#1

“Eating street foods. More fun in the Philippines”

Admit it; Filipino culture wouldn’t be complete without street vendors selling street foods anywhere! I just love going down the street with my friends after class and eat different kind of street foods. It would be like a part of you feels like a total stranger to your own country if you haven’t taste one.  

For you to be more familiar with our street foods in the Philippines here is my list of what you should grab and taste!

1.       The very first street food I would recommend to you is Taho. It’s made of soft tofu with arnibal caramelized brown sugar and sago. The best comfort food you’d taste especially in the morning. But did you know that the Indonesian and Malaysian version of taho is tauhue?

 A magtataho carries two large aluminum buckets that hang from each end of a yoke. One of the buckets carries the tofu base; the other, smaller bucket holds the arnibal and sago. A taste of this will surely make your day!

Credits: http://sukitospoon.wordpress.com

2.       No people, the round oranges you’d see are not fruits, they are what we call Tokneneng or in a smaller version, kwek-kwek. It’s made by deep-frying orange batter covered hard-boiled eggs. The difference between Tokneneng and Kwek-kwek is that the bigger one is made of chicken or duck eggs and the smaller one is made of quail eggs. These are usually served with a spiced vinegar-based dip or a sweet sauce. They are mostly seen beside the schools and universities.

Credits: http://marcotripper.blogspot.com

3.       Fishballs, a food originated from China is one of the most popular street foods here in the Philippines along with squidballs and kikiam. It is somewhat flat in shape and most often made from the meat of cuttlefish or pollock and served with a sweet and spicy sauce or with a thick black sweet and sour sauce.

      Credits:  I-don't-know-where-I-got-this :/

  The fourth one is Calamari or here in the Philippines, Calamares. A breaded fried squid dish that would surely make you say “yum!” when you get to try it. It is served best with spiced-vinegar or for others, toyo mansi (soy sauce and calamansi). My dad said that for adults, it is better as a pulutan because of its crunchy texture.

Credits:  http://forum.philboxing.com

5.       Oh yes! Banana-que! One of my favorite foods to eat outside the campus. Banana-que must have been coined to mean 'on a stick', which is taken from the word barbecue, made
 of deep fried bananas coated in caramelized brown sugar. Banana cue is made from Saba bananas. It is usually skewered on a bamboo stick. It is also sold along with camote-que ( deep fried sweet potato coated in caramelized brown sugar) and turon (deep fried-wrapped saba coated in caramelized sugar). Perfect for merienda!                

Credits: http://www.flickriver.com

6.       And if you are looking for exotic types of food, Betamax or Blood is just the right one for you. The rectangular blood resembles the shape of a Betamax tape and this is the reason why it was called such. It’s grilled and skewered in a stick and usually dipped with vinegar and onions.

               

Credits: http://dennisvillegas.blogspot.com

7.       Isaw. It is also being sold along with Betamax (blood), barbeque, adidas (marinated grilled chicken feet) and helmet (marinated grilled chicken head). Isaw is made from barbecued pig or chicken intestines, served with spiced-vinegar with chopped onion.

Credits: http://putograft.com

8.       It’s not summer but it’s still hot! So want to grab a dirty ice cream? (A.K.A Sorbetes). Sorbetes is a Philippine version of ice cream usually peddled from street carts in the Philippines. Either served in a plastic cup, cone, or recently, in a bun. Yes, buns. (ice cream sandwich). Some say it got their name ‘dirty’ because of an unhygienic way of preparing and serving the ice cream. On the other hand, some people say that it is only called ‘dirty’ because of its rough texture. But anyhow, you’d still love the overwhelmingly taste that’d burst within your mouth.

Credits: http://www.juice.ph

9.       After a long walk around the city, aren’t you feeling kind of thirsty? Don’t worry there’s got to be a sago’t gulaman somewhere. It is an iced beverage of sweetened sago pearls and diced gulaman (jelly) with crushed ice. Surely a thirst quencher!

Credits: http://ph.openrice.com

110.   Lastly, our family’s most favorite snack, the Balut along with it is Balut penoy, originated from China. A balut is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Balut eaters prefer salt and/or a chili, garlic and vinegar. But wait! Don’t break the shell completely! You must first suck the broth inside the egg. I know it looks disgusting. It looks like a brain! It tastes good though, so don’t miss out!

Credits: http://icekrambol.com

And there you have it! My list of street foods you do not want to miss, but don’t limit yourself in my list, explore! Try different variety of street foods here in our country. But remember, too much street foods would be very harmful and risky to your health. We have a rich culture around us; we just have to look closer. You might also want to try our country’s famous delicacies. Being food lovers that we are, Filipinos tend to develop Filipino cuisine and spread it internationally, for as long as we have the affection and dedication in our own culture.

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as necessity.” –Voltaire

“Sana Sinabi Mo”

Kaibigan nang siya’y aking makilala.
Pangalan, edad at pangkat lamang ang alam ko sa kanya.
Kaya papaanong nahulog ang aking loob
Sa isang lalaking hindi ko lubusang kilala?.

Sayang! Hindi niya nalaman kung gaano ako kasaya sa tuwing kami’y magkasama.
Sana’y sinabi ko.
Nung nagsayaw kami sa ilalim ng buwan sa indayog ng malamyos na musika.
Sana’y inamin ko.

Magulo ba ang pag-iisip ko?
Gusto kong malaman mo.
Ngunit ayokong sabihin sa’yo.
Takot na baka layuan mo.

Pero masisisi mo ba ako kung inuna ko ang sarili ko?
Gayung alam ko na sariwa pa tayo sa mundong ito.
Marami pa kong makikilalang mga tao.
Mga taong tutulong sa paghubog ng aking buong pagkatao.

Kung sinabi ko nga sa’yo.
Mayroon bang magbabago?
Wala siguro.
Pero sana…sinabi ko.

REALITY

I just realized something. Something...sad.

Too many school works and too little time. And it's sad because I'm thinking of KPOP as an escape. My little wonderland.

Yep. The fangirling stuff. I mean, I don't even have any inspiration right now! It's like I want to get this over with. College. I want to graduate as soon as possible. But that shouldn't be, isn't it? I should be enjoying this! But the truth is, I'm not. I'm not having fun at all. Sure we have class activities and all. But the problem is within me. Not the school or anyone inside of it. And I hate myself for thinking that all of this should not matter. But does it?

I missed a 100 item quiz a while ago in Filipino class. Would this matter after several years?

So what's wrong with me? Or maybe it's just at the moment right now? I hope so...

AHH! I'm thinking of random thoughts again! -___-

Crazy Hypothalamus

So this blog is all about my crazy emotions. Why Hypothalamus? I couldn't think of any creative blog names so I made it Psychology inspired. ;) Anyway the things that I'd be posting here would be so random sometimes you wouldn't have any idea what I'm talking about. So bear with me. I'm crazy. LOL Serioulsy, please do.