Biko with Mango

This is a Pinoy version of the ever-famous Thai sticky rice with mango which I couldn't stop eating when I was in Bangkok (I'd alternate it with Jay Pad Thai when I was there in early November). My mother said they used to have suman with mangoes and tsokolate for merienda in the early days. It's a tradition that is slowly dying I suppose with many Filipinos always wanting to have anything but local. They'd rather have fries and sundaes from the Big M and pizza from the pizza kubo than having biko, puto or kutsinta for snacks. The latter is only for the poor.

"If you have the money, why settle for something local? Get something imported." Unfortunately, this is how a lot of people think in this country.

I invited my cousins for pizza and halo-halo at Merco, one of the first food establishment in the city and famous for its bake goods and ice cream desserts.

They asked, "Why Merco?"

"The pizza and the halo-halo are good. They have holiday treats, 20% off on pizza and buy-1-take-1 for the halo-halo, plus it's a local establishment that Dabawenyos should really be proud of." I said.

I still don't consider myself a well-traveled person but everytime I'm in a different country I couldn't help but be proud of the Philippines. We have a rich and colorful culture, beautiful beaches, and we are one of the most megadiverse countries in the world. We might not have a distinct character when it comes to our cuisine unlike our Southeast Asian neighbors but for sure we have natural resources, flora and fauna, among others, to boast of.

Pessimism doesn't really have a place in a yogin's life. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali said, vitarkabadhane pratipaksabhavanam. When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite (positive) ones, should be thought of. This is pratipaksha bhavanam.

There's hope for the Philippines. Even when politicians abuse their power and beat defenseless citizens, ongoing war in Mindanao (I have to make this clear though the war is NOT IN ALL of Mindanao. People have this funny idea that the entire island of Mindanao is chaotic and in a constant state of war), and landslides threatening the lives of many of our brothers and sisters, 9 out of 10 Filipinos are still hopeful for the year to come. No wonder we're one of the happiest people on earth.

It's lunch time. I think I have to stop all these nationalism before I become too engrossed in it and decide to run for public office. My father's relatives are either educators or politicians. I think I'd rather be one of the former.

Thanks for joining me for practice this morning, Sarah. Fritz promised to join us in our next practice session.

Here's a famous Philippine ad on youtube.



And on Kadayawan, the annual street festival in Davao.

Janet's Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Thanks Ja. Will try this soon.

2cups pureed pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
small can of evaporated milk
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of dried ginger
beat all of this together until smooth....pour into a pie crust and bake at 400 for 10 minutes...then reduce and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes....done when a knife inserted comes out clean.
Enjoy with fresh whipped cream....yummie

Practice was good this morning. Bad ashtangi, I know. It's moon day and religious ashtangis are suppose to take this day off from the mat. Sometimes I follow this tradition, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I feel the difference, sometimes I don't. I guess the key is to simply listen to one's body whenever one is practicing around moon days as it can sometimes have subtle effects on the pranic level.

I've experienced it myself when I was in Riyadh. There were times when practice was really light and I felt like flying during each vinyasa, and there were times when it felt heavy like thick molten lava. Maybe it all depends on the energetic level of the place of practice, maybe not. It's all subjective experience really... like the experience of samadhi. Each experiences it differently thus the different descriptions from those who've reached it. There were similar descriptions of course, like a snake crawling from the base of the spine up through the central channel.

However we experience the energetic shifts during moon days, again it all boils down to listening to one's body from the skin to the core. Be more aware... be fully aware of every single breath... every single movement... every single nuiance in the body... from the skin to the core.

Ginataang Langka & Fried Lumpia

Ginataang Langka (Young jackfruit with coconut milk)

INGREDIENTS
Young/unripe jackfruit, boiled in a little water until soft and cooked
Red kidney beans, cooked separately
Coconut milk
Garlic, tomato, ginger

Saute garlic, tomato and ginger in a little oil. Reduce heat and allow the flavors to come out slowly. Add the jackfruit, beans and just enough water to cover the vegetables. Mix well and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer for another minute or until the flavors integrate well. Serve with steamed rice.

Fried Lumpia (Springroll)
Saute garlic and onion. Add mung bean sprouts, singkamas/jicama cut into thin strips, ubod (heart of palm) also sliced thinly. Stir fry for a minute or two. Set aside and let cool. Use about a spoonful of this per lumpia wrapper. Fry until golden brown and serve with garlic-vinegar dip.

Practice was great this morning. That's all what I can really say about it.

In googling for ubod and singkamas, I came across Pinay Vegan's blog and she has quick and simple recipes here.

Happy long weekend.

Quick and Easy Christmas Dinner

Pesto Penne with Tomatoes, Cucumber and Cheese

Egg with Ranch Dressing Sandwich and Cheese-Tomato-Cucumber-Pesto Sandwich

Cheese-filled Potato Balls

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and Cheese-filled Potato Balls

Suman, the Philippine version of Sticky Rice wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. Traditionally eaten with latik (sweet coconut cream) and tsokolate (really sinfully thick and sweet hot chocolate).

My version of eating suman... with mixed fruit salad. Had this for breakfast this morning.

I didn't prepare the suman, it was a present from our neighbor. You just have to love Christmas in the Philippines. People sharing food... neighbors singing at the top of their lungs... good thing I was tired enough not to doze off even when the party next door was still full swing at 4 in the morning. Sometimes, a little booze can help tolerate such things. Good thing I know to do vaman, shanka prakshalan, etc. Will just do my detox after the new year celebration.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. Will post food photos later. Cheers.

Tropical Fruit Bowl

• 2 medium sized bananas sliced
• 1/2 ripe papaya cut into cubes
• 1/2 ripe mango cut into cube
• 2 Dizon oranges (I think it's the Hamlin variety as it was really small)
• Juice of 1 kalamansi (you can substitute juice of 1/2 lemon)
• Yoghurt (I used Elle & Vire yoghurt with apricot as it was on sale yesterday. Having lived in the Middle East where the dairy products are of good quality and inexpensive, I find the Nestle variety very diluted and sweet. It's either you need to buy the imported ones or make your own yoghurt, which I'm planning of doing in the future).
  

Mix well and it's ready to serve.

This was breakfast this morning after practice. It's the 2nd day on the mat after a week-long hiatus. The body was definitely tighter but it was a good opportunity be attentive and present.

Yesterday, I took it really slowly and did only the fundamental asanas and the last 3 lotus poses for closing. Today, I thought of doing only until purvottanasana and full closing but I had enough time so I went on to finish the entire primary.

The pranayama practice will have to wait until I've settled in my new place in Manila. It's more subtle than the asana practice so I really prefer to do it in a quiet place.

Here's the locally produced durian-flavored peanut butter that I bought from Living Bread in Gaisano Mall. It's great on toast.
And just after breakfast, a package from Ireland arrived. Katie's Organic oat jumbles, Cocoa Bean cinnamon hot chocolate and music cds from M. Christmas is definitely here.

Happy holidays everyone!

Namaste.

Labong (Bamboo Shoots)

INGREDIENTS
Bamboo shoots, sliced into strips, and pre-cooked.
Saluyot leaves
Corn kernels, pre-cooked
onion, garlic, ginger
mushroom stock cube
salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic, onion and ginger in oil. Add pre-cooked bamboo shoots and corn kernels. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables. Bring to boil. Add the saluyot leaves. Add mushroom stock cube. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with steamed rice.

I'm back on the mat this morning. It feels good to be moving again after a week of sedentary lifestyle and late night Christmas gatherings in Manila.

I'm supposed to prepare the vegetarian fresh spring roll that I learned from May in Bangkok but I left the recipe in Manila. I guess I just have to rely on my memory and try to recreate that yummy dish. She had pumpkin humus recipe also which was delicious.

Planning to prepare pasta with ragu sauce and cheese-filled veg balls for tomorrow night and the fresh Thai spring roll with peanut sauce. Some cucumber-tomato-cheese sandwich with pesto for drop in guests also.

I was thinking of preparing an all-veg Christmas dinner but my laziness is taking over.

Happy holidays.

Home

I'm back in the Philippines... home but not quite still... haven't moved to my new place so I still feel like a nomad. Will be posting photos and new recipes once I get home to Davao.

Namaste.

Our Deepest Fear

Received this from Joanne today.

here is the poem that Neil quoted from Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I'm still in Lonavla and enjoying every single day practicing pranayama with Tiwariji... wonderful people in the course... both teachers and students... GREAT food... learning kriyas like danda dhauti, vastra dhauti and shanka prakshalan. It's the last leg of this "journey" and there's nothing greater to end this than studying the Sacred Breath.

Looking forward to home soon.

May all be well.

Namaste.

Liberation

Arrived at the Kaivalyadham Yoga Institute yesterday with Janet and we don't really have anything until tomorrow so we're in town now to use the internet as the internet facility at the institute is not working today.

I like the place. The weather now is also perfect for more subtle practices like pranayama and meditation.

Nothing really much to say except that the food is great! Will start taking photos of the food next week. Still need time to get into the flow. Will be here for a month and not really sure if I'd get to be online very often.

Om.

Letting go...

“Loi Krathong” is traditionally performed on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, which usually falls on some day in November. The floating of a ‘Krathong' – a banana–leaf cup – is intended to float away ill fortune as well as to express apologies to Khongkha or Ganga, the River Goddess. Some believe that the ritual is meant to worship the Buddha's footprint on the bank of the Narmada River, while others say that it is to pay respect to Phra Uppakhut, one of the Lord Buddha's great disciples. (Source)

Janet and I went to the river early this evening to send out our krathongs. I was in bed the whole day reflecting on this journey and all that has been happening back home. Made me realize really that the deeper one goes into this so-called spiritual path, the more one realizes that you have no one with you but yourself. As much as we would like to believe that things will remain the same when we go home... truth is it isn't.

Change, as it has always been, remains the only thing constant in this life.

On Friday, I will fly back to India to study pranayama with Tiwariji. This time in Thailand triggered something within and the focused time at the institute should be good for reflection. Whatever comes out of this experience will only reveal itself as time passes by.

Letting go is difficult. But sometimes, it is necessary for us to move forward.

May the River Goddess accept our krathongs... our wishes and apologies... and allow us to have a better life.

Oh, Jessica and I went to a Thai vegetarian cooking class with May Kaidee and it was fantastic. I learned how to cook 10 dishes and I'm getting excited to feed my family with vegetarian food when I get home this December. Thai-Indian vegetarian Christmas dinner it is.

Namaste.

City Rat

From beach bum to city rat... I'm now in Bangkok and staying at the funky Suk11 Hostel. Got a nice basic single room on the 4th floor and big enough space to do my practice. Will attend classes at the Ashtanga Yoga Bangkok starting tomorrow.

Off to do the river cruise today. Friend Jessica said it's a boat ride up the canal but not sure if she'd call it a cruise. Should be a more relaxed day compared yesterday.

And guess what's the first thing I did after checking in the hostel. Went to see the latest Bond 007 movie at the Major Cineplex in Ekkamai. Glad to be back in a big city and enjoy the malls before heading back to India for the pranayama intensive.

Sawasdee krap.

Beach Bum

I'm getting used to this. Yoga in the morning, then beach bumming until the sun sets. Didn't stay on the beach today though. Rented a scooter and took it for a spin. Beach hopped from Rawai to Nai Harn, Yanui, Karon, Kata, Patong. Phuket is blessed with many beautiful beaches and you can find one that suits your taste and personality. If you want something laid back with less tourist, you can go to Rawai (although it's not really somewhere you can swim), or Nai Harn. The other places tend to be very touristy. Just scooted to see the different beaches but didn't really stay.

Nai Harn Beach

Yanui Beach

Yanui Beach

Julie and I had lunch at this Chinese vegetarian place in Chalong then went to the post office to send my extra stuffs home.

We weren't able to rent an automatic scooter until about 3pm so I had only 3 hours to bum around. Julie lent me their non-automatic scooter a couple of days ago and being a motor vehicle neophyte, I found it difficult to control it. I only learned how to scoot last year in Samui, thanks to my Austrian friend Nicola who was a professional motorcycle driver. Oh and guess what? I still don't have a driver's license! I didn't have a car when I was in Manila so there wasn't really a need to learn how to drive... or so I thought.

Karon View Point

Anyway, after exploring those beaches in the Southwest part of the island, I've decided to just spend the rest of my stay in Nai Harn Beach. It's closer to Rawai and I can see the sun set at Phromthep Cape, the southern most tip of the island, on my way back.

Oppsss.. it's almost 7. Got to go back to Julie's to catch supper. That's all for today. Cheers.

Kin Jeh

Finding pure vegetarian food is a challenge here. It's like the Philippines where it's ok to add some bits and pieces of meat into a vegetable dish and still call it vegetarian. I have dinner at Julie's every night so it's usually the lunch that gives me a slight problem... deciding where to go that is. I can always order stir fried vegetables and vegetable fried rice every single day but that would be boring, wouldn't it?

There's one word that I've learned though in order to make sure that what I order doesn't have any trace of animal products in it... "Jay/Jeh". Loosely translated, it means vegan but I believe there's more to it than just veganism. Read here for more about jay.

The sun was shining brightly today so after the morning practice, Julie, Pearl Anne (Julie's daughter) and I went to this roti place for breakfast. Julie and I had Mataba again just like last Sunday and Pearlie had roti with bananas... it looks like mataba as well but only with bananas inside.

After breakfast, I took Julie's scooter for a spin and went to Nai Harn beach. Spent the whole afternoon on the beach and had a 2-hour oil massage with the sounds of the breaking waves as the background music. Lovely.

A fellow Pinoy ashtangi requested for more food photos so here they are. I wonder if I can make a book on Pinoy vegetarianism... "A Pinoy's Simple and No-nonsense Guide to Vegetarian Cooking". How about that? ;-) Enjoy.

Mataba (Vegetable-filled fried roti)

Sweet cucumber dip that comes with the Mataba

Pad see eiw

Pad Phak and Vegetable Fried Rice

Stir fried vegetables

Vegetable Pad Thai

Walk and Sail Away

Oh boy, this day was a blast! Started it with a walk up to the Big Buddha of Phuket. It takes about 45 minutes walk up and another 40 minutes down. It wasn't hard because to do it with a bunch of yogis who just had a weeklong of daily ashtanga practice was just awesome.

We reached the top and sat for some homemade oatmeal cookies from Julie.

It was a rather misty day but you can just imagine how lovely this view would be on a sunny day. Then after walking down. Julie and Cindy (who just had a successful art exhibit a couple of nights ago which we all attended) dropped Ben and I off at the Chalong docking area where Marieke (another regular student of Julie who also attended my classes) would pick us up. She's a skipper and has sailed a boat from Thailand to Greece with her husband Bert. After the class one morning, she just asked if we want to go sailing with her. And who can decline such an offer? I tell you, this will probably the first and the last time that I'd set my feet on a sail boat because it is expensive!!! But if you're a skipper like Marieke, you can get to use other people's boats for free provided of course that you'd bring food and take turn stirring the wheel and hoisting the sail. Or you can simply do your job well and be invited onboard ;-) I must have been really good to deserve this. I can get used to this.
Just in case any of you would be interested in sailing in Asia, check out Faraway Yachting's website here.

Ok, I have to go to bed and hope that my luck doesn't run out. I still have a week here in Phuket and I intend to enjoy the beaches in the next few days plus some massage gigs. Hoping for more sunny days. Ciao.

And the Sun came out...

It's just amazing how time passes by very quickly. About same time last year, M and I would just be chatting about my 2008 travel plans and now it's already past the halfway mark.

Got one more week in Phuket and it will be just a week of yoga and chilling out by the beach. After days of cloudy sky and rainshower, the sun finally came out yesterday... last day of my one week teaching stint at Julie's shala. What a great way to finish an awesome week!

After the morning class, Julie's friend and practice buddy/yoga teacher Luigi came to practice with us. He studied with Lino Miele and therefore practices with full vinyasa. Lino is an old-school ashtangi and one of the few teachers who still teaches the full vinyasa system and the press to handstand from navasana. I've practiced full vinyasa in 2003 at the former Jagad Yoga shala in the Philippines when a visiting teacher came to teach a workshop for a week. I was new to yoga then and man, was it tough! Though like with anything else, one simply needs to get used to it and find one's rhythm. But with Luigi keeping the pace, I'd say it was one hell of a great practice.

After practice, Julie whipped a mixed fruit shake for us... "to keep the blood sugar up" as she'd say. It was also almost noon so Ben (yup, Ben the OFW/yogi from KL... he came just for the workshop... a fellow Pinoy on the ashtanga path... thanks for coming mate!), Julie and I decided to have lunch in Nai Harn. We had Thai vegetable fried rice with egg, stir fried kale and mixed fried veggies with curry. Yum! Enjoyed the sun and the beach after.

It looks like it's another sunny day today so we're off to a morning walk up to the Phuket Big Buddha and then join Marika for sailing. Yes, sailing!!! This must be a dream... a dream I want to be in for the rest of my life, hahaha.

Watch Lino presses from Navasana to handstand and be inspired! Namaste.

Island Hopping

I'm back online in Phuket! Survived the 12-hour layover in Bangalore... arrived in Singapore at 6:30 am... met Singaporean friend Daisy... who then brought me to Suntec for a breakfast of local Singaporean coffee (which tasted really nice and chocolatey) and roti naan.
Rushed to the nearby hotel to attend James Figueira's workshop. Had a quick brunch in Chinatown... carrot cake (it's actually steamed shredded radish and fried with some Singaporean sauce) and vegetarian laksa... before I head back to the airport to catch my flight to Phuket at 1pm.

It was mad! What was I thinking? I had a great time though. Too bad I wasn't able to transfer the 2 bottles of Kaya that Daisy gave me into my checked-in luggage so it went to the trash bin as the security didn't allow me to carry it onboard.

So after the very boring 12-hour layover in Bangalore... and a very exciting 6-hour food trip and ashtanga workshop in Singapore... I arrived in Phuket in the afternoon of Oct 25 and happy to see Julie again. Had a great time catching up. We had her famous lentil pie and homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Will post more photos and maybe stories in the next few days. I have wifi until I leave Phuket so will take this opportunity to upload more stuffs.

Cheers for now.

Waiting Patiently

Like the plant that waits patiently for the sun everyday... I am waiting patiently for my flight to Singapore at 11 this evening. Have been bumming at the Bangalore airport since 10 this morning. Flew out of Trivandrum. What a prince. But hey, told you already I couldn't get a train ticket (yeah, yeah, yeah).

Reading The Alchemist. Bought it this morning and now I'm almost over. Learning a lot from it wonder why I kept on putting it off. It's been in my must-read list since years back.

My butt is already deep in sleep from too much sitting. I'm actually tempted to lay out my yoga mat and do savasana until the check in counter opens. It won't be until after 3 more hours so glad to have found an outlet to plug my laptop as the battery ran out already this morning.

Will probably not join the workshop tomorrow in Singapore but will just see friend Daisy for breakfast. Might be too groggy to even do one sun salute.

Looking forward to enjoying Thai vegetarian in the next 3 weeks. Om.

Reiki

Did Reiki 1 course today. It was an interesting experience. Not that I'm eager to add 21 more es of self-healing to my daily yoga practice but it was good to experience it. I'm thinking I'll just add some of the techniques to my ayurvedic massage as I'm more keen on doing massage more as a "side practice". Off to the beautiful but touristy Phuket tomorrow. Will pass by Singapore to attend James Figueira's workshop at the Yoga Shala. Will see if I'll have the energy to do the workshop then rush back to the airport to catch my flight to Phuket. Otherwise, I'll just have a breakfast in the Citystate and head back to the airport. I might be pushing it too much but we'll see. Landlady is preparing dinner for us this evening. It should be a lovely meal. Will upload more photos when I get to Thailand. Om.

Vada

Had this for breakfast the day we had the day trip to Kanyakumari. My Indian friend said this is called Medu vada but I just asked the Indian guy here at the cafe and said it's actually aclled paruppu vada... medu vada is shaped like a doughnut. I googled both and the photo above is actually paruppu vada based on the description of the recipe I found.
Both taste great so in case anyone wants to know how it is made, here are youtube videos of medu vada and paruppu vada.
It's a rainy sunday but the ocean still looked perfect earlier this afternoon. Spent an hour playing in the waves under the rain. Decided not to do the backwater trip as the cash is running low. Thinking of doing Reiki 1 course instead. Would be interesting to get attunement here as apparently the energy in this part of the world is stronger. Let's see how things go in the next few days.
Cheers.

The Sun

Sunset in Varkala

Sunset in Kanyakumari

Sunrise in Neyyar Dam

Meditation by the beach...

Woke early as usual and prepared to meditate by the beach with friends from the ashram. It was a lovely morning. Did 21 Om meditation... everybody chanting om at their own pace and breath... and the sound of the waves helped lull us deeper into the state of no state.

Did a couple rounds of classic sun salutes, ashtanga suryas and some balancing poses. Had breakfast at the Cafe Italiano and decided to hop online to check what's happening with the rest of the world. Wonder how traveling to India 10-20 years ago was when there's no easy access to the internet.

Pranayama is being shelved at the moment... hopefully I'll be able to get back to it tomorrow... and full on practice starting Sunday and psyche up for teaching in Phuket.

Can't believe that Saudi Arabia is just at the other end of the Arabian sea. Grateful for the opportunity to experience life there and realize this dream of traveling to India to study yoga. The future holds so many possibilities... but today is more important... more beautiful... so the mind has to stay in the present... and be awake to fully experience each moment.

It's a nice day to chill out... read a book... have coffee... and just watch the waves.

Om.

Life by the beach...

Varkala beach

Left the ashram yesterday noon and decided to come to Varkala. The day before that I was at Kovalam beach and thought of spending a couple days there before I leave India next week. Varkala is way nicer than Kovalam though that I've decided to stay here for the rest of this trip instead.

Kovalam Beach

Woke up at 5am... tried to go back to sleep but couldn't so I decided to practice... practice was really good... 10 days of Sivananda yoga, 2x a day, was nice... but I love ashtanga and I'm just happy to be back.

Met a lot of wonderful people at the ashram. I guess staying in one place and doing the same things together created more opportunities for people to interact and discuss more interesting things.

Leaving India for Phuket on the 24th of October so I have more than a week to ease back into my ashtanga rhythm and psyche up into teaching mode. Actually taught an intro to ashtanga to some friends I met at the ashram this morning.

I'm hopping from one beach to another. I was in Camiguin last June, Kanyakumari last Friday, Kovalam 2 days ago, now in Varkala until Thursday next week, then off to Phuket for 2 weeks... this is life... looking forward to more life by the beach come 2009 ;-)

Will upload photos next time. Got of really nice photos of the Devi puja, sunrise at the Neyyar dam lake, etc.

Found some great photos of Varkala here. Enjoy.

Om.