Rough Groove

Cebu last week…, 1

I’m already back in Makati and looking back at some of my activities at Cebu last week:

Dodong, Gerard, Jerome, Rodney, Louie (I’m above him), Popoy, Johnny and Poking.

Matias a.k.a. Johnny Tabasa, III birthday
It was a reunion of sorts, albeit, few, but it has been quite sometime that my classmates, close friends in highschool batch ‘91 in Don Bosco Technical High School (now Don Bosco Technology Center) in Punta Princesa met during Johnny’s birthday, Saturday, 29 October. Over bottles of beer, pulutan (bar chow) of kaldereta (goat stew), lechon (roast pig), balbacua (pork knuckles stew?) and chocolate cake, we talked about the fun times, asking the whereabouts of our classmates, and just reminiscing old times. But in the company of married men, talk just drifted to their family problems and wives. Well, maybe its always like that?

Anet chat
Last Wednesday, when I arrived at home from SM, my brothers and cousins were congregating at the computer. Apparently, my cousin Janet (her nick’s Anet) who is a nurse in Kent, UK, was online and they were chatting via Yahoo messenger via webcam. She’s infanticipating her second child.

Food, food, food
Friday and I requested my mother for crabs, shells and sinugbang baboy (grilled pork) as I really missed this. So, just before I left home for the airport, I was voraciously consuming these homecooked meals.

Blue crabs are my favorite compared to the alimango (mud crabs). Their tastier but can only be found in deeper waters compared to their coastline cousins. While these are not too fat and quite small in size, their still delicious.

Aninikad (its a kind of shell), to eat this one, a skewer is used to get at the flesh. Another yummy dish.

Sinugbang baboy, when properly marinated, and grilled over hotcoals, it just fills the stomach and senses.

Fresh lumpia, except for this one, I ate this during the 1st of November. Cooked vegetables, heart of palm and meat wrapped with a soft tortilla and then doused with garlic sauce. I especially like the lumpia of Cebu since it uses this kind of sauce compared to those in Manila where peanut sauce is used instead.

Food at the cemetery

Of course, in any celebration, even in the cemetery is never complete without food.

Empanada, this delicious food is a mixture of meat, raisins, egg, diced vegetables and sometimes diced cheese, and stuffed into a flour mixture then fried. While there are different kinds, including that of the Ilocos, what is important is that its a pastry filled with vegetable/meat. Notice the boundaries along the empanada, traditionaly, it is sealed manually by pressing and folding the edges together but now, they use a kitchen utensil that is advertised on TV. But it is still delicious

Budbud, this sticky rice concoction is wrapped in banana leaves. Its a great snack dipped in sugar.

And of course, bam-i, this noodle dish is a mixture of pancit canton (egg noodles) and rice noodles sauteed with vegetable, chinese longganisa (sausage), meat and vegetables. Adding a dash of black/white pepper heigtens the flavor and is perfect as a filling of sliced bread.

All these downed with Sprite. Yummy!

Related posts:
Mass exodus
Adlaw sa mga Patay (All souls day)
Vendors at the cemetery
Palina
1st of November in Calamba public cemetery
At Talisay City cemetery

North Cebu roadtrip

After having been told by benjieordoñez of flickr yesterday regarding the location of the old lighthouse in Lilo-an, I woke up at around 0515H this morning, prepared my things and left 0600H. The original plan was to take shots of the old lighthouse and go north to Danao City for that old and beautiful church. But since I was already there, I decided to continue with my journey: check out the churches of Carmen (the Spanish era church was demolished and replaced by a modern building), Catmon, Sogod and up to Bogo. However, I came up at a sign telling me the direction to Tabogon, and, why not (?), I detoured.

The road was rough and I wasn’t able to see an old church. I continued with my trip and didn’t realized that I was heading back south only to find out that I was already in Borbon. I checked my gauge and thought that I can still make it to Bogo (30KM away) but a few kilometers after, the gas seemed to be running out that I decided to go back my way. Besides, the weather was not good and church hopping should be rescheduled. On the way back, I visited the churches of Compostela and Liloan.

This trip would have been good if the weather was fine and, gasoline was cheap. Just imagine, I spent already around P800 for a few liters of unleaded gas but I just arrived home with a few kilometers left!

A beautiful sight at Bagacay Point in Liloan where this lighthouse, built in 1904 stands gracefully. I have often seen this one many times and its only now that I was able to go close. Unfortunately, the caretaker was not around and I wasn’t able to climb up.

Reaching this place might be confusing but what one should remember is that the sideroad (asphalted) leading to this place is only less than a kilometer from the main highway when one turns right infront of the church and afte the bridge where many townsfolk take a bath. Near this place, a high-end subdivision (Amara) is being developed.

A couple of meters infront of the church of Danao City is a port where huge motorized boats from Camotes dock and board passengers. I’ve tried riding these boats once a few years ago and its an experience especially if the waters are rough.

In Catmon, after taking photos of the church up on a hill, passed by this newly burned down area just along the highway. Families were back to sift through the burnt area for things that they may recover.

The mangroves of Borbon just near the main road bisecting the sea, forming a lagoon.

It was already almost 1300H that I passed by this place, the famous Titay’s. Here travellers usually stop to buy their bread and biscuits including the rosquillos, a sweet biscuit, flowerlike with a hole in the middle. When we were still children, my mother would buy this. For our evening snack, my sister and me would prepare Ovaltine, a choco drink, get a few pieces of rosquillos, submerge in the drink and wait for these to soften. A treat

When one visits Titay’s, their meat roll (P25 each) is a must. Hot buns filled with pork with a slice of egg. Its really very delicious. I was able to consume two of these.

And I though budbud kabog can only be found in Dumaguete and in the Legazpi Village Sunday market(check the link) in Makati, but I was wrong. In the highway in Borbon, just near the church and a few meters to the north, several vendors are waving at cars holding these sticky rice delicacy. Its smaller than those sold at San Lorenzo but the same size as those in Dumaguete. One can buy these for P20 per pack of 5 or 3 packs for P50. I bought 6. And its really delicious.

Ilocos sojourn: Delicacies and pasalubongs

A mention of Ilocos and images of Paoay, Marcos, Pagudpud are conjured. But don’t forget the food: bagnet, pinakbet, papaitan and those fit for pasalubong (gifts that one brings to friends and family when one comes back home) like chichacorn, longganisa (native sausages), bibingka (rice cakes) and other sweets.

Ever since I’ve tasted this Laoag longganisa, I have always made it a point to eat one or two whenever I’m in Laoag. It was love at first bite! What with the spicy and garlicky flavor that is so unlike those I have eaten in most parts of the country that is somewhat sweet. Here, one can get it at the market (as posted in the photo above which was taken in the stall at the third floor of the public market) or at streetside eateries being cooked over hot coals. The saltiness is just alright and with less fat compared to the rest. As for the Vigan longganisa, I first tasted it in Sagada, Mt. Province but when I’ll come back to Vigan sometime next month, I will definitely try it again.

Empanada is, like the longganisa is obiquitous in most foodstalls around the city of Laoag and Vigan. These two cities, while they have the same shape and color (that from Vigan is paler compared to Laoag), its the stuffing inside that differs:

- Laoag empanada have for its filling mung beans, longganisa Laoag and egg
-Vigan empanada have for its filling cabbage, longganisa Vigan and egg

Of the two, I find those from the former to be filling and somewhat heavy but both are tasty. A visit to these two cities is never complete without partaking in this delectable streetfood.

Royal bibingka of Vigan is somewhat different from the usual rice cakes that I have tasted in Manila (like in Cafe Via Mare), Laguna (near the Southwoods exit , and anywhere else in the country including my home province in Cebu. Its texture is akin to a cassava cake. Compared to the one I’ve tasted near the Southwoods exit along SLEX in Laguna, I prefer the latter.

Chichacorn, chicharon (pork rind that is fried to a crisp) conjoined with corn to denote, what else, crispy fried corn kernels in different flavors. My officemates very much like these in different flavors: barbecue, cheese, plain salted and garlic. Its a popular pulutan (bar chow) or just as a pica-pica food.

When I get back to Vigan, I would want to taste their: okoy (shrimps in batter fried to a crisp, special tupik (a sticky rice, sugar concoction) that is placed inside bamboo tubes just like the dudul or durol of Sulu, kalamay (sticky rice and sugar with, I guess, coconut milk) and other Ilocano delicacies.

Related post:
A brief sojourn to Ilocos
Ilocos sojourn: La Preciosa

Ilocos sojourn: La Preciosa

We would have gone to Planet Ilocos but did not find it. Instead we went to La Preciosa Restaurant (+63 77 7731162) for those original Ilokano cuisine. The place has already transferred to its new location along Rizal St., in a converted 1950s house and has been featured in the national dailies for its great food and one of the most go to places when in Laoag City. Other than Ilokano, it also serves Filipino, American, Japanese and Spanish cuisine.

The signage near the entrance.

The spacious restaurant with its homey feel.

Bagnet or crispy fried pork was just delectable.

I’m not so fond of pinakbet but their’s is great that I just have to eat it.

Bagoong (fermented small shrimps) rice was unexpected but delicious.

The new location of the restaurant, a 1950s house.

Related post:
A brief sojourn to Ilocos
Ilocos sojourn: Bangui windfarm
Ilocos sojourn: Delicacies and pasalubongs