Posts by: Rica Espiritu

I remember cooking this the first time to try it out. It wasn’t at my place – it was at my friend, Frances’s place. We both wanted to try something different but at that time I was in college and I couldn’t afford to buy shrimps. So I told my friend to buy the shrimps and I’ll bring the ingredients. Since I’m...

If my life was a book, it would be a cookbook entitled: A Filipino Fiesta [feast] of  Food, Friends & Family. On the right page would be each recipe, with doodles and drawings on the side and on the left page – a story. It can be a story of how that recipe came about, memories that food brings or a totally unrelated...

I am not a foodie – although I do love eating. I love trying out new food, new recipes and new ways of doing old dishes. The reason why I decided to write about food, cooking and recipes is so that when my son decides to have a family of his own, he can have a list of the food that he loved as a child, tuck away...

[quiet knock on the door] “Mama, I need your help,” my son whispered. I opened the door to see him wearing my bra. He was turning red with every minute that passed. “I can’t unhook your bra.” “WHY? ARE YOU WEARING MY BRA?!” I asked, half angry, half amused. “I wanted to see how it feels. I don’t understand how you guys...

I don’t like receiving flowers. I love looking at them and taking pictures of them. But I get frustrated when I receive them, knowing that in a few days they’ll wilt and die. So I would often tell my lovers, don’t give me flowers because I don’t want our relationship to last a week. That is why I don’t get flowers –...

I had to do this in an hour and a half. The senate  blue ribbon committee hearing was almost done and ManilaSpeak needed a caricature of Ruby, summarising her testimony. Yes, she may be the first witness who ever handed money directly to a senator, the question is, is her testimony enough? Will know as the events...

The older we get, the more we hang on to what was or what used to be. I noticed that only the older people and parents insist on spending Sundays with family. Here you find parents hovering around kids who spend the afternoons watching movies, playing computer/tv games and napping. Kids would always want to do...

“Life is like an ocean.  It can be calm and serene or rough and wild, but in the end it’s always beautiful to those willing to ride the waves.” Each day I make it a point to forget the stress and remember how blessed I am. I’m blessed to have a family I can truly call my own. I am blessed to have a home that I can always...

When Sr. Mary Thomas Prado, OSB, the current president of St. Scho said that the school was our second home, she wasn’t kidding. I loved my school not just because of my classmates but because of the sense of security it gave me. I loved going to school at 6:30am, walking through the empty hallways watching the morning...

We spend most of our days working. We talk to people without really communicating. “Do this, do that, what’s the status on, have you seen the news, how’s the weather, this is the plan, boss says, wife says, hubby says, son says”.. No wonder people say we don’t stop to smell the flowers – that is, to stop and look at...

I dreaded having a teenager in the house. Those eyes that roll with each interjection, automatic objections, daily complaints – and that’s just coming from me. Before, morning kisses would go, “I love you too, take care!” Now it’s, “Ouch, please shave.” I’d pause and  raise my voice slightly, “Now!” Tomorrow,...

When I was 23 years old, I met a 20-year-old mother washing clothes outside her house who I thought was older than me. Way older. She looked like she was 30 years old. She had THREE children and was married. She asked me if I had a problem because I’ve been in a relationship for 3 years and I wasn’t pregnant. I said no....

For some people it is a corner in a dimly lit Starbucks cafe and for others it is a bench in a park. These are public places where you can find some private time. Places where despite the foot traffic, you can find peaceful moments where you can lose yourself in a book, in thought or through your gadget without the...

ManilaSpeak.com is the first All-Opinion website in the Philippines. Here are a handful of illustrations I’ve done.

Did you create a great Monday or are you just letting Monday happen?