lunch with an author

After discussing business with Mrs. Jose, she asked if I wanted to meet her husband. Who could say no to that? We went to his office, where I could see a typewriter and shelves of books. I wasn't exactly sure how one acts around a literary giant, but Mr. Jose is, I believe, used to the attention and he went ahead and did the talking.

After a few minutes, they said that we were going to lunch. We went to Kashmir, the Indian restaurant next door. (I believe it's the oldest Indian restaurant in the city, and the Joses highly recommended it.) Mr. Jose did all the ordering, but it turned out that he couldn't really eat any of it (he only ate some soup). I can't really remember all the names of the food we ate but, among others, we had samosas, bread, rice, and tandoori chicken. Here are some pictures:

I'm usually rather wary when it comes to Indian food--it's either really good or really bad. And I certainly would never think of having Indian food in the Philippines, but it was actually good.

While we were eating, Mr. Jose regaled us with stories of all sorts. He talked about growing up poor and coming to Manila and working as a cargador (porter) at the docks. He asked me to touch his hands to show that it is now super soft when it used to be really calloused from the hard labor he used to do. His story proves his point that "The poor are not poor because they are poor. They are poor because they are lazy." (That's the one quote that I remembered from that day.)

Here is a picture of Mr. Jose. Sorry for the fuzzy quality.

Mr. Jose also talked about old Manila, of which Ermita used to be a central part, and the changes they've seen. He also mentioned some of the writers who used to hang out at his shop. He talked politics, and so on.

Mr. Jose sure had a lot of stories to tell. He has opinions and is not afraid to voice them. I just felt privileged to hear them. It's always interesting to hear the stories of older people (Mr. Jose is in his 80s), but there is somehow a little awe mixed in knowing that this is someone who is famous and known for his storytelling.