food and fireworks

While I was in the Philippines, they had the 3rd World Pyro Olympics, a fireworks competition between different countries. They would have two countries compete each Saturday for a number of Saturdays, but they kept moving the dates later and later. We did manage to catch it on May 3, 2008. I believe the two countries competing then were China and Germany.

We couldn't get tickets and they weren't really letting people through to the Mall of Asia. Between fireworks though, we did go into the Mall and ate at the Chinese restaurants. Some of the restaurants were upping their prices for front row seats, but this restaurant just had their regular prices. And we still had front row seats.

This was dinner: crispy duck, siomai, mixed green vegetables, tofu & black mushroom hot pot.




Here are the fireworks:

inyo

Inyo Fusion Cuisine, Quezon City. May 8, 2008.

On my last day in the Philippines, we decided to have lunch at Inyo. The restaurant is in a transformed mid-20th century house and is a hidden treat. The food was delicious and reasonably-priced.

Crab Cake Two Ways

Broiled Coconut Lime Chicken

Chargrilled Tiger Prawns

Mesquite Smoked Duck Breast

While we would have loved to try the desserts, we were too full. And we still had two birthday cakes at home. Maybe next time...

bistro filipino

Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino, Taguig, birthday dinner 2008.

On my birthday, we decided to have dinner at Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino. I had read quite a bit about this chef, so I figured it would be good. The restaurant is in the recently-developed Taguig area, but far from the Market! Market area.

The restaurant is quite nice. The architecture is great with lots of native elements. We were seated in the center area which was closed off by native blinds.

entrance, chandelier


center dining area, women's restroom




We tried an assortment of food, but I'd have to say this restaurant is a bit overrated. Some of the food was good (e.g., lamb), but a lot left a lot to be desired.

appetizers: sisig?, ubod spring roll?


meat entrees: lamb shank kaldereta, lechon kawali


seafood entrees: paella-stuffed squid, prawns laing




desserts: ?, maja blanca cheesecake (bday cake), banana-cue & langka





We still enjoyed the dinner though. The chef personally delivered my birthday maja blanca cheesecake and sang with the waiters. My aunt and cousins thought he was cute.

merienda

May 5, 2008

suman & mango, palitao, ginataang halo-halo, ube ice cream

california dreamings

As it's going to take me a while to finish writing about my trip to the Philippines and it would be too confusing to intersperse entries about more current events with that trip, I have created a new blog: california dreamings. (I know, I know, one more blog to read...) There's not much on it right now (I just started it, and I'm already behind there, too), but you can check it out.

ifugao grandma

When we were at Batad, we dealt with young people at the inn--they must have been the kids of the owners. We didn't see the owners, but we did see their grandmother (or maybe it's their great grandmother). She was this old, bent, industrious woman who was always sweeping the yard. We saw her sweeping when we first got there. And we saw her at it again the day after we toured the village.

That day (April 6), we saw her sitting outside their house (next to the inn), half-naked. My companion went over and tried to talk to her even though they didn't speak the same language. I believe they talked about her tattoos. While Ifugao male elders tend to have tattoos marking their bravery, the women's tattoos were actually beauty marks. These tattoos are symbolic (e.g., a stalk or sheaf of rice), too, and the more a woman had, the more she was considered beautiful.

Here are pictures of the grandma tying together what looks like rice stalks, and another of her using it to sweep the floor. As you can see in the second picture, she is bent from the waist. That's actually not just because she's sweeping; she really is bent at the waist and walks almost with her face to the ground. And she's not the only old person that we saw who's bent like that. I guess the rice planting (or something) makes them have that posture.

Later on, I joined them. I told the grandma I wanted to take her picture, and I believe she was saying that she looked messy because she started to try and fix her hair. You can see her tattoos quite clearly in this picture. You can also see her wearing a good luck necklace. A necklace with just one of those pendants is already considered a good luck necklace, so her necklace must be even luckier as she has three of those pendants.

Later that afternoon, we saw her cleaning again. Probably not wanting to be ambushed again by picture-taking tourists like us, she had combed her hair, put on a headband, and put on a top and cardigan.

batad aftermath

The day after the tour of Batad (on April 5), we did not do anything. That was part of the plan anyway, but after the tiring day of touring, we couldn't have done anything even if we wanted to. We had breakfast at a neighboring inn, and even that was a chore as we had to go up and down some high steps to get there. Needless to say, we ate at our inn the rest of the day. That day, we played cards and Boggle, slept, and people watched.