Back in the USA

Dear Blog readers (if you're still out there!),

Colleen and I returned to North America on April 25th. We arrived in LAX and were kindly and generously (mag trapik) picked up by Bob Woods and driven to Las Vegas. The world's of Manila and Vegas are pretty different, so this was an intriguing entry point for us. But, suffice it to say, we are now both back living in Ann Arbor (mostly) for the summer. At present I'm writing a new chapter of my dissertation (focused on Carlos Montezuma, who I invite people to google just to get a glimpse into my subject) and Colleen is kicking into full swing for her U.S. archival research tour. I'm making it sound a bit more romantic than it is, since right now she's in College Park Maryland. No doubt ensconced in this branch of our National Archives, which is highly bureaucratized with just the right touch of surveillance technologies thrown in. Perhaps she'll write a post about the "loaner" sweaters they have there. In any case, I'm not sure how much blogging we'll continue to do now that we're no longer living in Southeast Asia, but I do think we'll use the high-speed internet access we have to post photos and links to more photos from our travels. So stay tuned for these!

The Bitter Melon Gamble

We are now approaching our final 2 weeks in the Philippines. I’ve got mixed feelings about leaving. I know I will miss some things here. And, in the spirit of not leaving too many things undone, I decided it was time to take on the “bitter melon” vegetable here known as: Ampalaya. This green vegetable reminds me of cucumber (a little) and also squash. What is it? I don’t really know, but I do know (having watched some Filipino cooking shows here and read a few of their culinary magazines) it has a reputation as a “love-it-or-leave-it vegetable,” because it has a lingering bitterness if it is not cooked properly. In fact, it is perceived as SO bitter that ampalaya is also called bitter melon in some places. Apparently it is better to cook this vegetable with some type of protein. I decided to make a tofu curry (with onions and garlic, yum) and I figured I could make the ampalaya separately…in case my preparation didn’t work out…so that way I could decide if I wanted to mix it in with the rest of the ingredients or not. And, of course, we’re serving this with rice, our go to grain. And, for fun, I’m including a few photos of the process. Stay tuned for the photos, I can't upload yet because the internet speed we have is too slow at the moment.

NOTE: Colleen REALLY does NOT like the taste of bitter. So, it wasn’t really worth gambling on this one, it was my first try at making it after all. Anyway, below is a recipe I found that seems like it might be good. So give it a try IF you can find some ampalaya . It’s a Filipino preparation of ampalaya with eggs.

WARNING: this vegetable does live up to its reputation in terms of how bitter it can taste. I followed the steps below (and maybe the water could have been hotter? The hot plate I used was maybe not quite good enough for medium heat?). Alas, the ampalaya turned out to be way TOO BITTER for our palates. And, so you’ll see that the final shot of our dinner omits the bitter melon and substitutes it with peas and carrots (which we had on hand). Oh well, at least I tried. Perhaps I’ll try again, maybe I need to do more research…

“Gisadong Ampalaya”

1. Cut the ampalaya into thin slices. They will look like crescent moons. (be sure to remove the seeds)

2. Liberally cover these slices with salt on all sides. That will help make them less bitter. Do not worry about using too much salt because the excess will be rinsed away.

3. Place the salted ampalaya into a colander, and rinse off the excess salt. Transfer the ampalaya to a bowl, and pour boiling water over it to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain the boiling water off the ampalaya, and let it sit while you prepare the eggs.

4. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil once the skillet gets hot. Let the oil coat the bottom of the pan, and then add the garlic and onions. Cook these until they turn translucent and become fragrant.

5. Add the tomatoes, ampalaya, and salt and pepper to the pan, and cook this mixture, stirring, for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat or until hot.

6. Pour the beaten eggs over everything in the skillet, and stir the mixture until the eggs look slightly underdone. Remove the skillet from the heat, and serve immediately with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

I got this recipe from: http://www.ehow.com/how_5122178_cook-ampalaya.html

Under three weeks

Hey readers, I'm back.

As Kiara mentioned in her previous post we decided we should probably update our blog after a long absence. Blogging fell down my list of activities--partially because we found out how difficult accessing a reliable internet connection was in our apartment. The frustration of trying to upload a post or some photos certainly contributed to my disappearance from the blogsophere (yep, I said it ...you can punch me in the face now for being a nerd KT). But in addition to a ridiculously spotty internet connection, I'm just a really private person and would never be one to maintain a blog for reasons other than the ones that prompted this one. I love other people's blogs, I just don't have much of an interest in sustaining one about my own life. But with a little gentle urging from Kiara and a "what happened to your blog?" email from my dad---here I am.

Today I'm going to share a couple of photos I took in the archives. It explains one of the reasons I love studying the postwar era and particularly the 1950s so much--COMIC BOOKS! The two images from above are from a Tagalog language anti-communist publication (the red one with the pointing man is the front cover). The translation of the question posed on the front (Ano ang magiging kahulugan sa iyo ng komunismo?) is essentially: what would communism mean to/or for you? Like English language versions from the era the comic presents a deeply apocalyptic vision of communism and what the Philippines would look like if the communist inspired Hukbalahap gained power. It's a clear disregard of the political position of Huks--but it's Anti-Huk propaganda so the purpose is to portray the Huks as outside the bounds of legitimate political discourse---or even more simply: as anti-citizens of the Philippine state.

Propaganda exist across the political spectrum of course.

But, I have yet to encounter hyperbole as entertaining as some of the stuff found in Anti-Communist propaganda. I've found a limited amount of Huk propaganda and it is WAY less entertaining---for one, it is not a comic. And of course, when I say 'entertaining' I mean it in the way that one can look at something and laugh at the ridiculousness of the claims and wonder "how does someone actually believe this?!"---kind of like recent Tea Party claims about socialism in the US. How I would love to see Tea Party propaganda in comic book form! But while I may be 'entertained' by anti-communist hysteria as a 21st century historian, I'm also knee deep in the historical 'facts' about the narrowing of legitimate political positions. Not unlike the US red-scare of the 1950s, the Philippines red scare sucked in activist, intellectuals, and with left-leaning political views--regardless of their stance on communism.

We thought no one read our blog, so...

So, we stopped adding to it. Turns out there ARE people out there who read this! And, well, we're back in Manila now for less than a month before we head back to the U.S. and there is more to report. First, check out the amazing pictures from our trip to Hong Kong. (already posted by cpw) Second, I'm in the process of writing a dissertation chapter and so sometimes I don't necessarily feel like writing for the blog. Sure, it would be good to write something different, but just as reading for my exams made me less excited to read, so writing makes me a little less excited to, well, write. BUT, hey, we had a great trip to Hong Kong and also to Ubud in Bali, so I figure I should upload some more photos from those trips (while the internet connection is fast) and also add some written commentary. Sound good? Hope so oh loyal readers (what are there, like 2 of you out there?)

So what am I uploading? These are actually from Ubud, it's in the more hilly inland part of Bali. It is really beautiful and very lush.

1) Colleen and I went on an early morning walk in the rice terraces on the last day we were in Bali. Adi was our guide. He is actually from the village where the hotel was located, and he was SUPER nice. He taught us A LOT about local herbs, vegetation, etc. I mean cocoa, coffee beans, rice, papaya, and a whole lot more herbs and fruits make up the flora of this place. Incredible.

One of the things we also liked about this hotel is that there is a 4pm tea time daily and at tea children from the village come and share a craft, song, or experience with the guests. Sound weird? I thought it was but then I learned that 40 % of the staff at the hotel come from this village and that the hotel is really invested in helping the village school, and one of the things they do is provide the area's children with free dance, music, and other lessons that happen during tea time. All of this is to say, check out Colleen's hat below. It was made by some of the boys from the village and they gave it to her at tea.
We also took a Balinese cooking lesson. That's me with one of the cooks from the hotel and Made, he and I are making some satay. Ground up Marlin and spices wrapped around a stick that was then grilled. I have to admit, I was a natural. And, we both got to keep our aprons after taking the class, along with some recipes for the spice mixtures. Really excellent experience.
Below you can see the food that went into making the fish satay.
We stayed in what was definitely the fanciest (thanks mom!) and coolest place I have ever stayed in my life. "Hanging Gardens" it was called, and yep, we were hanging. All the "villas" have thatched roofs and were embedded into the hill. Across from the main restaurant was a temple. Nothing out of the ordinary in the sense that every family in Bali has their own temple, and that every village has at least three: one designated for ancestors, one for the production of rice, and one to ward off evil spirits.

What else did we do in Bali? Well we saw a music performance (perhaps my brother can comment on this) and we went swimming every day in our own infinity pool. We also went shopping because there are any number of beautiful woven, carved, and sculpted items one can buy. Oh, and did I mention the monkeys? I'll let Colleen put up a post about that one. Fortunately we made a movie that captures the experience pretty well.

Some Hong Kong Pics

food foto -- the everyday

Pan de Manila is our local bakery that seems to be open 24 hours. I'm not sure if this is true, but it seems to be the case. Don't let the packaging fool you, they are baking all sorts of breads in there at every hour of the day! And selling delicious spreads and other such things as well. Gosh, I love Pan de Manila...and I really love their prices.

Loaf of bread: costs less than 1 USD and a package of homemade cheese pandesal (Filipino roll, often stuffed with savory fillings) is just around 1 dollar. I could go on and on, but here's a little taste of what we consume on a daily basis.

I'm back, baby!

yes, that's right...your favorite excellent adventure blogger has returned to the scene. ok, second favorite.

I've emerged from the virus 2010 and returned back to work. I started rserching at Ateneo de Manila University...an easy 2 jeepney ride away....and spent the last week reading 3-4 years of the Manila Times newspaper (1946-early 1950). It's all on microfilm so it's pretty quick....but more exhausting than one would imagine. After about May 1950 the microfilms stop and I'll have to move to the physical copies, which will be more time consuming I think (flipping the page of a 50+ year old newspaper demands more care than cranking the microfilm reel) BUT...it was also be more cost effect as I'm pretty sure I'll be able to take digital photos (opposed to the 5p photocopy charge from microfilms) of the physical copies.

Here are three photos to enjoy

1. Me putting away my pallet on the floor. I spent a good 7 or so sick days on this foam bad boy.

2. Homemade carrot/cabbage spicy dumplings! A regular in our circulation.

3. chose an english-language doc. from my research at University of the Philippines to share. It is from a gov't from the "Special Committee on Un-Filipino Activities." Similar to the American HUAC.