Mental wanderings

Two years ago, I watched Cherie Gil in the play Doubt; she portrayed Sister Aloysius, the nun who confronts Father Brendan on suspicion of child abuse. The new movie of the play by John Patrick Shanley casts Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan. The movie has already received a groundswell of critical acclaim, both actors were nominated by the Golden Globes a couple of days ago (fellow cast members, Amy Adams and Viola Davis, were also nominated). It is quite possible that Ms. Streep will be nominated again for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, and that will push her list of nominations to 15 nominations (she's won it twice).

My childhood classmate John is probably the biggest fan of Meryl Streep. Along with his continued love of the Ms. Universe pageants, he can list every single movie Meryl has been in, what movies she has been nominated for, and her total fabulousness. I don't know if he has some form of Meryl Streep altar or worse, but every time another Meryl Streep movie is released I know he's over the moon. I am sure that 2008 will be a notable year for him and other Streep followers, what with the release of Mamma Mia earlier this year.

As kids, John and I were already into food. Our favorite place to go was a japanese restaurant (Kamameshi) near our school that served oyster rice. They'd cook steamed rice mixed with oysters (or any other seafood or meat) along with vegatables in a special steamer contraption. I used to tell him to go with his mom to a Binondo oyster dive my dad used to bring me and my family. The specialties of the house were oyster cake (eggs, green onions, bean sprouts, and as many oysters as possible, fried up and plated), and oyster soup, this thick stew, gluey at times (too much corn starch I suppose), but rich with the briney flavors of the oyster. I don't know of anyplace that still serves the oyster soup, but Mann Hann, a small chain that serves Taiwanese style chinese food in several malls does serve oyster cake. I also chanced upon a stall at the Legazpi Market on Sundays that serves a very good oyster cake for P180, full of plump oysters and perfect with a cup of rice. The stall owners take a few minutes to prepare the fresh oysters, and cook the omelette to order. It's not the kind of dish that lasts beyond an hour after cooking, eat it hot and fresh.