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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Photographs: Good Friday Procession

For the first time in a long time, I joined a procession in my home baranggay of Santolan, Pasig. The procession went around the whole baranggay and then back to our local church the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish Church where I used to sing with the choir and was commentator for the "children's mass" on Saturdays. Liz and I walked with the huge throng of people (must've been more than 500 people there...) but only for a little bit coz we had to leave for the province.

More photos below...

Armed with candles and fans, we joined the throng of mourners, remembering Jesus Christ's death on this Good Friday.

Happy Easter (tomorrow)!

My Visita Iglesia

In the spirit of the traditional Visita Iglesia, here are some photos I took of Manila Cathedral in October last year (2008) while waiting for some papers to clear at the Bureau of Immigration.

Although my camera was only a point and shoot Canon Ixus 90IS, I was trying to learn how to play with light at different settings. When I have enough experience and money, or when the recession is over, maybe I'll get a better camera! Here are some of my favorite shots:

I was sitting in front of the church, then I looked up to see the noontime sun. It was really hot that day so I went under an Ipil tree for shade and got the above shot...

I loved how the light from the stained glass was reflected on the newly polished floor. :D

And it being really bright outside, I got good even lighting on the stained glass window.

This sculpture was on the door of the cathedral. I actually never noticed it before. I liked the way the side lighting gave it more depth.

See some more of my Manila Cathedral photos HERE.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

How to eat Balut

Really, there's only one thing that came to my mind when I found out Thursday's Theme was "egg", and that is...

BALUT

For the weak hearted, DO NOT PROCEED! :p ...

Balut is a Filipino delicacy (yes it's food!), a soft boiled duck egg with a semi-formed duck embryo. It is also widely regarded as an aphrodisiac.
Enjoy the rich taste of balut, the yellow part is soft and the darker part is crunchy! Why crunchy? Because it's the little unhatched baby duckling!

How to Eat Balut

Here's how to properly enjoy a balut:

1. Well, first you have to buy one from a street vendor who usually comes at night yelling, "Baluuuut!!! Baluuut!!!". He will give you one egg wrapped in old newspaper shaped liked an upturned sailor's hat, and a small plastic packet of salt.

2. The egg is kept warm in the vendor's cart, so it will be a bit warm to the touch. Hold it firmly at the smaller end of the egg and crack open the other side by lightly tapping it on a hard surface (you head will do!)

3. When you've created a small hole by removing some shell bits, you suck out the juice of the balut (complete with all the duckling's amniotic fluid!). Slurp! Very good!

4. Take off the rest of the shell to get to the "meat" of the balut. Chow down with conviction (and don't stop to think!) eating the yellow part with a bit of salt, and the crunchy baby duckling too.

5. Enjoy your balut! "Pampalakas ng tuhod!" (To make your knees strong!)

All photos are from a friend's recent birthday party, with san miguel beer and balut among other things!

Related article on Balut!
NBC's Fear Factor

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Filipino Blog of the Week: Going for 3rd week in the top 3!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to quickly say a BIG Thank you to everyone who voted to make this blog the Filipino Blog of the Week:

Filipino Blog of the Week Winner for Week 153! (March 21 to 28)
and
Filipino Blog of the Week 3rd place for Week 154! (March 28 to April 4) - akalain mo yun?

Born on a Syzygy~ is again (yes again!) in the roster of nominees for Filipino Blog of the Week for Week 155 (April 4 to 11). If you want to show your support, please visit THIS SITE to tick the box next to reyjr on the sidebar, and then VOTE! You can vote EVERYDAY so please do!

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Hello Baguio!

Liz and I, with Belle (Liz' twin sister) and her 3yo daughter Keisha went up to Baguio last March to spend a few days relaxing in the cool weather.

Baguio is a Road Trip

It was kind of a spur of the moment decision: Liz and I wanted to go out of town for our 6th anniversary as a couple and we also wanted to celebrate my birthday. And since there was an available staff house in Baguio (only P1000 per night!), we decided to drive up and stay for 3 days at the Summer Capital of the Philippines.