While local titles such as 

Darna, Captain Barbell and Lastikman were eagerly followed,

Ericsson wanted to amass a collection of American comics, especially those
featuring Superman, Spiderman and The Avengers. Nonetheless, the Valhalla
Club’s einheriar — politicians, diplomats, and the taipans who were members of Ericsson’s
group, were present, entertained by the valkyries, whose charms they could not resist
despite noticing that all their fingernails seemed to be gone. In the same manner, the
Panciteria Valhalla, which operated inside the house of the Chua couple, became successful,
with Manilenos quickly falling in love with the eatery’s special mami, miki and lomi. Ranging
from medallions of boar with foie gras to exotic boar curries, the dishes were served by
the valkyries, who also took care to refill each customer’s drinking horn while providing an
attentive ear to the lonely einheriar. Others even said that the valkyries were aetas that
took an entirely different form inside the club because of drugs or witchcraft. Families and
the intrigues of the business and political worlds were forgotten, the einheriar were
drinking mead and eating boar, and quite a few were leading their valkyries into the private
corner rooms. To celebrate the birth of his son, Ericsson’s father served free bowls
of mami to the panciteria’s customers that day. The usually smooth skin of
the valkyries seemed to feel a little damp and irregular, and as their eyes adjusted to the
darkness, the einheriar saw that they were actually embracing corpses with their skins
peeled off. Foreign dignitaries and Ericsson Chua’s friends from the group — who by now
had begun running their respective family corporations were also present at the event,
where they were all named einheriar for the first time by the beautiful, blue eyed valkyries.
While the einheriar lost themselves in the company of the valkyries, Ericsson Chua was
usually in his office. It fact, it would seem that conversations with valkyries were carried
over from one visit to the next, as each new valkyrie seemed to know everything about
their einheriar, who also found solace in the seemingly limitless mead and boar dishes
offered at the Valhalla Club. For the Club’s Muslim einheriarsuch as Arab
dignitaries, halal mutton was used instead, although those who had tried both said that
dishes prepared with boar seemed to unlock more hidden senses. There were rumors that
he had left the country to go back to the United States, while some said that he had begun
to work in a siopao factory in Malabon, where he butchered stray cats for the factory’s
special bola-bola pao. The customer would then be approached by one of the slender, blue-
eyed valkyries who with a whisper of “Welcome einheri,” would lead him to his table. Even
President Marcos was said to have been a customer, occasionally stopping by to savor
Valhalla’s version of pinakbet with a side dish of bihon. Already unusually cold that night,
the temperature inside the club became freezing, and the einheriar could only snuggle
against the valkyriesfor warmth. One of the first changes that Ericsson Chua instituted was
to keep the panciteria open for twenty-four hours. The Panciteria Valhalla’s success
ensured that when Ericsson Chua arrived from Indiana to work as the panciteria’s assistant
manager, he had no difficulty reestablishing contact with the other members of the group,
who had remained loyal patrons during his absence.