Nostalgia

Ixora Coccinea also known as Dwarf Santan or Jungle Geranium, but to me this flower is simply known as Santan. I was in my grandparent's drive way and saw how perfectly this round cluster of Santan formed. My grandmother explain that it is 'spring' and this is why all the flowers have bloomed so beautifully. 'Spring?' I thought to myself, 'it is 33 degrees and in the height of summer!'. I was immediately reminded of the summers when I was a child and I would sit on the grass, by the Santan bush in my grandmother's garden. I would then pull out one stem among the cluster, remove the pin like part on the top of the flower from its tubular stem, invert and sip on the juice of the flower. It's amazing how seeing simple things like these can bring back memories from 20 years ago.

Hummus Bi Tahina

East meets Middle East! One of the many things I miss about living in London is the diversity of food. True, British food isn't anything to write home about, but the people who have migrated there have at least brought their food along with them. I would have Hummus quite often when I was living there. Me and the guys at work would regularly go for lunch to Hummus Bros at Wardour Street, and have their Lamb with Hummus and Pita Bread. Extremely good. Occasionally, I would simply buy a tub of Hummus from the shops and drizzle some olive oil in and eat with a baguette. Something I learned from my Arabic friend. Well, if Mohammed won't go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed. So today, I made my own Hummus bi Tahina. I must say, I was rather proud that it came out quite good. Here is my "Idiot's Guide to Hummus".

Taho

The photos above are reminiscent of my childhood. Every morning or afternoon you would either hear the Taho man's clown hooter sound off or him simply calling out "Taaahhhhhooooo". My nanny would make sure she would catch him in time to buy me my favorite "street food", Taho. Most Taho vendors walk with two buckets balanced by a wooden plank on their shoulders, some (like my Taho vendor) rides a bike, which makes it quite tricky to catch him! I used to love watching the Taho man prepare taho with his two aluminum buckets with its compartmentalised ingredients. One bucket just for the Tokwa or Tufo (Bean Curd), another bucket divided into two sections for the Sago or Tapioca Pearls and the last compartment is for brown sugar syrup known as Arnibal. It is usually served to you quite warm, but some people do like eating Taho cold. The Taho could have possibly come from Chinese influences, as they have something identical, if not similar, called Douhua.

Ever since I arrived here, I have been craving for Taho and have been quite vocal about it too! Yesterday morning, when I woke up I heard his clown horn go off and my mom rushing to tell me that he was outside our house and asked me if I wanted some Taho. My immediate reaction reminded me times of my childhood, grabbing 20 pesos (£0.20) and a glass, (plus, this time, my camera) and rushing out the house giving it to the Taho man. I think he must have thought I was crazy for photographing him but it was hard not to. It tasted as good as I remembered it to be, and it will always remind me of happy memories of my childhood.

Día del Libro 2007

21 de Abril 2007 : Día del Libro (International Book Day 2007)

¿Qué vas a hacer en la próxima semana? El Instituto Cervantes de Manila, lo abrirá los puertas a la publica por una día. Todo el dia Feria del Libros, seguido por alguno de la tradición espanola.

What are you doing next weekend? Instituto Cervantes Manila, will open its doors to the public for the day. A whole day of the book fair, followed by some of the Spanish traditions.