Aloha House

We first chanced upon this place a few months ago when we were viewing some empty lots for sale at Santa Monica.  It was behind a 1,000 square meter lot along the main road.  As the sun already set, and the sky was getting dark, the place was closed.  I saw a small sign that herbs were for sale.  I made a mental note to myself to make this one of the places that we should visit soon.

The perfect opportunity came a few days ago when Mama and her sister, Tita Baby, visited us here in Palawan.  The Aloha House was right on Mitra Road on the way back from Baker's Hill, where we had lunch. 

We knocked on the gate and we were let in by a nice Cebuano speaking lady.

She led us right to the Farm Store.

There were bottles of molasses, virgin coconut oil, coconut-pineapple jam and pesto.  They even had brown, red and black organic rice.

There were also some crocheted goblet covers and necklaces made by the women.

Mama and Tita Baby shopped for a bit.

A small roundabout was in the center, surrounded by a see-saw and and some bouncing wooden animals, all set on a little pool of smooth white stones. Elise and Nacho noisily played and the lady had to ask them to tone it down, as the little orphan babies were napping.

We took a peek inside, and there were several cribs side by side where the children, some barely a year old, were stretching and yawning and napping. Aloha House is also an orphanage licensed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. 

Across the store was a cozy open living room where a friendly dog was sitting.

Behind the sofa were little cars made from small plastic water drums with wheels fastened to them.  They were linked together to form some sort of pull-train.  VERY CLEVER!!!

Another clever thing was a dog house with a small tunnel.

All these were overlooking a rolling garden of lettuce,

tomatoes, 

and gotocula! I got very excited when I saw gotocula, as Mama keeps a pot of these in her porch at home and eats about three leaves a day.  It helps her arthritis.  She gives them away to people whom she knows might need them for arthritis.  It is also known to sharpen memory.  Last year, when she found out I had joint pains in my hands, she gave me some, and since we have not tended to our garden in Manila, I found them all over the bermuda grass in our garden.  Here, a few days ago when they visited Lawiswis Organics in Irawan, she she asked for some.  So I have a pot of it sitting on some water in our balcony, waiting for me to plant them in a nice pot with some topsoil.  I now eat two to three leaves a day and my joint pains are gone!

I wandered to the back and found another rolling field full of vegetables and herbs and found out that they also sell fresh lettuce.

There were some training materials since Aloha House is also a center for training for sustainable agriculture. Some folks over from the Department of Agriculture even trained here.

They also sell cheese: cheddar, mozzarella and feta. Yum. They are building a creamery at the back and it is almost complete.  No wonder we saw some goats grazing on the grassy lot across the house. 

By this time, all I could think of was FRESH green salad with sweet red tomatoes tossed in some coco vinaigrette, sprinkled with feta cheese.  But we'll have to go back for that creamery.  When it's completed, we'll take another field trip.

Vacation in the City

For someone who grew up in Manila amidst the rising of the malls since SM North Edsa, had SM Megamall, Robinsons Galleria and Shangrila Plaza a walking distance away, I was awed by my recent mall trips a week ago. I wanted to go into every store, look at all the new things, and taste all the interesting food.  Even the supermarket excited me and I got a high from reading labels and just marveling at all the choices!  I truly turned into a promdi.

We spent an afternoon in SM Megamall and got the kids some clothes and shoes.

We dropped by their favorite ice cream shop: Thumbs Up!, where they got small portions of their favorite flavors!  No sugar high after!

Enjoyed Polly's chocolate cake twice during the trip, where it was the perfect ending of two very special birthday dinners.  What a coincidence. It IS The Best Chocolate Cake EVER.

 

 

A highlight of the trip was when the kids went to Eastwood City with their cousins.

We watched Despicable Me,

had a burger lunch at Stackers,

and went bungee jumping.  

 

We carefully watched everyone else who tried it.  The kids went twice. The first one scared them, leaving them stiff and almost throwing up. But they pleaded for a second one, and this time, they just let go and had fun.

Can you find Nacho among the branches? 

Here is little cousin Nina, who was the bravest of them all.

Finished the afternoon off with some yoghurt in Dash, a cozy toy shop.

Most of our time was spent talking and spending time together with family, which is why visited in the first place.  Even got to visit Papa more than once.

Now, everything is the other way around.  I used to escape the bright city life and travel to the seaside every few months.  Now, I live by the sea, and go off to the city once every few months.

We are back to the reality of studying with Elise and Nacho, going on our final stretch of house hunting, and gearing up our entrepreneurial spirit for the upcoming holidays.

After catching up on some much-needed rest when we got back, we ran straight to the beach!

And played once more.

And peacefully ended the day. 

Been back and forth for nine months, and it looks like this is Home Sweet Home.

Mama's Birthday

It was so invigorating to be able to cook after a very long time.   Mama wanted a light meal with lots of vegetables for her birthday, so we went to work. 

Lorie and I made a late night trip to Shopwise to see what was available. (This was on our recent trip to Manila. You might think that there is already a Shopwise in Palawan!)

We found some special brown Spanish mushrooms whose name I later discovered were rovellons. Thinly sliced them and some button mushrooms and threw them into hot olive oil with some garlic already cooking.  Added soup stock, salt and pepper and waited for the soup to reduce to its full flavor.  The picture is a bit blurred from the heat of the soup.

Found fresh salmon and decided to poach them for the main dish, as this was the healthiest preparation I could think of, considering Mama's cholesterol level.  Prepared a potful of court bouillon of leeks, flat leaf parsley, lemon slices and carrots.  Poured in two cups of fruity Argentinian Gran Trillo white wine into the water and added black peppercorns, whole coriander seeds and a couple of bay leaves. The secret to a tender salmon is making sure it cooks as it is simmering - never boiling. 

The recipe called for a lemon caper sauce, but it had cream.... so I just surrounded the salmon with some mashed potato I made for the kids, and sprinkled it with paprika to add some color.  Tastewise, it was not a good idea, as the potatoes masked the light lemon flavor of the fish. I should have just pureed something or made a light sauce for it.  Well, no one complained.  But next time, I will plan the sauce earlier. 

As the salmon was poaching,  the vegetables were roasting in a coat of olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs in the 400 degree oven and the boiling water was cooking the spinach fettucini to al dente. 

The eggplant, celery, carrots, squash, peppers and red onions were thinly sliced and lined on a baking sheet for optimum caramelization. When they were done, I just tossed the cooked pasta on the baking sheet of roasted vegetables so all the precious extra virgin olive oil from the pan would be wiped clean.  I let everyone add fresh parmesan cheese to the sweet vegetable pasta. 

Dessert was purchased the day before at Sweet Harmony  in Taytay, Rizal.  It is a multiple-venue location for events.  It is owned by the folks who run Paul Calvin's Deli in Fort Bonifacio. A whimsical atmosphere dominates the place.  There were metal flowers as big as truck wheels in the garden.  During Christmastime, there are giant figures of the characters from the Nativity Scene.

This facade welcomed us into the bakeshop where I hoped they had stock of Braza de Calabaza for dessert the next day.

Yes, Brazo de Calabaza, as in: squash.  Instead of egg yolk, they used kalabasa.  Mama suspected that the mixture had condensed milk, as its texture and consistency were similar to ube halaya.   We watched the baker roll in the squash mixture into the egg white sheet, and dust confectioner's sugar all over it.

On the dining table, much of the white dust on top was gone, as it was not refrigerated on the way to Mama's house. But it was so yummy!  Shelf life was five days, but it lasted for an hour.

And while I was busy in the kitchen, Tita Corinne and the kids made a surprise poster for Mama.  Thinking of cutting it up into rectangles, laminating them and using them as placemats later - instead of just rolling it up and keeping it.

We flew back to Puerto Princesa the next day.

Happy Birthday, Mama!  See you again soon! We love you!

Sea Stars

When Elise gets back from school, she usually hops into the shower, studies a little bit, and then it's dinnertime.  One day last week, it was so humid and hot that the kids and I decided to put on our aqua socks and head to the beach.  We still had an hour before sunset.

So the kids ran to the nearest pool of water.

Elise went ahead and stopped suddenly, letting off a piercing shriek.  I thought she was in trouble. But she was just so startled to see hundreds of starfish about an inch or so apart all over the edge of the pool. 

They were scattered everywhere!  We never saw them so numerous and so close to each other before.  Everywhere you looked, they were there!  The water was so clear, it was almost surprising to feel your arm wet when you reach down to get one.

This was the first time she was brave enough to pick one up and examine it.  She turned them over and just watched the little tube feet wiggle.

She was so sad to see one with one of the rays cut off. "Oh, no. This one is hurt." I assured her that starfish regenerate, and the ray would grow back.  Besides, they live for about 10 years, and having their rays cut off would happen often, with the rough waves flinging them against sharp coral and rock, or predators nibbling on them. 

She played with the others, setting them on her palm, and watching them slowly crawl back to the water.  "Mama, I'm his friend, he's not scared of me, he's moving!"  She knew that some animals do not move when threatened.  She did that over and over, and was giggling softly because it tickled. 

There were a couple of weird ones, like a black slithery one. "Don't touch that one."

 

And one that had only four rays.

And one that had six! 

Elise held it up and it reminded me of Christmas.

We ended the day well, breathed fresh air and welcomed the night.  

Hearty Pho in Viet Ville, Then a Joyride

So far, the yummiest pho we've ever had was in Rene's Saigon Restaurant in Bancao-Bancao Road, near the airport.

But the little road trip we took a few Sundays ago up north led us to Viet Ville Restaurant, which was on the same level as Rene's Saigon on the deliciousness scale.

There used to be a small Vietnamese village there that was put up by a Catholic group to shelter some Vietnamese refugees. 

There are hardly any refugees left, but the restaurant still stands and is part of the city tour.

While waiting for our orders, we roamed around, and found a small creek behind the restaurant near the restrooms.  We entertained ourselves by watching the white ducks eat their lunch.

They also had several signs announcing that they accept bulk orders for French bread.  Vietnamese eat their pho with French bread, since they were colonized by France for quite a while.


This one was by the roadside.

And this was in the restaurant.

I was curious to find out how Vietnamese mango jam and Vietnamese bagoong (shrimp paste) would taste like, but put off buying some, and just made a mental note to remember seeing them here.

There is also a small church there, as the village was put up by a Catholic community. 

It is also the home of Our Lady of the Vietnam Church.

After having our fill, we rode on the car again and just kept on driving north to the mountains hoping to reach the sea and take in some new scenery.

We crossed several bridges.

We even stopped the car for a while to watch a carabao soak itself in the mud. 

 After thousands of coconut trees...

We decided to ask for directions to the coast, they laughed and were told that it was still very far away.  "Ang layo-layo pa po."

So, we turned back.

When Rene checked out his pictures on Google Earth, we would have reached it if we drove 10 more kilometers!   We were so close!