I have been so behind in my blogging.... I thought PhotoHunt post will be a good way to get back in the groove... Bags... easy... :) Bags, bags, bags

I bagged these for my 30 kindergarteners... Each bag contained, a Halloween pencil, some erasers, candies, and some hokey toy. 5-year olds are so easy to please...

One student came in with more fancy bags.... not sure what the bags contained but they sure looked spiffy.

These bags I bought and brought home from the trip to the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong... Not even sure when I would be able to use ALL of them... so far, I am using one and Tracey uses one ... :)

I thought I'd post some vacation pictures... a time when I felt FREE from work, FREE from the hustle and bustle of the big city and lead a few days relaxing and enjoying the FREE and fun things a small town, Samboan, Cebu, Philippines had to offer.

These photos are from an almost undiscovered ... ok recently discovered fun place we enjoyed. We had it almost to ourselves. Except for the couple of local boys who volunteered to be our tour guides... How freeing is that! Ok, ok... I am taking "FREE" literally here... :)

My daughter and I and some cousins spent the day at the Aguinid Falls... undeveloped, non commercial yet enjoyable and naturally beautiful! At the beginning of the path from the main road, a welcome sign was posted.

The mayor's photo was on another sign. We had just met the mayor whose family invited us to dinner the night before.... So here is Tracey being silly with Raymond's photo.

Walking up towards the falls was literally walking through some jungle like path. My daughter who I thought was a real city girl... lived in SF, Sta. Monica, Sta. Barbara... etc. actually enjoyed tripsing through the river at the end of the falls, and the jungly (is that a word?) walk...

The falls had three tiers from what I could see... Tracey and her cousins went up the rocky climb and proclaimed FUN!

I was chicken to go up the upper portions of the falls... esp. in flip flops... so I stayed down... and enjoyed the scenery just as much!

I kept thinking that I need to continue writing my blog about my visit to the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong but life and work get in the way --- Arrrggg.. so here is another attempt- With the recent typhoons that hit the Philippines, school children there have been in my mind lately.

One of the highlights of the trip to Asia, was a visit to the elementary school that Mattos School sent school supplies and literature books as part of our Service Learning project. The children at Mattos learned a little bit about the Philippines as the project implies.

August 7 - Visit to Samboan Central School, the elementary school here which Mattos Elementary adopted for our service learning project a couple of years back.

When I arrived in Cebu, the Philippines was mourning the death of Corazon Aguino, celebrating her life, and everyone was off work and schools were closed to comemorate the event. (Is that a right term to use?)

So I waited until Friday, August 7th to deliver three boxes of school supplies, books, etc. that I had mailed in June... donations to Samboan Central School. In June, Larry Olson and Paula Tressell, Mattos School first grade teachers donated numerous literature books that they no longer use. I sent the boxes via LBC freight hoping they will arrive before my arrival for my Philippine visit and hoping that I'd be able to personally deliver them to the school we adopted some years back.

Back when we started this service learning project, Mattos students voted that we send school supplies to Samboan Central School as our service learning project. The school is in dire need of supplies, or any help anyone can extend.

Friday morning, I hired someone to deliver the heavy boxes to the school. The children and teachers were excited to see the boxes or pencils, papers, books, etc. Faces and smiles all around. One can really feel the warmth and sincerity of the welcome and gratitude we received…

(One of the teachers getting the children together for a Thank You, Mattos photo.)

I visited some classrooms.

39 kindergarten students crammed into a small classroom. I am not complaining about my work conditions any more.... although I miss the classroom of 20! :)

There must have been a scouts meeting that day as I spotted this group and asked them to pose for me. :)

My wish is to someday bring a group of teachers to this area and see for themselves how needy some students in these parts of the world are. Yet, their faces reflect happiness and joy for every little thing we donate.

Maybe Greg and MorningStar will go back with me next time. :)

I am the least "sporty" person in the world. I do not involve myself in one, nor do I watch any on TV. I am surrounded by very sports minded people, my own kids, however. Go figure!

My children and their significant others went on the MS BikeRide from San Francisco to Sonoma. They have done this before... to help raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research. I usually go and watch them at the finish line but this year, I was under the weather so I miss the event. I stayed home instead of going to Sonoma...

Day 1 = Here is Tracey and my daughter in law, Katrina (wife of my oldest son, Shawn) getting ready for that 50 miles ahead. (Sorry for the blurry photo)

Day 2 - Tracey and Mike went on another 50 miles from Rohnert Park to Lake Sonoma. Here is Tracey at the finish line.

My son Mike's fiancee, Jessie ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in San Jose, California two weekends ago. Here is the before - Jess is the one in teal.

Jess during

Jessie at the finish line... still looks great after 13+ miles. :)

Tomorrow, they are all running a 10K with proceeds to benefit my school district's sports program. I am so proud of them... I wish that sporty DNA came from me though.

My daughter said that my Slow Travel Sunday group is playing "Iron Chef". Our not so secret ingredient this week is Goat Cheese.

After looking at various recipes online, I experimented with the following:

Phyllo dough
Prosciutto
Fig Spread
Goat Cheese
Baking spray

Defrost Phyllo dough. (Cover defrosted phyllo with moist towel while working on or preparing the dish.)

Lightly spray a baking sheet with non stick baking spray.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut double sheets of Phyllo into approximately 3 inch squares

Cut the sheets of proscuitto into 3 inch strips

In the middle of the proscuitto strip place a teaspoon of goat cheese, and a teaspoon of fig spread. Fold the proscuitto strip over the cheese and preserve mixture.

In the middle of the phyllo square, place the proscuitto roll.

Gather the ends of the phyllo together, squeezing the ends together to seal the filling in and form the "purse".

Bake the "purses" in 375 degree oven for 12 minutes.

Best when eaten while warm. Caution: fig spread or preserves and melted goat cheese can get very hot if eaten right out of the oven. :)

My family liked this dish very much that I've made three batches this weekend by kids' requests... I do indulge my children :) .

This is one fun theme. I had lots of photos to choose from. Most of the photos are from my summer trip to Asia... so there are some literal mishaps included. :)

I am glad for Bilingual signs... I wish I were more than tri-lingual... I would have been lost if it were not for the considerate bilingual translations.

On a wall of a construction site in Singapore. I am sure the sign was intentional... sure caught my attention.

A hotel perk in Hong Kong.

"Do not weap slippers in the bathroom to prevent slidng"

A sign in the Philippines... At first my "English-speaking" brain read this and questioned "What???" Then I realized as I reverted to my "Tagalog-speaking" brain that "IWAS" meant - prevent... Duh! (on me)

The following were taken to satisfy the self-centered me... LOL ... Somewhere in the desert between Palm Desert and San Diego.

Cebu, Philippines... I wish I spent sometime here... :)

Our ingredient of the week is avocado. My daughter, Tracey, suggested that I make some avocado sushi - that she has had (many times) for lunch at a Japanese restaurant that she frequents in San Mateo. It is close to her work.

I researched online to find out some Avocado Sushi recipes but I have not seen any that is close to what Tracey has been describing to me. She said there is no rice in this avocado sushi. So we decided to make our version of this avocado sushi.

Eden's Steak and Avocado Rolls (Fake Sushi )

Ingredients:

Thin Strips of steak (I cut thin strips from a steak package I got at Costco)

Avocado, thinly sliced

Green onions, thinly sliced into strips

Teriyake Sauce

Options:

Olive oil to cook thin strips of beef in. I think you can grill these strips, if you wish

Garlic Salt and Pepper to season beef

Procedure:

1. Cut strips of beef (as thin as possible)

2. Season the beef strips in garlic salt and dash of pepper
3. Cook the beef in olive oil until it was slightly brown (pretty quick)

4. When all the beef strips are done, put a strip of avocado and a strip of green onion in the middle of the beef strip.
5. Roll the beef and drizzle teriyake sauce on top of the " Steak and Avocado Sushi Roll".

It was so good, we made more and had some with Raspberry Margaritas.

I had a hard time finding something twisted... well besides some people I know. But I do not think that would have been a good thing to post. :) So here is my attampt at twisted.

This twisted thing is a wooden sculpture of an octopus... all twisted around. This was at the 150 year old Singapore Botanic Garden.

There were a few wooden sculptures... Here are a couple - not twisted by any means... but nice to look at.

And another... my daughter being touchy feely with the reptile...

I follow David Lebovitz's blog... read his website deligently ... own his cookbooks... not that I really cook... but did you know that cookbooks are good reads?

So David is in town. I decided I have to see / hear him. His first appearance (that I know of) was in Emeryville. I ordered tickets. I talked my daughter, Tracey, into going to one of his appearances. Since Tracey now lives in Emeryville - the venue, Charles Chocolates, was in her hood, I thought it would be a great idea if she went to meet David too. :)

So I went to Tracey's apartment on Wednesday night, hurried her along as I did not want to be late for David's apparition. :) David's talk was scheduled from 6-8PM. So we get to Charles Chocolates around 6:15 PM... 15 minutes late ... to find the parking lot to ourselves. We went to the front of the building to check things out... What? Did they shut the door for late arrivals? Now, I am going to be p&@$ed.... Afterall, I drove up the busy freeway and fought rush hour traffic to get here!

So I shook the door which turned out to be locked... chained ... locked... Shook it again... Shhh, do not tell anyone what happened after...

Anyway, I was a day early...DARN! So we went to dinner... will blog about that restaurant one day...

I was determined to see him, so I went back the next day - yesterday, Thursday. Success!

Upon arriving at Charles Chocolates on the RIGHT DAY, I spotted David eating Charles' SMORES...a $5+ block of graham cracker, chocolate bar and marshmallow square. David says one can make a dinner of it!

David talking about his "The Sweet Life in Paris"...So casual and cool.

After his talk, he signed books... including my ... Sweet Life.. and Perfect Scoop.

This is part of the crowd lined up to meet the man.

Would he think I am a stalker if I go see him in San Francisco on Monday? hmmm. I need a copy of The Sweet Life in Paris for Tracey... who incidentally want to temporarily relocate to Paris...

Ida aka VicoGirl led us this week in the Sunday Small Bites challenge. Her chosen ingredient is Crab. Thank you, Ida. I love crab.

I went the Crab Roll-Up way, after looking at many recipes on the net. I decided to wrap mine in Cresent Rolls dough. I found a recipe on the internet that used this and I only tweaked it a little bit.

I used the following ingredients:
5 oz container of Dungeness crabmeat
3 stalks of green onions, minced
5 mushrooms, chopped finely
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheese... your choice
2 packages of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 tablespoons butter

Saute green onions and mushrooms in butter about three minutes or until tender. Add crabmeat. Stir to heat and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning. Mix.

Take the crab mixture from the heat. Take the crescent roll dough pieces apart. Spread about a teaspoon full onto the wider part of the crescent roll dough. Sprinkle a pinch of shredded cheese on top of the crab mixture. Roll and form into crescents. Repeat until all dough pieces are stuffed. I made about 16 of them... there was enough filling to fill all dough pieces from the 2 packages.

PhotoHunt - Electric

When I saw this theme for today's photohunt, I immediately thought of the street outside my hotel in Kowloon from my recent visit to Hong Kong. To say that the show out on the street is electric, is an understatement. I wonder if they have power failures there. They just use so much electricity!!!

On a more subdued tone, here is a photo of an outdoor evening mass in my hometown, Samboan. Not too long ago, some 30 years, the town did not have all day electricity and now there is... WOW. :) This would not have happened 30 years ago. I was very pleased to see and attend this mass. And I was glad to be able to steal a moment or two during mass to take photos. :)

Small Bites - Coconut Shrimp with Pinepaple Salsa (Eden's concoction)

Each Sunday some slowtravel chefs are venturing into a new cooking / blogging activity. This one started this week. I may very well be stepping out of my comfort zone, as I am not as good as these chefs. But, here I go anyway ... late (YIKES) but here. This time, the group will do appetizers or small bites.

The group baked, made ice cream, stirred soups, tossed salads in the past. This time, there are no set recipes to follow, but each one prepares their own appetizer. The connecting factor is that each week there will be a single main ingredient. So on the first week, Cindy from Alaska started us with her choice of ingredient - Shrimp.

I gathered some Coconut Shrimp recipes online and kind of put this one together. I also opted for baking the Coconut Shrimp instead of frying... not that I have anything against frying. I just hate the clean up after. I also used (or made do) with the ingredients I had in my kitchen cupboard.

My ingredients were:

Coconut Shrimp:

1 & 1/2 pounds of large shrimp - (16-20 count per pound) I had 22 pieces
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice seasoning
2 large eggs
1 & 1/2 cups of flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray

Pinepaple Salsa:

Chopped fresh pineapple
Chopped red onions
Harry and David Hot & Smoky Pepper & Onion Relish

Not too long ago, (August) my daughter and I went to the Philippines to visit my 88 year old Mom. We did some side trips to two other countries. Lots of orange there -

This may be a repeat photo of my cousin and I, but I love sunset photos... :) And if you look close, there is some orange. :)

Some orange hues in this sunset from my tiny hometown - Samboan, Cebu, Philippines.

From there we went to Singapore. My daughter read somewhere that the Chili Crab is not to be missed. So, we were on a hunt, found some, tasted, and delightfully glad we did.

At a sculpture garden in Singapore. My daughter, Tracey, trying to be part of the art .... I just noticed that cat walking away from the orange part section of the sculpture.

A familiar orange at a different setting - Hong Kong.

Found this shirt at the Bubba Gump restaurant in Hong Kong's Victoria Peak. I had to have it. Afterall, it's about what Momma thinks of her offspring... LOL

Another silly shirt from a travel purchase that will probably sit in the back of my closet - unused. :)

August 6, 2009

My daughter, Tracey, barely remember the town I was born and grew up in. Her last visit (prior to this one) was some 15 years ago. Time to reacquaint...

Samboan is about 150 kilometers from Cebu City. With road conditions, it takes one 3.5 hours to get from the city to Samboan... through some really funky towns.... and delightful sights. :)

I borrowed the two pics from Tracey... some creatures compete with pedestrians trying to cross a road well traveled. :)

Life is simple in Samboan... uncomplicated. No one hurries... My mother says that. That is one of the reasons why she abandoned California residency.

We started many a day in the sea ... swimming and / or snorkeling. Most mornings some little kids are up and early waiting for Tracey to get into the sea . They frolic with her. Happy children with not a care in the world.

The one in the middle, Kikay, really enjoyed visiting Tracey; made gifts for her and collected shells to present to her new friend, Tracey.

Reese and her sister Angel loved swimming early in the day as well.

August 5, 2009.

We are off to my hometown, Samboan, today. My Mom and her two caretakers are coming along. A van is picking us up from Marriott at 1:00 PM. The photo below is shown with my cousin, Fe - who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and my god daughter, Bem (standing next to my daughter, Tracey).

I started the day by blogging, but I am WAY behind when it comes to posting the entries!!! And it is going to get worse... blogging wise that is. For the next five days, I am not sure what or if there is even any type of internet connection at this town destination. I am sure, however, that my daughter and I will have our fill of swimming, eating, and sunning. There will be lots of sunsets too... I will be parked near some beach. YEAH!

Let me back track. I arrived to some awesome welcome. There are four relatives / families who want to host our stay here. My cousins are asking that we stay with them… Tracey said we each can have our own individual hosts! We just might stay at one different place each night so we do not hurt anyone’s feelings. Could this be something like too much of a good thing?

There are some wonderful views everywhere,,, so whereever we are, it will be great.

We decided to stay at my cousin, Fe’s home. My Mom and her two caretakers are staying with a cousin next door. Talk about some wonderful bed and breakfasts! How did I become so LUCKY!

These and the wonderful sight to wake up to. Retirement calls.

Today we swam, ate, caught up on the town gossip… well not all… as I find out more each day what, who, when, why, and where.

And the sunsets are beatiful too!

Tracey waiting for the sun to set on our first day in Samboan.

Fe and I joined her at the beach-

So we stayed and watched the sun disappear into the horizon. Irresistible.

Perhaps I should not wait three or four years between visits.