Travels in the 10/40 Window; Cambodia; Philippines; China; Israel; Egypt; Japan

Kambing

2011-01-22T00:40:00.000+08:00

I think most of us in our part of the world is familiar with the kambing soup. Yum, yum!

When I was visiting one of the SMCI (Student Movement for Christ) centers in the Philippines, my experienced driver saw these near the path of our big van....... and someone said 'don't run over the kambings!'. And that was when I learnt - eh, you mean, in the Filipino language (Tagalog or Cebuano?) you also called these guys kambings? Ok, that's easy to remember!

Well, we won't make them into soup any time yet, but we sure will snap some cute pics with them!

Coconut

2011-01-15T00:40:00.001+08:00

C - O - C - O - N - U - T

I am normally not a fan of the humble coconut. But in the Philippines, accosted by the buko pie, who can resist? Here's free advertisement for Sheila's Buko Pie, and I even carried a whole pie home - Yup, I chose the pie instead of the worms for the flight, and it survived very well.

It also survived a day in my fridge at home for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I first met the buko pie waaaay back in the year 2002 - when I was presented with a few during a welcome feast in Dumaguete, Philippines.Now, even if you don't like coconut, the buko pie in the Philippines will really tempt you to eat one slice. And then another. And then... you wish you have plenty more room for this ang sarap dessert!

Royal Palm

2011-01-08T00:40:00.000+08:00

Have you ever been the ONLY guest staying in a hotel or resort? Well, I have! At the Royal Palm Resort in Laguna Philippines in Nov 2010! And I'm not talking about a tiny little three-room hotel or motel - this is a huge resort with dozens of chalets and rooms!

It was a weird feeling. I had the run of the whole place, which was very big and quite well kept - the folk there were really friendly. I even sat with the only person there one night, the caretaker lady M'am Beoli - she was waiting for a delivery to be made - trying to keep up a conversation while feeding mosquitoes.

With Mechie, the pastor's wife, at the swimming pool.
Apparently Nov was off-peak season. The guests come only during the summer. Phew, summer would have been swelteringly hot, but in November, it was still not but not that bad, it was drizzling at times but lovely. Laguna, by the way, is about two hours south of Manila, and the city of this province is the birth-place of the Philippines national hero, Jose Rizal. I was very glad I remembered a bit of Filipino history to know who Rizal was.

And at the end of the stay, I paid half price for the one night stay. Ooooh, really must go there again.

A Wormy Visit

2011-01-01T00:40:00.000+08:00

One of my big reasons for heading for the Philippines was to visit the worm farm. I've heard so much about that for the past year... and getting increasingly curious about those so-called friendly, hardworking worms who are helping farmers to grow extra big cucumbers, longer string beans and bigger leafy veggies!

And so I finally got there. Oooh, the worms! Again, today, I am not talking about delicious food like grilled chicken, or seafood. It's about worms. And the vegetables. And vegetables are not delicious food.

I was expecting some foul smell to come from the worm beds - after all, these little fellars were eating decomposing vegetation, right? But... I was told, the smell was only for the first few days, and the beds were covered anyway. Now that these worm beds were a few weeks old, there was absolutely no smelly decomposition at all. In fact, the farm was sweet smelling all around.

And these worms are really hardworking and nice fellars. They looked just like the earthworms I once dissected in Biology class. Hmmm.... shall I wrap you up in tissue and smuggle you home in my handbag as samples...
On second thoughts, I dont need squishy worms in my bag! Besides, assuming you guys are hardy enough to survive the flight (you fly in worm class which is equivalent to the overhead luggage compartment!), what do I feed you with when I get home?!

It's Christmas Time!

2010-12-25T00:40:00.004+08:00

I have been told that my blog is all about food.

NOT! Not true at all! Today, there will be no food. Only good news. Very good news.

When I was in the Philippines in mid-November, I stepped into the SMC Student Center in Dumaguete one afternoon and found some of the volunteer student workers busy setting up the Christmas tree and decorations.Eh? It's only November! They good-naturedly reminded me that in the Philippines, Christmas starts in the "ber" months. That means, SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER... so they were not too early, in fact, they were a bit late.

Oh, Christmas for four whole months? How fun! I supposed, if celebrating Christmas for so many people is all about over-eating and getting immensely drunk and merry revelling in all hours of the day and night, then four months might not even be enough.

Oops, am I talking about food again. !!! Anyway, imagine having some wonderful Christmas celebration hanging out with friends till the wee hours, getting drunk and very very happy indeed, and then, what happens the next day? A hangover... yeah right, but what else happens? The happy happy feelings, the friends, the wine and the turkey, where did they all go? Truth is, many folk have plenty of merry making during Christmas time, and the next day, wake up alone and miserable and depressed. Even unwrapping the colorful boxes of Christmas presents to find stuff inside you do not need or want... (where's that iPad I've been begging for...!!) There is a hole in your heart that cannot be filled by all the merry trappings of Christmas. It can only be filled by The Person for whom Christmas ever existed in the first place. Jesus Christ.

So, whether you have your merriment for one Christmas Day, or four months of insane partying... do pause and think about the Good News that was given to you and I, on Christmas Day. A baby born one blessed morn, gave us the Greatest Gift of all, the Gift of eternal life.Blessed Christmas!And these funny looking people - they are the kids at the children's home in Cambodia, also say Blessed Christmas! Don't get too merry!