| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Black Friday feuds-and-food revue of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. I know the Anna Karenina opener has been overplayed but here goes: Happy families are all alike, unhappy families are unhappy in their own way.
And then there are the flighty and feudal Filipino political clans. The Philippines has had more than its share of dynastic convulsions and convolutions. The Marcos family dominated the country from 1966 to 1983, first democratically and then autocratically. They were displaced by the Aquinos, who produced two presidents. First, the widow of a politician allegedly assassinated on orders of Ferdinand Marcos. Later, her son was elected. He feuded with his predecessor, who belonged to the Macapagal-Arroyo family (his government put her under arrest). The Marcoses came back big time in 2022 when Ferdinand Jr. (popularly known as Bongbong) retook the office his late father had been forced out of by a popular uprising. His ally — and vice-president — was Sara Duterte, the daughter of the previous president, Rodrigo Duterte, who was infamous for trying to bring down crime by shooting first and asking questions later. It was a dynastic alliance that united two families of questionable virtue and produced a populist landslide. Well, that alliance is over. It had been fraying for months as the Dutertes simmered over being sidelined from real power. Last week, however, a bombastic video by vice-president Duterte put the nail in its coffin — so to speak. Alleging that her own life was under threat, Duterte said, "Don't worry about my security because I've already talked to someone. I told him, if I get killed, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke … I've already made arrangements ..." The initials belong to Bongbong Marcos, Araneta is the First Lady (a member of another clan) and Romualdez is his cousin, the speaker of the house. Duterte has tried to walk back her fever dream explosion of paranoia. That hasn't lowered the political temperature, however. Allegations and threats of investigations — both criminal and legislative — abound. Ruth Pollard says the government cannot afford to be preoccupied with clans bashing each other at this point. "All this domestic drama will be troubling the Philippines' allies — particularly the US, Japan and Australia — which have been steadfast in their support for Marcos Jr.'s policy of pushing back against China's hostile actions in the South China Sea, where more than $3 trillion in goods pass through every year." Bongbong, she writes, "needs to get his house in order." To that end, Marcos has asked Philippine legislators not to waste time trying impeach the vice-president. Other countries have once charismatic dynasties turn into drags on politics (think the Gandhis, the Bhuttos, the Perons, the Kennedys). In her latest column, Karishma Vaswani talks about the challenge of undoing the hold that established families have on Indonesia. But I have a personal stake in this. I was born in the Philippines and lived the first 20 years of my life there. Everyone there has a dynastic affiliation, even if one isn't related to the clans by blood. It can be geographical (the same province or city). It can be by employment, attendance at the same schools or running in the same social circles. I am a peripheral member of a middling dynasty. My uncle was once speaker of the house; his wife — my mother's sister — ran a newspaper allied with Corazon Aquino, who overthrew the elder Marcos and restored democracy; their daughter is the mayor of Quezon City, the most populous division of the megalopolis called Metropolitan Manila. When the big clans clash, the smaller ones either run for cover or reassess their allegiances. It's that kind of time in the Philippines. I'm glad I live far away. But I worry about my kin. "Elon Musk's meteoric rise to the top of US politics as efficiency czar is generating high anxiety in Europe … Musk's $210 billion firm SpaceX is uniquely powerful, even more so than his tweets. Its reusable rockets have essentially monopolized a commercial launch market once led by Europe. Its 6,000 Starlink satellites offering high-speed internet from anywhere have changed the course of war in Ukraine's drone-heavy battlefield. … Musk's space successes have also been helped by European failures to adapt and compete." — Lionel Laurent in "Musk's New Political Power Is Making Starlink Rivals Nervous." Luckin is bad luck for Starbucks. — Shuli Ren Donald Trump's Cultural Revolution. — Minxin Pei That great big British money pit. — Matthew Brooker Will Britain legalize assisted dying? — Martin Ivens TSMC's a silicon shield and not just for Taiwan. — Catherine Thorbecke Winter is coming for the euro. — Marcus Ashworth I'm in Japan this week and was trying to figure out what to explore when David Carter contacted me. He owns several restaurants in London, including Manteca in Shoreditch, which specializes in pasta and grilled meats, and the newly opened Agora, a Greek Taverna in Borough Market. He was in Tokyo too and off to the "Disney World for chefs" to stock up on a specific size of metal tray he can't source from anywhere else. That would be Kappabashi Street in Asakusa, a district of more than 120 shops that is the kitchen equipment arsenal for the city's estimated 160,000 restaurants. In the last few years, cooks from outside Japan have flocked to it too, making it a kind of mecca for the global cooking industry.  David Carter on his quest for the perfect tray. Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg In store after store, you can find anything: frying pans and hibachis, baking trays, utensils, various hues and textures for cake decoration, multiple outlets with beautiful ranges of knives, innumerable designs of chopsticks, a large store devoted to disposable utensils and takeout containers, and that fabulous little shop with displays of the handmade fake foods that are displayed with so much kitschy verve in Japanese restaurants everywhere. Kappabashi has everything a kitchen needs except food — unless you're after industrial-size quantities of condiments like Kewpie mayonnaise. There are equivalents in Akihabara for electronics, manga and anime-based toys; and Toyosu, the wholesale seafood market (successor to the historic Tsukiji market, which is still a tourist attraction).  Fake fish, anyone? Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg Carter scoured several stores for trays small and shallow enough to be sent out as serving platters for the wood-smoked brisket at his American-style barbecue joint Smokestak. They're sturdy, but at the rate his restaurant puts them through the wash, they wear out fast. He was after 100. He was also looking for knives as gifts for the chefs at his eateries. When I left him, he was hunkered down at a counter at Kama-Asa Shoten, which was established in 1908. The table tops at its Kappabashi shop can double as chopping boards.  Choose your culinary weapons. Photograph by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg I got a note from Carter on the results of his Kappabashi binge: "Final haul, 72 trays, 15 knives" plus sundry containers. There's so much gadgetry and gear on Kappabashi Street it almost makes me want to learn to cook again. And then I remember how bad I am in the kitchen. I'll continue to dine out — and will check in at Carter's restaurants to see how things are sliced. A little post-prandial carnage for you.  "You can't still be hungry! Do I even look like a turkey?" Illustration by Howard Chua-Eoan/Bloomberg Notes: Please send gustatory reflections and feedback to Howard Chua-Eoan at hchuaeoan@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook. | 
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