Kathy's Blog: Saturday morning

Good Morning, it is morning, huh . . .Today the whole neighborhood is awake and stirring.  Outside the chickens have taken over my mind:  As I lay in bed asking myself where we’ve been, they answer in unison  “Punto Taytay”; when I query what’s today, all together now they respond “Happy Birthday” (of course referring to today being Uncle Larry’s big day); and when my mind inquires where are we going, the Chicken Choral chants “Dumaguete”

A third generation Filipino-American, visiting her ancestral homeland, I am both foreign and at home.
I am blessed with this opportunity, just short of my 56th birthday, to observe, enjoy a rhythm of life that is very familiar to me in even more ways yet to be discovered.   There are many signs and placards that delight me and make me laugh and make me think.  The messages are genuine and unassuming.  Is this quality a part of my cell-memory too? 

I'm on the Speed Cat boat going from Cebu to Bohol, coming up in the background there. I'm getting the feel of  the Philippines beneath my feet.  More to come on Cebu when we return there next, but this photo says it all.

BOHOL- 2/24/2012

"Be happy, be budoy!" greets our guide at Tarsier Nature Reserve.  Tarsiers became endangered because they were dying due to rough handling by visitors.  Tarsiers are very delicate, solitary creatures, so named because in their hands have a tarsal bone.  Tiny as they are, the tarsier is really five animals in one:
They have the ears of a bat, eyes of an owl, a tail like a rat (11 inches long), hands like a gecko (including the suctions at the ends of each tip), and the body of a mouse.  Do I have these right?

We also visited a butterfly park today, something I've always wanted to do.  Our guide Jemer was quite clever with words,  describing butterfly mating as "24/7 boom-boom, sir/ma'am", the hermaphrodite nature of some of the butterflies as "ladyboys".

CHOCO-LAT Hills.  Located in the interior of the island of Bohol, all 1,280 of the Chocolate Hills (no, I did not count them myself) were formed by calcium deposits, rain and erosion.  From this very skeletal information, can you tell I am not a geology major?  I will upload the plaque showing more thorough info here.   During this time of year, the chocolate hills are lush with greenery so they don't look so chocolaty.

 

Pinakbet

 I'm trying out pinakbet at every place we go.  the ampalaya is so good here.  Like Japan and its miso, the Philippines has its regional bagoong, some made with shrimps, and others made with different types of fish according to the region. So different regions' pinakbet dish is infused with its own special complexity.  My body quickly restores after I eat ampalaya, so I've been eating it out of sheer love, whether my body needs it or not. Incidentally, the dishes are richly flavorful, yet never overpowering -- almost soothing.  Maybe it's my heart, not my mouth, that is tasting the food. 

bark bark bark bark bark bark.
BARK.
bark bark bark bark bark
bark bark bark
bark bark bark
bark bark bark.   bark
BARK.

That's the same thing that dog said an hour ago! Who could he be talking to at 3:30 in the morning?  And where'd he go now?

Bacolod & All That Jazz

Lucy

Abe Lagrimas

Evie

Congressman John N. Orola, Jr., who generously gave us a tour of the Casa Orola compound and shared stories of his illustrious career.

Dr. Severo Lacson hosted a most elegant luncheon at his beautiful home. Two of the Twelve Christmas Trees seen here.

Mr. Raymond Alunan, our passionate and knowledgable tourgide at the Negros Museum.  Listening to his lecture restored my spirit for teaching in just one afternoon with this man.

They're even more magnifent in real life.

One of many amazing cloud formations in the Philippine skies, this shot taken from the airplane window on our return to Manila.