4. Fun Things to Eat - by AnaLee

Mom still had a pretty well stocked pantry that she was trying to clean out before they left, so we didn't have to buy too many meals while I was there.  When we bought anything it was purely for the benefit of my cultural experience.There wasn't anything too crazy like squid or anything.

Beyond the coconut, white rice, and sweet and condensed milk that was everywhere and in everything there was . . . 

We found these fish among rows and rows of other sea food critters of all shapes and sizes at the market in Carbon.  They had a nice looking LapuLapu fish there so we bought it. .  They fillet it right there in front of us.Didn't want the head so Pres. Belleaza took it

This was the fish soup that the Belleaza's made for us from the fish head we gave him-from Carbon. It was actually very good! No eyeballs. (They were his treat!)  They use a lot of ginger which I love, but I got a big chunk in this and it made my eyes water.  There will all kinds of veggies. The leafy greens are called peckay. 

This was part of the buffet we had while in Bahol on the river tour. The pork was pretty tastey!!

Taho is a Philippine delicacy made of fresh soft/silken Tofu, Arnibal (brown sugar syrup), and Sago “pearls” (which are similar to Tapioca pearls). We also had this on the floating restaurant in Bahol and I thought it was pretty good.

Durian fruit aka the stinky fruit.  I learned that this is actually banned in some public places in Asia because it is so odorous!  I didn't actually try the fruit, but President Belleaza brought some durian jam for me to try.  I didn't think it was that bad actually.

Mangos are delicious!!  I could eat them everyday!!

We bought some avocados at the market in Carbon also.  They were ripe enough to eat just before I came home.  Yummy!!

Sapodilla, we bought these just to see what they were like. I had actually tried them in Utah but Mom and Dad had never tried them before. They are kind of like a mix between an apple and a pear. It was alright.  The more ripe it is the sweeter it gets. I think the one we ate was a little too ripe for my taste.

My favorite treat there!  This comes from a buko fruit.  My mom froze it and then made a smoothie with fresh pineapple! Orange Julius has nothing on this stuff!!

President & Sister Belleazon brought these over for us on Sunday night.  They are called pinaypay or banana fritters.  They are deep fried in coconut oil (of course) and then rolled in sugar.  Also delish!!

Called Bananaque we bought these hot from a vendor on the street by the temple block.  Well, technically a member who has a store bought them for us and delivered them to the apartment.  They weren't done when we were out so she offered to pick them up for us. They are small cooking bananas on a kabob that are fried and rolled in brown sugar.  Not too bad.

I was too exhausted on the flight over to take a picture of my Asian style dinner which included tofu(not a fan), but I did remember on the trip home. This was the meal that I had on the plane from Cebu to Tokyo.  It was pretty good.  Chicken and rice with steamed veggies, a fresh julianned salad with balsamic dressing, some other veggies, the one on the left I didn't like much but cauliflower and carrots were alright (airplane food is still airplane food after all.)  Watermelon, both yellow and red.  At first I thought the yellow melon was pineapple, but as soon as I stuck my fork into it I knew that it was the yellow variety of watermelon that I had heard about.

I actually brought home a bunch of 'snacks' for the family to try out (These are only a few of them).  We just picked them up from the grocery store while we were out.  Some were really good, others were OK and the durian candy was purely for the experience of it.  I personally thought that the chocolate bars tasted fishy - if that's even possible.  The kids didn't think so though and Bonnie actually liked the white chocolate bars that I brought home.  Of course we could eat the dried mangoes all day!