The Great Aquilino & Gregoria Manansala Reunion. 2nd Edition

The Great Aquilino & Gregoria Manansala Clan Reunion. May 21, 2011, Magandang Gensan

Organized under the National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) of the Commonwealth Government headed by President Manuel L. Quezon, General Paulino Santos led the relocation of 62 Christian settlers from Luzon to the shores of Sarangani Bay aboard the steam ship “Basilan” of Compania Maritima on February 27, 1939. The 62 pioneers (mostly agricultural and trade graduates) were the first big batch of settlers to land in GenSan with the mission to industriously cultivate GenSan’s fertile expanse of land. After this first influx of pioneers, thousands more from Luzon and the Visayas have subsequently migrated into the area. Sofronio Manansala was one of those who were the first few settlers in General Santos City.

My great grandparents Aquilino and Gregoria are originally from Macabebe, Pampanga who migrated here in the 1930′s after eldest son Sofronio (one of the pillars of theIglesia ni Cristo in South Central Mindanao and is my maternal grandfather) who came here earlier convinced them of a better life and future in the vast plains of what was then known as Buayan.  And so they came, bringing the whole brood with them.   They never left ever since.

They had nine children, actually they were originally 10 but one of them, Rosario, died of Malaria. So the nine children wer Sofronio (Ompong), Felicisima (Simang Balingit), Isidro (Eding), Marcela (Selang dela Cruz), Ildefonso (Osong), Jesus, Avelino (Elong), Angela (Celing Bustos) and Rafaela (Pelang Cunanan).  So, of them 9, only 2 are alive: Jesus and Pelang.

So, imagine 9 siblings each with at least three kids, the most was 16 kids…and then these kids had children of their own, and these children have children of their own as well – imagine, I am a lolo na. My nephew already have several kids. So if you do the math, there’s basically more than a thousand Manansalas and most of them are in Gensan.

They had the first grand reunion back in 2004, around 7 years ago. Me thinks, it’s just high time that we have another one. I was even glad to know that they plan that we do this ever 2 years.

So, the 2nd reunion was held last 21 May 2011 in General Santos City, We had to fly all the way there to attend this big event. There were some issues with the venue, a little bickering amongst relatives in our private Facebook group, that caused one family, the brood of Jesus Manansala, to totally boycott the reunion. Although it bothered most of us a bit, but the show must go on. The day started early with a long motorcade around Gensan and then straight to Arnevel’s in Purok Malakas. It was like 5,000 degrees that day, but that wasn’t enough to let our spirits down. I got sunburned in my cheeks and my arms – so goodbye to boxes upon boxes of intravenous glutathione! LOL. The event got even more jolly when it was hosted by two fabulous girls (read: bayot) amongst the younger set: Justine Manansala who is a natural comic and a great host since he is a regular disk jock in one of Gensan’s bigger FM station. Backing up Justine was Oyaying Cunanan who made it even more fun with his antics. It is a fact that there are many amongst us in the Manansala clan who are genetically challenged hahaha!

There were lots of games for the kids and the adults alike. Each family branch prepared yells, presentations. There was a search for Little Miss Manansala Clan and a Macho Gay search as well. It was so much fun! I can’t wait for the next one in 2013. I hope the attendance will double, and hopefully mom would be with us.

Here are some photos:

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Here are great videos made by Tito Orman Manansala

http://youtu.be/IHNX4Q1ILNg

http://youtu.be/69NNx98eauw

it was well worth the trip! It was great reconnecting ties with relatives and making new ones with even more relatives! See you all in 2013.

 

Hello Again! Hello Gensan!

And so I decided to activate this blog. Again!

I just got home from General Santos City. I went there to attend the Aquilino & Gregoria Manansala Grand Reunion,it was the second reunion after 7 long years. It was such a big hit, despite the really hot and humid weather. Goodbye 10 boxes worth of Glutathion IV LOL!So, yes we had a great time in Magandang Gensan. It was just myself, dad, Arianne and her son Kirk plus the yaya. That was the first time we went there sans mother dear (she’s the one from Gensan). Suffice it so say – the stay was short but sweet! We had to squeeze in a lot of invitations from lots of relatives.

Safe touchdown in General Santos City! Of course, I was stepping on my imaginary brakes! hahaha

Hello Magandang Gensan! It's nice to be back...

the last time dad visited Gensan was like 8-10 years ago, during the death of my lolo. It is Arianne and Kirk's first time

So, we missed meeting Manny Pacquiao at the airport by just a few minutes. His private plane took off minutes before we landed. His District Officer in Sarangani Province, Bren Manansala Evangelio happens to be my first cousin, after sending off Manny, he waited for our flight and met us at the ramp and we were lucky to be taken to the city in Manny’s own fully-armored Chevrolet Tahoe – the closest things we can get to meeting this city’s most famous son.Right then and there, I knew that this vacation will be a blast, albeit a little short.

So, lunch was at Auntie Rose’s. She lives in the very spot where the old ancestral house used to stand but was burned down some few years back. I also met Lola Inda, my mom’s mum. I was happy to see her still very active and she has an appetite of a horse! She just keeps on saying “mangan ta na” that’s Capampangan for “let’s eat/I want to eat”. If not for her advance stage Alzheimer’s, lola would be perfectly ok.

So, lunch was aplenty, prepared by my dearest Auntie  Rose. She cooked burong isda! I’ve blogged about it here. And since I am in tuna country, it is just but right that tuna prepared many ways should be served and of course grilled liempo, a tray full of chicharong bulaklak – a slice or two would render me immobile as gout would surely attack!

Only Capampangans would understand this. Acquired Taste, if you may.

fresh tuna cubes cooked in native vinegar mixed with aromatics. sans the coconut milk unlike the visayan style tht requires gata

No special meal in Gensan is complete without panga ng tuna.

We stayed at Drigg’s Pension House. A brand new swanky pensione, owned by a first cousin of  my first cousin Arlene Duque. I immediately love th place. Auntie Rose recommended that we stay there. The architecture of the place was modern with clean lines. But what struck me most was that, despite the swankiness and the modernity, their bathroom has a tabo and balde (dipper and pail), which is a requisite in most Filipino bathrooms but hard to find in most new hotels. Their service is great too! Reasonably priced and it comes with free Filipino breakfast for two.

notice the kabo and balde that stands out in the modern asian zen design that continues from the room until the bathroom.

the newly opened Drigg's in Eve St., Paradise Subd. , City Heights, General Santos City

More about Gensan in succeeding posts!

 

More Cooking

My Aunt Baby left us a few days ago. She was battling lung cancer. I know she is in a better place now…free from pain and health difficulties…

View her online obituary here

She died in New Jersey, USA. So we are still waiting for her remains to arrive in Ormoc. So before the regular novena, which were putting on hold until she arrives, we are holding praying of the rosary every night…friends and relatives come to the house to participate…and as tradition, we serve food after the prayer…so, I’m always tasked to prepare for the night snacks…my own way of saying thanks my Tita Baby.

Today, I made baked chicken empananda…I never made this before. I got the recipe online, tweaked it  bit by adding fresh curry to give it a little kick…

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Here’s the actual recipe. Tweak and adjust as you please…

Take note of the butter that you use…if it’s salted, then cut down on the salt in the dough recipe.

 

Chicken Empanada Ingredients:

Crust

• 300 g (2 1/2 cups) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 65 g (1/3 cup) chilled solid vegetable shortening
• 125 g(1/2 cup) butter
• 6-7 tablespoons iced water
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon water

 

Filling

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 450 g (1 lb) chicken breast or thigh meat, deboned and cubed
• 1 small potato, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 250 ml (1 cup) water or chicken broth
• 100 g (1 cup) green peas (thawed, if frozen)
• 100 g (1/2 cup) raisins (optional)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Chicken Empanada Instructions:

• To make the Crust, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
  
• Cut in the butter and shortening with a knife or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the iced water, a little at a time while gathering the mixture to form a soft dough.
  
• Form the dough into a ball. Sprinkle some flour onto a sheet of waxed paper and wrap dough in the waxed paper. Chill 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
• To make the Filling, heat the oil and butter in a skillet. Add onions and saute about 1 minute, then add garlic and saute a further 1 minute. Add the cubed chicken meat and stir-fry until the chicken browns.
• Add potatoes and carrots and cook 2-3 minutes. Stir in water or broth and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender and chicken is fully cooked.
  
• Add peas and raisins and simmer a further 2–3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. With a slotted spoon, drain ingredients and transfer to a bowl, letting excess liquid drip. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool.
• Preheat oven to 200° C (400° F). Remove chilled dough from refrigerator. Lightly flour a pastry board or clean table top. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough on a pastry board until it is 3 mm (1/8 in) thick. Don’t roll it too thin or it will break when baked. Cut 10 cm (4 in) circles using a cutter and a small bowl.
  
• Gather the scraps and re-roll them so they can be used again. You should get about 20 pastry circles.
• Spoon about 1-2 teaspoons Filling into the middle of each pastry circle. Fold the circle so the edges meet and filling is sealed. Press the edges of the pastry with the tines of a fork.
• Combine lightly beaten egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush surface of each folded puff with egg mixture. Arrange on a greased baking sheet. With a knife make 2-3 slits on the surface of each puff to allow steam to escape while baking.
  
• Bake puffs in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside for a few minutes to cool before serving

 

 

my take on the classic fresh chinese lumpia

so I craved for fresh Chinese lumpia last night.

I just have to make my own. In this sleepy city, you can’t find Chinese lumpia that’s good to go.

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craving

It’s almost 3AM and Mr. Sandman is still not here.

I need my shuteye, I have a 9AM appointment tomorrow.

Good luck to me.

I was trying to tire my eyes by watching TV. I was tuned to TLC channel – it was all cooking shows one after the other.

So, I got more interested by the shows and I got excited – watching these shows would only spark my imagination. So, it defeated the purpose of making meself go to sleep.

So, now, I’m hungry. and now I am craving for:

fresh chinese lumpia

FRESH CHINESE LUMPIA!

I swear to God, I’m going to make some tomorrow.

My first initiation to this food that I surmise were created for the gods, was back in my freshman year at Cebu Doc’s. The sophomores and the juniors would give us tips where to eat and get good food with our student budget (read: always inadequate), and then we were introduced to the Chinese Lumpia!

We would walk all the way to Robinson’s to devour the Chinese lumpia there, until we lost count how many we’ve actually eaten…it’s the one that were at the basement near the supermarket…although they’re no longer there.

And then my good friend Angel Kangleon and I discovered back in 2004 while doing our grocery one Sunday morning, we spotted thesame manang who  served these delicious rolls back in college. Our hearts were racing, we were kinda hoping she ws selling thesame stuff. Alas! Yes. We spent most of our grocery money that day to good ole’ Chinese Lumpia. It brought great memories of the care free years we all call: college. We forget how good they were. And so, it became a Sunday habit…although, I would take a cab from our house to Fooda in Guadalupe when I crave for them.

Now that I’m in Ormoc…I guess I just have to recreate it.

Let’s see if I can do it.

And, yes I am still very hungry. I thought blogging about it would distract me. No it didn’t!

 

So here’s a recipe of this that I recreate in my mind:

Shredded ubod (hearts of palm), shredded carrots, diced tokwa (silk tofu), small shrimps, togue (mongo sprout, optional), shredded cabbage, ground pork. salt and pepper to taste. All you have to do is saute the ground pork in garlic and onions, then just throw in everything and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

 

Wrap it in lumpia wrapper, but sprinkle a mixture of ground peanuts and sugar before wrapping  (the kind that they use in lumpiang shanghai).

I have yet to experiment on the sauce…I will keep you guys posted on that one.

 

 

Hellowst!

Hi guys,

So, I decided to go back to blogging again.

Let’s see if I’ll be diligent enough to post regularly.

You see, I live a pretty die cast, routine kinda life. Home-Bar-Home. So there’s not much to talk about. I mean I see the same faces, drink the same beer, hear the same songs all the time. I do not want to bore you with the details. An ant would have a much better daily life story than myself. LOL

So, my day started pretty early. I woke up with a slight hangover from last night’s Red Horse, last night was pretty boring, except for a brawl involving kids. So, yes I ran errands for this new company that I am a part of. It’s part managerial, part consultancy work.

My first stop was the Ormocnet at IAL Lodge, 2 blocks from where I live. I know window shopping and comparing prices and computer specs can be mind boggling – but thanks to the helpful staff at Ormocnet, they customized a pckage for several sets of PC for me. It was a breeze. Tomorrow, I hope we get to purchase those PCs already. I’ve always loved Ormocnet because of their after sales service, which is unheard of from most PC stores in the city. Once you’ve purchased the thing, then you’re on your own.

Next pit stop was at the Ortelco and Bayantel offices. Getting a line and a DSL connection was such a breeze too. While my co-workers where inside filling out the form, I had a quick lunch – I forgot I skipped lunch until my stomach grumbled. So, I had some squid balls, ngo-hiong and fried chops at the JCS food store right beside Ortelco. I figured, today was pretty hot – then I realized that it’s seldom that I’m out of the house at this time of the day. So, off I went home, before the panic sets in — the heat was a little too unbearable for me my nape started to hurt…maybe my BP spiked or it was just all in my mind. Nevertheless, I was lying in my bed with the A/C in full blast.

I spent the rest afternoon with good friend Gilbert at the brand new city hall. It was my 3rd or 4th time, and everytime I go there, I get mesmerized by the sheer size of our city hall…corridors as wide as that of malls in Cebu, central airconditioning, very high ceiling volume, and office that you can see through, a good testament of the government’s effort for transparency in governance. Anyway, I was there to claim my DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) business name registration certificate – a pre requisite before one can apply for a mayor’s permit. I applied for that last Thursday and they said it’ll take a week and comeback the next Thursday which is today. You see, for a city as big as Ormoc, we only have a satellite office here that’s at the city licensing office. They only open Tuesdays and Thursdays. Can you believe that? So, I went there at around 3pm…there was a long queue…so Gilbert and I made a beeline. Horrors! there was just one manong doing everything – from accepting application, double checking that everything in the application form is correct, releasing the business name certs, and he was the cashier too…so I made a calculation – there were around 16 in that line, I was the 17th…at the average handling time of 15 mins or even more per client…I should reach his table just before dinner…which of course is not possible because the thing closes at 5pm!!!! and I have to wait several more days because they open back next Tuesday! Totally unacceptable.

Furious, we decided we get a foot massage at the Blessed Pedro Calungsod Foot Reflexology Center at the side of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Church. We frequent the place because the therapists there are good and strong…unlike in the

Foot Reflex

spas where we feel like they were just tickling our feet. This is not for the faint hearted. It is painful at first, but it’s that kind of pain that you look for after. Eventually, you’ll get used to the pain and then you feel pleasure and you feel light. The therapists there know the pressure points…so if a pressure point is painful when they apply pressure – they’ll tell you it’s your head, or you lack sleep, or your spleen or your liver etc. It was such a relief. I recommend you go visit one of these days.

We were famished after our relaxing foot reflex – so we jumped at the first food we saw:

 

Kwek-kwek. Itlog nga initlogan

 

Then it was Fra Lippo Lippi after. That will be in another post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

finally, wordpress app for ipad!

finally a wordpress app for ipad! now i can blog on the go! watch out for that =)

 

eating out: boylin’s

this could  be ormoc’s best kept secret. tucked in a nondescript road whose name i do not even know, at the 1st corner to the left as you enter the New Society Village (NSV) in Brgy. Can-adieng towards the southern part of the city, facing the picturesque ormoc bay – well in this case- there’s no view as houses block it. here you will find this little shack that’s been serving the best carenderia fare to a market unclassified, yet unified by their love of good home cooking.

Just lately, I learned that the place is called Boylin’s. People normally call it ” Sa baybayon” or sa “kandingan sa can-adieng“. I had my first kalderetang kanding here when i was still a freshman in high school. dad would drag me and my brother erik, to eat here for breakfast/brunch. we normally come here when they have real pawikan (sea turtle) available. it was available only for a chosen few . they would call my dad, if pawikan is available. i remember, they would hide the caldero at the back of the restaurant. it was already a little “taboo” a that time, to eat real pawikan; although the people weren’t as environmentally aware as nowadays. i only realized that our food adventures there was like a rite of passage of sorts.

i really didn’t like the taste of pawikan mind you, it revolted me. it has a funky after taste – a cross between the gamey taste of a wild land animal and the cod-liver-oily kind of taste of a sea creature. but i remember eating it a lot just to please dad. eating it was a salvador dali moment for me – eating it with gusto, but abhorring it at the same time. but i do crave it sometimes, i guess this is what they call acquired taste. and yes they still call my dad too.

what i enjoyed eating there was their caldereta, a far cry from the caldereta served in most fiesta, even in our own home. that kind of caldereta is rich, thick and as my friend would call it “pang dato” or spanish type, you know, the kind with olives and potatoes. this caldereta is the typical tagalog caldereta, the sarsa is a little thin, almost like a soup rather than a stew, with hints of tomato sauce, native bell peppers and the taste/smell of goat’s meat sans the goat-y smell that i abhor. this can only be achieved by handling the meat properly and of course slow cooking. it takes a real kitchen pro to handle goat’s meat from becoming smelly or “langsa“/gamey, so imagine doing that every single day?

calderetang kanding

kinilaw nga nangka

paklay!

pali

and since this is a kambingan, they serve anything and everything goat, and other home cooked dishes of course. i love their paklay! the best paklay, hands down. to the uninitiated, paklay is sauteed chooped goat innards with pineapple and red bell pepper and lots of ginger strips.

i also love their pali. it’s goat’s lungs, boiled, sliced thinly and dressed with a sweet and sour mixture of coconut cream, native vinegar, ginger and tomatoes – almost like kinilaw. this dish is not for the weak of heart. the texture plays between soft, rough, mushy and crunchy. but it is good. you should try it at least once in your lifetime.

then i had the shai (pronounced sha – ee). this is pig’s small intestines, boiled in aromatics (bay leaf, peppercorns, native vinegar) and then deep fried. this is unlike your chicharong bulaklak, that’s crunchy. i mustered enough courage to avoid this (every guy with gouty arthritis is familiar with this predicament) but admitted defeat in the end. there’s colchicine in my drawer anyway!

sha-i

sha-i in nitibong suka with sili. gout attack!

joel gaquit, official model. not the agtang. nagsingot sa kahalang sa suka!

excited to eat. ayaw sa kay mag piktyur pa ko!

boylin’s also serve a bevy of kinilaw. from kinilaw na isda native style, kinilaw na puso ng saging, kinilaw nga nangka. sometimes, we order everything kinilaw-ed! it makes your appetite a little wild.

if i come here early, i always have their tinolang native free-range chicken with green papapya or tinuwang preskong isda, also native style, soured gingerly by ripe tomatoes, lest it becomes sinigang! they also have humba, the kind where the fat was rendered first and then stewed in a sweet and sour sauce with taoshio (black beans) and lots of azucena (dried banana flower blossom). they also have this pickled and then cooked vegetables – ampalaya, eggplant, bell peppers – it’s really good to cleanse your palate and prep your appetite. of course they also have balbacua, pinawikan, a dish of carabao meat cooked like it was pawikan, hence the name. then they also have lechon kawali or we call it adobo here in ormoc – deep fried pork belly. kuyaw gyud intawn sa high blood! so i’ve never ordered that since like 3-4 years ago.

boylin’s is not cheap. their price is a little higher than most carenderias. but it is clean, the place is also comfortable and the servings are generous. plus they only serve really, really ice cold softdrinks – the kind that bites your throat!

you also have the choice of rice or corn for your carbs. i chose corn sometimes, but it’s a little heavy on the stomach. business starts as early as 8:00 AM. As early as that, the place is packed with office workers, businessmen, students – everyone! by 11AM, most of their dishes, especially their specialties will be gone. So you better go there early.

so, let me go take my colchicine now.

 

eating out: big roy’s

Let me begin by saying that i am no chef but having to eat out a lot with as a way to pamper myself, pat myself in the back for doing something good, celebrate, or even when i have extra money to blow. I guess I can say i have a pretty well-rounded sense of what’s good and what’s not when it comes to food.

so earlier today, for some reason, good friend rhoderick omega announced in his facebook message to me, that he is treating me and alex alegarbis to dinner at big roy’s. my heart skipped a beat!

big roy’s is one of the best of only a few restaurants in this sleepy city. in a place where people opt to eat at home and dining outside is reserved only for special occasions, big roy’s still stands proudly after all these years.I have always thought that ormoc’s dining scene to be old fashioned and un-exciting. but restos like big roy’s make this known fact a little more bearable. their extensive menu makes eating out here a little more exciting. extensive yet it does not overwhelm you. they are also reasonably priced - commensurate to the quality and the taste of the food that they serve you, not to mention the service - impeccable! and the staff here address me on a first name basis, so that makes it even more comforting.

i still remember the first time i had the chance to try roy and teling pangilinan’s cooking, they were still in the SRAC (Sports Recreationa and Amusement Center) then. big roy’s is almost like bigby’s resto in cebu that’s orginally from cagayan de oro. true to it’s name, their servings are rather large, american size serving as they call it and they’re reasonably priced. roy and teling do not scrimp on their ingredients, so you are assured that you are getting your money’s worth plus everything they serve you is fresh. they are also consistent to the quality and taste of their food. i have experienced one too many times when you fall in love with a particular dish at a resto, you come back a few days after to try it again, and to your dismay, that same dish doesn’t taste like the last time you had it, which was why you fell in love with it in the first place. that’s a really big let down. but at big roy’s, the food tastes exactly the same as the last time i ate there. that is very important, that could very well be one of the reason why they’re still open up to this day.

their food is fastfood sized and it’s taste isn’t too restaurant-y, you know the kind that makes you umay right away — here it’s more on the home cooking kind. stuff on their menu eventually became comfort food to me.

i particularly love their tenderloin kebabs (a must try!) – perfectly seasoned, perfectly grilled. i didn’t order that today. i was still a little full when i got there, so i opted to get their fish and fries. big chunks of firm fish fillets seasoned with hints of dill, hand breaded and fried just right. served with a thousand island-like dipping sauce + a  bed of field greens chopped tomatoes and fries.

then we had the Bouillabaisse. A creamy french seafood soup. it’s pink bombil’s favorite. it’s almost like a meal of it’s own. creamy and milky soup with butter and generous amounts of chopped fresh tomatoes and lots of fresh seafood – fish cubes, mussel meat, tender squid rings and shrimp. this soup is enough to cure any hangover.

we also had the chef’s salad. it was a typical salad, yet very refreshing. hand torn iceberg lettuce, shredded carrot, chopped tomatoes, slices of ham, grated cheese and slices of hardboiled egg, served with a thousand island dressing.

since most of the people in the group were really hungry, so they ordered the big roy’s barkada platter. the name says it all – it is enough for your barkada! hand breaded perfectly fried chicken, pork strips, shrimp, squid and fries with a mayo based dip and even more salad greens!

Bouillabaisse. lovely.

chef's salad. refreshing.

fish and fries...

big roy's barkada platter

rhodz had the chops in mustard gravy. two big chops fried and smothered with a mustard based sauce.

alex had the rellenong bangus, three slices from obviously a really big stuffed bangus served with a side of pickled ampalaya (bitter melon). it looked good. alex said it tasted good. it was a dish that looked like it took a long time to prepare.

chops with mustard gravy

rellenong bangus.

sizzling chops.

kowloon style beef steak.

Tata Gidayawan had the sizzling chops. 2 big slices of grilled pork chops served on a sizzling plate with the customary mushroom gravy. it was typical but it was not  ”lu-od” like most sizzling dishes.

Bobby and Balot Quijada shared the Kowloon style beef steak. Generous serving of tender beef with a soy and sesame based sarsa topped with white onions. they have to order extra rice — you need lots of rice with this dish.

It was a great dining experience. we were able to catch up with each other, updates, chika, over good food. non stop laughter! after all these years, i am comfortable with the homey ambiance of the resto.

for a party of five ordering enough to fill the whole table, the tab was about Php1600.00 – that is really a great deal!

i am looking forward to our next dining there.

eating out at big roy's

 

ormoc street food. part one, i guess.

a warm and humid summer afternoon.

not much money to spend.

three empty stomachs.

no time to change clothes. come as you are.

so, off we go to the tight streets of ormoc city.

it opened floodgates of warm and toasty memories of childhood summers in this city.

—-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O–

first stop was at city central school along carlos tan st.

to spear on some freshly made, fried on the spot fish ball from one of our suki since, hmmm, elementary?

Each ball costs Php0.50 cents only! it used to be just Php0.25 cents, but i guess borge (the vendor) got affected with the increasing prices of the ingredients.

let's make tusok-tusok the fish balls!

fresh fishball mixture...tastes much better than the frozen/japanese kind.

once they float...they're ready to make tusok!

hot sauce, sweet sauce, or native vinegar for your dipping sauce. city health regulation: you may only dip once!

So after making tusok2x the fish balls, we headed to Carmel’s bakeshoppe, an institution in itself — they’re more popularly known as “ila ka paca” since it is owned by the Paca family, also well known cooks/bakers  in the city. we went to get a few pieces of meat bread or pan con carne and cheese bread. it is actually made of very soft sweet bread dough.   the taste of these baked goodies tastes exactly the same back in highschool. so you will know that the same recipe was used ever since. they’re located just at the back of our school in Arradaza St.  in high school we would jump over the fence to buy their bread and their fresh lumpia, risking being caught by mrs. cortes, then our highschool principal.

our lady of mt. carmel bakeshoppe

warm, fresh from the oven pan con carne...

cheese bread! best paired with ice cold coca-cola!!!

pan con carne filling of sauteed ground meat, pimientos and chopped hard boiled eggs

Then we went to the crossing of Arradaza and Cata-ag St. There we found the usual student’s merienda fare of caramelized bananas and camote (sweet potato) on a stick, turron, hot cake smothered with margarine and roll many times in white sugar, steamed/fried native chicken egg, and ice cold buko/pineapple juice.

camote, turron, saging minantikaan!

turron!

hot cake, in an old school griddle...

hot cake! a steal at Php5.00 per pack of 3

turron!

hot cake!

we also got some indian mango and spicybagoong/hipon/uyap (fermented and salted shrimp fry)

indian mango. sweet, sour, crunchy.

makes you salivate like a crazy dog!

spicy hipon/uyap/bagoong

mangga at bagoong. the perfect pair!

right beside we saw a cart selling freshly sliced queen pineapple.

ormoc queen pineapple

ormoc pineapple. sweet and crunchy sans the itchy tongue effect after eating

then, we went to the city plaza to buy some siomai and eat our loot there…on our way, we saw this manong selling fried peanuts, either regular, hot and spicy or sugar coated.

Php 5 per takos. each takos is one shot glass full.

fried peanuts!

fried peanuts with lots of garlic! once you pop, you can't stop!

sugar coated peanuts

Then we had siomai. Php 20-30 pesos for a serving consisting of 3 pieces of these yummy dumplings. i’m so fascinated that this revered dimsum fare have made it’s way into the philippine streets, thus becoming a street food. it is gaining much popularity. and of late, they have the fried variety. i want my siomai

served with the chili sauce, soy sauce and a squeeze of calamansi – then eaten with the toothpick. on a hungry day – i can cinsume up to twelve dumplings with lots  of puso (hanging rice). and for some reason, street food is best eaten with sparkle – either because it is the only available soft-drink most of the time or because sparkle is much cheaper. but they’re a perfect pair, really.

siomai!

fresh off the steamer siomai...

siomai - best eaten with chili paste, soy sauce, calamansi and a toothpick used to pick it up.

siomai + sparkle. another perfect pair.

at the imelda blvd/inaki larrazabal ave/the city plaza promenade covet a wide array of street food, ready to feed any hungry person making llamerda. you get to eat while enjoying the panoramic view of ormoc bay or while people watching . we chanced up on a lady balut vendor, you don’t get to see one often. we asked if she had “likos” or 17-18 days balut, but she only had the 16 days balut. it was joel’s favorite. although balut is best eaten during nighttime, joel insisted he wanted to try one since it was fresh and still very hot.

balut is a fertilized duck egg, so it has a duck embryo inside it. It is commonly eaten with salt with spicy native vinegar. traditionally it is usually sold and best eaten after dark, maybe so you can’t see how “luod” or gross it is. but to the expert, any time is a good time!

balut, salt and spicy native vinegr. kalami!

fresh balut, full of embryonic juices ! yum

sipping the warm juice...

16 days old balut. can you see the duck embryo?

. bathe the yolk with vinegar plus a pinch of salt.

lady balut vendor also peddling chicharon. this woman is a walking heart attack!

then right next to the siomai cart we saw another manong selling boiled peanuts. we wanted to buy, but we might look for beer! and it was just 4:00 PM. Beer + boiled peanuts, they’re yet another great love team.

linung-ag nga mani! at one of the food stalls at the city plaza

steaming hot boiled peanuts!

then we also chanced up on this lady selling grilled/broiled bananas on a stick. they call it nilangkay. back in a day, good friend angelo kangleon and i would comb the streets looking for nilangkay, this was one of his favorite.

goin' bananas!

grilled/broiled bananas a.k.a nilangkay

So for less than Php 150.00 we were able to enjoy and took care of of hunger. if we opted to go to a fast food, we could have blown Php 500 easy…plus it was a great bonding experience.

There are tons of philippine street food that i have yet to feature – i haven’t scratched the surface yet. there’s the isaw, barbecue sa eskina, salvaro, bibingka, dirty ice cream, ice drop, kab kab,  a plethora of native delicacies and a whole lot more — they should be in my next subsequent entries about pinoy street food.

food is the unifying factor of the philippines. it is our common denominator. we love to eat  when we’re happy, sad, angry, bored and even on the rare occasions that we’re hungry. and part of that is pinoy street food.

pinoy street food reflects the filipino culture of ingenuity – to create something special, edible, delicious, nutritious and cost-effective out of something that is seemingly useless, plain or mediocre. that is why when americans get the hunger pangs, they rush to the nearest fastfood, while pinoys rush to the street to eat their favorite street food that is enough to satisfy one’s hunger and soul. philippine street food is soul food. it feeds the masses. Readily available, good tasting and cheap and not to mention the seemingly endless choices.

although street foods have gone to the malls too, to satiate the cravings of the well-heeled who are also into this kind of food. Even 5-star hotels feature street food in their menus once in a while (here), a testament that indeed philippine street food is a big part of philippine culture. it is always a part of the urban landscape. also, if you get to explore pinoy street food, then you will understand why we have high levels of sugar, salt and cholesterol.

We love street food, probably of  the total experience in itself. The joy that goes with getting cheap, quick, tasty and delicious food all at the same time. And It doesn’t get any better than that, because when I say cheap, it has got to be really cheap, and tasty and delicious.

the locations where these street food carts are located is a microcosm of a typical philippine community. it is here that you see the natural convergence of people from all walks of life.

although normally viewed as dirty. times have changed now, the government has even stepped in and regulated this trade to make sure proper hygiene is followed. but as they say, once you get to build relationship to your suki – you are sure that they serve you clean food, they treat you like family, and of course they don’t want family to get sick.

now if you’ll excuse me. after eating all those street food for research purposes (to photograph them), now i really need to go to the:

ciao!