Friday, May 13, 2016
Philippine Regional Culinary Activity
If there’s one thing I love about the Philippines, it’s that good food
can be found anywhere. Our great affinity for eating, along with the
varied produce abounding in each region, translates into distinct
specialties that we all know and love.
Because we also love to party (and because we’ll jump up at any excuse to whip up special dishes), we establish fiestas that celebrate these specialties. That, along with our renowned hospitality, means that any visitor is in for a memorable feast.
So, the next time you go on a road trip with your barkada, forget about going to the beach! The following destinations will open your eyes to the tasty delights our country has to offer (and you won’t even need to go on that swimsuit diet before paying them a visit).
Aside from the Spanish heritage houses lining this northern town’s streets, Vigan is also known for its longganisa. These plump, brown links of spicy meat, distinctly flavored with garlic and Ilokano sugar cane vinegar, are a requisite breakfast item. The Vigan longganisa is so famed that the Ilokanos begin
their year by celebrating its existence. And I don’t know about you,
but a breakfast of the legendary sausage at Calle Crisologo’s
picturesque cobbled streets sounds like it’s worth the 10 hour drive.
Suman is a sticky rice cake cooked in coconut milk, and then wrapped in either banana leaves or buri (Corypha)
palm. Since it is known to symbolize shared prosperity, the townspeople
of Baler use it as a ritual offering to San Isidro every February. They
tie bundles of the rice cake to a piece of bamboo, and throw such from
their balconies while the image of San Isidro passes by.
And if you miss the February celebration, you can always catch a similar festival in Antipolo around the month of May.
Kesong Puti (white cheese) is a fresh, non-aged, soft cheese that is made from carabao
(water buffalo) milk. It is wrapped and fermented in banana leaves, and
is widely produced in Sta. Cruz, Laguna. The native cheese is
celebrated as one of the town’s main sources of industry every March,
with activities that include fun runs and kesong puti cook-offs.
The
Guimaras mango is widely known for its sweetness. So, it’s hardly
surprising that it takes center stage whenever the province celebrates
the anniversary of its independence every April. Heck, the most popular
event of their fiesta is the “eat-all-the-mangoes-you-can” event. For
only Php 100, locals and tourists alike can eat as much of the yellow,
heart-shaped fruit within a certain time limit.
Garlic is a staple in Philippine cuisine. While the French have their sauté, we have our gisa (chopped garlic and onions simmering in a bit of oil), which is pretty much the flavor base for most of our culinary dishes.
So, forget spending Labor Day weekend in Boracay, and instead celebrate garlic in all its breathtaking glory every May 1st in Ilocos Sur.
Who doesn’t love lechon?
Anthony Bourdain is just one of the recent converts to our widespread
appreciation of this roasted suckling pig. The heart-attack-inducing
treat is such a local icon that it’s celebrated in several places
throughout the year. You can have your fill of this beloved pig in
Bacolod in January, in Balayan, Batangas in June, and in Iligan in
September.
We may be infamous for “crab mentality” but when it comes to a celebration, a little (or a lot of) crab wouldn’t hurt. Alimango
(mud crab) is considered as festive food in Filipino households, but
for the people in Sta. Margarita, Samar, they are virtually a way of
life. Every July, they celebrate their primary source of livelihood
through parades, dances, crab-racing, and cooking contests featuring the
snappy crustacean.
The Dinagat (anything pertaining to, or fished from the sea) festival is a reinvention of the Bakasi festival. The bakasi is
a local eel that is abundant in the town of Cordova, Cebu. The
townspeople commemorate the peculiar fish every August with a ritual
dance, which is meant to mimic the skating movement of the bakasi. Other activities include a bakasi race and a cooking contest with the exotic eel as the theme ingredient.
Bet
you didn’t know that Gen. San is one of the world’s leading exporters
of sashimi-grade tuna. The venerated tuna flesh is responsible for a big
portion of the town’s revenues, and is as fêted as Manny Pacquiao, the
other celebrity hailing from this district. Tuna Fest activities include
a coastal clean-up, a tuna float parade, and a bay cruise. But if
that’s still not enough reason for you to visit Gen. San in September,
I’ve only got three words for you: WEEKLONG SASHIMI NIGHT!
I’m a sucker for the tangy-sweet lanzones. The
sweetest ones are said to come from the town of Mambajao, Camiguin.
Hence, the town civilians exalt the minuscule tropical fruit during the
harvest season in October. The ritual celebration was rumored to have
originated when a childless couple asked the lanzones tree
fairy for a child. The fairy granted them one, but they failed to thank
her so she enchanted the child. Realizing their omission, the child’s
parents then performed a thanksgiving ritual that honored the fruit
tree, and this set the pattern for the festivals in the years to come.
The itik (native duck) is the star of many of our “exotic” dishes—the balut being the most popular. The duck-farming culture is particularly prominent in Victoria, Laguna, hence its status as the itik capital of the country. So, every November, they pay tribute to the humble bird by having the Itik Festival as part of their festivities for the town’s founding anniversary.
Barako roughly translates to “tough” or “strong”, hence the name of Lipa’s most distinguished source of caffeine. Harvested in the coffee granary of the Philippines, these coffee beans boast a robust flavor and pungent aroma. The kapeng barako is celebrated with the requisite parade and street dancing, along with a “search for the barako ng bayan” contest (a refreshing change from the usual beauty pageants).
The Philippines is manifestly an epicurean country. We are not only famous for our beaches, but also our food and hospitality. So, now that the summer season is upon us, why not satisfy your wanderlust by booking your next trip to any of the aforementioned destinations instead? That way, you can give a new (and patriotic) meaning to the phrase “food trip!”
Because we also love to party (and because we’ll jump up at any excuse to whip up special dishes), we establish fiestas that celebrate these specialties. That, along with our renowned hospitality, means that any visitor is in for a memorable feast.
So, the next time you go on a road trip with your barkada, forget about going to the beach! The following destinations will open your eyes to the tasty delights our country has to offer (and you won’t even need to go on that swimsuit diet before paying them a visit).
January: Longganisa Festival at Vigan, Ilocos Sur
Aside from the Spanish heritage houses lining this northern town’s streets, Vigan is also known for its longganisa. These plump, brown links of spicy meat, distinctly flavored with garlic and Ilokano sugar cane vinegar, are a requisite breakfast item. The Vigan longganisa is so famed that the Ilokanos begin
their year by celebrating its existence. And I don’t know about you,
but a breakfast of the legendary sausage at Calle Crisologo’s
picturesque cobbled streets sounds like it’s worth the 10 hour drive.February: Suman Festival at Baler, Aurora
Suman is a sticky rice cake cooked in coconut milk, and then wrapped in either banana leaves or buri (Corypha)
palm. Since it is known to symbolize shared prosperity, the townspeople
of Baler use it as a ritual offering to San Isidro every February. They
tie bundles of the rice cake to a piece of bamboo, and throw such from
their balconies while the image of San Isidro passes by.And if you miss the February celebration, you can always catch a similar festival in Antipolo around the month of May.
March: Kesong Puti Festival at Sta. Cruz, Laguna
Kesong Puti (white cheese) is a fresh, non-aged, soft cheese that is made from carabao
(water buffalo) milk. It is wrapped and fermented in banana leaves, and
is widely produced in Sta. Cruz, Laguna. The native cheese is
celebrated as one of the town’s main sources of industry every March,
with activities that include fun runs and kesong puti cook-offs.April: Manggahan Festival at Guimaras, Iloilo
The
Guimaras mango is widely known for its sweetness. So, it’s hardly
surprising that it takes center stage whenever the province celebrates
the anniversary of its independence every April. Heck, the most popular
event of their fiesta is the “eat-all-the-mangoes-you-can” event. For
only Php 100, locals and tourists alike can eat as much of the yellow,
heart-shaped fruit within a certain time limit.May: Bawang Festival at Sinait, Ilocos Sur
Garlic is a staple in Philippine cuisine. While the French have their sauté, we have our gisa (chopped garlic and onions simmering in a bit of oil), which is pretty much the flavor base for most of our culinary dishes.So, forget spending Labor Day weekend in Boracay, and instead celebrate garlic in all its breathtaking glory every May 1st in Ilocos Sur.
June: Lechon Festival at Balayan, Batangas
Animal lovers, look away.
July: Alimango Festival at Sta. Margarita, Samar
We may be infamous for “crab mentality” but when it comes to a celebration, a little (or a lot of) crab wouldn’t hurt. Alimango
(mud crab) is considered as festive food in Filipino households, but
for the people in Sta. Margarita, Samar, they are virtually a way of
life. Every July, they celebrate their primary source of livelihood
through parades, dances, crab-racing, and cooking contests featuring the
snappy crustacean.August: Dinagat-Bakasi at Cordova, Cebu
The Dinagat (anything pertaining to, or fished from the sea) festival is a reinvention of the Bakasi festival. The bakasi is
a local eel that is abundant in the town of Cordova, Cebu. The
townspeople commemorate the peculiar fish every August with a ritual
dance, which is meant to mimic the skating movement of the bakasi. Other activities include a bakasi race and a cooking contest with the exotic eel as the theme ingredient.September: Tuna Festival at General Santos, South Cotabato
Bet
you didn’t know that Gen. San is one of the world’s leading exporters
of sashimi-grade tuna. The venerated tuna flesh is responsible for a big
portion of the town’s revenues, and is as fêted as Manny Pacquiao, the
other celebrity hailing from this district. Tuna Fest activities include
a coastal clean-up, a tuna float parade, and a bay cruise. But if
that’s still not enough reason for you to visit Gen. San in September,
I’ve only got three words for you: WEEKLONG SASHIMI NIGHT!October: Lanzones Festival at Mambajao, Camiguin
I’m a sucker for the tangy-sweet lanzones. The
sweetest ones are said to come from the town of Mambajao, Camiguin.
Hence, the town civilians exalt the minuscule tropical fruit during the
harvest season in October. The ritual celebration was rumored to have
originated when a childless couple asked the lanzones tree
fairy for a child. The fairy granted them one, but they failed to thank
her so she enchanted the child. Realizing their omission, the child’s
parents then performed a thanksgiving ritual that honored the fruit
tree, and this set the pattern for the festivals in the years to come.November: Itik Festival at Victoria, Laguna
The itik (native duck) is the star of many of our “exotic” dishes—the balut being the most popular. The duck-farming culture is particularly prominent in Victoria, Laguna, hence its status as the itik capital of the country. So, every November, they pay tribute to the humble bird by having the Itik Festival as part of their festivities for the town’s founding anniversary.December: Kapeng Barako Festival at Lipa, Batangas
Barako roughly translates to “tough” or “strong”, hence the name of Lipa’s most distinguished source of caffeine. Harvested in the coffee granary of the Philippines, these coffee beans boast a robust flavor and pungent aroma. The kapeng barako is celebrated with the requisite parade and street dancing, along with a “search for the barako ng bayan” contest (a refreshing change from the usual beauty pageants).The Philippines is manifestly an epicurean country. We are not only famous for our beaches, but also our food and hospitality. So, now that the summer season is upon us, why not satisfy your wanderlust by booking your next trip to any of the aforementioned destinations instead? That way, you can give a new (and patriotic) meaning to the phrase “food trip!”
Speech "Like The Molave"
GROW
AND BE LIKE THE MOLAVE
by Manuel Luis quezon
The question is never really what
you want to do. It is how you want to do it. That is what, figuratively
speaking, separates the men from the boys; the statesmen from the politician.
All of things sound good, they
always do. But, ultimately, they will always be just things that sound
good. The fundamental basis for any social improvement and national
character-building is not to say we need to be a nation, but impart that sense
of unity and nationalism from birth.
And why…by golly that’s done through
education and culture and the arts. If history is the memory of the country,
culture is its soul. The arts are what helps define the soul and character of a
country. As we have just seen, culture and the arts are under attack and are
faltering as social institutions. Education is collapsing under the weight of
poor planning, limited infrastructure, diminished education and graft and
corruption. Our students are no longer taught to be thinkers, or artists, or
poets, or entrepreneurs or anything. They are not educated. They are given
skills to be functioning laborers, not even of our society, but of other
countries.
Consider, what was it the
Propagandists and the Revolutions, and Varela and Burgos before, first do?
They defined what it meant to be Filipino. In the case of Varela and
Rizal, it was by claiming the word “Filipino” for themselves.
Things like this, well, they’re
pretty and sound wonderful. But from saying to doing…that’s a long and
difficult road.
It starts in the school rooms of our
children.
National strength can only be built
on character. A nation is nothing more or less than its citizenry. It is the
people that make up a nation and, therefore a nation cannot be stronger than
its component parts. Their weakness is its failings, their strength its power.
Show me a people composed of vigorous, sturdy individuals of men and women
healthy in mind and body, courteous, brave, industrious, self-reliant, and
purposeful in thoughts as well as in actions, imbeud with sound patriotism and
a profound sense of righteousness, with high social ideals and strong moral
fibers-and I will show you a great nation that will not be submerged. A nation
that will emerge victorious from trials and bitter strifes of a destructed
world. A nation that will live forever, sharing the common task and advancing
the welfare and promoting the happiness of mankind.
The upward climb of mankind has been universal. In the human landscape, there are peaks and valleys, and deep chasms. Generally, there is a need for potent social upheavals, volcanic in proportions, to raise the lower levels to grow at heights.
The battle for existence and the survival of the fittest has ever the rule of life, in nature and among men.
It is a heroic task to awaken and apply these faculties so that our people should become what rightly they should be: morally virile, refined, persevering, public-spirited.
I want our people to grow and be like the molave, strong and resilient, unafraid of the raging flood, the lightning or the storm, confident of its own strength.
We are Orientals. Orientals are known for their passivity and placidity. In the world of humanity, we look upon a quiet lake from which adventures and enterprising may reap enjoyment and gain. I refuse to allow Filipinos to be so regarded.
We shall be a flowing stream, a rippling brook, a deep and roaring torrent full of life, of hope, of faith and of strength. Through self-discipline, we shall harness all our energies so that our power spreading over the length and breadth of this land will develop its resources, advance its culture, promote social justice and secure happiness and contentment to all the people under the aegis of liberty and peace.
The upward climb of mankind has been universal. In the human landscape, there are peaks and valleys, and deep chasms. Generally, there is a need for potent social upheavals, volcanic in proportions, to raise the lower levels to grow at heights.
The battle for existence and the survival of the fittest has ever the rule of life, in nature and among men.
It is a heroic task to awaken and apply these faculties so that our people should become what rightly they should be: morally virile, refined, persevering, public-spirited.
I want our people to grow and be like the molave, strong and resilient, unafraid of the raging flood, the lightning or the storm, confident of its own strength.
We are Orientals. Orientals are known for their passivity and placidity. In the world of humanity, we look upon a quiet lake from which adventures and enterprising may reap enjoyment and gain. I refuse to allow Filipinos to be so regarded.
We shall be a flowing stream, a rippling brook, a deep and roaring torrent full of life, of hope, of faith and of strength. Through self-discipline, we shall harness all our energies so that our power spreading over the length and breadth of this land will develop its resources, advance its culture, promote social justice and secure happiness and contentment to all the people under the aegis of liberty and peace.
Reaction Paper in " Like The Molave"
LIKE
THE MOLAVE I 1940)
By: Rafael Zulueta da Costa
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace;
There are a thousand waters to be spanned;
There are a thousand mountains to be crossed;
There are a thousand cross to be borne.
Our shoulders are not strong; our sinews are
Grown flaccid with dependence, smug with ease
Under another‘s wing. Rest not in peace;
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. The land has need
Of young blood and, what younger than your
own,
Forever spilled in the great name of freedom.
Forever oblate on the altar of
The free? Not you alone, Rizal. O souls
And
spirits of the martyred brave - arise!
Arise
and scour the land! Shed once again
Your willing blood! Infuse the vibrant red
Into our thin anemic veins; until
We pick up your Promethean tools and strong,
Out of the depthless matrix of your faith
In us, and on the silent cliffs of freedom,
We carve, for all time your marmoreal dream!
Until our people, seeing, are become
Like the Molave, firm, resilient, staunch
Rising on the hillside, unafraid,
Strong in its own fiber; yes, like the Molave!
Not yet,Rizal,not yet. The glory hour will come
Out of the silent dreaming
from the seven thousand fold silence
We shall emerge, saying WE ARE FILIPINOS!
and no longer be ashamed
sleep not in peace
the dream is not yet fully carved
hard the wood but harder the woods
yet the molave will stand
yet the molave monument will rise
and god's walk on brown legs
REACTION
ON THE POEM LIKE THE MOLAVE
At the
beginning of the poem, the poet outlines
how the
Philippines is dependent on other nations,
and must
work towards becoming inde
pendent in
the future in order to
support
its citizens. Like The
Molave
also highlights the importance of the younge
r
generation, and how they must fight for their
country
and improve the Filipino way of livi
ng. The
poet believes this
will grant
the nation
freedom.
Like The
Molave also talks about heroes and how they
inspire regular Filipinos to be great
themselves
and join them on the quest to make the Philippines a more prosperous place. The
poem states
that whilst many Filipinos are achieving great
things for
their country, there is still much
more to be
done and more resident
s must
contribute to the efforts.
In short,
Like The Molave is
about
inspiring the Filipino na
tion to
improve their country
and make
it self-sufficient.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
WHY I LOVE MY PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINE TRAVELOGUE One
of the fantastic things about being in the Philippines is that you don’t need
to take long-haul flights to reach some of the most desirable holiday
destinations. The Philippines is only seven hours from cities such as Sydney or
Melbourne in Australia as well as just a few hours from the sights of China,
Thailand and Japan. If you’re considering getting away to
far-flung beauty spots on last minute holidays, take the time to
research popular options such as Turkey and Egypt.
Boracay is still one of my favourite
places though you can get "Schnitzel" and "Gulasch" now.
It's a very small island with a great beach and you can only get there by boat.
There is no foodbridge so you have to walk through the water to get there. The
reason why I still like it is because you can have everything. You can dance
the night away to party music or you can sit in a small bar with soft or no
music right on the beach. You can eat "Cordon blue" but also a whole
fresh fished grilled right in front of you. You can meet a lot of people but
you can also spend a whole day and night alone if you like. I rent a motorbike
for 4 hours but I needed it only for two because the island is so small. So
though there are a lot of people, many bars and restaurants, sometimes algae in
the water and all the other disadvantages of a tourist place it's still a kind
of magic over there, I would call it: The magic of an island!
Philippines: Boracay
Boracay is still one of my favourite
places though you can get "Schnitzel" and "Gulasch" now.
It's a very small island with a great beach and you can only get there by boat.
There is no foodbridge so you have to walk through the water to get there. The
reason why I still like it is because you can have everything. You can dance
the night away to party music or you can sit in a small bar with soft or no
music right on the beach. You can eat "Cordon blue" but also a whole
fresh fished grilled right in front of you. You can meet a lot of people but
you can also spend a whole day and night alone if you like. I rent a motorbike
for 4 hours but I needed it only for two because the island is so small. So
though there are a lot of people, many bars and restaurants, sometimes algae in
the water and all the other disadvantages of a tourist place it's still a kind
of magic over there, I would call it: The magic of an island!Wednesday, May 11, 2016
My Future
When I finish my course I want to be a member the uniform personnel of the Philippines, I want to serve and protect the Filipino people against criminality and to help maintain the peace and order of our nation. I want that all the Filipino people will live without fear of being a victim of all criminal activity.
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