The Heart Sutra

Homage to the perfection of wisdom, the Lovely! the Holy! Avalokita, the Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the wisdom which has gone beyond.


He looked down from on high, he beheld but five heaps, and he saw that in their own-being they were empty.


Here, O Sariputra, form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form.


Emptiness does not differ from form.  Form does not differ from emptiness.  Whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.


Here, O Sariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness.  They are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.


Therefore, O Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness. 


All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect enlightenment because they have relied on the perfection of wisdom.


Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth-for what could go wrong?


By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered, it runs like this:


Gone! Gone! Gone beyond! Gone altogether beyond! O what an awakening, all-hail!

Kimchi Bokumbop

아주 맛있었어요. (a-ju ma-si-sseo-sseo-yo).

It was delicious!

(The image is not mine.) 

Kimchi fried rice is my standard order when I eat at the Japanese-Korean stall in the UP Shopping Center.  It's one of the places in the campus which is vegetarian-friendly.

To be vegetarian in the Philippines can simplify one's life because usually you only have very few choices if you eat out.  If you cook your own food, you have to be creative otherwise you'll end up getting sick of what you eat.

I had dinner with two UP Filipiniana alumni friends and one commented that being vegetarian is boring.  I begged to disagree of course.  We were in the produce section of the supermarket when he said that.

"Look at all these vegetables," I said while pointing to all the fresh produce.  I get excited whenever I'm in Hong Kong because of the abundance of fresh vegetables and the wide variety of seasonings available in the market.  Unfortunately, one week is the longest time that I've stayed here so buying big bottles of vegetarian stir fry and chilli-garlic sauces is unwise.

Tofu and Bok Choy Fried Rice

Cooking for one can be a challenge but it is a skill that I have learned when I was living in Riyadh.  Most of the time, the resulting dish is good for two servings so half of it will be for the next meal.

I had half a bag of baby bok choy and 5 pieces of tofu puffs left in the fridge.  So to transform the bok choy tofu stir fry into something a little different, I thought I'd make fried rice. 

5 tofu puffs cut into small cubes
baby bok choy chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups cooked rice
2 eggs
salt and soy sauce to taste
vegetable oil for stir frying
dash of sesame oil for additional flavor.

I think adding vegetable powder or freshly grated ginger would add more flavor to it.  But last night's dinner was already delicious as it is. 

A simple stir-fried dinner

Stir-fried baby bokchoy with fried tofu puffs.  That was dinner this evening.  (The photo is not mine but the one I made looked like that except that it had more greens.)

Saute garlic (2 cloves, minced) in 1 tbsp vegetable oil, add the fried tofu puffs (basically fried tokwa prepared in advanced), stir fry for one minute.  Increase heat and add two handfuls of baby bokchoy, agan stir for 1-2 minutes until the leaves are slightly wilted.  Add 1-2 tbsp of light soy sauce and a dash or two of sesame oil.  Mix well and serve over a bowl of fresh steamed rice.  (I've eaten so much rice when I was in Davao so I decided to skip the Asian staple this time.)

***

Death by Durian

Kablon Farm's food products are just some of the more popular pasalubong items from Mindanao.  I usually buy some from the Davao international airport for last minute pasalubong shopping for friends in Manila.  Last week, I bought a bottle of the durian jam.  A teaspoon of that jam and you have a dessert.

"Life is unsure... (so) eat your dessert first!" That's the slogan of Margie's Kitchen.  I first had their oatmeal thins in Manila and I think I had the whole canister in one sitting.  Their brownie thins is also good.  It's not a good idea to stock up on these items as you'll end up eating everything in one go.

So I tried their durian buttercake last week and thought it was great.  My mother, a durian lover herself, wanted to try the buttercake so after teaching a pilates class at a local gym last thursday, I passed by Margie's kitchen in Torres and bought a loaf of the durian buttercake.

It's DURIAN SEASON!!!

I can't believe it's already August.  We just got back from a quick but wonderful trip to Manila.  On our way home from the Davao International Airport, I saw a big billboard announcing the start of Kadayawan Festival.     This month-long celebration also signals the start of durian season.

Come!

For more details about the festival, please visit http://www.davaotourism.com