Philippines Day 2 - First actual day

After finally getting to sleep around 4:30am, local time, dad woke us up at 7:30am to get the day started. We're staying at the Marlim's Hotel in Angeles City, and our stay includes free breakfast, so dad wanted to make sure we took advantage of it. Fried Rice, eggs, ham and tapas... a fairly traditional Filipino breakfast... What cereals??

Here's a view from the hall way at our hotel. If you look closely, there is a volcano in the background, Mt Arayat.


My cousin, Ramil, picked us up and took us to our uncle's home, where we proceeded to eat and drink, and had some plain ol' fun. Here's a photo of my cousin, Corina, with a prawn. Yeah, they get that big.


Mexico isn't the only country with Tamales. Filipino tamales are very different however. Instead of masa, we use powdered rice and coconut milk. Instead of corn husk, we use banana leaves. Oh and that's salted eggs on top. Yum


My Bro and Corina.

A main common ingredient in Spanish influenced cooking are annato seeds, used to make achuete. In the states, you can usually find these in Asian or Mexican markets. Here, however, there's no need to go to the store–just go to the back yard and get some.


Did I mention my dad is great with kids??



Lunch time, on the menu, grilled pork seasoned with salt and pepper, the prawns from earlier, rice (of course), and fern salad with a black pepper, vinegar and sugar vinegarette. The fern salad is a very traditional dish from the region of Pampanga, where Angeles City is located.


My bro.


Cousin Raymond.


Uncle Claro "Chito"


Cousin Ramil.


My "happy" cousin, Conrad and his friend Michelle.


Here's an explanation of the next set of photos. One of the indigenous group of the Philippines are tribal mountain people called Ati-atihan. They normally wear loin cloths, and in modern times, would come by to the front of your house with drummers and dance traditional dances for money. And then, when Filipinos talk to each other, we usually refer to each other using pronouns. The work "tito" for uncle, "tita" for aunt, "kuya" for brother, and "ate" for sister. Also, these days, the Philippines has a significant gay population, mostly extremely flamboyant. Now that I've explained that, the photo I took is of an "Ate"-atihan performing in front of our house. Enjpy =)




Tomorrow is Fiesta. Which means, we are going to be cooking and eating ALL day. One of the things on the menu. Ox Tongue. This is what it looks like before its been cooked and cut up. Yummmmm-O!


My dad and his brothers.


The gang that was hanging out all day.


Some more food on the menu... this one, Crispy Pata (roasted pork)


Pancit Canton and Lumpia (eggrolls).



By far one of the coolest event or that night is when my aunt, who is the keeper of all of my grandma's recipes, taught me how to cook Arroz Valenciana, called Birenghe in Pampanga, for the Fiesta tomorrow. Its a Spanish influenced dish closely resembling Paella from Spain. There's a video of that, which I will try to figure out how to post. On to day 3!!

GZ