Saturday, October 9, 2010
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
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
Friday, October 8, 2010
Day1 - Traveling continued...
Photo of the day: I took my camera out and snapped this photo, without making sure my lens was not foggy, and this is what I got. Waiting to get picked up from the NAYA Airport.
We finally made it Angeles City, where we will be primarily for our trip. Here's a little recap, got to DFW at 10, got on a plane for a 14 hour flight to Incheon Airport for a four hour lay over. Then, we hopped on a plane for a 4 hour flight to Manila, where we spent about an hour going through customs and getting our bags. We then got picked up by my cousin Kathy's husband, Ryan, for a 2 hour, hair raising, drive into Angeles City. Including a little vomit pyrotechnics from, Ryan's little kid... all over my dad. But dad was real cool about it. It was a pretty bumpy ride. It took me back to the days when I was a little kid, and my dad and I would take the bus to Angeles City to visit grandma. It was really great to see my dad like that again. To be honest, I got a bit jealous, but I doubt he wants a 240 lb guy sitting on his lap lol.
I'm just glad we made it in one piece. Tomorrow the fun starts =) Here's a video of the event from that day. Didn't get to finish it because my camera was in my bag and I couldn't film any of the ride to Angeles City. There were a few tense moments. The roads really do look similar to the roads back in the States, but lanes are considered more of a guideline than anything. Pretty crazy.
PS... I really should have bought a power converter, my mac is almost out of juice, and I've till yet to post this bloggity blog. I'll try to find one tomorrow.
PPS... It turns out I don't need a power adapter, the mac plugs right into the wall with no problem. One less thing to buy and that makes me happy =) ...Also, we have internet connection in the room but its very slow. Uploading videos takes forever. So I'll upload that later once I figure out how to save the video in a proper format.
GZ
We finally made it Angeles City, where we will be primarily for our trip. Here's a little recap, got to DFW at 10, got on a plane for a 14 hour flight to Incheon Airport for a four hour lay over. Then, we hopped on a plane for a 4 hour flight to Manila, where we spent about an hour going through customs and getting our bags. We then got picked up by my cousin Kathy's husband, Ryan, for a 2 hour, hair raising, drive into Angeles City. Including a little vomit pyrotechnics from, Ryan's little kid... all over my dad. But dad was real cool about it. It was a pretty bumpy ride. It took me back to the days when I was a little kid, and my dad and I would take the bus to Angeles City to visit grandma. It was really great to see my dad like that again. To be honest, I got a bit jealous, but I doubt he wants a 240 lb guy sitting on his lap lol.
I'm just glad we made it in one piece. Tomorrow the fun starts =) Here's a video of the event from that day. Didn't get to finish it because my camera was in my bag and I couldn't film any of the ride to Angeles City. There were a few tense moments. The roads really do look similar to the roads back in the States, but lanes are considered more of a guideline than anything. Pretty crazy.
PS... I really should have bought a power converter, my mac is almost out of juice, and I've till yet to post this bloggity blog. I'll try to find one tomorrow.
PPS... It turns out I don't need a power adapter, the mac plugs right into the wall with no problem. One less thing to buy and that makes me happy =) ...Also, we have internet connection in the room but its very slow. Uploading videos takes forever. So I'll upload that later once I figure out how to save the video in a proper format.
GZ
Day1 - Traveling
Every vacation starts with traveling, in our case, a 14 hour flight to Seoul, South Korea. We arrived at DFW Airport around ten in the morning, got checked in, which took forever, and then proceeded through security.
Right outside of our gate was a much needed surprise... A FREAKIN' BENNIGANS!!! Of course I had to get some drinks for old time's sake....
2 beers and a shot later, we boarded the plane and headed off. I watched a few movies to pass the time. Overall, the flight went pretty smooth. We're in Seoul, South Korea now waiting for our flight to Manila. 4 hour lay over and another 3 hours on a plane. We should be getting to Manila before midnight. At least traffic won't be bad.. I hope =\
GZ
Right outside of our gate was a much needed surprise... A FREAKIN' BENNIGANS!!! Of course I had to get some drinks for old time's sake....
2 beers and a shot later, we boarded the plane and headed off. I watched a few movies to pass the time. Overall, the flight went pretty smooth. We're in Seoul, South Korea now waiting for our flight to Manila. 4 hour lay over and another 3 hours on a plane. We should be getting to Manila before midnight. At least traffic won't be bad.. I hope =\
GZ
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
First post
Hi! Welcome to my blog. Some quick info about me. I'm Glenn. I'm a graphic designer and a photographer. One of the things I love doing is going somewhere where they have some amazing food, with the people I care about the most. Getting to go on what I call adventures.
I am starting this blog for a couple of reasons. First, I realized recently that I do quite a bit of traveling on the weekends when I'm not working, and seeing places that I have never been before, even if its in my own backyard. Texas is a big place, and there's so many things to go see, things to do, and places to eat. I normally drive everywhere I go in my car, Samantha. I want to be able to look back and see these places, not just through my photographs, but through videos so that I can relive my experiences, moments and thoughts.
Secondly, I find myself taking photos of food before I eat them. May it be good Texas BBQ, Mexican food, Sushi, comfort food, etc… if I'm about to eat it, I'm taking a photo with it first with my cell phone. More importantly, I'm pretty open minded about the food that I eat. If it looks good, I'm eating it. Most of my friends find it hard to believe that I will most of the things I've said I've tried. So instead of taking photos of me eating the food, I thought I'd do one better and put it on video.
Finally, why start this now? I'm about to head home to the Philippines with my dad and my brother. Were going to be going to places I've always wanted to go. So I'm taking this opportunity to start this blog with a big trip rather than a small one. The plan is to shoot video everyday and post it up as I get internet access. We're there for 14 days, so a total of 14 videos will be created at the end of everyday to post to this blog.
This'll be fun. Thanks for reading.
GZ
I am starting this blog for a couple of reasons. First, I realized recently that I do quite a bit of traveling on the weekends when I'm not working, and seeing places that I have never been before, even if its in my own backyard. Texas is a big place, and there's so many things to go see, things to do, and places to eat. I normally drive everywhere I go in my car, Samantha. I want to be able to look back and see these places, not just through my photographs, but through videos so that I can relive my experiences, moments and thoughts.
Secondly, I find myself taking photos of food before I eat them. May it be good Texas BBQ, Mexican food, Sushi, comfort food, etc… if I'm about to eat it, I'm taking a photo with it first with my cell phone. More importantly, I'm pretty open minded about the food that I eat. If it looks good, I'm eating it. Most of my friends find it hard to believe that I will most of the things I've said I've tried. So instead of taking photos of me eating the food, I thought I'd do one better and put it on video.
Finally, why start this now? I'm about to head home to the Philippines with my dad and my brother. Were going to be going to places I've always wanted to go. So I'm taking this opportunity to start this blog with a big trip rather than a small one. The plan is to shoot video everyday and post it up as I get internet access. We're there for 14 days, so a total of 14 videos will be created at the end of everyday to post to this blog.
This'll be fun. Thanks for reading.
GZ
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