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Nothing much except coping after being saddled again with an admin job, and that means taking every opportunity to enjoy the moment away from office tasks. 

And coping usually takes the form of dining out with friends. One of our recent culinary forays was to the Tiny Kitchen where we pigged out on some paella negra (paella cooked in the black ooze of squid), callos and three kinds of dessert: sans rival cake, silvanas, and a three-layer cake made of brazo de mercedes on top of homemade chocolate ice cream and choco fudge. Here are some photos of that gastronomic adventure:


Another time we found ourselves in Tagum City, about an hour's drive away from Davao City. There we each had a rack of sumptuous baby back ribs for lunch at Miko's Brew, and for only 180 pesos per plate.


Mouth-watering, right? So okay, I'll update this blog if just to share these gustatory delights.

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Mati trip 12/09/2010
 
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'Sleeping Dinosaur' by Ryan Songcayauon
 YES was my quick reply to my colleague's question: was I interested to go to Mati for an UPCAT campaign? How often do I get to travel and explore Mindanao with my heavy workload? Now here was an opportunity to go on a busman's holiday, this time to spread the word to high school seniors about their future with UP Mindanao.

September 1, we took the scenic route along the coastal towns from Davao to Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley until we reached Davao Oriental. Our driver's wife's family lives in Mati, so he knew the scenery and stopped at a shoulder of the highway for a closer look at what locals call the "Sleeping Dinosaur" -- the silhouette of small hilly peninsula that resembles a dinosaur or dragon resting its head in the waters of Pujada Bay. And for souvenir shots as well.
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Photo by Ryan Songcayauon
We agreed that it looked more like a giant sleeping pawikan than a dinosaur, though. As my colleagues were discussing this, I was imagining a story idea for a children's book about the last giant pawikan standing guard over Pujada Bay.

The scenery as we drove along the coastal roads from Davao dramatically changed soon as we passed the humongous Diosdado Macapagal Highway arch welcoming us to Davao Oriental. It seemed we had been transported to Cebu, particularly the seascape familiar to passengers taking the bus from Cebu City down south to Bato. Definitely, that "island" feeling with the sight of the sea surrounding you.
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Mati, Davao Oriental
I might take the "fastcraft" ferry next time I travel to Mati. Because I definitely will be going back there for a real vacation in one of the resorts. There's a ferry that regularly ply the Davao City to Lupon route (from the town of Lupon, it's just a few minutes jeepney ride to Mati).

Mati is the capital of Davao Oriental, and was recently "downgraded" by a Supreme Court decision from being a city back to its municipality status. The city and provincial officials were cavalier about the recent turn of events. In the welcome dinner hosted by Vice Governor Mayo Almario (who organized the school fair), Mati "City" Mayor Michelle Rabat jokingly declared Mati as a Republic. The hopes for Mati becoming a city, as evident in this TV Patrol report on the plebiscite months back, apparently continue to run high.
That enthusiasm was what we witnessed the next day as the 2nd Davao Oriental School Fair opened its gates to around 6,000 high school seniors from the different schools in the province. It was actually a blast witnessing how these seniors eagerly ran from one booth to the next, listening to recruiters' spiels, collecting brochures, and generally having a great time. All photos below are by Ryan Songcayauon.
What capped each day of the two-day event, however, was the food our team had at La-ne's Kan-anan. Yummy, especially the halo-halo. Located near the seaside boulevard, La-ne's Kan-anan was recommended to us by our driver. It didn't disappoint with their big servings of inexpensive delicious Filipino cuisine.
Definitely a place to go back to when I visit Mati and Davao Oriental again.
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Powered by 12/09/2010
 
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Photo from Recados Filipinos
Chocolate Truffles ice cream. I can think up so many excuses for this sinful dessert, but why even feel guilty? It was such a feast. Let Recados Filipinos do the review, since I totally agree with him. I'll just do the eating.

After a pint eaten nonstop, here I am now on a sugar high. :-)

Now on to reading drafts of students' theses.
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Holiday feast 27/12/2009
 
Yes, I know what Christmas is supposed to be. But if you're Filipino, you know no other way to celebrate Christ's birth except by serving a feast for family and friends.

Look at it this way, then. The holiday fare is really a thanksgiving feast that family and friends can share. It's our way of saying thank you for all the blessings received all year round, and for the grace allowed us in overcoming the obstacles (seemingly insurmountable at that time) that this year brought.

And think of the intent and the preparation that went into this celebration -- the joyous prospect of gathering family members and friends from far and wide under one roof to partake of this feast with goodwill.
And because we're Filipinos, we cannot help but think of celebrations as events where we can share food with each other.

But then again, Homer wrote something about how feasting usually precedes moments of solemnity (and sometimes grimness). In the Odyssey, for example, he narrates how the shipwrecked warriors slaughtered and feasted on the cattle they espied upon reaching shore. Only when they were sated did these same warriors begin to mourn their drowned comrades.

So we, too, scratching our full bellies and sipping tea or coffee to aid our digestion, begin to ponder our fate and faith this season of Christ's birth and of the passing of the year into a new decade of this second millennium.

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