Mobile malunggay pandesal

Taking our daughter to school every morning, we pass by a couple of mobile pandesal stores. These are tricycles with the side car fitted with an oven and storage for trays of pandesal. We were curious about the pandesal seeing many people buying from them despite nearby bakeries or tinapayan. It should be good as people patronize them every morning. We had not had the chance to try the pandesal until a couple of weeks ago when our car was stopped just across one due to some congestion on the way out the school. And so we decided to purchase a bag of pandesal (about 12 pieces).

Hot malunggay pandesal

The malunggay pandesal turned out to be quite good. We were handed hot pandesal that was on the toasted side. So it was crunchy on the outside and soft inside. The taste was also okay as there was no strong malunggay aftertaste like others like it that we tried before. We had a few while on the drive to our office and there was enough left for merienda later. We'll be buying again the next chance we get.

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Onigiri for lunch

There was a stall selling onigiri at the food fair near the College of Science Library last month (March). I think I went there twice or thrice to get my lunch and drinks. This was where they had a stall selling Carmen's Best products including chocolate milk that my daughter loved.

I usually bought these on my way to the lab when I was studying in Japan. You can buy these at the bento shop or convenience store. I usually get them for my lunch if I was busy working and couldn't go to the nearby canteen (shokudo) for a meal. One is already satisfying but I usually got two for a heavy lunch.

I prefer the tuna or 'sea chicken' as it is sometimes referred to at the kombini.

I am still amused at the easy open packaging for the onigiri. It makes it less messy when eating.

I like eating onigiri and good ones take me back to my time as a student in Japan.

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Paalam Kuya Manny

A very good man passed away last Maundy Thursday. I got to know Manuel C. Nolasco or Kuya Manny almost 25 years ago. That was when I was introduced to him and his wife, Ate Vicky. Kuya Manny is a first cousin of my wife on her father's side. My father-in-law and his mother are siblings.

Kuya Manny was a devoted father and husband. I also knew him as a man of great faith. He persevered to serve the Lord in many ways despite his illness. He and Ate Vicky are devout Roman Catholics and very active with a community that prays for priests. I knew him to be selfless, kind and humorous. Perhaps he would like to be remembered that way - funny, kind, a family man.

I have fond memories of him and had many insights about life and living. Perhaps one thing he liked telling people was about his abilities to see or feel the unseen. He seems to have the so-called 'third eye' that he could sense both benevolent and malevolent beings around us, whether you believe it or not. He will be laid to rest tomorrow but we know that he now rests with Our Creator who he loved so much.

Rest in peace with the Lord, Kuya Manny. You will be missed but we will always remember you with love.

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Super hot tinapa from Bicol

I got a few bottles of gourmet tinapa (smoked fish) during my recent travel to Legazpi City. These were available at the hotel where we stayed at. I got a couple of bottles of the regular and spicy variants. And enjoyed the regular variant the morning after my return from Legazpi. I only got to try the spicy variant last Palm Sunday and it is indeed spicy!

The gourmet tuyo is a product of a town located to the west of Legazpi City. Pio Duran is a coastal municipality of Albay beside the more prominent town of Donsol in Sorsogon Province. They face relatively pristine waters that are famous for whale sharks.

 

The spicy variant was indeed spicy! Here are the smoked fish all covered in chili and corn oil. Bicolanos, of course, are known to love spicy food with the signature dish Bicol Express being a favorite for meals.

While I enjoy spicy food including sardines, Indian, Sri Lankan or Thai food, I thought this spicy gourmet tinapa was on the edge of my tolerable limit to spicyness. It is good (don't get me wrong) but it requires a lot of rice and drinks to go with it. Eggs were not enough to temper the spiciness.

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Last Saturday's pink moon

I captured this image of the full moon last Saturday on the eve of Palm Sunday. I was a bit surprised to see the full moon ahead of the Holy Week. I have many memories of the full moon around Good Fridays especially during my younger days when we took vacations in Iloilo during the Holy Week. No matter when the Holy Week was on a March or April, the full moon was always during that week and coinciding with the penultimate days.

 

Full moon over Antipolo as seen from one of the streets along my evening walking route. One of the street lights photo-bombed the full moon.

I haven't tried getting a better and closer photo of the moon. It's supposed to be possible using smartphone settings but I have not gotten to that yet. I also acquired a pair of binoculars for birdwatching and it features a phone mount accessory that I can use to get an even clearer photo of the moon.

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Breakfast at Burger King

It's not so often that we leave home early. So a couple of weeks ago, after taking our daughter to school for an early morning activity there, we decided to take our breakfast along the way to our offices. For some reason, the Jollibee branch along our commute wasn't open despite the huge sign outside proclaiming it to be 24/7. Fortunately, there's a Burger King where we decided to have our breakfast.

We had waffle sausage and hash browns with orange and apple juice for our drinks.

I don't mind having this breakfast from time to time. Our only comment is that the syrup shouldn't have been applied to the waffle but rather provided on the side. The 'waffle sandwich' becomes quite sweet when the syrup is applied as a default. Of course, we would have preferred Jollibee's longganisa meal for a heavier breakfast.

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Fruits in season - kaimito

I would never get tired of writing or mentioning one of my favorite fruits. The kaimito, caimito or "star apple" ranks up there with the atis (sweetsop) as my favorites. There are a lot of vendors again selling the green and violet varieties of the fruit along Katipunan. I haven't had the chance to purchase from these in a long while as my office is on the other side of the campus. However, we do have a few kaimito trees in our compound. Our staff picked some from the trees and gave me a few.

Our staff picked kaimito from one of the trees in our part of the university and gave me these. They remembered my fondness for kaimito.

I did not wait to eat the kaimito at home. I immediately ate one for merienda at the office.

 

I also purchased a few pieces from the market last weekend. Those didn't last the weekend as we enjoyed eating them for dessert after meals.

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More Sunsets at UP Diliman

I am sharing a couple of sunset photos taken last week at UP Diliman. The first one is from my office as I was preparing for an evening class. The sun seemed to be sitting on top of a building. The second photo was taken just after the sun set (dusk) at the Quezon Hall, just behind the Oblation.

The tall buildings are located in the new Quezon City CBD around Trinoma. Prior to the buildings, we had a nice view of the mountains of the Bataan Peninsula.

The Oblation at dusk

More sunset photos in future posts!

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On aglio olio - Italianni's version

I think the pasta dish I enjoy the most has to be aglio olio. It ranks up there on my list along with pepperoncino and tartufo. Though we can make really good aglio olio at home, I still order the dish at some restaurants that we frequent like Amici and Italianni's. I also enjoyed this pasta while I was in Japan, usually in Saizeriya restaurants there.

Italianni's version of aglio olio comes with shrimps. It is a good version and they prepare the shrimp so it is not the dominant taste in the dish.

In some Italianni's branches you can have them separate the shrimps from the pasta. They will still cook the shrimps but separate from the pasta if you're sensitive to the taste or perhaps want to have aglio olio but allergic to shrimps.

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Shops at the Bicol International Airport

There are many choices for eating, drinking and shopping at the Bicol International Airport. Here's a quick share of them on this First of April.

There are many choices for the hungry here including Biggs, which has many branches across the Bicol region.

There are the familiar eats like Dunkin, Potato Corner

The shops include many selling local products.

Shops include an OTOP shop, one selling mainly souvenir shirts, and another selling various handicrafts.

Chocolates by Mayon Gold

I got a few shirts for myself, the wife and our daughter. I also got a few bars of chocolates to enjoy and write about later. Tip to travelers looking for souvenir shirts: They have more variety and higher quality shirts and designs here than in Cagsawa or other touristy areas in Albay. And that's no April's Fool joke!

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