Laksa Good

My first taste of the Singaporean laksa was at Jurong Bird Park. When we came in it was about lunch time so we went directly to the Hawk Cafe.

I was intrigued by the laksa on the menu so I ordered one. Good choice! Leni, our host and guide, made a thumbs up sign.

Laksa is a spicy noodle soup popular in Malaysia and Singapore and its origin can be traced back to the Chinese and Malays combining noodles and Asian spices. It has two varieties, the coconut milk-based and the tamarind-based. I usually go for the coconut-based varieties.

Since my first spoonful, laksa became my favorite Singaporean dish so that wherever I went during my Singapore trip, I would order one to see if there was one peculiar flavor for each restaurant.

Now that my Singapore trip has become a memory, my craving for laksa has become more of a want rather than a need.

I ordered a large bowl of that soup at Spice Fusion in SM City Cebu because they do not have individual servings. Despite its watery blandness I devoured the whole bowl.

My foodie friends told me to buy the best instant laksa in the market today- the Prima Taste Singapore Laksa La Mian. Indeed, their laksa is very near to the fresh laksa I have tasted in Singapore. The distinctive smell of the paste would bring me to outdoor restaurants in the streets of Singapore. The fusion of chili, dried shrimps, curry and other Asian spices kicking me in every dollop of this creamy soup. Incidentally, lamian in the Visayan language means delicious!

The Singapore Laksa La Mian I prepared

Another friend, Moni gave me Teh Tarik (milk tea) from Malaysia. Now that is a good complement to my laksa.

You can now call me Captain Hook.

Disturbing Siquijor

I’ve been to this mystical island for the nth time and every time I come here, something amazing happens to me. 

When friends started planning for the visit, they told me to go with them, acting as their tour guide.

They had booked our stay in Salagdoong Beach without me knowing. They were sure of themselves on what to do, where to go. Of course, I will be the tour guide since they have laid out plans and didn’t know the way.

Okay. So be it.

We started late from Cebu. When you take a land trip to Dumaguete, the starting point for Siquijor island, you should consider the traveling time that usually takes almost four hours + ferry boat transfers. But there are princesses that need grand preparations and wanted grand entrances. In short, we were still in Cebu two hours late of our agreed time of travel and we sure were running very late.

We arrived in Dumaguete City almost ten in the evening with no hotel reservations and no dinner and someone was pissing us off because she was heartbroken and crying since we left from Cebu  and like we should all be concerned with issues between her and her love of a lifetime. In short, tempers were as thin as our egos.

The night was a disaster.

Rainy days are here to stay?

The next morning, everyone was late again. The gloomy morning did not only brought rains but also bad tempers.

Jinx must have followed us everywhere because we were greeted by long lines at the Dumaguete port. It was a Saturday, people came in droves, and some shipping company cancelled its trip for the day for religious reasons.

Long lines greeted us at Dumaguete port

When we arrived in Larena port, we waited for multicabs that seemed not available because we were there. So we opted for a tricycle that we found outside of the port premises because my friends wanted cheaper transportation without considering the distance between Larena and Maria where Salagdoong is located. The tricycle heaved its way to Salagdoong beach overloaded with tired, nasty, broken-hearted, irritating and irritated passengers.

The view at Salagdoong was extremely spectacular. Men and women guests were interestingly in different stages of undress. The sea was calm and blue. The wind blowing constantly.

We could not be accommodated at our reserved room because we were too many and they were full. We have to climb to Hotel Agripino so we can have rooms to stay.

We have to rest to extinguish the bad vibes we brought in with us.

Salagdoong was calm. Not like us.

We each went our ways to discover what Salagdoong could offer to the tired soul. The men drowned several Red Horses to forget the day. The women and halfs, sensing indifference amongst them, had their cliques huddled together ignoring past friendships.

We were appeased the next morning by the presence of a male macaque that the hotel staff claimed, had not visited the hotel for so many years. This is not a good sign, the staff woefully informed us. He further told us that this alpha male caused the destruction of their WiFi and cable TV connections, several of their aircon units and even attacked some guests. Surprisingly, the alpha monkey stayed, hopping between our terraces and the women’s, eyeing at our closed glass doors as if wanting to decipher us individually. He might have sensed we have done more damages than himself, so he went out silently unnoticed.

Naughty monkey

We checked out tired from Salagdoong and purchased an expensive ticket for a fastcraft so we could get home fast. Like the macaque, we silently went our separate ways.

A group travel is not always an assurance that you could have an enjoyable experience.

Lessons learned from this travel:

1. If you travel by group, always inform everyone joining of the plans and itineraries involving the journey.
2. Know the schedules of your bus, boats, ferries, fastcrafts, etc. and the locations of your hotel and resort before embarking on a journey.
3. Always confer with your hotel if they can accommodate extra persons especially if extra means three more persons. 
4. Be sensitive to the group. If you do not want to join the trip at the last minute, DON’T! Do not expect the group to sympathize with your whining and tantrums.
5. Bamboos don’t break because they bend with the wind.
6. The next time your group goes on an adventure trip without them informing you- it’s obvious. You are the problem.

Designing from Experience

I was commissioned to design a box for a local chocolate company with specifics including it should appeal to the international and local AB market.

And, of course, there’s the product I should try. Yes, some companies do let you taste their products so you can have the feel, the inspiration to do whatever they wanted you to do for their packaging. For free! While munching on their chocolate, my mind wandered around- time traveling- 34 years way back. 

When I was younger, I used to spend my school breaks in a forested area way out of civilization in Batuan, Bohol. The place was called Tanod, literally, to watch, maybe because you go there to watch over your plants, ala plantation style. This was where my grandparents of my mother’s side lived, their old age no longer allowed them to go back and forth from their original house to watch their kaingin, so they made a house there. The total population? Except for the macaques that were abundant at that time, there were only four adults living in two houses there. Four old adults.

At eight, I never felt out of place in Tanod.

I became one with the cliffs, one of the sources of inspiration. I would go there to look for fossils. I used to hang from one of the sharp promontories that protruded from the steep cliffs. I would imagine Da Vinci or Wilbur Wright and their visions of flying while hanging from the promontory; but felt extremely afraid I would fall off to death. I also imagine dying and death there in Tanod.

The trees were also my friends. In fair weather or on rainy afternoons, I have a special nook in one of the biggest trees where I seek shelter by the lush foliage. No one can find me there. Amazingly, the trees were abundant in the area despite some patches of kaingin. The old folks were slashing and burning for rootcrops and corn, their main staple. Might also be the reason why the macaques, not native to the area, would do occasional raids for food. The old folks would fought back by putting up dangerous traps or shooting them macaques with slingshots. In retaliation, the wise macaques would come up to their houses and made their abode like a tornado just happened inside them. A vicious circle almost always never ending. 

This might be why the macaques would bully small children who came in their way, running after them until they were in some safe place. Can you imagine? I was the only kid in that place.

Why am I telling you these?

Because during those times, having a piece of chocolate bar or a hot cup of chocolate means you have an American friend or one of your relatives is in America. In short- you are rich, because you only have chocolates imported from America.

But not for me. Or us.

My grandparents had a considerable number of cacao and coffee trees around Tanod. During harvests, my taga lungsod eyes (a derogatory term for the much more civilized people from the town center) would pop out due to the war of reds, yellows, oranges and greens everywhere I turned.

Tatay Pastor, my lolo, would then ask me to suck and eat all the meaty parts of the cacao pods and coffee beans. This has a double purpose even if nowadays, sucking cacao seeds is discouraged because it would cause bacteria to thrive in the seeds, hence, affecting the quality and taste of chocolate. But it did not matter back then.

For one- the nutritious seed coating (called testa) is good for children to eat, a better alternative to candies.

Secondly, out of poverty, sucking on the seeds would give temporary relief of hunger pangs and parents would not worry about the need to buy food.

But while the rich had their imported chocolate, ours came fresh and direct from source.

After roasting, the browned cocoa beans would then be crushed using a big shell called melo-melo (Indian Volute). During grinding, my lolo would put muscovado in some portions and feed them to me.

No kid at that time exactly knew how it felt to be intoxicated. But at eight, I already knew. I would glow after several doleouts, my head felt like swimming in an unbeknownst stupor. The sugar-infused fresh chocolate and the hot choco would knock me sweetly down and woke me up famished.

I haven’t been to Tanod anymore. I haven’t been to that place since 1981. All the four people who loved me there gone. The place abandoned. I heard the place is now thick with trees and shrubs and already, the macaques taking hold like heirs of my grandparents. 

I want to go back to see if the cacaos and coffee trees are still there, my hauntings are still there.

So while I am thinking of how should I make this chocolate box appetizing to the international market, my mind wandered off and I became sentimental. Nostalgic. I cried remembering the people and the place.

This is the only product packaging that had me crying. I should bill them more.

My first study for Mint, Coconut, Chili, Dark and Coffee chocolate boxes

My second study for Mint, Coconut, Chili, Dark and Coffee chocolate boxes

Can you guess which of the two studies was approved by my client?

Sandugo Trade Expo 2015 opens with a bang

DTI 7 director Caberte introducing the Keynote Speaker

Mayor John Geesnell Yap welcoming the people to the Sandugo Trade Expo

Gov. Ed Chatto with his inspiring message, my ideal speaker

DTI Usec Zenaida Maglaya praising Bohol for its expanding trade expo

The Sandugo Trade Expo opened yesterday, July 22 at the ICM with the presence of Usec Zenaida Maglaya of DTI, DTI Regional director Aster Caberte and Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddel along with other regional directors, local officials, buyers and exhibitors from Regions 6, 7, 8 and the Caraga region.

The Trade Expo, now on its 10th year with the leadership of Ms. Nannette Arbon, DTI-Bohol's provincial director, showcased an eclectic mix of furnishings, fixtures, wearables, food and other novelty items.

With the theme- Fun. Fabulous. Finds.- the show is an excellent venue for our SMEs to brag their products.

So excited for Bohol for the launching of BHLi2i!

Also launch during the opening is Bohol Ideas Innovation Challenge (BHLi2i) where FabLab and students are given their chance to showcase their inventions.

Visit the trade expo until July 26.

Australian Ambassador Tweddel visiting the booths at the Bohol Trade Expo

Come to Bohol for the 2015 Sandugo Festival!

Last year's winner of the Sandugo Street Dancing (Photo grabbed from Sandugo FB)

This week, Bohol is in a celebratory mood.

First, July is the Sandugo month around Bohol. But most of the activities are focused on Tagbilaran, the province’s capital.

Sandugo, literally translated as blood compact, celebrates the treaty of friendship between Datu Si Katuna and Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1565. Boholanos often brag about this event since Spain was literally welcomed in Bohol while Magellan was killed when he and his men went to the nearby island of Cebu.

Sandugo Festival since then is scheduled every July despite the fact that the blood compact happened in March. Sandugo has become a filler because there are no big events in July and Filipinos all over the world are coming in for their yearly summer vacations.

So came the Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan (TBTK).

TBTK is the gathering of Boholanos from around the world. It is a biennial activity. It was first celebrated in Bohol and various places abroad since then. Boholanos are welcomed with cultural activities in the pageantry of Boholano fiesta.

So July is actually a month of merrymaking in Bohol.

How to get to Tagbilaran

There are several flights coming in from Manila to Tagbilaran served by major airlines like Cebu Pacific, Philipine Airlines and Air Asia. The flights usually take an hour.

There are also fastcrafts coming in from Cebu, a major destination in the Philippines. OceanJet, Weesam Express and SuperCat 2Go have more than 2 daily trips from Cebu to Tagbilaran.

There are also boats coming from Mindanao and nearby islands.

When in Tagbilaran, the major transport is the tricycle. A word of caution though, tricycles have their own ghost tariff rates. They can dictate the fare as they please. Don’t mind if there are religious quotes on them. Some are rude. So a note of advice before riding in- HAGGLE. 

Important links

Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan

Sandugo Festival 2015

My friend, Chris Ramasola's winning Sandugo logo

This used to be my playground

Photo courtesy of Ms. Elizabeth Adlaon-Dolotina

When a childhood friend shoot this picture of our land, I feel lonely while reminiscing of home. Home is where my heart is. Forever. Where is home? It's in Batuan, Bohol.

I did not have a good life when I was in Batuan.

With my mother, I woke up early mornings to go to our neighbor's farm to harvest their corn, rice or sorghum in exchange for twenty percent of what we have gathered. I slept late nights because we were tasked to tend our gardens or ricefields, making sure there was enough water so we can eat better. 

I have worked in farms, there was no child abuse law in my time. Kids, like adults, HAVE TO WORK with the family so we all can eat.

I've walked long distance to fetch water. I walked with sole-less slippers to school. In my time, we walk. I've walked from Dagohoy, Bohol to Batuan. That's about 24 kilometers of walking.

I've stayed with my foster grandparents in the forests of Cantigdas with only monkeys as playmates and fireflies as guiding lights when I went home.

But I have never regretted I had this kind of young life. My life experience taught me to be myself. To look back to where I have grown my roots. To be me.

We will never forget home.

Seeking. Always seeking.

We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls. - Anais Nin

At Cebu's highest mountain- Osmeña Peak in Mantalongon, Dalaguete

For most of us, travel can be an ordeal, an exhausting activity only a few could afford. But for me, travel is one of the most exciting event worth noting when it happens in your life. Travel does not have to involve flying out from your place. We have of course, ideal places to dream of visiting. Batanes? Sulu? Paris? Rotterdam? It is good to dream. It's free.

Singapore's urban skyline is a good background for good friends who love each other's company

What's travel for me? Travel is not confined only in going abroad. Or going out of your province. Travel could happen right in your backyard. When you have forgotten what's the look of your garden when you used to go outside and whisper crazy things to your plants, try revisiting them again and be lost in their world. See that snail walking out, er, crawling out so slow? It was there just like before.

Try reading a book. Books are an exhilarating way to know other people, cultures and worlds. Remember Lilliputian? You don't? You did not read books! 

Or view a beautiful sunset. That's truly amazing. Or explore the carenderia at the corner street. You don't know they were serving some nutritious vegan food long ago. Or, better still, forget you have a lovelife and be yourself again.

Being with ancestors at Dahilayan Forest Park in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon

Travel is a transformation. Sometimes, within the confines of your inner self.

Let's go!

Good morning from Moalboal, Cebu

A Basket Case in Antequera

A year after the Big Quake of 2013, Bohol is starting to stand on its feet again to welcome tourists to the island. 

The towns painfully re-introduce their festivals so there would be a reason for visitors to come, buy and make lives whole again.

The Roman Catholic Church of Antequera could no longer be used  due to the massive damage brought about by the earthquake of 2013

So is the case of Antequera, one of those badly hit by the quake.

In an effort to bring a festive mood to its charter day celebrations, the local government held the First Basket Festival in the town. Several government personalities from the province and the region were invited to grace the event. It was a three-day affair and to end on their Charter Day with a parade, competitions and fanfare. 

The first Basket Festival of Antequera opened last March 15, 2015

The newly refurbished municipal display center that was heavily damaged by the earthquake was opened to the public, thanks to donations from local and foreign entities. There, the best of their products were displayed for prospective buyers. 

There was also a booth competition where different barangays (villages) showed their harvests and other materials worth showing and be proud of. 

And then there was a basket competition. 

But sadly, the baskets of Antequera have not actually improved. Some on display were old or recycled products. Some of them even got moulds and mildew. In short, there was no quality control, a sad realization that must be instilled in the minds of small entrepreneurs and SMEs. 

Antequera, by the way, has long been a recipient of several programs from DTI, local and foreign funding agencies. So there is no excuse for below average products. (I would like to deduce that those were leftovers from bulk buyers who came earlier, as if a religion, to Antequera’s market every Sunday dawn.) But still… 

I hope those who are planning to make other festivals in the coming months must make sure that quality matters in all products, especially if we are inviting the public to come and buy them. 

It will reflect 100% to the town. It will make or break them.

QUICK FACTS

Antequera is a 4th class municipality of Bohol. The town was created on March 17, 1876. It is known for cottage industries, especially basket weaving, due to the abundance of materials in the area. Mag-aso Falls is also found in this town.

Products of Antequera

Antequera is about 18 kms from Tagbilaran. Regular bus and mini buses ply the route from Tagbilaran but when time is concerned, there is no definite hour. You have to be very patient if you are taking public transport.

Most advisable is a hired van or private car. It will take you about 15 mins to get there. As most of the island of Bohol has, habal-habal are available when you get to the town center. You can hire one to take you to Mag-aso Falls. Haggle for a price before hopping in.

What I love about Zubuchon (and it's not even lechon!)

I am not a fan of pork or its products. But I am a fan of Zubuchon! That means one thing- they are not serving pork lechon ONLY!

I love Zubuchon in many ways. The place is clean, very welcoming, just like another home. The staff are courteous and they know what they are doing and what they are serving. Fast and efficient.

This is how I eat my Dinoldog- on top of rice.

Zubuchon's Dinoldog, squash and shrimps cooked in coconut milk, is my favorite of the veggies in their menu. And of course, there is Saguyon, that crispy-fried small fish from Mindanao. It goes well with an ice-cold beer.

Oh, mighty Saguyon, why are you so yummy? You're even exceptional
when there is cold beer around. I hate threesomes!

Lately, I learned that their Kamias Shake has evolved- Kamias Shake Margarita! And I totally have gone out of my mind!

Kamias SHake Margarita!

SAGUYON. DINOLDOG. KAMIAS SHAKE MARGARITA. Life is beautiful at Zubuchon.

QUICK INFO:
Zubuchon originates from ZUBU, the old name of Cebu and CHON, from lechon, that roasted pig. It was founded by the famous Marketman (Joel Binamira in real life) of Market Manila.

Zubuchon has branches in One Mango Avenue (032-2395697), Escario Central (032-2540247), Mactan (inside Mactan Marina Mall [032-2661310] and at the Mactan airport pre-departure area [032-5110005] and at The Walk (032-2368256) in IT Park, Lahug.

Price ranges from 50 pesos up to 550+ pesos, depending on what you order. You can even order a whole lechon and can be brought to Manila or anywhere in the Philippines you want it to be delivered. For a fee, of course. For a complete price list, you can browse their Facebook account.

They are introducing ZUBUDAGAT in two of their branches as of now- Mactan Marina and Escario. Zubudagat, (DAGAT is sea) as the name implies, offers seafood! That's the reason I can be at their Mactan and Escario branches anytime.

Zubuchon is given the Certificate of Excellence by TripAdvisor.

Zubuchon's website can be accessed here.