winter escape

its minus 30 celcius in ulaanbaatar as i write this entry from plus 25 bacolod.  couldnt be more grateful to be in a warmer clime. 

my bosses were kind enough to allow me a month of winter escape because, aside from being concerned that my tropical nose couldnt handle the extreme cold, they surmised that filipinos would always head for home this time of the year whenever possible.

i usually avoid going home for christmas,reserving my  home leaves instead for the hot pinoy summer months when one can lounge by the payag sa baybay (hut by the beach), be lulled to sleep by the sound of the lapping waves and kisses of the gentle sea breeze or simply relish long c’est la vie moments. christmas season spells unbearable traffic, jammed airports,  the most insincere merry christmas greetings from airport people the moment one gets out of the plane. 

the cold in mongolia however was/is easier to deal with than the solitude i learned. so then larga enseguida i did…  

even before the plane took off, my pinoy travelling companions and i had already agreed that that we were going to pig out on longed-for yummies the moment we land in manila. 

two of us did, at max’s - fried lumpia ubod (ubod being the pith of the coconut tree), sinigang bangus belly (milkfish belly sour soup), ampalaya con carne (stir fried bitter gourd with beef tenderloin tips), lechon kawali (pork belly deep fried to crispy crunchiness in a wok). i would have wanted too the fried chicken tails, to dip in max’s signature jufran sweet banana catsup, but by then was almost gagging.  this was about mid afternoon.  met up with another friend for dinner, this time at via mare — callos (cow tripe with chick peas stew), puto bumbong and bibingka (two different kinds of rice cakes). the following day we went buffet in cabalen but had already been trying various pica-picas in between picking up stuff for pasalubong in greenhills.  again… burrrp… major! 

arriving in bacolod on the third day, my mom had on the table langka-monggo-manok bisaya, which is a soupy dish of  raw jackfruit, mung beans and native chicken –  one of my  favorites next to that ubad dish made of ubad (pith of the banana tree),  kadyos (cowpeas) and baboy lido-lido (pork belly boiled long enough to melt-in-the mouth yummyness).   there were too char grilled alumahan ( a type of mackerel) and fried bangus with matching dips of patis-kalamunding (soy sauce and local lemon) and sinamak (coconut vinegar, ginger, garlic, tiny hot hot hot chillies).  these were attacked wih gusto; appetite needed no prodding. 

it has been about two weeks now of hearty eating. aside from those above, savored the prawns steamed or buttered and garlicky, sizzling blue marlin, squid (stuffed, fried, dried, stewed inky black), oysters (blanched and eaten straight up or with a dash of lemon, salt and pepper), diwal (a kind of shellfish), chicken inasal (skewered chicken bacolod style), sate babi with java rice, batchoy (regular, special, super special?), the perennial lechon with paper thin crispy skin and adobo as is or flaked,  ….  

and scrumptious desserts  -  my mom’s buco (young coconut) salad, bob’s napoleones, pendy’s half moon and senorita, banana que found on any street corner (my first ones this time were from the corner beside the children’s museum in old sagay), brazo de mercedes, maiz con hielo, grilled ensaimada with kesong puti (local version of feta cheese), sylvannas, manapla puto with cheese or guava jelly and mayonnaise, chocolate con churros. 

under which category would be the salted fried peanuts with lots of garlic, nagaraya, clover chips and such munchies?  

regular daily fare when not dining out or  on no special occassion would have different variations of laswa (local veggie soup) and tinola,  fish fish fish and fish (sinugba/grilled, fried, in tinola soup, sweet and sour, pinamalhan– - stewed and simmered till dry-ish in garlic, ginger and coco vinegar sometimes with long chilies).  for the kids there’d be carne frita or porkchops. 

in the list still are kinilaw (raw fish marinated in vinegar, coconut milk, julienned or minced ginger, onions and tomatoes, shredded green mangoes and hot chili pepper) , lato (seaweed) salad, more shrimps and crabs, gabi (yam) in gata  (coconut milk) with takway (yam tendrils) and bagongon (a kind of river snail), apan-apan (yam tendrils or morning glory stems cooked adobo style with guinamos/shrimp paste and tiny slivers of pork preferrably with skin and fat), kalkag kalo-kalo (fried rice with tiny dried shrimps), linupak (boiled half ripe plantain banana pounded in pestle and mortar sprinkled with grated coconut and brown sugar), tambo and tugabang (bamboo shoots and saluyot which is a kind of phleghmy leafy vegetable) with or without gata with shrimps or kalampay (crablets).  

i could go on and on, although i’m afraid that simply thinking of these native gustatory delights is already raising my blood pressure and sugar levels.  oh well.. 

uh, winter escape is it? ambrosia more like. its not all about food of course.  the rest will be another blog entry.