At around 12:30pm on April 19, I received a message from our front of house in Darlington. “Kuya, we’re still alive. I have to cut kitchen service by 12:45pm. We’re out of food.” I was in Flemington at the time, in the middle of Filofomo Fest with Kariton Gelato. Vinny and I were talking to […]
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Alonely person
There’s a particular kind of loneliness in building something that later gets retold without you. Not erased aggressively. Not denied outright. Just… simplified. The story becomes cleaner that way. Easier to carry. One person, one struggle, one triumph. The rough edges are smoothed out, the shared weight redistributed, until what was once held by many […]
Jejemons
A few weeks ago, we posted a video from one of our culture days for the cafe. People were dancing. Budots came on. Someone laughed too loudly. A group started moving in sync without really planning it. It was messy, joyful, a little chaotic. The kind of energy that doesn’t try to be cool. Then […]
Reflection on Bondi Tragedy
A few days after the Bondi Beach shooting on December 14, 2025, I found myself in a quiet conversation with a Filipino friend here in Sydney. He was recounting how his Australian friends reacted to the news. How unsettled they were. How they kept refreshing the headlines, checking in with each other, holding their breaths […]
Bridges and Walls
Last weekend, we attended the graduation of a young nephew here in Australia. A quiet milestone marked by ramen bowls and talk about life after school. No elaborate photo shoots, no loud celebrations, just a table, warm food, and a boy with no fear in his eyes. He knew, deep down, that whatever he chose […]
Oh, btw, we opened a cafe in Sydney
Surprise. We opened Taguan Sydney last year, 2024, in a small 12-seater on a quiet corner of Redfern. There was no grand opening. No streamers. No influencers or media lists. We barely announced it, really. Just quiet posts here, a soft launch there. No drama. Just coffee and food. That’s always been our way really. […]
Reflecting on Revolution: Memory, Revision, and the Power of the People
I wasn’t alive when the 1986 People Power Revolution happened. Everything I know about those four days in February comes from history books, stories, documentaries, and the recollections of others. Yet, one undeniable fact shines through all those accounts: millions of ordinary Filipinos came together to end a tyranny. They flooded EDSA with prayers and […]
Cost of Unpaid Debts
There’s a strange weight when someone owes you something. It’s not just the financial loss, but the emotional toll of being taken for granted. Over time, I’ve dealt with people owing me money—some sums large, some small—but what’s always bothered me most is the lack of acknowledgment. The silence, the absence of apology, it all […]
Legally bound, just because we can
There wasn’t even a handshake. Just a room in a library, where Vinny and I sat in front of an authorized officer and confirmed what we already knew: that we were each other’s person. That we’d built a life together, and wanted the law to see it too. It didn’t feel like a milestone at […]
If I Die Today, Who Will I Be?
525,600 minutes, Rent measured and sang that. That’s how a year passes – just like that. One morning you’re laughing with someone, and by nightfall, they’re no longer there. The past few years have blurred like that. Time moved forward, but it didn’t feel like growth, not really. It felt like shedding. Losing. Watching thinks […]