Here comes the rain again/SWF

around 10 A.M., Sunday

I was in Dasol, Pangasinan with a couple of friends over the weekend.  It had been rainy and windy, and the big waves discouraged us from taking a swim---we danced in the rain instead.:p

The bad weather was a combination of the southwest monsoon and two tropical depressions (Igme and Julian).  It didn't stop us from having a good time at the beach.

@ 12:09 P.M., Sunday

Dasol, Pangasinan is 310 kilometers from Manila via Subic, Zambales


Don't ever let your mind keep you from having a good time. ~ Jason Mraz

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Crawfish/Ulang

I've heard of "ulang" since I was a kid but never saw one until a few years ago when I visited my nephews in Aklan.  My SIL bought live ulang from her neighbor who got them from the nearby river.   Ulang or crawfish  is freshwater shrimp with a big head, it looks like a miniature lobster, to which it is related.

I did the marketing recently and was delighted to see some fresh ulang in the market.  The vendor told me they're lobsters, and I told her they're not, but couldn't remember what they're called.  It was until I got home that my mother told me they're called ulang.  I read somewhere that crawfish is now commercially farmed in the Philippines.  

I love crawfish for its fleshy, succulent flavor.  It's also cholesterol-free and very low in fat.

I bought a kilo, sauteed it in garlic and finger chilies---it was smokin' hot and finger-lickin' good!

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Beach boys/Water World-Wednesday

The end of childhood is when things cease to astonish us.  When the world seems familiar, when one has got used to existence, one has become an adult.  ~ Eugene Ionesco

Linking to Kim's Water World-Wednesday

Lapu-Lapu: Sentinel of Freedom/Our World-Tuesday

Today, August 27th, we celebrate National Heroes Day to commemorate our heroes throughout history.  

One of my favorite Filipino heroes is Lapu-Lapu--a man who resisted a foreign invader and fought guns with spears, kampilan and kalasag. He was the first-ever recognized Filipino hero and freedom fighter.  I was in Rizal Park two weeks ago and visited Lapu-Lapu's 30-foot bronze statue.  This monument is called the "Sentinel of Freedom", a gift from the Korean Freedom League, and was erected here in 2004.  It was conceptualized to give recognition to the first Asian who fought against foreign invasion.

The hero was shown standing guard, holding his kampilan, which is concealed in its scabbard and firmly planted on the ground.  A man of peace yet ready to protect his territory and people if threatened.  The statue faces the west, towards Manila Bay.

Lapu-Lapu (1491-1542) is known in history as the Datu of Mactan in Central Philippines who defeated in 1521 the Portuguese explorer and conquistador Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan, who was under the service of the King of Spain, was the first man to circumnavigate the world.  After the historic battle in what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, it took the Spanish colonialists 35 years before they would set foot again on what is now the Philippines.

The statue was sculpted by Juan Sajid Imao, a 2001 TOYM awardee for the arts.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Mochi/Blue Monday

Mochi ice cream with chocolate filling from Yoh Froz.

Mochi ice cream is a Japanese confection made from pounded sticky rice with an ice cream filling.

@ Bonifacio High Street

Linking to Blue Monday

Be amazed/SWF

Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement … look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted: everything is phenomenal - to be spiritual is to be amazed. 

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

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Fish Fillet in Crab Meat Sauce

One of the dishes U and I had at a restaurant along the Baywalk at the Mall of Asia--still racking my brains for the name of the restaurant.:p  This was a delicious fish fillet in crab meat sauce.  You bet I'll be cooking my own version soon.

 

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Comfort/Water World-Wednesday

Kayangan Lake, Coron Island, Palawan

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles. ~ Anne Frank

Linking to Kim's Water World-Wednesday

Mango vendor/Our World-Tuesday

A mango vendor at the open field near Quirino Grandstand in Manila.  Fresh green Indian mango is a popular snack, usually paired with shrimp paste (bagoong).  Indian mango is smaller, pudgier and less intensely flavored variety of mango---it's not as tart/sour as the green Philippine mango.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Popperoo/Blue Monday & Mellow Yellow Monday

A popcorn cart at the baywalk in Mall of Asia.

Linking to Blue Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday

Resilience/SWF

People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life's circumstances to push them down and hold them under.

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Enchanting nature/Water World-Wednesday

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;

There is rapture in the lonely shore;

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar,

I love not man the less, but Nature more...

~ Lord Byron

Linking to Water World-Wednesday

Coleus/Blue Monday

Lampunaya, Coleus

The art of healing comes from nature and not from the physician.  Therefore, the physician must start from nature with an open mind. ~ Paracelsus

Linking to Sally's Blue Monday

Seafood Marinara

I was caught between the rush hour traffic and a rainstorm recently near SM-Megamall after a meeting.  It's been a while since I was in Megamall, and I wanted to check out some restaurants that I haven't been to before.  I noticed the trendy look of Eat & Go at the Atrium and decided to try them.  But my choice was kinda boring...it's not bad, and good value for money---it's just that my "lazy girl" seafood marinara tastes better.:p

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Splashes/Water World-Wednesday

Splashing waves @ Baywalk, Manila Bay

It's been stormy and all of Metro Manila and nearby provinces are in a standstill due to incessant rains that caused  massive flooding.  Strong waves from Manila Bay  spawned by typhoon "Gener" (international name:  Saola) pounded the seawall and flooded Roxas Boulevard with saltwater. These were taken a week before "Gener" arrived.

Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water?  All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday. ~ Zora Neale Hurston

Linking to Kim's Water World Wednesday

Paragliding/Blue Monday

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if the simplest things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive! ~ Eleanora Duse

Linking to Sally's Blue Monday

Boodle fight

A boodle fight-style dining on a camping trip in Quezon.  In lieu of plates, food was served on a banana leaf and eaten with bare hands.  This was a combination of steamed rice, mango-bagoong salad, steamed okra, grilled eggplant, drunken shrimps, fried bangus, steamed shrimps, grilled squid, and grilled chicken.

Boodle fight is a military style of eating.  You have to eat fast to get your fill...if you're slow, then you go to sleep hungry (except when you cheat!:p).

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