After a whirlwind trip to the Philippines last week, I am back to work in KL. I haven’t quite fully recovered from the fatigue yet. Worse, my taste buds are still screaming for all the food that I indulged in during my trip. Ahh…the food. It’s always about the food!
In GenSan (General Santos City, a.k.a. Manny Pacquiao country), I savoured delectable fresh tuna sashimi in a small airconditioned restaurant at the fish port (whose name I, unfortunately, forgot to note down)…
…scrumptious grilled tuna belly…
…and garlic shrimps at Ocean Cave Restaurant.
In Manila, I had manibalang na mangga at bagoong (slightly ripened mangoes with fermented salted shrimps)…
…and the tantalizing Mango Bravo cake from Conti’s — a cake so good, it was totally worth breaking my new no-carbs-at-night rule…just for one night!
In Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte, ginanggang nga saging made for a nostalgic afternoon snack. It’s a very simple food that I’ve always loved since childhood — plantain bananas in bamboo skewers grilled over a slow fire until the outer portion slightly hardens and darkens, then smothered with Star margarine (a.k.a. Planta in Malaysia) and sprinkled with sugar.
Thank goodness for an almost-iron-will and portion control, I somehow managed to return to KL with very minimal (if at all) weight gain!
What about you? What foods do you miss from your hometown and your childhood?
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