Earth day with a plus

I just came from an Earth Day celebration at the still un-opened Persimmon Plus in Mabolo. Glocel invited me to go there to see some nice products on their small tiangge (market).

I was quite lost. But when she told me Persimmon was the former Cuaco building where the original Kahayag and Handuraw restos were located before, I already had in mind where it was.

But still I was really lost, thanks to the helpful residents on that area who pointed out the location, that place is now very different from its former environment.

The Persimmon is actually a cluster of residential buildings (condos, I think, and construction still ongoing) and the nearby Persimmon Plus is a necessary addition where small shops would soon be opened to the public. The urban Persimmon has a class of its own.

It was in that area where small entrepreneurs who supported earth day activities converged and sold their merchandise.

Ms Becky Smith and her Handuraw pizza were there. The Fish Project guys who traded their delicious fruit salad, halo-halo and brazo ala mode also were fun to see preparing their stuff. The Fair Trade group also displayed various products from their affiliates. Ms Eleanor Rivera from San Gimignano Wellness Farm (is that in Lahug) (telephone 032.316.3464) also brought with her her trademark organic farm products. A massage from trained PWDs was also available.

If you're into hand-painted shirts, there are available designs that are cool eye-candies and  being manned by Bob Marley wannabes.

Gilda accompanied me in my explorations of the place. There is not much to see but soon this area would be the talk of the town. Worth a visit was the Happy Rooster Home Furnishing Store. You would surely be awed by some of their products on display which were made locally. Gilda purchased a ceramic tray and a bundle of cute stationeries and envelopes.

We took our dinner at Benjo’s, also a resto participating in that tiangge. The server said their resto is actually located in Talamban area. My order of kalderetang kambing was delicious I would not trade them for lamb chops in some restos in Cebu. They were generous with their spices and vegetables so that the big chunks compete with the meat. I actually muddled the sauce up with my hill-like rice.

For dessert, I gobbled up with so much gusto the brazo ala mode made by one of the staff of Fish Project. It was actually a brazo de Mercedes with vanilla ice-cream in the middle. Those caramelized drops of sugar on top of the brazo were like gems waiting to be picked, no, make it forked and eaten. You can order thru Astrid and Joy (telephone 0916.302.9543), the couple who made them.

It was a great day to celebrate Earth Day.

(The tiangge is open from 10am to 10pm starting April 22 and will end on April 25, 2010.)