Longganisa: The Filipino Sausage

No matter where we go in the country, longganisa is always availble. However, they don't look or taste the same. We can create a tour of the Philippines and get the different flavors of each area through these. A Longsilog (Longganisa+Sinangag+Itlog) tour perhaps?

Often, these sausages are named for the region they come from. Vigan, Lucban are among the most familiar. Neither of these are sweet.

Hamonado is a sweet type of longganisa. Often when we travel, this kind of longganisa is what gets served at various places but this is not necessarily THE longganisa of the region visited.  You always have to ask because the specialties may not be served unless asked.

For example, Pampangga's longganisa is sweet but does not look like that which is typically served at the food joints. Where most hamonado sausages are fat, the Pampanga ones I've tried are long and slim; some are even skinless. There's a set that says they don't use salitre (salt peter or potassium nitrate) to make their longganisa which many of us appreciate. All of these are from Pampangga but not exactly the same. Yes, even in the same region, there are multiple flavors and styles.

Cooked Vigan Longganisa

Vigan is a heritage city in Ilocos Sur. The sausage from  here is made with garlic, ground pepper and marinated in the local vinegar. I read somewhere that some use basi (the local wine made from sugarcane) instead of vinegar. They look yellowish when you see them hanging in the market (uncooked). They actually hold the longganisa festivals in January for anyone who is interested (me! me! me!) to see more of this beautiful city and have a good taste of the local sausages.

Lucban Longganisa

Lucban is found in Quezon province, at the foot of mount Banahaw. The sausage from this region also uses garlic but the spices used are oregano, basil and lemongrass.  Unlike Vigan longganisa, the uncooked Lucban sausage is reddish in color due to the achuete used. For those who don't like vinegar, Lucban is a good choice.

I stumbled across an article that said that this region or that region has the best longganisa. I would say that everyone has their own taste and preferences that will make them say they have the best.

Personal favorite: lonnganisa from Alaminos, Pangasinan. Perhaps it is because I associate these with family trips to my dad's hometown and summer vacations. Maybe it's because I don't really like my sausage sour or sweet. I find these links absolutely the best!

Growing up we called them shortganniza because they are consumed in just 1 or two bites. These bite sized links are more salty and garlicky favored. We like them served with fried rice cooked with the fat from the longganisa and egg (sunny side up). Often, the challenge with eating these is you either need more longganisa or need more rice. Sooo hard to stop eating these!

What is your favorite? Haven't found it yet? Time to take a trip and find out.

Review: Autophilia Detailing and Paintworks

If there is one constant in the Philippines, it is dust. Add construction, smog, other vehicles, particles on the wind and if really unlucky, some rain, and your car gets a color change to brown or gray. If you have any mischievous neighbors or kids around, they may see your car as a canvas for their latest sketch (sooo not funny!) and you'll be driving around with drawings or phrases such as CLEAN  ME! on your vehicle.

A great place to quickly get rid of the grime on your car is Autophilia Detailing and Paintworks. I like this car wash. The people are friendly and you very thorough. They not only wash the exterior, they clean the mats and do some vacuuming. When they are done, they even put in newspaper over the mat because they know the bottoms of our shoes will be wet as we cross the working area to get into our cars.

All of that only cost 70 pesos. I've had my car cleaned in various places and I've had to pay higher with less quality results. I'd much rather bring my vehicle here.

More things I love about this place:

• They have an air conditioned waiting area where you can buy drinks and order food.  They serve delicacies from Vigan and Ilocos as well as rice meals (Bagnet anyone?)
• This is also a car shop. They do maintenance and repair work and way more! They have been part of numerous car shows and their cars are really showcase material.
• The owner and staff are very friendly and helpful. They helped me research costs for parts of my car though I haven't committed to getting anything done yet. They were also quick to tell me if a service would be unnecessary rather than trying to make an extra buck at my expense.

If you are in need of a good place to bring your car, Autophilia can be found at:

80 7th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila‎ (between Loudes Paredes Ave and P. Tuazon Blvd.)

0917 904 7049 (Mobile)

Fare Thee Well

I had a strange (for me) dream last night. I dreamt of my uncle who recently passed away, standing in sunlight, looking as I remember him from when I was a child. He appeared to be talking to a group of people then he turns to us (I can't assume I was the only one he was looking at) and says, "O lalakad na ko. Masaya na ulit." (OK, I'm going. Things are happy again). Then I woke up.

Now you'll tell me that it doesn't seem like a strange scene but for me it is. Here's why:

1. I am no medium. I am a child of two scientists who taught me to be logical. I will never say that ghosts, fairies, magic, and things of endless wonder do not exist (keeping an open and hopeful mind, especially toward magic). I know however that I have never had a gift to speak to the dead. I'm quite happy to keep it that way.
2. I was never very close to this particular uncle. While some of his children are my favorite cousins and friends for life, he was never one I really got to know. I never spent much time with him and truly didn't know him as well as I could have. So it makes no sense that he would come see me rather than his own kids.
3. I have never sat down with him or had a conversation with him that felt like that scene. That tells me it was not a memory.
4. I usually don't remember what I dream about except for snippets of one or two really nice ones.

Curious as to whether it might be a true dream, I called my dad and described my dream to him. I asked him if it sounded like something my uncle (dad's brother) would say or do. He told me no, it isn't. A part of me felt relieved since ghosts are not high on my list of things I want to experience. A part of me felt sad that it wasn't because I would have liked to be able to give this message to his family (if it was true) and hope it provides comfort.

Perhaps this dream is nothing more than wishful thinking. Maybe it is nothing more than a hope that my uncle is happy and healthy on the other side. It could be truly nothing more than a dream. Whatever it is, I feel compelled to write this and I hope that it gives comfort.

RIP, Uncle Rene.

Hacked, Cracked, Whacked!

Sometime ago my website and my twitter account got hacked. I couldn't figure out why my account became so interesting to these spanish speaking people nor why I suddenly had strange posts. I ended up having to change my password and having to tell everyone it wasn't me posting all those things. I also lost a lot of my posts; which unfortunately, I cannot recreate.

Today, I was doing some research online and stumbled upon my username and an old password. Holy #$%@! Really?!  Did I become a celebrity when I wasn't looking? LOL!

It's seriously freaky! I've seen a number of TV episodes where identity theft happens and now we have shows like CSI Cyber to show us more of the criminal uses of the net. Never thought anyone would want to hack any of my accounts or website though.

When I asked a friend good at computers, he answered he once hacked something just because he could. Perhaps that is how all hackers think? They do it just because they can. So sad for the victims.

Time to change all my passwords...again!

Travel: Tagaytay

It has been a couple of years since I've been to Tagaytay and it's a place I definitely wanted my kids to have a memorable experience, especially since we don't often go out of town. I asked for suggestions from friends who have been there recently, one of whom pointed me in the direction of  the blog of Anton Diaz, Our Awesome Planet, which was truly useful.

After going through the guides provided and reading a bunch of articles, I opted to bring my family to Cliffhouse Inn for lunch. We used Waze to get us there - which sadly didn't go to the correct place; first time Waze has failed me. Thankfully, locals are friendly and we weren't too far off from the place.

Once we arrived at the Cliffhouse Inn, my family went straight for the viewing deck,  It was wide and not crowded at all. Lots of chairs had thoughtfully been provided so that visitors could really enjoy the view of the lake within a lake within a volcano.  Though the rocking chairs were meant (most likely) for senior citizens, all of us enjoyed sitting in them. Those who chose to eat at Fire Grill or Buon Giorno could stay at tables overlooking Taal.

The sun wasn't high yet when we arrived so most of my attempts to capture the beauty of taal ended up misty looking. The weather was cool and really refreshing. Truly glad to have gotten away from the heat of the city.

 The Cliffhouse Inn actually had 6 restaurants for us to choose from. We opted to go for Platito where the portions are not served on saucers, in spite of the name. Foodwise, nothing fantastic but the servers were great.

We then finished off our meal by having some dessert at Fruits in Cream, which was conveniently right beside Platito. PISTACHIO!!!

When we were kids, we used to go horseback riding so we went to check out Residence Inn but decided against it. The stench was just too much. he kids weren't interested to even go in.

We passed Sky Ranch on our way to Residence Inn and the kids decided they wanted to go, so that became the next stop. I actually wanted to go in but my LP wasn't in the mood. I opted to stay at Uncle Cheffy's with the grown-ups (sob!) while the kids got to have fun  inside. I did notice the 2 huge LOVE structures set against the far wall from the entrance. Instant smile on my face as those made me think of Skip Beat. While it is no amazing amusement park (compared to say Disneyland), the kids had a blast and that's what matters.

Pasalubong is a must for us Filipinos so last stop was Lou Mar's where we got some buko  pies and caramel tarts. Something I loved at this shop was that the attendants were very quick to respond. I thought there was a long line.  Turned out it was a single group. most of whom were still browsing. With the help of the attendant, we were done shopping in less than 15 minutes.

I wish we had time to go to Ilog Maria and Antonio's but due to schedule conflicts, I had to leave that for our next Tagaytay trip. I'm looking forward to it!

Old Articles Found

I was doing some research and wondered if any of my old articles were anywhere to be found. They say once on the net, always on the net so I got curious. Could some of my old work still be online?

A quick  google search turned up a links to my existing blogs (yey!). A number of links to pointed to forums and reposts, most of which I didn't participate in but somehow got linked to (still good). There were  a number of similar usernames though not mine. A handful were domain hosting sites.  Then I found the link to the Newspaper Blog with articles I wrote in 2006.

Posts by Ginny:

• Janjucetus, T-Rex of the Sea
• Charm School
• Chat Across Messengers
• Barbie Dolls Up for Auction
• A Shower of Stars

Brings back memories of my early days as a blogger as well as the feeling of, "I wrote that?" Hunting for more of my old articles and waiting to see if I'll find any treasure while I'm at it.

Britney Cyrus with Pitbull?

I can't help it.  I saw this picture and thought Britney Spears meets Miley Cyrus! This was taken from the 2011 AMA.

The outfit looks so much like the Toxic body suit in a different shade. The scene makes me think VMA with Pitbull instead of Robyn Thicke.