Saturday, December 31, 2011

Bahalina


Instead of a Dom Perignon photo to usher in the New Year, I thought it more appropriate to feature an image of a bottle of the local Bahalina.  That way, I’ll feel like I’m participating in the Boholanos’ great love for celebrating New Year’s Eve.

I am not much of an alcohol drinker, but ever since my first trip to Bohol, I’ve always been curious about the locals’ preferred drink.  Bahalina, they say.  I know of tuba and lambanog, but nothing about bahalina.  This could also be just the local term for either the tuba or lambanog. No, bahalina is bahalina, I was told.

I finally had a taste of bahalina at The Buzzz Cafe.  As mentioned, being not much fan of alcoholic drinks, or wine, for that matter, I had no way of intelligently describing the bahalina’s taste.

Be that as it may, I ran into a couple of locals, Aris and Ayeh, who know about bahalina-making as learned from their family elders.  Since unable to describe its taste, perhaps, giving a basic description of how it's made will somehow absolve my shortcoming, in this regard.  Here’s what they told me:

Homemade Bahalina a la Boholano

Bahalina has its beginning from fresh tuba taken straight from the coconut tree into a bamboo casing about 5 inches in diameter and 12 inches in length, and then stored about five days. Some tongog may already be added in the bamboo casing.  Tongog is a pulverized concoction of certain plants that gives the tuba its reddish hue.

After that 5-day period, the tuba is then poured into 1-gallon glass bottles (to its fullest so that no air is allowed inside) and then sealed tightly.  Plastic jars may also be used but connoisseurs prefer using glass jars or bottles.  Plastic, they say, tend to compromise the taste.

When transferred into bottles, after only a day, the tuba becomes bahal.  There are older folks who prefer to drink the one- to four-day old bahal, which has retained a bit of the sweetness of the tuba yet, has formed a mild sourness.  But only a couple of days later, the bottled bahal will completely lose any of its residual sweetness.

The bottled bahal is then filtered by using a cotton cloth to remove the laog, or sediment.  The newly-filtered bahal is then transferred into new glass bottles.  This filtering process is done on a daily basis and can take as long as three months, or a hundred days.  The laog or sediment must be completely removed; otherwise, the not-so unfiltered bahal will turn into vinegar.

Once completely filtered, the bottled bahal is then buried into the ground, about a foot deep, for about two months, at least.  After that period, the filtered bahal has now become bahalina. However, the bahalina straight from the buried bottle comes with a tangy taste; hence, the locals add about two liters of Pepsi-Cola for every gallon of bahalina.  Some people use honey as sweetener, while others prefer powdered grape juice.

The bottled bahalina can last for many years.  In fact, connoisseurs prefer the aged bottles, at least five years.  That is because the older it gets, the bigger the hagtik or kick that it gives.  But for the even more serious connoisseurs who crave for that even bigger hagtik, they derive the tuba from a nipa tree, instead of just from any regular coconut tree; the entire filtering process of which remains the same.

Now, the remaining question: where did bahalina originally come from – Bohol or Leyte?


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Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve celebration!

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Friday, December 30, 2011

The Buzzz Cafe


This is the ICM branch of Bohol Bee Farm’s cafe.  A wonderful idea since you need not travel all the way to the farm to replenish your supply of its 100% natural products.  I bought a bottle each of its salabat and wild/molave honey, as well as a couple of their squash muffins.

The salabat I am yet to open, but the wild/molave honey I find lacking in sweetness as those natural honey I’ve been accustomed to in Manila and New York.  The muffins, on the other hand, are quite all right.

I should eat more of this cafe's vegetable dishes, but being at ICM with many familiar comfort food establishments, I tend to give myself license to indulge.  Nonetheless, The Buzzz Cafe is a favorite spot on account of their uniquely-concocted ice cream with unusual flavors, served in what I believe to be, cones made of raw cabcab (dried camote).

This is one cafe that is quite popular and draws a number of patrons at any time of the day.






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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chow King


This was my favorite Chinese dim sum and short order eatery in Manila until I mastered the streets and alleyways of Chinatown in Binondo like the back of my hand, and discovered its various eateries.  And now, here in Bohol, it has once again become my favorite whenever at Island City Mall and suddenly find myself craving for some dim sum.

Of more significance, Chow King, unlike the other nationally-known and popular fast food restaurants that came to Bohol, has not succumbed to the locals' penchant for saltiness.  
All my favorites from Chow King's menu taste just the way they do in Manila.  That is why, for a quick merienda, I'd often head on over to Chow King for its lumpiang Shanghai and pork tofu.  But for lunch (as in photo on top), I'd add a bowl of wanton soup and at times, siomai, too.  All that for less than 150 pesos.  Chow King's lumpiang shanghai, by the way, has got to be the best I've ever tasted in the country.

Apparently, Chow King seems to have turned a huge number of locals into regular patrons, which explains why it is always crowded.

Lumpiang Shanghai and Pork Tofu

Lunch time

Chow King at its opening hour (Ground Floor -- ICM)

However, when craving for even better Chinese food, I go to Shiang Ma Nou

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Bo's Coffee


This was my first time to step into a Bo's Coffee shop.  The barista must've known immediately I was a first-timer, for confusion was probably etched on my face as I tried to unravel their menu.  "Hot or cold, sir?" was his question, which I thought was rather smart of him.  I said, "Cold."  And after one more question from him, I was enjoying a grande mocha froccino primo.  

I found myself a seat and perused the pages of the fancy and glossy magazines from Cebu, which they have on a magazine rack for the reading pleasure of their customers.  After a couple of minutes,  I realized how Bo's whole ambience -- the walls' colors, furniture, pastries, my mocha, and etc. -- somehow made me feel like I was in Starbucks instead. 

Bo's Coffee certainly got the Seattle coffee giant down pat!

Without Starbucks in Bohol, Bo's will do and I've been going to this ICM branch ever since then.  I used to finish my trip at ICM by having an ice cream cone next door, but now it has been mocha froccino primo.




Related link: 

Why Working at Starbucks for Three Weeks Was the Toughest Job I've Ever Had


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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Rai Rai Ken @ ICM


I am one of those Chinese food freaks who would oftentimes prefer it than any other dishes.  And that is why Japanese food I'd crave for only every now and then.  However, much to my surprise, I was suddenly and intensely craving for some sashimi one day.  It must have been all that soaking and swimming in salty sea water, I don't know.

There isn't much Japanese eateries here in Bohol.  Even the Japanese-themed resort in Panglao Island does not serve Japanese food.  The only choice for me then is Rai Rai Ken at Island City Mall.  I had the Kantonramen, which was quite tasty and based on Pinoy pancit canton.

The restaurant itself is nice and comfortable, and the lights not too glaring.  They did a good job on creating a very pleasant ambience.




By the way, the very first time I ate at this Japanese restaurant was about a couple of weeks prior to my having the Kantonramen.  I went there for a bowl of miso and to check out their sashimi special.  

However, it wasn't the ideal day for me to order for the latter, because they didn't have the seaweed; thus, they have to replace it with additional tuna.  The platter was not photogenic at all.  Nonetheless, the food was all right, except for the silvery thing that they didn't completely remove from the salmon.  I'd most probably go back there for the ramen and yakisoba.




Rai Rai Ken is at the ground floor of ICM
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Monday, December 26, 2011

Island City Mall


Now that all presents have been unwrapped and every stocking unstuffed, where else is there to head to with the entire family but to ICM – the Island CityMall.  Located in Tagbilaran City, it is the largest shopping mall and cinema, though no bigger than SM City Manila near Manila City Hall.

This photo essay will show many of the significant merchants here, but I will feature separately during the upcoming week some eateries in this mall.












A word about Bruno Mars:  I like the guy.  I may be an old fogey, but I like good music whatever its genre. And I happen to like Bruno Mars' music and collaborative efforts with other contemporary artists.  I think he's a fine songwriter, too.  As long as he remains focused on his art, I absolutely think he'll go far and become a billionaire.       



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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Greetings


Chestnuts roasting on an open fireJack Frost nipping at your noseYuletide carols being sung by a choirAnd folks dressed up like Eskimos

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoeHelp to make the season brightTiny little tots with their eyes all aglowWill find it hard to sleep tonight

They know that Santa's on his wayHe's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleighAnd every mother's child is going to spyTo see if reindeer really know how to fly

And so I'm offering this simple phraseTo kids from one to ninety-twoAlthough it's been said many times, many waysMerry Christmas to you

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Wishing you all the very best!


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and special thanks to Ms. Jane P.

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Christmas Eve Mass with Fr. Val




  




The HK/FO Choir with Fr. Val
Fr. Val with Mr. James San Diego 
Ms. Carina Sy, Fr. Val and Mr. James San Diego
Chief William
Fr. Val with Guests

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I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Stollen


"Bread deals with living things, with giving life, with growth, with the seed, the grain that nurtures.  It is not coincidence that we say bread is the staff of life."
                                                                                                                   Lionel Poilane


There’s an abundance of food tonight for Noche Buena.  But if you ask me what I treasure the most from it all – it’s the German loaf bread, stollen, given to me by cousin.

I will enjoy it tonight, that’s for sure, because it is the very first time I will eat one.  You see, beginning last week, I’ve been noticing and inquiring about stollen at the various German and Swiss eateries here at Panglao Island. “I’ve never seen one,” I’d tell them. 

And lo and behold … a couple of days ago, I did get one as a gift from my cousin.  This can only be serendipity!  And as such, I deem it an auspicious omen for this Christmas and for the entire New Year; giving me greater confidence to expect more pleasant surprises in 2012.

This stollen from my cousin also led me back to my youthful days in Manhattan's Yorkville area.  And the question that came to mind was this: with a number of German-American friends and tennis buddies (whom I've made in the nearby John Jay Park), how come none of them introduced me to stollen, when in fact, I've turned them on to adobo and halo-halo?

And it suddenly dawned upon me: World War II.

Unlike the Japanese-Americans who were forcefully removed from their homes and placed in internment camps, the German-Americans were spared similar fate, but they experienced a life during the war of unfair arrests and intense interrogations without legal representation, and they were constantly proving themselves to be loyal Americans.  Apparently, such traumatic existence led many parents to raise their children oblivious to German culture -- even after the war. Thus, among other things, the sacredness of their ethnic foodstuffs was not celebrated.  And come to think of it, their Oktoberfest was celebrated only by certain circles back then.

On the other hand, my Italian-American friends, unlike my German-American friends, have always retained their freedom to enjoy and celebrate their old-world traditions.  Thus, on Saturdays before Christmas, whenever I’d stop by their houses, their mothers would have me bringing home Panettones!  This is Italy’s answer to Germany’s Stollen, and to America’s fruit cake.

So, tonight before I feast on this Stollen fruit cake, I shall say a little prayer – that my old German-American friends begin, if they haven’t already, to learn and share their old-world culture with their children.

A quick thought about the American fruit cake: though widely distributed as Christmas gifts in the States, I never had any fond memory of it to speak of.  Actually, I cringed whenever receiving one, for i'd only end up putting it in the fridge to be forgotten.  Some friends claimed they used their fruit cake either as doorstop or as deadly projectile against those carousing cats in the middle of the night.

As one Polish-American friend used to say, “I’d rather eat gruel than one of those fruit cakes!”

Merry Christmas, everybody!
 


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Friday, December 23, 2011

Parol


They are local Christmas lanterns, traditionally star-shaped, made of bamboo and paper.  They come in various sizes and shapes, but the basic star pattern remains the all-time favorite, because it evokes to the Filipinos the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Kings to the manger.  

The word parol is derived from the Spanish word farol, meaning "lantern".  An artisan named Francisco Estanislao, in 1928, was known to have originally created the five-pointed parol made of bamboo strips covered with papél de japón (Japanese paper).  It was illuminated by a candle or kalburo (carbide).

In the Philippines, the paról has become an iconic Christmas symbol as the Christmas Tree is to Western cultures. The parol has also been traditionally associated with the Simbang Gabi, which is a series of dawn masses that lasts for nine days. And originally, the illuminated lanterns were used by barrio folks to light the paths on the way to church, until electricity became available nationwide.

Many villages, schools, and social groups during the holiday season hold competitions to determine who can make the best parol. One such event is the annual Giant Lantern Festival in Pampanga, which attracts various crafts men and visitors from all over the country.

Recently, here in Panglao Island, a parol exhibit was held at the Troman Building Alona.  These Christmas lanterns (as shown in this photo essay) were created using recycled materials by local students from five different schools.  The exhibit was called "Starry Starry Christmas;" the intention was to spread awareness on the merits of recycling. 













Starry Starry Christmas was conceived and organized by 
educator and art lover, Nina Mancao. 

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For those who have missed  the exhibit, these parols will grace Saffron on December 28th for Amorita's Holiday Charity Dinner and Mini-Concert to Preserve and Promote Boholano Arts. The Loboc Children's Choir will perform.  Please contact Amorita for further information.

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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!

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