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!

i'm going on a diet! lol

My lifestyle recently underwent a very drastic change. For the past two years, I have been going on 24-hour hospital duties that are sometimes so hectic and busy. Often, I’m unable to eat on time and I lack sleep. Coupled with a very active lifestyle, my weight just hovers the below normal range. I may look thin to some but my body mass index or bmi is still within normal limits. If you wanna check your own bmi, here’s a free bmi calculator for you.

Anyway, last June I decided to go on hiatus from the medical field. So now, for the past two months, I’ve been a bum at home. No more 24-hour duties, no more running around the hospital hallways, no more missed meals and sleep deprivation. My life has become sedentary, save for gardening activities and doing household chores. I just bet my basal metabolic rate or bmr has decreased, which is the starting point in gaining weight. Wahh, that’d be nightmare!!! If you’re as health conscious as me, you can check your bmr with this free bmr calculator. Hope your bmr is way better than mine, hehe! :p

Aside from my life going sedentary, yummy food is available to me 24/7! Goodness! My low bmr and increased food intake will definitely equal to weight gain, huhu! =( I don’t wanna gain weight coz it won’t match my petite figure. Thus, starting today, I promise to watch what I eat and count the calories. And of course, I promise to be active again. No more sitting in front the pc for hours. Gotta move baby! =) The pics above show my lunch for today -- spiced ham sandwich with lettuce. HEALTHY!!!

Snackaroos 4: Jolleepies!!

Nope, the title is NOT a wrong spelling of a popular fastfood chain’s yummy Jolly Pies (I adore their pizza and tuna flavors which is often not in stock, why oh why??). Jolleepies by Goby is a Davao homegrown pastry product which we discovered just last week. Labsie and I were going out NCCC Mall’s main entrance when we caught a whiff of pizza. Our noses led us to an ongoing food expo in the mall’s atrium. And there it was, a free sampling of delicious looking savory mini-pies! I tasted one piece and whoa!! I fell in love immediately with the flavor – pizza underneath, creamy cheese and a hint of beef on top.

Labsie felt the same and decided on the spot to buy 1 box. He loves the pies, no doubt about it! I eagerly asked the salesgirl how much is 1 box and she said it was P42 for beef and chicken pies. It contains 6 pieces and I calculated, P6 for 1 mini-pie?? A pie that was just 1.5-2inches in diameter with about 1cm of delicious filling? Hmm.. Undecided, I popped another free piece and that sealed my decision. We bought 1 box of beef savory pies, still warm and smelling oh-so yummy! There it is, 6 pieces of mini-heaven in a bite!

The pies don’t look much but trust me when I say they are worth the price. With 2 pieces, you’d feel full but still wanting more. The crust is good but lacking the buttery taste that I have come to associate with excellent soft piecrusts. Yesterday, Labsie and I introduced Mama to the Jolleepies. She bought 2 boxes. What can I say? She loved it! My brother also loved the pies and demolished 1 box that Mama bought but, like me, he also balked at the P6 apiece tag. Let’s just say being a cheapskate runs in our blood. We’re Chinese after all, hehe!

As you can see, the pie boxes can also serve as gift boxes if you wish to give it to someone. The box has a To & From tag and is colored red, perfect for any occasions! In our country, red is a lucky color and we often wear red clothes during our birthdays and other important occasions. Anyway, Jolleepies also come in other flavors. For those who have sweet tooth, they have durian, buko, buko pandan, crema de fruta, choco cream, ube, ube macapuno and mango pies. Labsie and I didn’t try any of it, we don’t crave sweets unlike most Pinoys. Other savory flavors (aside from beef and chicken) include tuna, sisig, garden fresh beef (with vegetables), and garden fresh chicken pies. Yum!! Can’t wait to try all the savory flavors! =)

One last peek of the super-delicious Jolleepies! Mmm good! Buy now and spread the word guys! It’s still available in the NCCC Mall atrium but I don’t know for how long. You can also get it in the following places:
>Main: #11 Circumferential Road, Marfori Heights, Davao City (082-3031332, 0910-3858441)
>Matina Highway Branch (082-2971289)
>San Pedro College Branch
>San Pedro St. Branch (besides Lachmi)

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! =)

TINOMOK ba kamo??

What the heck is tinomok?? Well, I also asked that question to our waiter in Gerry’s Grill (in Gaisano Mall) and he said it is one of their special dishes. In fact, in their menu it was proudly written that tinomok was reviewed by a prestigious food magazine and was given a thumbs-up sign. To quote the menu: "A bit like laing, only better.This is good. it was featured in a magazine." Nice! =)

Above (at left) is an UNappetizing picture of tinomok which does not do justice to its deliciousness! Looks like a mishmash of something green eh? Gakk! I’m really sorry but that’s what I get for forgetting the 5mp digicam and just using labsie’s fonecam. To top it off, the interiors in Gerry’s Grill are dim, very nice for dates but not good in taking pics, tsk! But as u can see at right, there's a GREAT photo of tinomok with the white gata sauce and silis clearly shown , yum! *drooling saliva*

It was our second time in Gerry’s Grill. The first time was with my family and we ordered most of the house specialties (grilled sizzling squid, crispy pata, beef casserole [beef, cheese, mashed potato & garlic, yum!] and sizzling sisig) pictured at left and they didn’t disappoint! All were heavenly and were gone in less than 30min, no thanks to the 4 guys with me and mama! =) Anyhow, labsie and I decided to order something different this time, something adventurous. Thus, we ordered tinomok which in their menu looked like green gabi leaves rolled into “balls” and drizzled with ginataan sauce. Mmm, I love gata! I thought it may be laing just served exotically. However the waiter refuted this and said that the gabi leaves were actually a covering for the meatball mixture inside. Ooh meat! (see the first pics above) That decided labsie to order it though I was still a bit apprehensive, what if we won’t like it?? There goes P150 down the drain, tsk! To be sure we still had viands if we won’t like tinomok, we ordered chopsuey (vegetables, yum!) and chicken kebabs. We also told the waiter to make our tinomok not so spicy coz I hate hot stuff. After 15-30min (we actually finished reading a local daily!) the food arrived. Here's the chopsuey (my dim pix at left and great pix at right, notice how similar they look!) --

I egged on labsie to take the first bite of tinomok and his face contorted! My heart sank, it’s not good but labsie suddenly laughed and spoonfed me a bite. Mmmmmm good! It was truly gabi + meat + unknown veggies with gata, kinda like laing but not hot. The tinomok was demolished in 15min! And even up to now, we still have dreams of going back to Gerry’s Grill and ordering it. The chopsuey was also delicious, the vegetables crispy and there were lots of seafood and meat mixed in. It was at par with Ahfat’s chopsuey =) The chicken kebabs, however, were just so-so. The chicken cubes were tender and succulent but for the price, it was not worth it. I could probably make a more savoury one at a cheaper price, tsk! It was interspersed with chunky onions, bell peppers and some button mushrooms. After the eye-opening dinner (or is it stomach-opening-to-tinomok dinner?), labsie and I were all big smiles. We were satiated and very happy to discover a new pinoy foodie find. Welcome to our hearts tinomok! =)