BWFE post#1: Pinoy Salo-Salo!

What’s BWFE? That’s Birthday Week Food Extravaganza! If you remember my post about my fantastic birthday week ages ago, I said that I would blog about the 5 foodie fests I’ve been to that week. Unfortunately, PayPerPost and ReviewMe snookered me into commercial blogging in my other blog. Really sorry guys! But if I tell you I made $140 from PayPerPost and $40 from ReviewMe, would you be happy for me? I hope so! LOL! =) So if you have a blog more than 90 days old, I suggest you start earning from them. ReviewMe is the easiest to get into, almost instantaneous approval of your blog if you meet the requirements. And finally, after my shameless plugging, here’s BWFE part1!

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The first foodfest I’ve been to during my birthday week was my deceased paternal grandfather’s birthday celebration. His birthday was July 13 and we went home to Kidapawan, our hometown, on July 14. He’s already dead for 3-4 years now yet my paternal Lola always remember to have a little salo-salo on his birthday. This year my Lola was having second thoughts to celebrate Lolo’s birthday. However, a few days before July 13, Lolo appeared in her dreams. Lola shared that she thought Lolo appeared to remind her of his birthday salo-salo. Hehe! And thus, Labsie and I found ourselves going to Kidapawan with my parents on July 14. Here we are hamming it up at the backseat. Papa was driving and Mama was in the front passenger seat.

It was an uneventful trip until we were about five minutes from our “ancestral” home. For the first time in more than a decade, our vehicle died in the middle of a one-lane road! And it was just before lunch so traffic was heavy. Boy, were the cars behind us pissed! LOL! So we all got out of the vehicle and pushed it towards the sidewalk. Mind you, it was nearly noon so it was very hot! Mama and me were under the umbrella most of the time while Papa and Labsie sweated it out. Here are my parents (Mama with umbrella of course, hehe) trying to figure out what went wrong with the engine, lol!

After nearly 30 minutes under the sizzling sun without progress in resolving the engine trouble, I asked permission to go ahead to Lola’s house. I hate the noontime sun and I couldn’t take the heat any longer! So Mama and I rode a tricycle to Lola’s house. Papa and Labsie were left behind to fix the vehicle. After 15 minutes of arriving at Lola’s, the two men arrived, the vehicle apparently fixed. And so Lolo’s birthday salo-salo was on! Here’s the centerpiece, I admit it’s meager than our usual handaan fare. There is no lechon (roasted pig) which is the norm; according to Lola, she’s saving the pig for Christmas. Yesss!!! =)

In lieu of the roasted pig, we have the roasted chicken or litson manok at the foreground (above pic). We had about 6 viands all in all, and they were all cooked by Lola and my aunts in their appetizing Ilocano way. Mmmm, my saliva’s starting to drool just thinking of the salo-salo food! =) Below are the pics of the freshly grilled milkfish or sinugbang bangus (left) and the super yummy kilayin (right). I don’t know what’s the English for kilayin but it’s like a savory stew consisting of pork slices, green peas, pork liver cuts and some pork entrails. Delicioso! Below the two pics is the photo of the beef spareribs cooked the Solito way, hehe! Another certified lip-smacking goody coz Labsie finished nearly 10 pieces of it. Glutton! Joke lang labs, I understand coz the ribs were really scrumptious. Thus its very prominent photo, lol! The ribs were very soft and tasty inside, crunchy and still tasty outside.. Mmmm, I can almost taste it! =)

Not seen in the pictures are the roasted goat meat and papait, an Ilocano delicacy consisting of goat entrails and bile. The word “pait” means bitter and it is the bile that gives it the bitter taste. This dish might sound yucky but the way my Lola cooks it, you wouldn’t even know you’re eating entrails. Sigh.. Lola is such a very good cook! If only I can live with her and learn the secrets of the Ilocano’s art of cooking, heaven! The following photos are pictures of people having their fill of Lola’s gustatory delights, hehe =)

Lola, Papa (facing the camera) and an uncle ready to dig in the feast!

Papa, Labsie and an aunt; the feast has begun! =)

More aunts (they’re the ones who cooked!) and the uncle from photo #1.

My cousins and Labsie eating in the living room.

There’s no photos of me coz I’m the unofficial photographer. Sigh.. Here ends my rather longish first post for the BWFE series. I hope you enjoyed the Filipino food pics guys! I adore Filipino food and I will always promote it =) If you’re not into Filipino food, stay tuned for BWFE post#2, it’s all about European delights. YUM!

Birthday Week Food Extravaganza!

Last July 18 I celebrated my 26th (wahhh) birthday but the celebration did not start and end on that day. In fact, the birthday foodfest started last July 14 in Kidapawan and ended last July 22 still in Kidapawan. But, there were foodfests in Davao in-between those days too, yeah! =) Of course these foodfests are NOT solely because of my birthday. The one in July 14 was my paternal grandfather’s birthday (July 13) celebration albeit he’s already dead for 3-4 years now. Yeah, weird huh? Just watch out for my full post on this and you’ll understand why my paternal Lola decided to have a typical Pinoy handaan for him. Here's Lola with my father beside her and the small feast. No lechon for the first time! LOL

The one in July 21 and 22 was my maternal grandmother’s 75th birthday celebration. Her birthday was July 19, just next to mine, and we typically combine our celebrations to save money on my parents’ part. But, often, my relatives forget it’s my birthday too, hehe! It’s ok though, my maternal Lola totally deserve all the adulation she receives during these times as she single-handedly raised her 10 children (!!!) when my maternal grandfather died. My Lola is a strong woman but you wouldn’t know it if you see her coz she’s very small, frail and looks meek as a mouse =) There she is (in red) with her sisters:

In between the Kidapawan foodfests were my and Labsie’s 93rd Monthsary celebration in a new European café called The Farm (July 17), my mini-birthday dinner at home (only two viands that’s why it’s called mini! hehe) on July 18, and my dinner-out birthday celebration in Zakoya Japanese Buffet (July 19). That’s three straight days of pigging out!!! But, hell, it’s my birthday! Time to let go of my strict diet. Hahaha! ;p Here are sneak peeks of my gastronomic adventures last week –-

Watch out next week for my 5-part Birthday Week posts. All of the things I mentioned above will have their own FULL posts with lots of pictures and some videos =) I’m really excited to do this coz it’s the first time I truly enjoyed my birthday without any worries that I’ll be late for school the next day, that I have to study for exams (coz often, its prelims week on my birthday, sigh), that I have to treat my classmates and friends, etc, etc. I’m very glad that I made the decision to NOT take the medical board exam this August. Coz if I will take it, I’m sure I would be buried in books during my birthday. I would worry endlessly of time “wasted” while pigging out and will not enjoy my birthday week at all. I would have missed Lola’s 75th birthday and hanging out with my not-so-little cousins. Most of them were in college already! Migod, time flew so fast! While I was busy in medical school and 24-hour duties, the kids I loved were growing up. I’m just so happy that I was able to reconnect with them. Thank you Lord! And thank you also for giving me parents who understood my need to rest and regroup before taking the medical board exam. Hehe! HAPPY ME! =)