The pressure is mounting, but why should I fret?

When we landed in Hanoi, I was about 19% alive. Feverish. Poopy. Bloody poopy. Awful! But after a couple of days, Mike and I explored the densely populated, yet simple, city.
The photo above was taken at an open street market in Hanoi. Fresh (sorta) fruits, meats, and seafood galore! Those are live eels in the green bowl.
The weather was super humid, so we took every opportunity to stop and enjoy fancy iced drinks, ice cream, or whatever refreshing food was around. This is a scoop of young rice ice cream from Fanny's Ice Cream, a French parlour on the southwest side of Hoan Kiem lake. A buck or two for uuuber tasty ice cream does beat the price for my daily gelato fix (a craving which has subsided... for now!).
However, there was an even cheaper ice cream joint on the northern side of the lake that was just as creamy and good. I don't remember its precise name (it was a tiny stall), but it serviced mostly locals and carried ice cream flavors like taro and banana (photos eventually!).
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The semester is getting more intense now, so the five-week blinkers I've had over my eyes will have to come off eventually. Similar to last semester, I won't approach this one with a sense of academic martyrdom. I'm here to learn!/grow!/enjoy! No sense in furrowing my brow and being that stressed along the way. =)

Lazing around...

Nearly all of my maternal family is in Marungko, a barrio in Angat, Bulacan. The four nights I spent there were amazing, and I'm still beating myself for not planning my flight itinerary properly and spending such a limited time with family I had never evvver met. [It was actually supposed to be only three nights, but I read my ticket incorrectly and thought my flight for Vietnam was departing on the 5th of June. It was actually the 4th. Yes, it was messy. Folks, don't miss your flights!]

My aunt took me and Mike to Angat River- the anything-you-want-it-to-be river! I decided to use it as a
nice wading spot. The river was clear-running and had a bunch of freshwater plants floating downstream. Spectacularoso!

Then all the fruit from the stalls in Tagaytay struck! It was an unforgiving battle that lasted the rest of my stay in the Philippines and a few days in Hanoi.

You won that round, poo-crazy bacteria. I'll get you (well, hopefully not) next time!

[That's my nephew, Euan :)]

When you miss the ones you love, you look at the food you enjoyed with them!

After my stay with my cousins in Manila, my maternal family brought me to Guilbert's, a restaurant about an hour south of Angat. In the foreground is balut and next to it is a skillet filled with sizzling pork sisig. The latter became my favorite dish during my stay and although I had a few reservations about balut (I had never had it before while in the States), it was dee-lish! The preparation was all fancy, too. It was smothered in sauces, peppers, and onions. My dad said I should have eaten it the "real" (hardcore!) way: no sauce, no added flavoring, just me and the duck.

Yummers!

Filipino cuisine amazes me. I'm still in search of a reliable Filipino joint in the East Bay. I've been told there are many. Someone, point me in the right direction!

Cravings...

Thank you, Ahi Sushi Bar, for this delectable photo! Cravings are pretty fluid, right? They can change from month to month or week to week or [as I'd like to think ;)] day to day. So my cravings for the latter half of this week (hah!) include the infamous rainbow roll and peanut butter gelato.

Now, the rainbow roll. It's refreshing, deceptively light, and easy to eat. What more could you ask for? Yes, the $10+ cost is a little steep for the dollar-to-dollar student, but c'mon..

To gelato. There's this new cafe that opened about a block down from my work in Oakland and in addition to the traditional coffees, salads, and sammiches, it carries gelato! Now, $4 for a plastic cup of the stuff isn't a great deal but when cravings strike, they strike with a fury! Money, my friends, is no object.

And I'm not one to delay gratification. Most people know this because I usually order my dessert with my entree to minimize the delay in getting the former. I also enjoy eating both at the same time.

Here's to you, cravings. =D

Yes, third one in a day... and what?!

I'll be using this blog to post up photos that have quaint stories attached to them. Plus, I personally enjoy blogs with visuals. 0_0

The photo to the right is of some fixings from Jollibee! My cousin did a pretty good job of stuffing me with tasty Filipino food beforehand, so I really couldn't stomach the thick layer of savory mayo and mmm mmm patty. Every Jollibee I saw in the Philippines was packed with families, groups of friends, and young lovebirds. And look at that bee! He's priceless!

Behind me are just a handful of the dozens of fruit stalls in Tagaytay, a city some hours south of Manila. Yes, I was told not to eat fresh fruit that wasn't properly washed or was cut with sketchy utensils. Whatever! (I paid for it later... but that's another photo story.) To the right you can see the lanka (jackfruit), unripened bananas, and the sweetest pineapples imaginable. My cousins drove from stall to stall trying to find the best deals... and I thoroughly took advantage of the samples.

I would write something on Philippine mangoes, but I don't think it would do them justice. I tear up just thinking about their ______.

:)

Once you start, you can't stop...

Here's the skinny:

Epicurean delights: pedicures, ice-blended coffee drinks
Simple enjoyments: smiling strangers, wacky squirrels, seeing people use reusable coffee/tea tumblers
Healthy eats: fiber, fiber, fiber (preferably soluble)
To-die-for eats: That's a totally different post altogether!
Verbal oddities: "fur" instead of "for", "Cuhmbodia" instead of "Cambodia" (really, now, it's not that bad!)
Made up words: "bye-o", "bombtastic" (and its cousin, "boobtastic"), "heylo", and the occasional "blaaarrgh"

^_^

(Courtesy of Megan Lowe) This is from the Haste/MLK Pasta Party Night! (exactly like that). I tried to dish out some carbonara; David made spaghetti marinara; and Tina made a ground beef, garlic, egg white, bow tie thing. Yum!

I've decided!

It's been a while, journal buddy. In addition to the bajillion other things I am (well, really should be) doing, I will try to be diligent with you!

Yes, I'm in the office right now. This is what I call a start!