Xixi Maturan's THIRD WORLD LIVING

Such is in the context of poverty. Not just materially, but spiritually as well. UP TOO CLOSE : Every angle is magnified. Dissected. Trashed, bashed and promptly forgotten. UP TOO PERSONAL : Each fiber is stretched; exploited, hoarded for future misuse and left dried and with only a single [bad] breath. SUCH is the word to describe THIRD WORLD habits that define what is and what is not viable to anyone within its realm. One cannot have a choice, one must concede to the wails of hunger. If only to be part of it and then not for a price, then this pearly islands of corrupt officials and starstruck bastards would have at least some dignity to speak of and then dream about cornucopia. At 59, I have seen a lot.

FANG LA HEY HEY Not A Chinese Resto is a fantasy eatery that only exists in a street in my mind on a city made up of dreams that looks like my fatally-upgrade-ready kitchen. 'FangLa' is derived from a tagalog term for 'devour' which is 'lapang' basically descriptive of a frenzied feeding orgy of hungry mammals among other eternally hungry animals. Flamboyantly adopted like a foundling left at the steps of a church in a southern city by the gay race; it is essentially decoded by vowel reversion to connote several other activities of the mouth. Substituting 'f' for 'p' is merely out of habit. Therefore FANGLA, and now sounds Chinese ; although there just might be a cantonese/mandarin/fookien word that sounds like it which may to them mean 'grab those lonely Southern Sea islands'. With that painstakingly elaborated upon for momentary entertainment of word porn, savour on two box-office hit offerings at FANGLA HEYHEY Not A Chinese Rest...

IF the Philippines were a second or a first world country, it may have never seen the likes of former first child, now first sister KRISTINA BERNADETH COJUANGCO AQUINO for a painful reason: highly developed nations simply do not have the luxury of tolerating pea-brained offsprings of doomsday politicians who wear a hundred and two faces and properly make sure that their distorted view of a better world is to commit suicide instead of dying of a diseased heart in exile.

Of course you read it right. You cannot be wrong. This is intentional and the pun came as an accident. When the 'DAANG MATUWID' was pitched like it was a crispier, chinese-ly prepared chicken parts, I laughed. So hard that my false dentures threatened to let loose and fly into the air but did not. My ridge-less gums [what do you expect I lost all my teeth when I was eighteen!] was graciously swabbed with the popular adhesive [I hope an adman reads this and make me an endorser!]. It wasn't funny .

That is perhaps the lyrical translation of a tyke Nino Muhlach movie, TAHAN NA EMPOY. But then, SHUT UP , EMPOY would be straightforward and totally an attention-grabber. Why Hush, Empoi [yes, Maurice 'Empoi' with an 'i' to give a rather pretentious slant] and who is Empoi? It could only be gayhood that keeps connections to the unconnected relevant and fun.

It does sound like a joke. The label is of a level with which only a creative mind can concoct. But . 'Asia's Hidden Golden Diva' was coined by those who have experienced the artistry of Xixi Maturan. Googable and very much into social media, Xixi's alter-ego Paul H Roquia has in almost 25 years indefatigably built an acumen of sorts that involved the rather 'reluctant' vocal stylist in him , developing a musical brew that would perfectly sit on his tenor-ish tone. XIXI MATURAN is not a real person but rather an intriguing character borne out of the hazy, drugged and ambitious energy residue of an artists' group in the 80s.