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Saturday Oct 25, 2008
While surfing on the web I found out some disappointing news. I missed this years Lanzones Festival in Camiguin. Of course I’ve missed them before in fact I’ve missed all of the previous ones and to tell the truth I’ve never been to Camiguin and couldn’t point it out on a map. I found out it is in Northern Mindanao but beyond that I’m lost. But the point is somewhere right now they are having a festival dedicated to one of my favorite fruits from the Philippines.
If you’ve never seen or eaten a Lanzones you are missing a treat. The Lanzone aka Lansium domesticum is a roundish fruit grown on a tree in clusters like grapes only larger. Each fruit is covered by a leatherly, yellowish skin. Under the skin the fruit is divided into five or six slices of juicy flesh. Inside the flesh there are green seeds some small and some large. You do not I repeat do not eat the seeds they are very bitter.
Getting back to the Lanzones festival I’m not sure if there are other Lanzones festivals but the one in Camiguin seems to be the mother of all Lanzones Festivals. I read that this region has the sweetest of all lanzones in the Philippines. This years festival is the 29th Lanzones festival and features a visit by the President of the Philippines. Some of the highlight of the festival this year include Street dancing, a beauty pageant, a San Miguel Oktoberfest, and my favorite event, a Lanzones eating contest. The website for the festival can be found at Lanzones Festival . Below are some pictures I found of Lanzones hanging on the tree and some peeled. Hopefully, someday in the near future I will be able to attend the Lanzones Festival.
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Tuesday Oct 21, 2008
Very short post tonight probably could have twittered it but I just had some cassava cake with a cup of tea. We had this instead of regular cake for our 13th anniversary. Here is a video of someone else making a cassava cake. Hey I told you guys I’m really into Filipino food.
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Thursday Oct 16, 2008
Rumors are that Ellen Dengeneres, who had Charice Pempengco on her show, has now discovered another Filipino star in the making. Six year old Amy Nobleza (Ana Mae Libot) from Little Star Dreamer was found on YouTube singing Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and may appear on Ellen’s show. I will let you know more when I learn more. Until then here is a video of Amy singing a Whitney song
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Monday Oct 13, 2008
Today I am posting about my favorite subject concerning the Philippines and that is Filipino food. Although I have posted a few articles about my favorite foods and places to eat, I have recently found a couple of websites that deal with Filipino food and I want to share them with the readers of this blog in hopes that you can understand what goes into making what I consider the tastiest food in the world.
The first site I will recommend is a wonderful site with a beautiful picture of Filipino food on the main page. This food is so mouth watering that you will want to dive into the recipes and eat some of this food right away. This site, Filipino Food Lovers , not only provides information on Filipino food but also how to cook it. As described by the author, Robert Colinares, “ this is a site for filipinos to share recipes and exchange ideas about cooking their delicious native dishes.” There are also some great Western Cuisine dishes included in the website.
The next website is one that is close to my heart. Bucaio, Food to Sweeten LIfe is self-described as “A blog about Pangasinan cuisine, and Filipno food in general, as well as a documentation of life in the Philippines.” My wife is from Anda, Pangasinan and has cooked many of her native dishes and I haven’t found one I didn’t like. By the way, if you wonder what the word bucaio means it is a crunchy filipino sweet made of young coconuts with either molasses or sugar. It is a delightful treat and I’ve probably ate more bucaio than I should have in my life.
One thing I forgot to mention about the Filipino Food Lovers site is the listing of Filipino Markets and stores. This can be a great help for someone who is looking for the ingredients for making some of the recipes on the site. Also the people working at these places can sometimes find an item you just can’t identify by the name.
Well that’s my review of a couple of good sites for eveyone to checkout. And if you find a food that you enjoy and fix some please let me know.
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Tuesday Oct 7, 2008
Normally when I post on this blog I am either giving out information or relating something about my move to the Philippines. But today I’m asking for a little help from the readers. I’m not doing this to drive traffic to my blog or anything but I am truly curious about something.
As part of preparing for the move to the Philippines I am attempting to earn a living by working online. This is what I will be doing while living there. I have used many publications and websites to guide me in this goal especially Bob Martin’s 49 Ways to Earn a Living In the Philippines.
In researching for one of my other projects a question came up and I can’t find a concrete answer if there is one. I want to know “How Many Americans are Living in the Philipppines.” At first the question was just how many were living in Cebu but I think I have a better chance of finding out the answer of Americans living in the whole country.
The US State Department shines a little light on my question by stating there are 250 thousand US citizens living in the Philippines but I’m sure that number includes naturalized citizens as well. I’m not saying naturalized citizens are not Americans but I’m looking more along the line of citizens that were born in the US. The 250,000 number seems a little small if you ask me and I’m sure that people who are on any type of visas might not be included in that number.
So, if you have an opinion or have the actual numbers please leave a comment and help me finish a project that is currently on hold. Thank you in advance!
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Thursday Oct 2, 2008
White Rabbit Candy is a favorite of many adults and children in the Philippines. The vanilla taffy like candy has been around for generations and almost all sari-sari stores in the Philippines sell it. Most Asian and Filipino stores in the US have a stock of it also. But a warning about the candy has just hit the news.
A chemical blamed for sickening babies in China has been found in White Rabbit Candy sold in New Haven, Connecticut. This comes just days after traces of the chemical melamine was discovered in candy sold in California stores.
Melamine is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizer and it is possible that trace amounts could get in due to environmental causes but that isn’t the case in China where officials found that it was added to milk for dilution purposes. Melamine can cause kidney stones leading to kidney failure and has caused death in 4 children in China and thousands sickened as well.
The California company that distributes White Rabbit Candy in the US began a recall last week after the candy was tested and found to have traces of melamine. The candy has been pulled from shelves in Hawaii, Asia, and Britain. Traces of melamine were found in candy in Singpore and New Zealand as well.
AP reports that White Rabbit Candy is sold in more than 50 countries in Asia and the world including most Chinatowns in the US. For a picture of what the candy looks like click the link below.
