and the rest of the spoken word artists, the importance of spoken poetry is its power to transcend, to go beyond rhyme in search of reason. 

“Yung tibok ko may nakakatibok,” said Mr. Sebastian.

He could only wish that people would sometimes “shut the fuck up” when there is a live performance on stage. It’s proper decorum he wants to establish so people can connect eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart.

But the noise doesn’t matter to Ms. Tuason, “because it’s all about the calling — it’s a personal message. Alam mo ’yung feeling na (you know the feeling that) ‘it hit me.’ If the message is for you, then it would reach you. I don’t mind if people do not listen to me because siguro (it may be that) the message is not for you or it’s not your time yet [to hear it].”

But then again, not all open mic gigs are noisy. It depends on the crowd and the place.

“It’s less of commanding attention and more of communicating with the audience, not just through words but through the general vibe in the event. We’ve been blessed with receptive crowds for the most part, but we’ve had our share of uninterested or distracting audiences. In cases like that, we just do our best to establish a connection with at least one person in the crowd and we perform as best as we can,” said Ms. Roxas.

It was past midnight but the energy was nowhere near dying down. Spoken word poetry and the Philippines’ art underground couldn’t be livelier.

“At this point, let spoken word organizations be decentralized kasi iba-iba din ang style and message (because the styles and messages are different),” said Mr. Sebastian. “[But] with the internet and social media as our playground [for sharing the art, I think] sasabog ang spoken word (spoken word will burst out).”

LiteraTOUR

Arts & Leisure

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Posted on April 12, 2016 10:05:00 PM

LiteraTOUR: appreciating the mundane

What do we know about Pandacan? For most people, not much, really.

HISTORIAN Sixto Carlos, Jr. explains the significance of Pandacan in the life of Jacinto Zamora while standing in front of the martyred priest’s statue. -- NICKKY FAUSTINE P. DE GUZMAN

RELATED STORIES National Literature Month Tagalog is jologs and other problems in Philippine literature Visiting Spanish writer Marta Sanz Balagtasan, spoken word, rap, and more Spanish novelist Luisgé Martín to visit Manila

Participants in a tour of the Manila district -- one of the events conducted by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino called LiteraTOUR, which is part of the celebration of National Literature Month -- went on to appreciate Pandacan’s role in Philippine history and literature.

The tour itself was conducted by the Samahang Sining at Kultura ng Pilipinas (SSKPi), headed by historian and former professor Sixto Carlos, Jr. The SSKPi has been offering free walking tours in Pandacan called Lakbay Kamalaysayan since 2010. (Anyone interested in a Pandacan tour can contact the SSKPi viasskpilipinas@gmail.com or through 564-9031.)

Thanks to the partnership between PUP and NCCA -- they signed a memorandum of agreement for a cultural exchange -- the NCCA can tap PUP students for cultural activities in performance or visual arts, while school can open its facilities for accommodations. PUP, which has satellite campuses all over the metro and Laguna, has around 78,000 enrolled students. The main campus in Sta. Mesa alone has over 40,000 students according to PUP university center for culture and the arts director Bely R. Ygot.

So what makes Pandacan important?

First, it was the birthplace of Jacinto Zamora, one of the three martyr priests best known as Gomburza (the other two being Mariano Gómez and José Burgos), whose execution in 1872 on charges of subversion related to the Cavite Mutiny in 1872. Their death served as an inspiration for many of the late 19^th-century Filipino reformists and revolutionaries. José Rizal, for one, dedicated his novel El Filibusterismo to Gomburza.

A larger-than-life statue on Fr. Zamora stands tall in the heart of the district -- unfortunately the riders of the jeepneys which often pass the statue are often unaware of its significance.

SSKPi’s Mr. Carlos also explained how Pandacan played a major role in Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar’s literary career. Often called “the Shakespeare of the Philippines,” the poet wrote the classic work Florante at Laura. In 1830, Balagtas left his hometown in Bulacan and moved to Pandacan. There, he fell in love with Maria Asuncion Rivera. But he had a rival for her hand, a rich man named Mariano Capule. “He made tricks to send Balagtas in prison for two years,” said Mr. Carlos. Eventually Rivera and Capule ended up together while Balagtas, who remained in prison, wrote Florante at Laura.

Pandacan also prides itself for having a public library -- one that actually works and has air-conditioners. Unfortunately, while it is mandated that every barangay have a public library, few cities follow the law. The Kapitan Mendoza public library, which includes textbooks mostly for grade school and high school students, was named after Dra. Paz Mendoza Guazon, the first Filipina medical doctor. She graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1905.

The tour itinerary included stops at Plaza Zamora, Bahay na Tisa, the Ladislao Bonus Marker, the Romualdez Mansion, the Sto. Niño de Pandacan Catholic Church, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente Church and Casa Carlos.

The event was meant to push the growth of the Lakbay Kamalaysayan walking tours in the hopes that participants will find themselves appreciating the seemingly ordinary places we barely know anything about, often pass by and take for granted.

The next Literatour will be held in Bacolor, Pampanga on April 18. -- Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

Summer Activities for Kids

FOCUS

Keeping the kids busy this summer

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By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

It is alarming that kids these days belong to “the most sedentary generation in history.” So said Sam Kass, White House chef and head of US first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program. In the Philippines, child obesity caused by an inactive lifestyle has been increasing since 1998 according to the 2015 National Nutrition Survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

So if fingers are the only things that kids will be moving this summer (because children will be glued to their gadgets while on vacation), it’s time to get them moving and learning — in real life. The good thing is that there are many programs available that will get kids to look up from their screens this summer — from cooking classes to acting workshops.

COOKING CLASSES
If the kids think that their baon (packed lunch) is boring, it is time to pass the chore to them and let them be the chefs of their own meals. Who knows what culinary invention they might come up with?

At the Maya Kitchen’s Magical Adventure, kids and teens can take cooking and baking classes at Maya’s headquarters at the Liberty Bldg., 835 Arnaiz Ave., Makati City.

The classes are as varied and tempting as a box of chocolates; they will have a hard time choosing what to get.

For instance, there’s a theme called “Eat In What You Eat Out,” where children can learn recipes inspired by well-known fastfood joints and restaurants — think fried chicken, buffalo wings, and cold desserts. Classes are offered from April 12 to 15 and May 10 to 13.

It is never too soon to start eating healthy, so kids can learn all about juicing and healthy wraps on April 23.

But then again, kids do have a sweet tooth. To satisfy it, there is a Bars and Cookies class (also on April 23) which lets future pastry chefs get hands-on experience at preparing their own oatmeal raisin cookies, coconut bars, and butterscotch brownies.

The courses range in price from P750 to P8,000 depending on the class. For details visit www.themayakitchen.com .

The Center for Culinary Arts, Manila and its Young Chefs Boot Camp is open to budding culinary enthusiasts seven to 16 years old. The camp, which runs until May 27, aims to hone the cooking skills of participants, encourage them to explore their own kitchen creativity, as well as expand their culinary palates.

They can explore the flavors of the world one country at a time with the “Cooking My Way Through Asia,” with classes on April 18-22 and May 2-6. Meanwhile, a class on “My Ultimate Comfort Food” will be held on April 11-15, and May 16-20. There are also pastry classes and classes on Filipino cuisine.

Offered are basic and semi-advanced hands-on cooking classes, each course consisting of five sessions, from Mondays to Fridays.

Each course costs P8,500. For details call 696-9083 for CCA Podium, and 218-8566 for CCA Manila Katipunan; or e-mailtalktoccamanila@gmail.com or cca-manila.edu.ph/ycbc2016.

ARTS AND CRAFTS
There is more to art than a perfectly curated Instagram feed filled with perfect flat lay posts and filtered photos. This summer, it’s time to get your kid’s hands on making the real thing. Ignite their inner Pablo Picasso or Frida Kahlo at the Gateway Gallery, the museum at the Araneta Center, which offers its second Artsy Summer Workshops on all Saturdays of April. The gallery is located at the 5F Gateway Tower 2, Araneta Center, Quezon City.

Open for children ages six and up, the arts and crafts workshop will have kids creating tote bags, tie-die shirts, and scrapbooks. Kids age eight and above meanwhile can enroll in the beginner’s painting class, which will teach them discipline and acrylic painting techniques.

Classes cost P4,000 inclusive of materials. For details visitgatewaygallery@aranetagroup.com .

PERFORMING ARTS
If Rak of Aegis has yet another re-run in the next 10 years, make sure that your kids would be ready by then. Running until May 27 is PETA’s (Philippine Educational Theater Association) annual summer workshop program for kids and teens who have what it takes to be the next theater superstars.

PETA offers workshops for kids from ages six to 12, which will open up their creativity and imagination; and for teens ages 13 to 16, which aims to focus on different disciplines of theater from writing and visual arts, to dance and music.

But if they want to stay off the stage and hone their production skills instead, there is also a Visual Arts program.

At the end of the summer programs, all students will have a final production to display their improved skills.

Classes cost P8,000 to P11,000 depending on the course. For details call 725-6244, 0905-369-6003, or visit petatheater@gmail.com.

At the Trumpet’s Playshop, kids and teens can choose from different classes that range from dancing and DJ-ing to public speaking and poetry reading, bringing them a step closer to their dreams of becoming the next top VJs, dance masters, and all-around performers.

As befits a respected theater company, Trumpets offers classes where kids can learn the fundamentals of musical theater including improvisation and storytelling.

There are also dance classes where teens can learn how to groove and move from the A-Team, which won at the “Olympics of hip-hop,” the World Hip-Hop Dance Competition in 2014.

From hip-hop, we move to hugot (drawing out deep emotions). Teens and even adults can learn the art of hugot with Juan Miguel Severo, a popular spoken word artist known for his viral video Ang Huling Tula na Isusulat Ko Para Sa’yo. His class, called “Paano Ba Humugot?” will be held on April 23 at Fully Booked BGC.

The other classes will be held at KidzCity at The Podium and SM Aura and Hip Zone in Alabang Town Center.

Enrollment starts at P4,500 depending on the course. For details call 901-4364 and 818-1111 loc 235, or 0917-5864177

DANCE
Hit two birds with one stone — hone a child’s artistic expression and get them physically fit — by enrolling your kid at the Ballet Philippines Dance School and its seven-week intensive training program classes that run until May 22. Offering a variety of classes for kids as young as four years old, the choice includes hip-hop, classical ballet, and modern and contemporary dance, taught by some of the best dancers in the country including Nonoy Froilan, Gina Katigbak-Garcia, and Rhea and Dumdum-Bautista.

In between the dance sessions is a weekly lecture series where students have the chance to interact with artists at the Ballet Philippines dance schools at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and SM Aura Premier in Bonifacio Global City.

Tuition ranges from P16,300 to P19,000 depending on the course. For details call (02) 832-368 or (02) 531-4436.

LEARNING
Just because regular school is over does not mean learning is too. BrainFit Studio Philippines works on children’s self-esteem, penmanship, learning speed, and attention span in a modern and casual setting. The studio, which has branches in Greenhills, BGC, Binondo Manila, and Amoranto, Quezon City, assesses a kid’s capacity and customizes lessons based on their evaluation.

“Each individual has a unique brain profile. We assess each brain’s strengths and weaknesses with a Cognitive Map, an evaluation tool that determines which of a child’s five brain pillars need enhancement,” said BrainFit Studio founder and clinical physiotherapist Cheryl Chia in a statement.

The five “brain pillars” are sensory coordination, attention and memory, auditory and language processing, visual and spatial processing, and social-emotional regulation.

Tuition starts at P7,800 per month for eight sessions. For details call 554-0381 or visit www.brainfitstudio.com.