G-OGRAPHY: a southeast asian lady travels...

So I am indeed a go for the Philippines. My boss said yes and I am only waiting to finalize my travel documents. I am so excited! Aside from getting to spend time with family I'll be beach bumming. You have to understand that a trip back home will not be complete without flying off to one of our awesome islands. Case in point Coron, Palawan below:


Borrowed from aquinokc


For those who are not aware, the Philippines is an archipelago made up of 7100 islands. Each very unique not only in how they look but in their flavor and their culture. This is in fact one of the reasons why it was easy for the Spaniards to divide and conquer us (we were a Spanish colony for 300 years). We were geographically spread out and had independent systems of community established in different parts of the region. Speaking of the Spaniards, I might dare say that this latin influence- for better and for worse- is one of the things that make us unique as an Asian country (Americans we are officially located in southeast asia and not some lost Pacific Island). Moreover, as a hub for trading coupled with various foreign invasions the Philippines has a lot of American, Chinese and some (more like a dash) Japanese influence (add to this a tropical climate). Our temperament, customs, behavior, religion and even from of government (democratic) sets us apart from most Asian nations. To be un-PC we feel less "oriental"than our counterparts.


Now my own photo: Siargao Island, surf capital of the Philippines.

So when I was a lot younger, I could not wait to get out of the country and explore other shores. For some reason, you always think that anywhere else is better than home. As I grow older and become well-traveled, I have no doubt in my mind that the Philippines offers world class landscapes and seascapes that are unparalleled. I always now make it a point to spread the word around when I meet fellow travelers. They most often always skip the Philippines and would rather go off to Thailand for the beaches. I tell them that if they want good food, pristine white beaches and friendly English speaking people that they should go to the Philippines.


Borrowed from Sidious Sid's Aliwan Fiesta 2009 set

On the other hand, I am glad we are not as bombarded by flocks of tourists. Less commercialism the better.

For this trip, I plan to go back to Palawan to visit my friend who I previously mentioned moved to the island to quit city life (bravo to you amigo). He now owns a boutique travel company called Discover Amazing Palawan which focuses on unique and personalized tours without putting a hole in your pocket. His wife is also a yoga teacher and entrepreneur. Together with their son they seek to live a sustainable life. I can't wait to catch up with them.

I also plan to swing by one of the other islands for some diving (they have an excellent marine sanctuary). I'm leaning towards Dumaguete Apo Island which has this cool resort seen below:


Photo already copyrighted

Then there is Apo Reef (I know same name but different places) which is a Unesco World Heritage site. It's one of the top 8 diving spots in the Philippines. I couldn't find a decent underwater photo but I did find this flickr profile with great Philippine photos: http://www.flickr.com/people/landscapist/. Enjoy!

2011 and I am gearing up for my biennial pilgrimage back to the motherland as you can see here and here. Of course a trip back home won't be complete without a true island getaway. I have to say the Philippines has one of the best beaches in the whole world!!! I'm actually glad that not a LOT of tourists know about this because I can have it all to myself! Bwahaha!!

First of all Happy New Year =) Here's to 2010. It was a very very good year and I know 2011 will be fantastic!! CHEERS!

Ok, so I was suppose to upload blog posts on my Peru and Bolivia trip but I'd rather savor the last hours of 2010. Actually, I've been procastinating for months now on doing this. I chose, to instead, make my own new year's meal from scratch (beef stew, rosemary bread, pomeberry tinis and apple crumble with madagascar vanilla ice cream).

Plus, I obviously chose to post some photos of last Christmas...I hope your Christmas was as fun. Being an expat, I am lucky to have my Aunt (my dad's sister), her family and her husband's clan as my extended family in the US. I do miss Christmas in the Philippines where my parents, my bro and sis still live. It's totally lots of fun and very festive. Most of all, it's the best time to hit the beach!!! As you can see in this Yuletide surf trip post from 3 years ago. *sigh*


Christmas day...totally missed on on taking more family pix. This was just half of the chaos. As usual, the day was filled with eating followed by a Wii Just Dance showdown and a Pictionary battle of the sexes where the boys tried to cheat! =)



My family picture with Roxy-pooh


My uncle, aunt, cuz and Woxie-pooh



This is Mojo- not a shrunken Roxy =) It's the new pup in the block.


My cousin is into baking and decorating cakes with fondant.

Christmas eve at my aunt's...she went with fancy finger food. There wasn't a lot of cooking but the prep work was so tedious!!!!! We thought nobody was going to show up- thus the empty photos. The clan showed up finally and the stuffing of faces began. It was a chill night...my uncle put on netflix streaming and we watched a riveting documentary on dogs (which I've already seen). The young ones played rock band and I was so tired that I said goodbye to everyone, went to my room and slept.















Roxy is sporting a cat Christmas ski cap that I got her from Target...she absolutely hated it.



Christmas decor in our apartment...oh this is my first real Christmas tree ever. It's magical. Growing up in a tropical country we only had coconut trees...hehehe...ok actually we had fake overpriced trees made from China.

I have recently been watching the Cooking Channel nonstop. I love how the shows are edgy and fresh. Everything is just damn good. One of my favorites would be Jaime Oliver's: Jaime does Christmas and Jaimie's Family Christmas. It's a rustic, quirky and hearty production. I love how he has different members of his family as his guests. Add Jaime's no frills approach to food and sense of humor- you will be glued.I think he's my foodie soulmate. I knew it as soon as I saw him show how awesome a combo of grappa, frozen grapes and chocolate are. I thought I was the only one experimenting on store bought food and/or drink combos. Ok I am a bit smitten by Jaime Oliver =) Who wouldn't be? Women love a good cook and with an accent to boot. Ha!

Anyways, the channel has inspired me to start cook. I've dabbled here and there but I realize that it's now or never. I have to start getting serious about cooking. I, after all, come from a family of good cooks. Most especially, my Lola Nena who hands down is one of the best cooks I've ever known in my life.

Below are a couple of dishes I made.




This is my pride and joy. It's my queso de bola cheesecake with muscavado sauce. In the Philippines it's traditional to have a ball of cheese on the Christmas dining table. This usually goes with Chinese ham, grapes or grated on top of fresh buns of ensaymada. It's the perfect Nochebuena accompaniment. Note: QDB Queso De Bola is just edam cheese.

For this recipe, I took a rich and creamy cheesecake recipe and added 2-3 cups of grated Queso De Bola. I then caramelized a cup of muscovado sugar with a cup of heavy cream (add a pinch of salt too). Muscovado is a type of unrefined sugar common in the Philippines. We regularly use it on coffee and it tastes almost like molasses. I then suggest adding some crumbled walnuts on top of the finished product to break the heaviness of the cheesecake. Warning: this is very decadent- it's sweet with bits of saltiness while the sauces has a deep caramel flavor. Ultimately, this converts your regular cheesecake into a unique Filipino dessert =)




Siomai- to make it Filipino style serve it with rice and a side of toyomansi (soy sauce with lemon juice). When I was young, my mom used to make this at home. I was always fascinated by the way she was able to daintily wrap this delightful mixture of minced shrimp, pork, carrots and green onions. The key is to buy your ingredients fresh from your local Asian store. For the wonton or siomai wrappers, avoid getting the ones in the freezer- gross. The wrappers also come with a simoai/wonton recipe which I actually ripped off for this one. The bamboo steamer came from World Market (just place it on a wok with boiling water for 10-15 minutes). You can also steam some bok choy leaves and mushrooms to serve as side dishes.



This is a pho/wonton soup hybrid. You can choose to use leftover wonton/siomai or thin slices of beef round eye. Boil the wonton noodles separately because they are covered in starch that will cause your broth to become thick. You don't want that to happen. To assemble, place blanched bok choy leaves and cooked noodles in a bowl. Then place the beef slices on the side and pour boiling beef broth in the bowl. This will cook the beef. You can also choose to precook the beef. To do this, quickly dip the thin slice of beef in boiling water. You want it to be soft and not overcooked.



Ah, the classic pot roast. Awesome for a rainy California wintery-ish Sunday. I was inspired by The Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast. In fact, I just finished cooking this baby an hour ago and it went down really good with a glass of cheap wine. I made sure to put lots of veggies- I never seem to eat enough of this. God, it was so tasty and tender it took all of my self control not to gobble the whole pot up.



This is my aunt's thanksgiving seafood paella. As you may well know, the Filipino culture has a heavy Spanish influence. And as Filipinos living in America we always have to incorporate rice in our holiday cooking. This recipe makes for a very festive rice. It's surprisingly super good with turkey. We serve this instead of stuffing. It's just a mixture of yellow and white rice, clam juice, saffron and any seafood that you can fit in the pan. World Market sells a paella kit for $20 so all you need to buy is the meat.



This is Jamie Oliver's homemade pear pancake recipe. It is soooooo easy and soooo good even his kids can make it. If you don't have self-rising flour just add 1 1/2 tsps of baking soda to 1 cup of flour and a pinch of salt. As for yogurt, I am going to suggest the nice and thick greek style yogurt. For the pear, the red d'anjou's are in season so make the most of it.



Alas, it won't be Christmas without frosted cookies. This is a shortbread cookie that my cousin mixed up. She didn't have time to finish it so I shaped, baked and frosted these babies. As you can see, I have yet to improve my piping skills. I've already popped 3 of these and am currently making room for my leftover QDB Cheesecake. Folks, Christmas is the only time of the year that you should enjoy guilt free eating =)

Print Screening it = framing it.

Ok so according to this blog post I'm "LA’s Top 100 NON-Celebrity Bloggers You Should Take to Lunch : Social Media Marketing Secrets". I didn't even know I was on the list until I saw someone tweet the article on Hootsuite. So who's taking me out to lunch =)

By the way, I would really love for you guys to leave a comment. I know you are out there lurk...errrr....reading. Send me some cyber love.