Well a week ago I post about my mother-in-law coming here for a visit. She’s here with us now for over a week. I’m really shocked of some of her adjustments being here in the Philippines. As you recall she was here like 8 months ago. At that time she had a hard time adjusting to the heat here. When we went to the mall to shop we had to stop by at the coffee shop for her to have shake or something cold to drink before moving on with our shopping. She had to cool down first. Just to walk around SM at that time we had to have cold drinks twice. She didn’t like it because its really a hassle to stop. That’s Christmas time too so the mall was packed. She’s just was not so comfortable at that time.
Now that she’s here at our house for over a week some shocking stuff that Mom had done. First she didn’t complain that much about the heat. Sometimes if I come to the room where she’s staying at our house lots of time the air conditioning is off. Wow, for me thats amazing. Before we had to turn on the air conditioning even if she’s at the other room so that when she comes back there the room would still be cold. She also hangs out a little longer outside her room to talk to our nieces and workers. We like it that she’s kind of adjusted here so that she will have more fun coming here. Hopefully by next visit we can bring her somewhere outdoor maybe like at the beach. By then she will enjoy having just cold drinks while watching the kids swimming. Just hoping though. 😉 . I felt sorry for her sometimes because the kids just would not leave her alone. They want to stay at her room every minute. Sometimes I will tell the kids to play at their room so that Granny can rest. If she hear me tell the kids that she will say that I came here to be with this kids so just let them be at my room. I guess she has some rest when the kids go to school during weekdays. She really adores her grandkids. She’s also adopting some of my niece here in the Philippines. Shes the granny to them now.
Mom likes a lot of the food here now. One thing that she loves eating here in the Philippines is pork. For one is the pork liempo. It’s the thigh part I think of the pig and it’s roasted. If she could she wants that food everyday. Another pork thing is the pork rind. In the mall here theres a place you can buy pork rind. So it’s really fresh, they will cook it in front of you. You can choose any flavor you want. She like it because its still hot and crispy. She’s the pork lady. 😉 . When she first came here she said that our meat has a gamy tastes. Now she doesn’t think that anymore.
Really she can already retire here if she wanted to because for me she can already adjust the life here. Maybe she might be even feeling better if she lives here with some of the health problems shes having right now. I really hope that later she will decide to live here so that we don’t have to be worried about her.
We really enjoyed having here for a visit. The kids would have a good birthday celebration then. It’s complete because Granny’s around. Good gifts too. 😉 . Mom thank you for visiting us again. We love you a lot.
Having met your mum tell her to save me some of the pork!!!
Hi John – Ha ha ha. I hope mom can leave some for you. She might eat it all. 😉
Feyma, that is a very nice portrait of your Mother in laws visit, thank you for sharing that, well I can smypathise with your Mother in Law, its just the same for me sometimes especailly around the mall.
Even now, I have to stop also in food court, or somewhere to get a drink, its not long before I am dehydrating, its interesting because a good filipin wife seems to note this quickly hahahaha, they would say or in my case, Gina would say, come on lets get you a drink because I need to look in this store or that store.
But I am impressed by your Mother in laws time in her room without aircon, after 3 weeks I was just about getting used to not having it on in the room, or having the temp up around 23, when I first arrived again it was down at lowest temp around 16, but I didnt notice just how the other people including my wife was complaining they were shivering.
Can you imagine that, they said they were cold ? I mean ..how can you be called in a 27 to 30 degree hot climate, hahahahha yes they were cold…
I noticed when my wifes freinds showed up at the house, they seemed to be very uncomfortable in the house, I wasnt sure why there were, but I had the aircon on again, after a few minutes I excused myself to the bedroom.
About 2 hours later I must have been sleeping, which is fine, as I love to sleep with the aircon on, my wife came back to the bedroom to enquire if I was ok, I said fine honey, how is your freinds ?
She said, oh they went home ! I enquired if they had a nice chat, she said, oh they didnt have nothing to say, (wow 2 hours and nothing to say)
She said to me "Thanks for going in the bedroom honey, my friends were so cold when you were in the lounge"
So there you have it, I do hope your Mother in law enjoyed her stay, and wish her well for her return journey back to U.S.A.
Hi Feyma,
It's good to hear that you all are enjoying each other. This is what family visits are all about. I remember, when I visit, my nieces and nephews hang out in my room, too. I don't mind at all because they're the reason for my visit. My youngest niece even sleeps with me. She says it is the rule in their house that when I visit, she sleeps with me… until Ken's arrival (he usually follows weeks later). 😀
I was just wondering, doesn't she like the beach? Maybe you can take her to Chemas, I'm sure she'll enjoy it there. Has she met Fr. Franco yet? Bob, mentioned that you took her to Buda. Did she enjoy the Kadayawan? There's so much to do in Davao, I'm sure you'll be very busy.
Have fun with her, make the most of her visit. These visits will be memories that you, and the kids, will cherish for the rest of your lives. My visits to my family are what keep me going. When I leave Davao, I'm already planning my next visit… 😉 Enjoy!!!
Hi Feyma, Marygrace here, been following your's & Bob's blog everyday. I am happy that your mom-in law is enjoying her stay – i envy her that she's enjoying the Fruits (in season) and the Pork – because here we can only buy the frozen one, and does not taste good.
Hi Pete – Ha ha ha. You are almost adjusted to the hot weather here, then it's time for you to go back to the UK. I think in 3 weeks stay here your body starts to get used to the heat here. It rain a lot during night time here in Davao, so it gets cool too then. I mean hard rain. I'm not sure if its like that in your place in Negros.
Thanks for your comment
Hi Tina – We brought mom to see Fr. Franco already. She likes him. She brought different kinds of seeds from the States for Fr. Franco to try to grow in his farm. I think we stayed there for over 5 hours.
Maybe will bring her to the beach one of this days. Hopefully she can handle without air conditioning for a long time. We didn't go somewhere around town during Kadayawan. Lots of people and too hot for her to be walking around.
The kids really had fun having Granny here. They played and make stories a lot. Granny's a story teller.
Thank you so much. See you guys on your next visit.
Hi Mary Grace – I know what you mean. When we lived in the States before I will just think of our fruits here. You know wishing I have it. We have frozen too at the Asian store.
Right now is the good time to eat good fruits. It's the fruit season here. I love mangosteen and rambutan. Hey I will share with you. First bite of mangosteen and pork is for you. 😉
Thank you and keep reading our blog.
Hi Angie – When we lived in the States, most of the Asian Grocery Stores had durian, but it was frozen. Not as good as fresh, but you take what you can get! 😉
:lol::lol: Hello Feyma, yum yum yum..that's all i could say! Durian is available hre but too expensive, Rambutan is available (From Thailand) expensive too, but if we cant hold it we'll just buy 1pack to share. (Bitin lagi!)
Feyma, Have you taken your mom inlaw to Eden yet? Most foreign visitors enjoy going there as it's not too hot, hehe.
Liempo I think is Pork belly…
MaryGrace,
Where is "here"? Are you in the States? Just curious because I have not encountered durian anywhere here (am in the US, in Calif) and I have been wanting to see where I could purchase it.
Hi Angie,
You can get frozen durian from San Francisco's Chinatown. I have a very funny experience eating durian in Sausalito. My husband and I were just dating at the time, we went to Chinatown for dimsum and I found this frozen durian that was just too irresistible. I bought it and put it in the trunk of our rental car, drove around the city and, finally, to Sausalito. (I knew I couldn't bring it back to my hotel room so I had to eat it somewhere outdoors.) We found a secluded spot, perfect for eating the, now thawed-out, smelly durian. Not quite. As I started to eat the smelly fruit, with my husband-to-be watching in disbelief, I did not expect the seagulls to swoop down on it, trying to get a piece of the action! 😯 Here I was, trying to be as discreet as possible, away from the crowds, eating this stinky fruit and I have all these birds attacking me! Needless to say, I caught the attention of the people there. They were all wondering what was causing these birds to go crazy! Well, the seagulls probably thought it was a piece of garbage! 😆 Oh, and I feel sorry for the people who rented that car after us! 😳
Hello angie, sorry for the confusion. Im in the UAE…Durian is available here (Fresh) from Thailand….but we haven't tried..
Hi Marygrace – Don't worry when you come for a visit just eat everything and a lots of it too. ;-). You know theirs a lot of fruits in the States thats good too but I really like what we have here in the Philippines.
Sorry I really make you now hungry for our fruits here. Don't worry when you come I will share with you. 😉
Hi Cheryll Ann – We didn't go to eden yet. We might go one of this day. She's a bit busy lately with acupuncture, facial and dentist.
I'm not really positive if liempo is pork belly though. I will ask Lisa's meat shop on that.
Hi Angie – I'm pretty sure you can get durian in Asian or Filipino store in California.
Good luck to you!
Hi Tina – Ha ha ha. That was funny.
Well if in California go to Ranch 99 they have Durian.
Feyma,
I'm really jealous! My brother told me that they're giving away the rambutan in their farm, there's just too much! He said there's so much durian all over, you have to watch your step or you'll get pricked by the thorny fruit (magkasamad-samad lagi daw!) Enjoy them for us! 🙁
Hi Tina – It's true, this year seems to be quite a bountiful harvest! Especially rambutan seems to be overflowing the streets!
Hi Angie,
It's fairly easy to find durian in Northern California and here in San Diego. Cheryl Ann's right about ranch 99 and there are other asian supermarkets that sell thai durian (tastes the same, less smell –which is good for the neighbors).
If you are in the Bay Area or in SD, I can give you some info where to buy them. In fact, I just had durian a few days ago after being reminded by the kadayawan comments in this site.
The durian i mentioned about is in fruit form, by the way (not packaged and cut).
So you might need to work on your chopping skills. you might need to keep a band-aid nearby.
Hi Feyma, pork liempo is indeed pork belly…
Hi Marygrace, I did try once the thai durian sold here in dubai, bought it from Union Coop and yeah, it's expensive but not as good as davao's durian though.
Macky – have you tried the fastfood of Ranch 99? Disgusting stuff, hehehe the cooked pigs ears still had hair on it, YUCK YUCK YUCK!
And don't buy their chicken – dirty, ewwwwwww
Ranch 99 is the only supermarket in USA that is more crowded than Philippine supermarket aisles, hahahaha!
And I think you see only less than 10 white people in Ranch 99 in a single day, LOL LOL!
By the way, Tina…. they are giving away Rambutan! Gotta go…. I need to text Gilbert!!!! 🙂
Feyma,Bob – common share that Rambutan !!! send it here quick
Feyma, Tina & Macky,
I missed all these posts till today. Boy, this blog is active!!! Anyways, thanks for all the helpful replies.
I must confess that I have *never* seen/touched/smelled/eaten durian in my life. Never. Which is why I have gotten very curious about it. I've always heard it smells bad, but how bad I can't imagine. But that it also tastes so good. Now given Tina's description of the rotten smell (like garbage she says), what do you folks recommend? That I buy it frozen first to try it out or buy the fruit? As Macky says he knows where I can find them in Northern CA.
Macky, I know there's a lot of Asian/Filipino stores in Daly City or South City. That's where I eat my Filipino food. Is this the area you have in mind? I have relatives there so if you tell me the store or name of the street, surely one of them will be able to figure it out.
Thanks a lot, BB friends. You are awesome!
Wow, Tina, on post #12. That was certainly hilarious! So does Ken eat durian now? And BTW, Sausalito is just a beautiful & quaint little town, isn't it? The marina and the houseboats are postcard-pretty. Did you enjoy your stay there?
Hi Angie,
I would recommend starting with durian ice cream. Some Thai restaurants serve it. If you can handle that, then move on to frozen durian (in a plastic container). If you're still okay with that, then you're ready for a trip to Davao! Good luck in your search! 😀
Yes, Ken eats durian sparingly. Yes, we enjoyed Sausalito. It was a very memorable trip! 😀
Here in Davao, at Hanoi Restaurant (just in front of the PTA Grounds) they have Durian Suman. It's very good!
Hi Angie,
Daly City is one place. You can find durian all the way up to Vallejo in the East Bay.
There's Pacific Super in Daly City (and in Richmond … or is El Cerrito?).
Seafood City in Vallejo is also another place.
Hi Cheryl Ann,
I'm not a regular at ranch 99 but I can imagine what you mean. Just 2 weeks ago , I found a Filipino grocery near my area that was surpringly clean (read: not dirty). Even had a bust of Rizal in the plaza. Very surreal.
Bob,
Durian suman? interesting. I'll put that on my list next time I fly home. The owner and his family are good friends of mine, by the way.
Hi Macky – I'm sure you will enjoy the Suman. It will be worth the trip!
Hi Bob,
Have you tried the durian pie at Bo's Coffee Shop in SM? I thought that was pretty good. We used to buy durian pie from Cecile's (on Anda St.) but I found Bo's durian pie tastier… Of course, there's also durian cake from Joniel's on Jacinto St. (across Central Bank). We had that on my birthday party, remember? 😀 All this talk about durian is really making me homesick. 🙁
Hi Tina – I keep hearing about Durian Pie from Bo's, and it's the same as the Durian Pie at Casa Leticia (same owner). I've got to give it a try!