Suman cum laude

What do you do with the excess material from the thanksgiving feast preparations? One option for the unused banana leaves, which was intended for the boodle fight 2 days ago is to heave them onto the dumpster. The second and better option is to use them to create another feast - of which there shouldn't be anymore leftovers.

Yeah, SUMAN! A Filipino recipe using sticky rice, coconut milk, salt and sugar mixed together and wrapped up in banana leaves.

Another indispensable component of this recipe is a couple of doctors on vacation who want to get their hands messy. The photos will tell the rest of the story.

 The radiologist found it awkward at the start,

but soon got into the rhythm

 the first fifteen pieces were uniformly small

and slender at the onset, but they started to

get bigger at the homestretch. Apparently the fingers

were tiring and the only way to get it done faster

was to make bigger suman.

 WIP - taking a break to stretch those arthritic fingers

 all that's left to do at this point

is to add water and let boil for

over an hour.

...and after all is said and done this

is what you get. Noah just wished there

was some ripe juicy mango somewhere

around the block.

A thanksgiving story

Thanksgiving feast is for America as Noah is for eating... and to some extent - cooking. So as the equation implies: Noah loves Thanksgiving.

At this point the reader should be aware that Noah is not an American citizen and therefore this annual tradition of feasting and family closeness does not ring a chord in his sentiments. But since he chanced upon this occasion in one of his visits, he thought that it would be best to get into the beat of the season and rock it out with the Americans.

Two families gave Noah the chance to experience thanksgiving. Two feasts with contrasting themes and outcomes. The first was on the night of the official thanksgiving day for the year 2016 - November 24. It was hosted by the Reyes family who migrated to the USA about a decade ago.

on the table: ham, pancit palabok, sisig, kare-kare,

lumpia, leche flan, fruits and sparkling wine.
there was none of the traditional American dishes
like turkey, pumpkin pie or mashed potatoes and
 gravy. Noah's role was to "eat-all-you-can." It 
was a decent meal with the proper table manners.

The second feast took place a day later and like all parties under the roof of Noah's present address - he was chef, and the players were the same guys in the Reyes' feast the night before. The second feast was just to give back a favor, but with a twist, coz tonight wouldn't be a feast at all, but rather a "fight." Yeah, a thanksgiving fight. The proper dining manners had no place in this event. There were no plates, silverware and napkins.

The official name in the Philippines for this 

type of dining is "boodle fight." The essential 

components of a boodle fight are grilled 

stuff including chicken, pork belly (liempo), 
fish and the tastiest garlic shrimps in coconut 

milk. Banana leaves in California is imported 

- frozen. Not in the photo are the desserts: durian

ice cream and binignit.

 The players... After a very rich dinner of the 

previous day, they were clamoring for something 

different hence the idea of a fight night.

The teams: Bibay vs Reyes

The venue: Bibay's residence

 The fight is on

 the captain of team Reyes has his heart on 

the fight. note him elbowing his own teammate.

Also check out the rice at the Reyes' court, 

which is slowing disappearing towards the 

Bibay's home goal. 

Time out called by the referee, because the second

batch of rice was still steaming. Team Reyes' captain

takes a deep breath and vows to fight to the end.

at this point the score is: Reyes 4, Bibay 2.

Reyes leads towards the end of the fight.

Another pot of rice arrives and the fight

resumes. This time Dodge kneels, not in surrender

but in dogged determination to bring home the trophy. 
The Reyes team captain manages a half-smile at the

opponents, but apparently feels the intra-abdominal 

pressure against his heart.

as the smoke on the battle field cleared

only one fighter remained - team Bibay. With

her fingers on the last remaining morsels of food

the referee announces the winner.

Bibay!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!

A weekend at the Yosemite National Park (November 2016)

Setting: California high Sierra specifically at Yosemite Nat'l park
Time: Veterans day weekend
Actors: Ben, Ethel and Noah. Yosie has her own story.

The details of this trip were already told in this link: http://sunnimoreno.blogspot.com/2016/11/love-at-first-sight.html, but other photos of the trip have to be saved to keep them on hand for future reminiscing when the knees have become too weak for this type of activity hence this added story.

Accommodations for a tour of the Yosemite can be inside the park - which is always full and would take months ahead to book and are comparatively expensive than lodging facility in the towns that are outside of the access points of the park.

This trip was actually a spur of the moment decision and so it was quite late for more hotel options. Expedia was helpful in this task and the most feasible suggestion that came out was in this town with 115 population...

an old mining town nestled in the hills

between the great central California valley

and the Sierra mountains. It used to have 

Chinese residents - workers in the mines

and highways in the 1800s.

The motel that accommodated us for 2 nights

 we arrived at about 4 pm and we 
were the first among the day's

guests to check in.

 two hagibis grandpas unloading the van

...rice cooker with cooked rice, 4 types of

viands (adobo chicken/pork, corned beef,

pinakbet con alamang, fried bulad), biko, 

mixed nuts, bananas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes,

asparagus, bread and the stickiest coco jam, red 
wine and SMB (we forgot the bottle opener and 
had to resort to the bottle against bottle 

maneuver pinoy style). the bicycle and cycling
gear have become a permanent fixture in this van
for about 2 months now.

the room

'free' breakfast at the motel

that's the motel at the top of a hill

Oh little town of Coulterville how still we 
see thee lie. This photo was taken early the
next morning while most of the residents were
still asleep...

 ...we took a stroll around town and 
chanced upon this timid doe.

The next photos expressively portray a love affair that has sweetened through the years. At this point Noah was silently wishing Jo Ann of ark was present.

 did this spot remind them of their marriage vow -
"till death do us part?"

 a mini locomotive used to transport ore
in the mining fields.

 this abandoned hotel stands as a monument of man's greed
and deceit. it is also a bottomless pit of intrigue 
and mind-boggling tales of mischievous spirits.

Gorgeous scenes in the Yosemite park...

one of the several tunnels we had to go through

of course... the light at the end of the tunnel

one of the many kilig poses... 

 ...and weird poses...

...with unusual results.

the highway home and back to reality. Until next trip...bye!

Iya Chronicles - My Little Elephumpkin

Halloween is for kids, and for this big-eyed, lovely darling her first halloween came in a time when she could smugly fit inside a jack-o-lantern.

Getting her a nice costume was a bit difficult considering that we went shopping a bit earlier to avoid the rush and possibly run out of sizes. With a month or so to go her mom decided to gamble on a bigger size calculating that when Halloween comes she should have grown enough to fit. 

True to mommy Aya's calculations this little baby grew plump enough and her arms and legs long enough to make the costume look like it was tailored for her. Lola Jo Ann was struck by such a lovely pose with the costume and some pumpkins and she came up with the best description ever = ELEPHUMPKIN.

Halloween night came and she was the scariest and loveliest kid on the street for treat or trick. check out her loot.

Love at first sight

Noah first laid his eyes on Yosie about 2 decades ago on a short stopover while driving from Seattle to Los Angeles. It was no doubt love-at-first-sight. He paid her another visit in the year 2014 for just a couple of hours again while driving with family from Bakersfield to San Francisco, and she didn't fail to win his heart once more. Both visits were too brief for Noah to get into a meaningful relationship with Yosie and he vowed to pay her one long visit next time.

That chance came just recently when Noah's sis announced that the weekend will be spent up in the mountains and that she already booked a room for 2D2N there. Noah's adrenaline spiked at the mention of Yosie's name and he found it hard to concentrate on the preparations after realizing that finally he would have the opportunity to get intimate with her and even sleep with her... and yes, bike through her.

This spot right after the tunnel on the

Wiwona road is always a winner in terms

of beauty and vintage point.

 the Half Dome and her mirror

image reflected on the river. a

selfie that only God can compose.

Noah and Yosie falls in a grand pose

for posterity. bonding moments to last

a lifetime.

This view at the glacier point can

suck the breath from your lungs.

Noah's sis created this shot with her

iPhone. she's got the artistic blood

in her veins.

~

slicing through the cool mountain air while zipping down these immaculate highways is pure joy and ecstasy for noah.

Yosie adorned in jewelry unmatched by any goldsmith in the world. Gorgeousness at a macro level...

...and when seen through untainted vision

Tons of beauty crammed into several hundred square miles of granite mountains and lush valleys can be appreciated in this simple map

a record of Noah's bicycle ride through the heart of Yosie

Two nights in this lodge at an old gold

mining camp of Coulterville outside the

Yosemite National park was a very good 

choice.

 that's the ark making a pass 

this awesome couple have kept

noah on his toes with excitement ever 

since he set foot on uncle sam's land. 

no words can describe noah's gratitude.

noah resting on Yosie's bosom while thanking

Jesus for such a wonderful ride of his life.