Bananas from Calawis, Antipolo

Yesterday, I made sure to stop by the weekend market at the Sumulong Park, which is the area between the Antipolo Shrine and City Hall. I already saw the fruits and vegetables being sold there on my way to City Hall and I knew these were cheap and sold by the farmers themselves.

Saba and latundan bananas from the weekend market 

 

Banana chips likely from the same saba variety that's abundant in the mountains of Antipolo.

I learned from the vendors from whom I bought bananas that they were from Calawis. I frequented that barangay because of Mt. Purro, which is managed by the family of close friends. Whenever we were there, we made sure we got some fruits and vegetables from the area if not from Mt. Purro where they have the farmers over to sell their products to guests. My only regret from yesterday was not buying ginger. Perhaps I will get some from them next weekend.

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Furry and cosplay at the shrine?

Last week, I was at the shrine in Antipolo (Antipolo Simbahan) for church as well as passing the area to get to City Hall for a workshop. After our workshop on a Tuesday morning, as I walked back to where I parked, I spotted these two - one wearing a furry outfit and the other cosplaying as Spiderman. You see these mostly in malls and tourist attractions like amusement parks. Apparently, they're in the area because the shrine in Antipolo attracts a lot of visitors especially pilgrims. They solicit money from people taking photos with them. They are popular with children. People place their money into the boxes each character has at the spot where they're standing and waving to people.

I thought maybe it was hot inside these costumes. Even with a fan, the sweltering heat would likely make it uncomfortable. And on a Tuesday, it seems there weren't many people even for Antipolo's shrine.

I actually didn't notice the one dressed as Spiderman so had to take this photo as I walked past them.

I wonder if these are also at Quiapo or Baclaran? It's probably if not actually a form of mendicancy. But rather than looking kawawa like the typical beggars you find at street corners and intersections, these are dressed up and attract people via the photo ops. Yesterday, there were a number of them dressed as Capybaras inside a shopping mall in San Juan. I guess its a better way of marketing to earn a living? 

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Mangoes galore!

Our mango tree yields a good number of mangoes every year. However, we noticed that we have an especially high yield and larger fruits around every other year. Sometimes, it took 2 years before a good yield. The best yield and harvest since we moved to our upper Antipolo home was in 2020 during the pandemic. We had fairly good yields the last two years so this year we expected to be an average harvest. The fruits this year were not as big as the previous years' but there were a lot that survived since the flowering days in March. Fortunately, the fruits grew before the late March rains that usually destroyed flowers. 

Part of this year's harvest from our tree

Our dog Boots usually sits near the pile as if guarding it from the cats and other animals roaming our garden at night.

Here's Boots again beside the mangoes we were sorting to give away to family and friends.

The skin was still green but they are ripening rapidly.

More mangoes to give away

Selected mangoes for our consumption were placed near the dining area

We suddenly had mangoes dominating the fruit table. We usually have bananas and citrus on this table.

More on mangoes in the next post! 

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Everlasting flowers

Today is Mother's Day. It is a very special day for all mothers whether biological, adoptive, god, or however we regard our mothers. I believe that we also need to honor those who basically function as mothers. Those who play significant roles in our lives to care for us just like our mothers do. They include health workers, care givers, and teachers among others who in one form or another.

Last Sunday, as we exited the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, we chanced upon one vendor selling something that brought up some childhood memories of going to church. The vendor was selling everlasting flowers. We use to buy these after going to church in St. Francis in Mandaluyong. My parents preferred these over sampaguita because, as the name implied, they lasted longer. The small garlands were placed on our home altar or hung with an image of the Sto. Nino, Jesus or Mary. 

Everlasting flowers at our altar at home

Happy Sunday to everyone! 

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More sanggumay in full bloom

I took these photos of the sanggumay on our Narra and Mango trees. They flowers last only a couple of days after the full blooming. The other sanggumay we got last year are still too young. Some actually perished already but I hope most would survive to eventually bear flowers.

The orchids on our Narra tree are wildly growing.

Close-up of the orchids on the Narra Tree at the front corner of our house.

Sanggumay strands on our mango tree

Close-up of the flowers

The sanggumay on our mango tree is quite prolific 

It's the time of year when most of our flowering plants are blooming. It is actually spring in temperate countries. And so we have lots of birds and insects benefiting from the flowers and fruits. I will post soon about our mangoes!

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Sanggumay blooming at our home

I got a few sanggumay a couple of years ago and these were planted on several trees around our home. The ones easily visible and checked are the sanggumay growing around our mango tree, the central and perhaps focal tree at our home. There are also sanggumay on our narra, guyabano and palm trees.

The flower buds along one of the strands indicate blooms soon. Other strands have buds already growing out. These are from the same plant on our mango tree. 

Close-up of one of the strands and the buds

I will share some photos here again when the sanggumay are in full bloom.  

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Bren Raphael's Ube halaya from Antipolo

Last week, we had dinner at the nearby mall and went around a bazaar selling local products. This was a regular thing at the mall where Antipolo and Rizal made products were sold. Most were food products and handicrafts but there were also clothing and cosmetic products. Among the new products we saw there was ube halaya made by a company in Antipolo City.

Ube halaya translates to Purple Yam Pudding. They have two variants - the smooth variant and this one with tidbits.

The ingredients and other details on the product are at the back of the package. They also make ube jam but we didn't purchase some to try.

The ube halaya comes out from the package sealed in a vacuum pack. It is on a plastic container with a lid. We thought this was really good packaging that would preserve the product especially for those wanting to buy these as pasalubong from Antipolo.

 

Price list for their ube halaya and ube jam

Their ube halaya is really good. It is better than many of the ube halaya we've bought before. It is on the pricier side of these products though. A tub of typical ube halaya costs a third of this. And we used to buy high quality ube halaya in the church bazaar at the Taktak church where we used to hear Mass on Sundays (we now hear Mass at our village chapel).

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Cacaomistry: Instant Cacao Mix from Davao via Antipolo

One of my souvenirs from the most recent trip to Davao City was this box of instant cacao mix from Cacaomistry. I do try these products to have my chocolate drink fix. Of course, my go-to drink whether at home or the office is Swiss Miss Dark Chocolate. But I try to find others that I can enjoy. I wrote about the Amazon chocolate mix I got from a trip to Bangkok last year. So I was curious to find this mix at a chocolate-themed store in Davao City.

A box contained 6 28g packs of cacao mix. It already says unsweetened and dairy free so you should expect it to be so when you finally taste the drink.

Details at the back of the box include nutrition information, ingredients and maker (or in this case, processor). I was actually surprised to read that this came from a company in the city of my residence, Antipolo, instead of Davao. Davao is just the source of the cacao.

The nutrition information didn't offer any numbers at all! I was wondering how this passed quality control or DTI. Were I to assume the values to be zero?

Each pack bears the same design found in the box.

Preparation instructions as well as the expiration date are at the back of the pack.

I found the basic mix to be on the bland side. Though I have not tried it yet, some milk and sweetener (perhaps muscovado sugar) could probably improve the taste. I sort of expected the taste to be closer to the classic tsokolate drink based on the tableya. I thought it was far from that. I will give some updates on this when I finally come up with a better way to enjoy this.

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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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Looking for a comet after sunset

I was looking forward to catching a glimpse of a comet that's supposed to be visible to the naked eye after sunset. Unfortunately, the weather had not cooperated and it was usually cloudy during and after sunset when the comet was supposed to be most visible. Still, the sunset provided this splendid cityscape.

The photo was taken from one of the remaining vantage points from our village. Soon, the place may no longer accessible. I saw the adjacent lot was already being cleared and probably for construction of a new house.

 

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Another unagi don at ABCT, Sakura Circle

Our daughter asked me what was my favorite Japanese food. I replied unagidon. Unagi, of course, is eel. I first ate this while in Japan and that was definitely a good meal. Unagi can be tricky and I've tried maybe twice in local restaurants with one being somewhat malansa while the other was overcooked. They also didn't get the sauce right. Fast forward to a lunch a ABCT's East Ridge branch and I found authentic and delicious unagi don. Since then, I've enjoyed this meal from time to time at their Sakura Circle branch (we don't go to East Ridge often and it is a bit far).

Unagi don at ABCT is prepared by a chef trained in Japan

I will definitely come back for more of this dish!

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The Grounds, Sumulong Highway, Antipolo

We begin the so-called ghost month with a post about one of the restaurants near the Haven of Angels memorial chapels and crematorium in Antipolo. While we had been in Miguel's across the chapels, we had been curious about its sister restaurant "The Grounds". The July, we had the chance to go there after attending a service for the mother of a good friend. She passed away after a short battle with cancer. As with tradition, we decided to do 'pagpag' before we headed home that night.

They have a bar for those mainly wanting to have some drinks.

The restaurant is spacious and airy. Just don't be seated near the highway as it can get noisy apart from the hazards of emissions from vehicles traveling along Sumulong Highway.

Another photo of the restaurant interior

Their take on the classic pansit palabok. That's bagnet with the palabok.

Old fashioned children's spaghetti

 

There are function rooms for more private events or gatherings.

There are also ample parking spaces for customers.

We had their Brazo de Mercedes for dessert

It was really good

The food was good and the cost was not hard on the wallet. Pagpag aside, we thought it was a good place to have a meal at whether for a date or large gatherings. Of course, don't mind the usual groups who probably just came from a wake at the nearby memorial chapels.

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Back at Chives, Antipolo

I only recently posted about Chives. As it is near where our daughter goes for Kumon, it is an option for us to have a snack or even early dinner. Here are what we usually order for early dinner or heavy merienda. It's always a heavy meal when you have pasta whether its merienda, lunch or dinner.

Truffled mushroom soup

There's the mushroom in the soup

Truffled mushroom pasta - this is our daughter's favorite at the bistro

Grilled chicken pesto - always one of the go-to meals for me

 

So far, they have been consistent with the quality of the food at Chives, which makes us come back for more.

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Comfort food on a hot day (saved by heavy rains in the evening)

It rained last Friday. It was strong and long enough to cool our area after another sizzling day. The rains are welcome as the past weeks saw the mercury rise to heat wave levels. I would normally go for some comfort food to conclude the work week. It just so happened that it rained while we were picking up our daughter from Kumon so we decided to just eat out for dinner at one of our favorite places.

Our go to place in Antipolo for Japanese food are not the branches of chain restos found in the nearby mall but this restaurant/izakaya near the provincial capitol - ABCT.

Zaru soba is probably my all-time favorite. I actually like it slightly more than ramen. But that's just me.

Cold soba is definitely a treat for me on a hot day. I also like the cold somen but somehow I could not find this in the menus of most Japanese restaurants here. It's only in Japan that I have enjoyed somen as it is supposed to be prepared and eaten. Another food I like and first enjoyed in Japan during the summer is unagi (eel) usually as unadon. They have this at ABCT and I order it sometimes (sometimes only because it is expensive) and they always get it right. Their chefs were trained in Japan and they are very particular about their dishes being authentic. I already look forward to the next visit to ABCT.

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The Antipolo Shrine at night

May is usually a festive month in Antipolo. There was another Alay Lakad last April 30 until the morning of May 1 to usher in the month long Flores de Mayo in honor of the Virgin Mary.

The shrine is bright and the surroundings are also well-lit.

Traffic is not so heavy after 7:00PM.

There are many people walking including students still wearing their uniform after what may be 7:00PM dismissal from their afternoon shift at school.

It is not surprising to that there are many commercial establishments around the church. City Hall is also nearby and the area is practically the set-up of old towns in the country where the church, city hall, the market, and schools are at the center.

There are also many vendors around and their numbers multiply from the late afternoon to the evening.

This area is the center of the city, which in other instances would be referred to as "bayan". The term translates to town or even downtown depending on the context. The presence of the shrine ensures there will be many people even in the late hours of night or early mornings. 

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