Feyma Martin

I will share with you a recipe I saw on TV. The ingredients are cheap and easily available here in the Philippines. Heart of Palm in the Philippines we call it “UBOD.” Here it comes from the coconut tree. When you cut the tree you will find the ubod in the middle of the tree. For you guys that like to eat soup here is a good recipe for you. I did cook it and Bob, our kids and our nieces liked it a lot. Heres the recipe.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp of butter
1 cup big yellow onion(chopped)
1/2 kilo hearts of palm chopped (ubod) 1/2 cup white wine 1/4 kilo crabmeat 1 tsp minced garlic 3 1/2 cups chicken broth 3/4 cup heavy cream ( here in the Philippines I used all purpose cream) 2 tbsp parsley ( I used dried I used less then 1 tbsp, hard to get the fresh one) Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

In a large pot , melt the butter on not so high heat. I usually add a little bit of olive oil to avoid burning the butter. Then add the onions and saute it maybe for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add the hearts of palm (ubod) and stir to combine, add the wine and bring to a boil cook for 5 minutes. Add the broth, stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat, put it in a blender to puree the soup. Return to medium heat and stir in the cream and crabmeat, cook for maybe 3 to 5 minutes. Just adjust the seasoning with the salt and pepper to your liking. (For us since my blender is damaged so I just didn’t puree it, still it tasted very good).

Ladle it in a bowl and garnish it with parsley and serve.

I hope you guys like this soup. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

When Bob and I got married over 17 years ago. We purchased my wedding gown in a small department store in General Santos City. At that time there were no malls in General Santos yet. Prior to our wedding I came home to Gen San to visit my parents from studying college in Cebu City. A few days after my visit me and my sister went to the city to shop. Inside the store we saw the gown in the mannequin that really caught our attention. My sister told me that the gown was really perfect for my size. I just gave my sister a quick smile. Bob and I already knew each other then. So then when time that we are going to get married, when we shop for my dress and we went to that store again and the wedding gown was still there. My sister then told me that the dress was really meant for me.

Anyway, right around the time that Bob and I are getting married his brother in the States and his fiance are getting married. They also went shopping for wedding gowns right around the time that we are shopping. Bob’s sister-in-law ordered the dress and they ordered like 6 months prior to the wedding. It cost them like $3000-$4000. I was shocked when Bob and his mom told me the price. Her dress we found out later was ordered and made in the Philippines. My brother-in-law was shocked when he found out the price of my gown. It was just $80. My wedding gown is not badly made. Honestly its similar to my sister-in-law’s dress. For the money, I think it was really worth it. Plus Bob and I are still together.

Nowadays the wedding gowns cost a lot more, of course. I think before you can dress up the whole entourage for less than 10 thousand pesos. Now I think it will cost almost 40 thousand. Anyway, its nothing to be scared about guys. They also offered now rental of gowns and barong for the whole entourage. There are lots of wedding shops here in the Philippines. Just have some quotes from a lot of them, and choose what really soothes you.

Have fun shopping!

A few days ago Bob and I were watching American Idol on tv. As you all know the show just started its 7th season. So they just showed right now the people that audition on the show. The judges if I remember are in Dallas on that episode that we were watching. There’s one person in that audition that got my attention, if I’m not mistaken he is a Filipino. His name is Renaldo Lapuz. Honestly his singing is not really that bad, but his singing is just overshadowed by him wearing some weird costume. Mostly the people that audition on American Idol that wears some weird costume 99% that I’ve seen anyway don’t have a good voice. That was just my opinion. Anyway, I wished Renaldo all the best. I’m sure he will be famous now. At least he has better voice than William Hung. Look at Hung now he sold lots of records. Hopefully Renaldo too will sell records with his own composition.

When I was a kid during the month of May my Dad, my Mom and myself we would always go to Bohol for vacation. You would probably wonder why the month of May? Well, May is the month where most Barangays in Bohol will celebrate their Fiesta. We would go there first week of May and stay there for 3 to 4 weeks and just go to all of our relative’s there and visit them. I can’t remember the patron saint there. We would usually get up early morning joining like a prayer. We would walk from one area to the other. I would go usually with my cousins, we will be bringing lighted candles. I remember going to my cousin’s house there and they are preparing lots of food for us. Its just unbelievable and fun.

My Dad he was born and raised in Bohol before joining the military. He was assigned in Mindanao. He met my Mom there in Lanao. They dated for awhile before they got married. My Mom was born in Cebu. She grew up there until her teenage years before her parents decided to transfer in Lanao. My parents met in that area when my Dad took some time off to see some of his family there. Anyway, since my parents got married and lived in Lanao area for awhile, my Dad decided to venture in the General Santos area. He really like the place so much that he transferred his family from Lanao to General Santos. He was kind of successful in the farming area. With that success he promised his parents that he will bring his family back to Bohol as much as he can for a visit. That was really our routine almost every year to go back to Bohol. Sometime my parents would bring almost all of us there to see Lola. My grandfather died during the early years of the marriage of my parents. Just my two siblings saw him.

Bob and I and the kids are thinking of going there to Bohol maybe next year. I want them to see the beauty of Bohol. I want to visit the Chocolate Hills again. I went there when I was a kid and I totally forgot what it looks like. Really I want the kids to see the place of their Lolo.

To my family in Bohol hope to see you sometime.

Today I went to the Bureau of Immigration here in Davao City to follow up on my son’s I-Card (Permanent residency card). I took the taxi from our house to the BOI. As soon as the taxi pulled in the gate I heard someone was yelling. When I looked up I saw a foreigner near the front door of the BOI complaining. Here before you can go inside you have to sign their logbook telling whats the purpose of your visit. When the guard handed me the logbook I asked her what is the problem with this guy yelling at them? She then told me that the guy was mad that he is not allowed to go inside the BOI because he is not wearing long pants. I just said that “Ah, Okay.” While I was writing, another lady who was there to pick up something for her husband told the guy that was yelling that it’s the policy and we just have to follow. My goodness, he was really screaming then to that lady. I really thought at first he will hit the lady. I was just 2 feet away from the guy. I was really scared for him, because he could end up in jail or something. One of the personnel of the BOI already told the guard to call the police. I am really shocked that his wife or girlfriend did not inform him of the policy when entering the government offices here.

Really a lot of establishments here in the Philippines will not let somebody in if they are not wearing the proper dress code. Some restaurants would not also allow people here thats wearing shirt without sleeves (we call it sleeveless), also can’t go inside if wearing flip flops. For them its just disrespectful. For me It doesn’t bother me if people will wear shorts anywhere if thats what makes them comfortable. The only thing here is that they have rules, so we have to follow. It doesn’t mean that we have to agree with it.

So to all of you guys that are coming here to visit, I know first thing in our minds just bring shorts because its in the tropics. Not, you have to bring long pants. To be safe just long pants in case you go to those places that long pants are required or if you dine somewhere fancy.

Honestly, now I pretty much accept the lifestyle here. I could be like that guy before, getting mad easy. Now if we are aggravated or getting frustrated we just have our saying ready then with a smile. “WELCOME TO THE PHILIPPINES” or “WALANG GANYAN SA STATES” ( It’s not like that in the States). I guess we just have our moments sometimes, but we also have to try to control it. I know its not easy though.