Have you been passing by Japanese restaurants lately? In my experience, I often see people eating noodles or sushi or maki or tempura or a Japanese rice meal whenever I pass by a Japanese restaurant in the Alabang area or in BF Homes’ food strip.
The one particular food that is not too commonly spotted being served is the Okonomiyaki.
This is the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki as served by Fukuya Japanese Restaurant in Alabang. Below that fancy looking top are the other ingredients.
In case you are wondering, Okonomiyaki is a pan fried food that is made with batter and a variety of ingredients depending on what its type is. The cabbage is often the main ingredient. Its name is roughly translated as “to one’s liking” or “how you like”. With regards to variety or types of Okonomiyaki, the meal is most popular in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Osaka. The Okonomiyaki’s taste varies depending as to what its type is but for the most part it does not carry the sweetness of pancakes. In fact, the Okonomiyaki has more in common with pizza.
At Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City is Fukuya Japanese Restaurant which serves not one but two types of Okonomiyaki. For this article, I tried their Hiroshima variant of the meal which is pretty flavorful and in their restaurant customers can watch the chef cook it.
The other ingredients of Fukuya’s Hiroshima Okonomiyaki are noodles and vegetables and some pieces of meat in between.
Fukuya’s Okonomiyaki has a nicely decorated top which is edible and below it are the other ingredients mainly cabbage, noodles and some meat pieces in between.
I noticed that it takes some unique skills to cook Okonomiyaki which can be fun to watch at times. While there are some Japanese restaurants that cook the meal in the kitchen for the customers waiting, there are other restaurants that allow customers cook it themselves.
So, have you eaten Okonomiyaki at a Japanese restaurant lately?
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Today I managed to visit a particular new place in the City of Las Piñas which has been getting some attention lately. It is called Las Piñas Cafe and it is located just steps outside of the main building of City Hall.
Las Piñas Cafe from the outside. It was recently inaugurated by the City Government of Las Piñas led by incumbent Mayor Imelda Aguilar.
Currently operating on one floor, Las Piñas Cafe is a canteen which has a large floor space with many tables and chairs (estimated sitting capacity of at least 80 people) kept cool with air-condition units.
Upon entering the front doors, you will find to the left is selection of meals and drinks where customers can line-up and pay for. There is also another spot of snacks (note: junk food) to choose from.
The self-service counter for meals and drinks.A selection of snacks on display.
Out of curiosity I bought a drink and sat at one of the many chairs across the room to drink and watch. In my observation, the place is pretty comfortable. I would not be surprised that very soon, the place will be occupied by more people (notably City Government employees and visitors) seeking comfort and refreshment.
With the summer season approaching, I can easily imagine a lot of people spending time inside the cafeteria to escape the scorching heat.
According to the City Government of Las Piñas, the Las Piñas Cafe actually had its soft opening last year. The formal and full opening happened very recently which was done by Mayor Imelda “Mel” Aguilar together with her daughter (and running-mate for this May’s election) April, Vice Mayor Louie Bustamante, members of the City Council and heads of varied City Government departments.
The construction of Las Piñas Cafe was described to be part of the mayor’s infrastructure development program.
A view from the far end of the cafeteria.
If you have time to visit City Hall, I suggest visiting their comfortable and cool cafeteria.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your project or business, check out my services.
On display at the grounds of Parañaque City Hall was this large solar-powered electric tricycle (e-trike). The irony is that Parañaque itself has no law to legitimize electric vehicles for public transportation.
The love and care for the natural environment is often present in the minds of people who manage the city government. Really nobody wants to live in a city filled with scattered garbage, lots of air pollution and poor drainage.
An extension of the care for the environment is the focus on the use of electric vehicles which generate much less noise and much less air pollution. Here in the Southern portion of Metro Manila, the cities of Muntinlupa and Las Pinas respectively have laws that legitimized the use of electric vehicles for public transportation purposes.
This means that commuters can choose to ride a jeepney or a tricycle that runs on electric power whenever they are available in public. When they do ride an e-vehicle, there is much less noise and air pollution created by their ride. Potentially more e-vehicles replacing those gasoline/diesel-burning vehicles can bring down air pollution and improve the quality of air in the city.
Recently the Department of Energy (DOE) donated 150 electric tricycle units to the City of Muntinlupa and 100 electric tricycle units to the City of Las Pinas (which subsequently turned them over to local tricycle operators).
As for the nearby City of Parañaque……ZERO!
Considering the huge population of Parañaque and the City Government’s strong advocacy of environmental care and city cleanliness under the leadership of incumbent mayor Edwin Olivarez, it is weird that nothing has been done to legitimize the use of e-vehicles for public transportation.
I was at Parañaque City Hall on January 23 and during my visit I checked thoroughly with officials there to verify if there is any existing law (or city ordinance) that would make public transportation with electric vehicles happen.
As it turned out, officials confirmed to me that no such ordinance has been approved until now.
What is even more disturbing, as I kept on digging for answers, was the confirmation that there is not even a draft proposal submitted for legislation!
For as long as no city ordinance has been approved to legalize the use of e-vehicles for public transportation, Parañaque’s streets (including those inside villages) will be occupied by fossil fuel-guzzling jeepneys, buses and tricycles that are not only making the air dirty but also remain noisy and even unsafe and uncomfortable (due to outdated vehicular designs) for commuters to ride.
This also means that no village administrator can just establish and fully operate its own line of electric tricycles within the city. Back in 2016 in BF Homes, the BF Federation of Homeowner Associations, Inc. (BFFHAI) launched its line of electric tricycles with mayor Olivarez and vice mayor Rico Golez as special guests. Because they were in Parañaque (which has a huge jurisdiction of BF Homes subdivision) and there was no ordinance to legalize the use of electric vehicles for public transportation within the city, the BFFHAI’s e-trikes were not accepted by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and they were not fully operated. As such, those electric tricycles got wasted and was limited to being parked at the side of the BF Homes clubhouse along Elsie Gatches street. Because pictures of those parked electric tricycles became public viewed, the federation quietly had them removed.
Until now Parañaque remains behind Muntinlupa and Las Pinas when it comes to using technology to improve public transportation and reducing air and noise pollution at the same time. For the past few years, Muntinlupa has electric jeepneys on public roads and some electric tricycles serving villagers. In Las Pinas, the number of electric tricycles serving local communities is slowly growing which is the result of their City Council and Mayor approving the “E-trike Ordinance” (City Ordinance Number 1536-18, Series of 2018) on May 28, 2018. Back to Parañaque, no legislation means no progressive change will happen.
It is notable that Parañaque lost its edge when it comes to city competitiveness nationwide. According to the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index 2018 released during the 6th Regional Competitiveness Summit, Parañaque ranked only #21. Even provincial cities like Bacolod and Naga are way ahead at numbers 9 and 10 respectively. With these mentioned, Parañaqu
After finding out the truth about the lack of a law for the public transportation use of e-vehicles in Parañaque, I walked out of the building and as I moved on further on City Hall grounds, I saw two electric tricycle units (made by Star 8) on display at an environment-oriented exhibit. I pictured the more elaborate e-trike (the one above).
Wow. Think about that. Electric tricycles on display in a city that does not even allow electric vehicles to be used to serve commuters publicly.
Before I forget, let me state that the City Government was celebrating the 18th anniversary of Republic Act Number 9003which is the national law on ecological solid waste management which itself emphasizes care and responsibility of the environment.
Now when will Parañaque’s officials start working to legitimize e-vehicles for public transportation? If you are a certified city resident who wants to see those fuel-burning public utility vehicles be replaced gradually with e-vehicles, consider taking time out to write letters to the city government officials. Even though there is an upcoming democratic exercise in the form of a local election on May 2019, communicating with your officials is still recommended.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format.
Author Carlo Carrasco 