Crazy Maki

Definitely an eye-candy, this crazy maki treat---the sushi chef's special of Salmon Skin Roll with Shrimp Salad and ikura (salmon roe) on top, is one of the best maki I've tasted. It's fresh and tasty, and the crunchy flakes add an interesting twist on every bite. The wasabi, mayo and tenzy sauces are heavenly. I had this maki at Rai Rai Ken-Harbor Square.

Enjoy more delicious concoctions at Food Trip Friday and Food Friday

Litratong Pinoy: basa [wet]

click on photo to enlarge

Basang-basa sa ulan ang bulaklak na 'to. Nakikita mo ba ang maliliit ng butil ng tubig sa mga talulot? Pagkatapos ng alikabok at walang humpay na init ng araw, nadiligan ito ng ulan. At kahit umaraw na ulit, naiwan pa rin ang mga patak ng ulan---nakayakap sa malasutlang talulot, pinapawi ang uhaw ng mga dahon. Kaya siguro tumatango ang mga dahon at bulaklak kapag umuulan. Nagdidiwang sila sa bawat patak, napapakanta sa tuwa.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Rain left droplets of water on this flower's delicate petals. After the dust and scorching heat, flowers and plants welcome the rain. Even when the sun was shining brightly again, the rain's aftermath left the plants nodding happily---celebrating every raindrop. Sprinkles of water embrace the silky petals, quench the thirst of sun-dried leaves. I could almost hear them sing and laugh gleefully.

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

Fountain at Ayala - Cebu (Watery Wednesday)

It was a pleasant surprise to see the newly renovated Ayala Center in Cebu. Naturally, I gravitated towards this fountain. The sound of water was soothing, and somehow alleviates the scorching Cebu heat. The newest Ayala wing is aptly called The Terraces---more al fresco dining, a lush garden and terraces-inspired fountains.

More photos of Ayala-Cebu in my next posts.

Get your feet wet at Watery Wednesday

Basilica del Santo Nino - Ruby Tuesday

You won't miss the reds in the following photos. My first visit to the Basilica del Sto. Nino was ten years ago during my first few trips to Cebu. On Saturday afternoon, from the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, I walked one block to the basilica, taking pictures along the way. It was probably my first walking tour of the city.

The Basilica del Sto. Nino is the most popular church in Cebu, and probably in the Visayas. It houses the statue of the Santo Nino (Holy Child), considered as the oldest religious relic in the Philippines. The black Santo Nino was Magellan's gift to Queen Juana, the wife of Rajah Humabon, the king of Cebu, when the couple converted to Catholicism in 1521. During WW II, a bomb fell on the basilica but did not explode. The statue was found, unscathed, hanging near the altar. (Source: Cebu Heritage) The statue is believed to be miraculous and became the patron saint of Cebu. Flock of Santo Nino devotees fills the basilica everyday, praying before the statue that shaped Cebu's history since Ferdinand Magellan landed on the island more than 488 years ago.

The first church was constructed in 1566 by an Augustinian priest, Fr. Diego de Herrera, using wood and nipa, on the site believed to be where the statue of the Santo Nino, a sculpture depicting Jesus as a black Holy Child, was found by Spanish conquistadors in 1565 preserved in a burned wooden box which was left behind during the 1521 Magellan expedition.

When the wood and nipa church burned down, a stone church was constructed in 1735 on the exact spot and was completed in 1739.

Enshrined in the basilica is the black Santo Nino, although I can't help but wonder if it is indeed the original statue brought by Magellan. Cebu historians believe that the statue in the basilica is the original. I tried to fight my way in to see the glass-encased statue but I was not determined enough. A Cebuano friend told me that the Santo Nino is adorned with gold and precious stones, and he had goosebumps the first time he saw it. As a non-Catholic, I find all these interesting!

Throng of devotees and tourists visit the basilica every day, a novena and mass for the Santo Nino are held every Friday.

Santo Nino shrine

a balloon vendor at the church's grounds

petitions and wishes are brought here

lighting a red candle---a symbolic gesture

just you, a candle and your thoughts going up to God

flower vendors outside the church's gate

vendors selling replicas of the Santo Nino

Posted for Ruby Tuesday

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral - Weekend Snapshot

click on photo to enlarge

Driving through Cebu City on Friday afternoon, I noticed this church and asked my companion when was the Basilica de Sto. Nino renovated. As I remember, the facade of the basilica was gray stone, now it's cream. My companion absentmindedly told me that we just passed by the Cebu Cathedral, not the Basilica de Sto. Nino. Oh, I didn't know there is a Cebu Cathedral!

So on Saturday afternoon, I retraced my steps and visited Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. This church is centuries old since Cebu was established as a diocese in 1595. The first bishop, an Augustinian, arrived in Cebu from Mexico in 1598.

Construction of this church took almost a century to complete because of frequent interruptions. Work on the construction was suspended when funds were diverted to military campaigns against slave raiders and Moro pirates. The church was designed in 1719, and it was finished in 1811. The architecture of the church is typical with baroque colonial churches in the country---squat, cruciform, and with thick walls to withstand typhoon and other natural calamities. Much of the cathedral was destroyed by American bombings in WW II, with only the belfry (built in 1835), the facade, and the walls remaining. It was quickly rebuilt in the 1950's under the supervision of architect Jose Zaragoza, during the incumbency of Archbishop Gabriel Reyes.

The interior of the church, although not the original structure, is beautiful. I would have taken photos of the glowing altar but it was a bit awkward with a mass going on, and preparations for a wedding were underway.

Posted for Weekend Snapshot

Photo-Hunt: pink

I met this fat bunny rabbit at the pier in Mauban. He's obviously well-loved---the owner brings this furry friend to the pier to catch the early morning sunshine. Check out the pink ears!:P

Posted for Photo Hunt

Thai Crunch Salad

I love free wi-fi, don't you? Good thing my hotel here in Cebu has wi-fi, the downside is---I'm still writing emails after working hours. I'm taking a break to finish this post and send your taste buds to heaven with this deliciously refreshing Thai Crunch Salad from CPK.

I almost didn't make it...working till late as usual. The dinner was almost over when I got to CPK-Shangrila last Saturday, but the girls waited for me---friends need to break bread once in a while. I attacked the leftover pizza and pasta Jambalaya, and instead of the usual Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad, I ordered this Thai Crunch Salad.

It's a mixture of shredded Napa cabbage, chilled-grilled chicken breast, julienne cucumbers, edamame, crispy wontons, peanuts, cilantro, julienne carrots, red cabbage and green onions tossed with a lime-cilantro dressing. Topped with crispy rice sticks and Thai peanut dressing. I love the combination of lime-cilantro and Thai peanut dressing---scrumptious and zesty!

Try this one the next time you're in CPK.

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Gone fishing - Watery Wednesday

I'll be out of town tomorrow 'till Sunday---I'll do my best to visit your blog. Going to Cebu, but not for pleasure...well, maybe just a little (but don't tell my boss!). So I leave you with these watery photos---just imagine me on a boat, paddling from islet to islet, the sun kisses my face, warm breezes cool my skin, a glass of mojito and a gorgeous masseur waiting for me on the next islet.

Yeah, right! Wake up, Luna! Fasten your seat belt and put your face mask on!:P

Photos taken between Mauban and Cagbalete Island

Get virtually wet at Watery Wednesday

Life without TV (WS)

My 13-year old TV set "blacked out" just as Frances, Diane Lane's character in "Under the Tuscan Sky", walks away from the gorgeous Marcelo. The black screen roused me from Marcelo's Italian good looks. What the heck happened? The audio is working but there is no picture on screen. Nothing else to do but turn it off. I felt relieved. I've been watching a lot of TV lately, a form of escape? I skipped my Sunday jog to watch a Michael Jackson video marathon all afternoon. I watch CNN, reruns of CSI, and the Food Channel until the wee hours of morning. Sometimes I would doze off and regain consciousness when I hear Sean Connery's unmistakably sexy Scottish brogue narrating the Beatles'---There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed, some forever, not for better, some have gone and some remain...

Our family didn’t own a TV set when I was growing up. The 13-year old TV set is the first TV set I bought as an adult. When we were in grade school, my younger siblings asked our father to buy us a TV set---I guess they were fed up watching TV from a neighbor's window. But Tatay explained the disadvantages of having a TV at home, how it would affect our reading habits, and added that TV makes people less intelligent. I believed him then, and I still do.

I am happy, and yes, relieved that my TV broke. My first love, the radio, keeps me company. And by 11 pm, on a hot Sunday night, I’m in bed with the talented Kazuo Ishiguro. Now I know exactly what Gustav Flaubert was trying to say when he exclaimed, “Read in order to live!” How wonderful to lose oneself into a whole new world.

But tomorrow is another day...and I have to face my mother and explain why the TV broke. And I'm telling you, she wouldn't be happy or relieved.

my night stand

Posted for Weekend Snapshot

Lasang Pinoy : strips

One of my favorite appetizers at Piadina Italiana in Greenbelt is Grissini di Pizza---strips of freshly-baked, crispy garlic bread sprinkled with sesame seeds, served with a special cheese dip.

A number of myths surround the origins of grissini (or breadsticks). Originally thought to have been created in the 14th century, but local traditions confirmed that grissini was invented by a baker in northern Italy in 1679. The original recipe, grissino torninese (as still made in Turin), differs from the modern version that is thicker, longer, hand-made, often twisted and has a more bread-like texture. In all probability, grissini was developed when a baker had leftover pizza dough and decided to experiment with it.

Posted for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays at spiCes

Photo-Hunt: flags

Philippine flags at the Rizal Shrine, the national hero's ancestral home in Calamba, Laguna.

The modern design of the Philippine flag was conceptualized by Emilio Aguinaldo, a Filipino revolutionary leader, during his exile in Hong Kong in 1897, drawing inspiration from the flags used by the Katipunan, an anti-Spanish revolutionary organization, and the Cuban revolutionaries. The first flag was sewn by Doña Marcela Marino de Agoncillo with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Doña Delfina Herbosa de Natividad (a niece of the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal). It was displayed in battle on May 28, 1898 and was formally unfurled during the proclamation of independence on June 12, 1898.

On June 12, 2009, the Philippines celebrated its 111th Independence.

A horizontal bicolor of blue over red, with a white equilateral triangle at the hoist containing three 5-pointed gold stars at its vertices and an 8-rayed gold sun at its center.

Philippine and American flags at a war memorial marker in Corregidor Island

The American Flag was used from 1901 to 1919 when the Philippines was administered directly from the United States.

Posted for Photo Hunt hosted by TN Chick.