Food in the Philippines

Part of an email I received today about the food we will be eating on our trip-

our ladies would like to know if there are food preferences for catered functions. I was specifically asked about sea food -shrimp, crab, squid as well as sea and river fish (lapu-lapu-grouper, usually prepared sweet and sour; maya-maya - red snapper; blue marlin; bangus -milk fish, often served 'rellenong' stuffed with onions and tomatoes, or fried fillets with rice at breakfast, tilapia -a carp, often barbecued on the grill).I have said that I am sure a good range of fruits and vegetables- emphasizing tropical varieties readily available in the Philippines are sure to be popular. We have access to potatoes but more sweet yams and camote (cassava are eaten in the root crop group of crops. I have said that local squashes (calabasa) and vegetable marrow (upo, patola) varieties would also be enjoyed, along with local spinachs' (kang kong,) okra, egg plant (talong) and ubiquitous tomatoes. With respect to bread, most local breads are white flour and overly sweet for Canadian taste, but there are high fibre breads in hotels and urban areas and many of the pan de Sal breakfast rolls -usually offered for sale early in the morning are great at breakfast time. Overall the Philippine diet has too much sugar in it (hence the serious problems with diabetes in the country).

Two more great movies

1. La Dolce Vita- I didn't like this Fellini film quite as much as 8 1/2. It's the story of a celebrity/tabloid journalist who follows starlets around. He doesn't have much substance to his life and ends up living an existence filled with drink, wanton woman, and so on. This movie brought the word "paparazzi" to popular use, due to one of the creators known as Paparazzo.
I love Fellini's aesthetic and mood in the film, but I much preferred 8 1/2.


2. The Maltese Falcon- I love Bogart. There's something about him that is infinitely watchable. I think I was too tired to watch this because I kept spacing out, even though this movie is entertaining. Great acting and dialogue from Bogie, and a wonderful sense of style and aesthetic. Not much else to say about this one.