Sorbetero/Our World Tuesday

Childhood memories rushed in when I saw this sorbetero near Quirino Grandstand a few weeks ago.  A sorbetero was a street fixture of my childhood, a street vendor who sold home-made ice cream we call sorbetes.  He would announce his presence by ringing a handheld bell that usually roused us from our afternoon siesta.   We rushed to the ice cream cart like children from the desert.

Sorbetes is a traditional variation of ice cream in the Philippines.  It is now more popularly known as "dirty ice cream".  Peddled by street hawkers (or sorbeteros), it is usually served with small wafer or sugar cones, and more recently, bread buns.  Sorbetes is uniquely made from coconut milk and cassava flour.  Flavors vary from the usual natural fruits such as mango, jack fruit, avocado, melon, coconut and strawberry to flavors imitating commercial ice cream such as chocolate, cheese, vanilla, mocha and ube (purple yam).  Source: Wiki

My mother predicted trips to the emergency room every time my siblings and I ate dirty ice cream.  It was frowned upon by our elders as the sorbetero was himself purportedly not exactly a model of hygiene.  What water was used?  And why did he not wash his hands after he handled our peso coins?  I even taunted my little sister that the sorbetero didn't wash his hands after using the bathroom---it was after she ate the sugar cone!  Sorbetes became a guilty pleasure  we devoured behind our mother's back.

Sorbetes is peddled in colorful carts which usually can accommodate three flavors, each in large tin canisters.  The cart is stuffed with crushed ice sprinkled with salt to produce a lower temperature around the tin canisters and keep the ice cream frozen.  

Sorbeteros walk the streets the whole day, or they're parked near schools, parks and churches, calling customers by ringing a small handheld bell.  Children gathered around the ice cream cart in the middle of the street is  a common sight especially in the summer.

The sorbetes industry competes with commercially available ice cream from giant companies such as Nestle, Magnolia and Selecta which have also started peddling their frozen products in the streets in more sanitized carts.

Dirty or not, ice cream remains my ultimate comfort food.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Wet, Wet, Wet/OWT and WW

Summer has officially arrived and it's been sizzling hot in Metro Manila.  Last week, the hottest day in 2012 was recorded at 34.4 degrees Celsius.  And expect hotter days [and nights] in the coming months, according to the weather bureau.  

On Sunday afternoon, Fritz and I drove to High Street to cool down and look what we found!

Kids frolicking at the fountain.  They were absolutely having a great time.
Some parents screamed and ran after their children but kids just wanted to get wet.  I heard a dad telling his two boys that the car seat would get wet and the younger boy reasoned that he would sit on the floor. *LOL*

A mom was trying to convince her daughter that the water was dirty, "It's from the toilet," she said.  "But it doesn't smell, Mom!" rolled her eyes and ran to join other kids at the fountain.  Parents looked on helplessly as their kids get soaked, they didn't expect that a Sunday stroll at the mall would end up in a shower party.

Children were fun to watch, they danced in the water with total abandon.  I'm sure the adults watching wished they could join in, too.  I nudged Fritz towards the fountain but he hates to get his paws wet.:p

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained on water." ~ Loran Eisely

@ Bonifacio High Street, Global City

Linking to Our World - Tuesday and Watery Wednesday

At the countryside [MWT]

@ mirandablue

When you visit the Philippine countryside, you are most likely to see a carabao (a subspecies of the water buffalo).  This animal is still a very important draught-animal in the rice fields and farming villages.  If  not working the fields, carabaos are usually found wallowing in a puddle of mud or a watering hole just like this one I met in a river in Manapla.

@ mirandablue

The lush countryside made us linger.  Time drifted leisurely here, a refreshing escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

@ mirandablue

It was almost time for lunch when the gentle carabao emerged from the river, fresh and energized, to take the kids home.  Nearby, a family prepared to have their picnic lunch under a truck---food was eaten kamayan-style (with bare hands), while sitting on banana leaves.

@ mirandablue

I smiled and waved at these kids, remembering a simpler time.

@ mirandablue

Manapla is a coastal town in Negros island, about 45 kilometers north of Bacolod City, the provincial capital.  One of the earliest sugar mills in the country, North Negros Sugar Company, was built here in 1917. 

Show your world at My World - Tuesday

Punta Bulata: Kids at the beach

@ mirandablue

Two kids at the beach before sunset...picking up pebbles, shells and other treasures.  This scene evokes childhood memories---of an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the afternoons were filled with fragrance of roasted coffee, fried saba [banana] and burning leaves.

Posted for Watery Wednesday and Thursday 2 Questions

@ mirandablue

For Thursday 2 Questions - you are invited to answer and join.


1.  What are the smells of your childhood?

• i always associate the aroma of coffee with childhood. Probably because my grandmother roasted coffee and coffee was always brewing in her kitchen.  Burning leaves, freshly mown grass, Vicks VapoRub, fresh laundry (before the age of fabric conditioner, when towels and blankets smelled like  summer sun), baby powder.

2.  What was your favorite place when you were a child?

• i was always climbing trees---i loved hanging out on the branches of a guava or aratiles  tree (Jamaican cherry, Muntingia) in front of our house.  probably the reason why i love being on the roof top, or any elevated places. 

P.S.  I will be out of town for two days..will catch up when I get back.  Thank you for stopping by.

Alaala [Memory, Remembrance]

@ mirandablue

Maraming masaya at magandang alaala ang lugar na ito sa akin.  Alaala ng aking kabataan kasama si Lola, ang aking mga kapatid at pinsan.  Kabatwan ang tawag namin dito no'ng bata pa kami dahil nga mabato ang dalampasigan, at sa likod ng mga puno nandon ang naghahalikang bato o Kissing Rocks---paboritong tagpuan ng mga magsin-irog.  Ito ang baywalk ng aking kabataan.  Noong 2009 lang ako nakabalik ulit dito pagkatapos ng mahigit dalawang dekada.

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

@ mirandablue

I have happy and beautiful memories of this place.  Memories of my youth with our grandmother, my siblings and cousins.  We called this place kabatwan because of the rocky shore, and behind the trees are the kissing rocks---a favorite rendezvous for young lovers.  This was the baywalk of my childhood.  I've never returned to this place for more than two decades until in 2009 after we buried our grandmother.  

This song is perfect for reminiscing.

For Thursday Two Questions - you are invited to answer and join.

1)  What song comes to mind when you think about your childhood?

2)  Any special childhood memory you'd like to share?

Water chestnuts/Apulid/Tayok-tayok

Chicken with water chestnuts, vegetables and cashew nuts @ mirandablue

I love water chestnuts.  When we were kids, there was a swampy field near our house where neighborhood kids dug out something edible and sweet.  One summer afternoon, my best-friend and I got curious, joined the other kids hunting for "tayok-tayok" and got our first taste of the crunchy, mild flavored bulb.  We ate it peeled and raw, straight from the soil. It was not easy to find, and finding a bunch after minutes of digging got us all excited.

tayok-tayok, apulid or water chestnuts

It's been decades since I last heard of "tayok-tayok", an almost forgotten childhood memory.  And although I've been eating water chestnuts in Chinese dishes for a long time, I didn't realize until a few years ago that water chestnuts are the "tayok-tayok" of my childhood.

I googled it a few times and "apulid" came up.  However, nobody in the office or any of my friends ever heard of "apulid".  Anyway, I always buy a can of water chestnuts when I see at the supermarket.  I mix it with my favorite vegetables.  I guess water chestnut is like mushrooms in a sense that virtually any and all seasonings go well with it.

Above is chicken (marinated in oyster sauce, salt & pepper), sauteed in garlic and onion, veggies (broccoli, young corn, carrots, celery) were stir-fried, a dash of white wine, sweet bell pepper and cashew nuts.  Below is a dish of shrimps sauteed in garlic and onions, stir-fried vegetables (asparagus, young corn, celery, oyster mushrooms, cilantro, bell pepper), and oyster sauce.  Both dishes have corn starch to thicken the sauce.

Shrimps with water chestnuts and vegetables @ mirandablue

The other day, I even added water chestnuts to pork adobo (my mother shook her head in disbelief).:p  I just love the crunch!

Posted for Food Trip Friday and Food Friday

Lata [Can]

@ mirandablue

Gustuhin ko man maglahok ng medyo creative sa tema ngayong linggo, wala akong mahagilap ng litrato sa aking baol.  Sayang, may nakita akong laro sa perya n'ong Sabado ng gabi---mga nakasalansan na lata na binabato ng bola at mananalo ka ng stuffed toy pag naitumba mo lahat.  Syempre di ko naisip kuhanan ng litrato ang mga lata!  Kaya heto, mga di kasiyasiyang litrato ng mga de lata sa bahay na lang ang lahok ko. 

Tulad ng karaniwang Pinoy, nagho-hoard din ako ng de lata.  Nakakatipid ako sa oras gamit ang de lata kapag kailangan magluto ng mabilisan.  At isa sa mga libangan ko ay ang mag-ayos ng mga ito ayon sa kanilang expiry dates.  Sa unahan ang malapit ng mag-expire, sa likuran ng medyo matagal-tagal pa, at ang mag-e-expire na talaga, kailangan gagamitin o kakainin na kaagad.  Bata pa ako, ito na ang assignment ko sa tindahan ng aking lola.  Ang premyo ko ay lata ng Spam o Libby's corned beef na paborito kong pinapapak. 

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

@ mirandablue

I would have wanted to post something creative for the theme this week but I just couldn't find something interesting in my archives.  I was at the amusement park on Saturday night and there was a game where you strike a stacked cans with a tennis ball.  I took photos of the prize---a bunch of stuffed toys, but missed the cans.  So here are some lame photos of the canned goods I have at home.

Like most Filipinos, I hoard canned goods (afraid to go hungry when there is a calamity or power outage :p).  Canned goods save me time when cooking for a quick meal.  One of my therapies is to shelve them according to their expiry dates.  The ones in front need to be consumed soon, the ones at the back have a year or two left in their expiry dates.  As a child, I was given this assignment at my grandmother's store.  Then I was rewarded with a can of Spam or Libby's corned beef which were my favorite snacks.

For Thursday 2 Questions - you are invited to answer and join:

1)  What are your fondest childhood memories with your grandparents?

2)  What are the canned goods that you normally pick at the supermarket even when they're not in your shopping list? 

Hard-to-find [Photo Hunt]

@ mirandablue

Have you ever found yourself in a reflective, nostalgic mood and longing to hear the scratchy voice of Billie Holiday?  The scratchy sound of a 78 rpm vinyl record takes me back to different places in my childhood---at my grandmother's kitchen where she smoked her unfiltered Kool's and sang with Ella Fitzgerald; to my aunts' slumber parties where "forbidden" music was played on a 1930's Victrola...from Janis Joplin, Joan Baez to Bob Dylan.  On lazy afternoons, my mother listened to  Timi Yuro or Perry Como's For The Good Times from a turntable.  I miss the surface noise of vinyl and catch the warm subtleties of the human voice.

Vinyl records and Victrolas are hard-to-find nowadays except from a few quirky thrift shops in Cubao.  Even this vintage-looking jukebox at a diner is using CDs.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Photo-Hunt hosted by TN Chick

Biko with latik

@ mirandablue

My family doesn't celebrate All Souls' Day but like most Filipino families, we cook some native delicacies on or before November 1st.  When we were kids, my aunts and I had fun experimenting on kalamay (rice cake), espasol (we call it bayi-bayi), but-ong (glutinous rice wrapped in cone-shaped banana leaf and cooked in coconut milk), ibos (glutinous rice wrapped in woven coconut leaves and cooked in coconut milk), muasi (or palitaw--steamed ground glutinous rice topped with roasted sesame seeds and muscuvado).  Those were the days when glutinous rice was inexpensive and we had free supply from my grandfather.

My all-time All Souls' Day comfort food is Biko with latik (a residue of coconut milk).  About a week before All Souls' Day, I start having Biko cravings.  The aroma of boiling coconut cream gives me warm, fuzzy feelings---it brings me back to childhood with my grandfather slaving away in the kitchen cooking his favorite rice cake.  We seldom find my grandfather in the kitchen, it was my grandmother's domain. The only day Lolo was in the kitchen was during kalag-kalag, or All Souls' Day.  His ratio was 1:1 and his biko could stay fresh for a week without refrigeration. It is easy to cook but one needs powerful biceps to mix it.

@ mirandablue

I wanted to do my grandfather's biko and I needed sung-sung rice, an aromatic, glutinous rice.  And the price was shocking!  A few months ago, sung-sung was P72 a kilo---now it's P110 a kilo!  A tip from my mother:  malagkit rice should be new, laon is not good. But how should I know if it's new or not?  Leave it to the experts. So far, with sung-sung, I was never disappointed with quality and texture.  I also got muscovado sugar and mature coconut.  

Cook glutinous rice and set aside.  Cook undiluted coconut cream in low heat to extract oil and latik.  Latik should be golden brown.

@ mirandablue

@ mirandablue

Mix in the cooked glutinous rice, mix well.  Blend the muscovado sugar into the mixture.  Calamansi leaves were added to balance the sweetness and add a bit of zest.  Cooking biko on All Souls' Day somehow connects me to members of my family who already passed on. And it's my way of remembering Lolo, a foodie and a kind gentleman with a big heart.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Life's a beach [Watery & Outdoor Wednesday]

The beach is in my blood, like a sea turtle, I always return to it instinctively. When we were kids, the beach was the only place where we could play in the sand, splash in the water, and soak in the sun without our mother getting mad. The only place we were allowed to get dirty, get wet, walk and run barefoot. I am always happy when I'm at the beach...when I smell the salty water, feel the sea breezes, listen to the gentle lapping waves---they create a sense of peace.

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun."

Posted for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

LP: Stranger

Ako ay parang Miss Congeniality noong bata pa. Kapag may nagtatanong ng directions, lagi akong nagpeprisinta. Isang hapon, mga 8 years old yata ako, naglalakad ako pauwi galing sa eskwelahan nang may huminto na owner-type jeep at nagtatanong kung saan ang bahay ng dating principal. Binigyan ko sila ng direksyon at para di sila maligaw, isinama nila ako papunta sa bahay na hinahanap nila. Dumaan ang sasakyan sa bahay ng lolo ko, nasa front-seat ako at nag-wave pa ako sa aking tiyahin. Pagdating sa bahay ng dating principal, nagpasalamat ang driver at bumaba na rin ako sa sasakyan. Nagulat at natakot ako nang makita ko ang aking tiyahin na nagmamadaling bumababa sa tricycle at namumutla. Bakit daw ako sumakay sa sasakyan ng taong di ko kilala, at pinagalitan ako.

Hindi ko naintindihan. Di ba laging sinasabi ng guro, maging matulungin? Heto tumulong ka na, pinagalitan ka pa. At galit na sabi naman ng nanay ko--- Basta! h'wag makipag-usap sa taong di mo kilala dahil mapanganib ang mundo. Syempre, nangatwiran pa ako--malapit lang naman yon e, sa kabilang kanto lang.

Sa aking paglaki, nakita ko ang maraming estranghero na dinadala ng tatay ko sa bahay. May mga batang na-rescue sa pang-aabuso ng magulang, mga taong walang mapuntahan, o naliligaw ng landas. Ang mga estranghero pala ay mga kaibigan na di pa natin nakikilala.

Tama si Shirley MacLaine sa sinabing n'yang "Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." Pero ngayon, gets ko na ang katwiran ng nanay ko. At kung may anak ako, mahigpit ko rin na ipagbibilin ang "don't talk to strangers." :p

Ang mga nasa litrato pala ay mga kaibigan ko. Pero at one time or another, estranghero rin kami sa isa't isa.

I was little Miss Congeniality when I was a kid. When someone asks for directions, I would always volunteer. One afternoon when I was about 8 years old, I was walking home from school when an owner-type jeep stopped by and asked for directions to a former principal's house. I did my best to give them directions but worried that they would lose their way, the driver asked me to accompany them. I sat on the front-seat and we passed my grandfather's house, I even waved to my aunt. When we arrived at the principal's home, the driver said thank you and I climbed down from the vehicle. But I was surprised to see my aunt getting down from a tricycle looking pale. She almost shook me and asked why I went with strangers, she was very angry.

I was confused. My teacher always said to be always helpful. But my mother, with a lot of hostility, told me to never talk to strangers. "Why?", I asked. "Because the world is a dangerous place," she said. But it was just down the corner, I reasoned innocently.:p

Growing up, I met a lot of strangers my father brought home. Children rescued from abusive parents, people with no place to go, strays who needed a place to eat and sleep for a while. Strangers are friends we haven't met yet.

I agree with Shirley MacLaine when she said, "Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." As a grown-up, I understand my mother's logic...and if I have a child, I would advise her/him not to talk to strangers.:p

The persons in these photos are not strangers, they're my friends. But at one time or the other, we were strangers.

with friends and strangers

Posted for Litratong Pinoy