It is more fun in Philippines, Pagsanjan Falls

I am back in Philippines for a little while and we have decided that we will have a little drive down to Mount Mayon, the famous volcano in Bicol.

As we are living close to Tagaytay, another volcano even so this one is not active anymore, we wanted to see some of the other great tourist attractions here in Philippines. Pagsanjan Falls was very high on our list.

The one things one never must forget is that driving here takes time, if Google tells you one hour's drive, take 2 hours as a guideline. The falls are a mere 60 km away from us but it took nearly 2 hours to get there. There is always a lot of traffic and at the moment it seems like all the roads are getting fixed at the same time.

But trust me, it is absolutely worth the drive to Cavinti and then taking a small boat to travel to the falls. The boats are very small, maximum 3 passengers can go on a boat and then there are 2 boats men. It might sound like a small amount, but there are 14 rapids and the 2 guys have to push the boat with you inside up the rapids.

The boat ride is absolutely amazing, first one is pulled by a small motor boat, but then as soon as one is in the park it is just quiet. The gorge is at least 150 to 200 meters high and everything is lush and green, an absolutely amazing ride.

The 2 guys had to work hard to get up up the rapids, we had a rest from time to time. About half way there is a little hut, they are selling food and drinks, so we treated the boats men for a lunch of crispy chicken leg and rice, it really did look yummy, the golden brown roasted, crispy legs, I still get hungry thinking of it..

The falls are 91 meters high, it is not rainy season yet but the falls are still stunning. One has the possibility to go on a bamboo raft and then go under the falls and even behind them to make a photo with the falls behind one.

Apparently there is a hiking trail to the falls, but one has to descend 500 steps and 2 vertical ladders.....this is not my thing, especially after I have seen the one ladder coming down close by the falls.

After a little while we went back through the rapids, that was a lot of fun and went a lot faster than going up. Yes the boats men still had to pull us over some of the rapids as there was not enough water. They said in August is the best time to come here, then the water is about  10 cm higher and still the falls are accessible. After that it might get difficult as the water level is just too high

There is just one thing that one has to be careful and that is at the end, the boatsmen will ask for tip and especially if one is a foreigner they will try their luck. The told us that the Koreans give 50$ tips.......then suddenly it was 50$ per person. That is more than double what the whole cruise costs and of course we did not entertain the thought of giving that much. It gave a little bit of a negative experience, but apart from that, it was an amazing 2 hours going through a beautiful gorge

Bangkok Night Market or how to make a special Cappuccino

Getting everything together for the Cappuccino

Today I like to tell you a bit from my travels on the ships. I have seen many corners of the world and tasted many foods, but sometimes one has experiences that are extra ordinary. I spent a lot of time on the different markets in the individual ports we went, for one of course to get some fresh goods, but then of course as well to educate myself more on local fruit and vegetables and often I saw new fruit, bought it and then we tried in the kitchen new dishes.

Having a smile at work

One of the funny experiences happened when we sailed to Thailand. We were actually docked in Patthaya, not too much I want to tell you about that port.........but our supplier suggested that we maybe should pay a visit to one of the big night markets up in Bangkok, one of the markets that is there for the restaurants, so not really open to the public, even so it is not closed so everybody can just walk in. Of course I said yes, I would love to go and then was able to invite some of my fellow chefs to come with.

Adding loads of coffee, sugar and powdered milk

He collected us at 1.30 in the morning, we needed a good hour to drive up to Bangkok and arrived just in time when the market was hustling and bustling. It is an amazing place to be, I had no idea where to start so we just followed our supplier. He was a great guide, coming from Denmark and married with a Thai lady, so she was there too and helped with translations.

The system is actually quite amazing. One goes through the market and if one wants to buy something, everything is of course only sold by box or crate, one negotiates the price. Then one has to pay and give the car registration number and the more or less direction where the car is parked. Then the food will be brought to the car.....at least that is how it was explained to me and amazingly it worked. When we were back at the car every single box of fruit and vegetables we bought that night was safely stored.

Pouring the coffee in the ice bag

Being on the market made me absolutely happy, we learned the finer things that make a difference, we tried Rambutan from the North and the South of Thailand and tasted the difference in sweetness, yes the one from the South is superior. We even tried Durian......one really has to love the taste... When the Durian is young it very much tastes like raw onions, but has a lovely yellow look. When the Durian gets ripe....ooohhhhh boy, then the flesh looks lovely like vanilla pudding, it smells and tastes like rotten eggs, caramba, what an experience and no, I am no fan of Durian.

Our take away "Cappuccino"

After all the walking and tasting the idea came up of having a cup of coffee, it was nearly 5 AM and we would be heading home soon. So there was a stand selling coffee and we ordered 5 Coffees. The question then was if we like it hot or as ice coffee. Ah yes, a ice cold coffee would be great, so the ladies started to work. One went away to get crushed ice in bags, the other one put 5 spoons full of Nescafe instant coffee...in each cup, then 5 spoons of sugar and the same amount of milk powder. Wow, I could not imagine drinking this coffee, it will be so strong that it must be nearly thick. But of course this was not the end, she added the hot water and then just after a little stirring simply poured the piping hot coffee into the ice filled bags. Then she looked at us, smiled and asked if we like Cappuccino? Yes, why not? So she took a tin of condense milk and poured a swirl onto each bag of coffee. A straw in bag and voila the Cappuccino was finish and believe me, it tasted just great.

Having coffee with the chefs and supplier, next to me Chef Tai, Chef Raf and Pastry Chef Wolfgang

We had an amazing night on the market, after having all worked a good 12 hour shift, having a couple of beers in the crew bar, then driving to Bangkok, seeing all these amazing fruit and vegetables, having a super coffee, we walked around a little longer and then at around 6 am went back to the ship in Pattaya. We had one more stop for a great breakfast consisting of Tom Yum and more, and then around 9 AM we were back, quick shower and starting another days work.........having an experience we all will never forget

Philippine Street Food Fishballs

I read a short while ago in the "Lonely Planet" travel guide about Philippines that Street Food in Philippines is not as big as in other countries in Asia and that even so one can get Street Food, it is maybe good enough for a Merienda........I could not dis agree more. I like the "Lonely Planet" guides a lot, they are really down to earth and give a lot of information, but when it comes to Street Food, they are simply wrong.

Here in Philippines food is so important and is eaten every where, especially on the streets. There are stands everywhere, especially around bus stations and even so one shop is maybe not preparing a whole meal, one goes from shop to shop and has enough to feed a whole family or as we like to say in our home, enough to feed the whole Banrangay!

Where we live there are street vendors going around from early morning all the way to late at night selling everything from home made soy, that is usually served hot with a slightly bitter caramel, to Spaghetti, Pancit, Ice Cream and Fish Balls. Believe me, this is absolutely normal. We live in a bit of a rural area....no not that rural that we are somewhere in the mountains, but we are not in a city and one it is not possible to eat all that is offered during the day, just passing by the house.

Last time I elaborated the quail eggs I love so much, this time we talk about fish balls, these are really yummy and are often sold with squid as well.

Recipe
500 g Flaked Fish
125 g Flour
50 ml Milk
50 g Spring Onions
10 g Chilies, chopped

Sugar
Soy Sauce
Vinegar

Method
For the fish balls mix all the ingredients well in a bowl till you have a sticky mix
Then let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour
Form balls, flatten a little and then boil in water
Before serving either deep fry them quickly or shallow fry in oil

The balls are always served on bamboo skewers

For the sauce, just mix the ingredients together

 In Philippines it is possible to buy already the fish and squid balls, they are widely available in supermarkets in the frozen section.

Swiss National day

I am currently in Switzerland.....and having a great time as the weather is absolutely beautiful. The sun is shining and the temperatures are high, always around 32 C which is hot for Switzerland. Summer is always great here, the public pool is great, especially in the morning and then of course the is the Swiss National Day.

I have to admit that I did not go to the festivities for at least 20 years, not because I didn't want, but because I was never in Switzerland at that time, so being here now it is simply a must to go and it was exactly as I expected it.

Usually there is a place at a forest with loads of benches where one meets, there is usually one of the clubs running the restaurant so one just sits down where ever there is space and then gets what one needs. The most important part the sausage. You take either grilled Brat Wurst" or a "Servelat"with a piece of bread, best with a local beer. I will write another blog about some really interesting and nice beers I tasted.

In Switzerland to eat a Cervelat with bread is like a national dish, it gets eaten every where, especially if one goes to sports events. We have it down to a fine art to have in one hand the hot sausage and the bread and in the other hand the drink, the challenge is not to burn the hand on the freshly grilled sausage.....yes we Swiss are strange sometimes!

Let me tell you a bit more about the cervelat. According to Wikipedia it is described as following: 

For the first time in 1552 this spelling appears in Rabelais . She goes back to the Milanese dialect word zervelada and the resulting Italian cervelato. In Switzerland 160 million annually cervelats be produced, so the average Swiss eats 21 cervelats per year.

The sausage mixture consists of approximately equal parts beef , pork , back fat / ground rind and ice and spices and pickling salt. There are no more offal are processed for cervelat. The ingredients are in boats crushed into natural casings filled (imported, mostly Brazilian), smoked for about one hour at 65 to 70 ° C first and then scalded at 75 ° C in a water bath or in the cooking cabinet.

Anyway, back to the festivities. During the evening the local music club is playing, then of course there are speeches, usually by politicians but this time it was a bit different, actually very nice as it was not always the same political bladibla one hears all the times, then of course we all got up to sing the national anthem....hehehe, it was printed everywhere because the majority of Swiss can't remember the words, yes me included. Then we all got a slice of cake for the 750 year birthday of Seuzach, our home town and then finally, the fire works, the thing we were all waiting for and waited for long as it only started around 1030 PM as it needs to be dark, makes sense I guess....just after the first big bout of fireworks everything stopped for a long time....guess there were some problems in the back

But overall it was a great evening, nice to be back here for this special event, it was worth coming here and having a good time

Exploring Ghana: Makola Market

We had a really interesting outing, we went to Makola. Makola is a part of Accra one cannot miss because it is basically the city centre and it is one huge market. It is so big one easily can loose direction, especially when going into the small alleys.

We went on the busiest day of the week, Saturday, and the roads were packed. There are people everywhere and goods are so far into the road that it is difficult for cars to pass. Sometimes everything comes to a complete stand and nothing is moving. Then one hears people shouting at each other....of course I have no idea what they say, but for sure it is not just positive encouragement.....and then it starts moving again.

Being a chef my eyes are always open to see new foods....not necessarily that I would try them as I am not hosting some fancy TV show eating all sorts of strange foods, but I love to make photos and then ask how everything is eaten.

The guy with his Kebab stand was not impressed that I photographed him, but did not buy a kebab....the whole stand just did not invite me to eat and I just had a lovely breakfast. Later talking to the staff in the hotel they all know the guy as the kebab man.....he seems to have his stand there since ages.

Then something really strange came. A lady carrying cow feet on her head. These were huge cow feet and of course I had to find out what is done with them. They are actually dried and then are used to make soups or stews......lovely, kids tonight mommy cooked your favorite, cow feet soup.....just imagine. But Stephen, my friend at the hotel, his eyes lit up when he talked about cow feet, he loves them.

Then there was a lady selling pies, not cooked the traditional way in the oven, no, just simply deep fried. Heavy food, so here as well I gave it a skip.

The normal transportation mode is carrying everything on the head. Sometimes this must get very heavy, but there is no other way to be able to transport so many nappies all at once. It is amazing to see the ladies here in Ghana how everything is carried on the head. When one stops at a red light there are many sellers going from car to car and everything is carried on the head. Try doing that for a full day!

We must have spent close to 2 hours on the market, there is everything for sale, from tooth paste to shoes, perfume, food, sweets.....and of course cow feet. The prices are a lot cheaper than in the normal shops, the tooth paste we bought was a third of the normal price, so was about everything else.

Is it safe?

Generally I think so, but of course it is like everywhere else, one has to be careful and don't flash your money and jewellery. I made the photos with my phone so I don't have to carry my big camera. Sometimes when one goes into the small alley it can get a bit scary, but after all the time we spent there, I had absolutely no hassles. Of course everybody calls you and tries to get you to their shop, being a white man I heard Obruni all the time, the word for us pale faces here in Ghana. The people do this Gssssss, Gssssss! This is only to draw your attention. It is done everywhere, even in restaurants if you need something, so don't be offended by it.

It was a great outing and surely not the last time that we go to Makola. It is a hustling and bustling place, just simply amazing to see.

Philippine Street Food: Qwek Qwek

Now I finally have time to write a bit about some past experiences when I was in Philippines before I came to Ghana. I love the street food available and we eat a lot of it. It looks like in Philippines everything is around eating. One doesn't just have 3 meals a day, no the day starts with a cooked breakfast, either noodles or Tocino with Garlic Rice or anything else and then it just continues during the day till one goes to sleep again.

Every time when we are in MOA (Mall of Asia for the ones who have not been in Philippines) we go to the street food stands at the taxi station and eat something. Then sometimes we actually go to the other stands and either eat some more or buy something to take home....but more about that in another Blog.

This time I would like to tell you a bit more about Qwek Qwek. Which is quail eggs. They are usually boiled, peeled and then put in a batter and deep fried. They are then served in a take away cup and some sweet chili vinegar is poured on it. It is just delicious and there is not one time I can walk past this shop without buying a portion.

But of course the shop would not be complete without selling quails as well. The quails are actually one day old chicks which have been marinated and deep fried. They are usually eaten whole and are delicious too......just not for everybody as they are truly the whole chicks....... so if you are not so adventurous, just stick with the eggs, they are crispy on the outside, smooth on the inside and the vinegar mix just gives this extra pep that makes them so unique and delicious.

Philippines Part one, eating Balot!!!

I have arrived in the Philippines and will stay here for three weeks, so the perfect opportunity to tell you a bit about a country I haven’t been to yet. I have already been in 55 countries but this Paradise of over 7000 Islands with 70 languages has still escaped, so it is about time to come here.

During most of the travels here in Philippines we will take the traditional methods of Tricycle, Jeepney and bus, but a friend of my girl friend organized us a van, so it is easier with the entire luggage to travel. It is hot here, around 31⁰ C so it is nice to have the luxury to have a van.

We are living about 2 hours outside Manila, a bit in the mountains towards Tagaytay. So it is not as hot as in town. Manila is actually several cities which grew together so it is a huge city, always congested with traffic and of course very polluted. Being out here in Silang, Cavite is lovely, fresh air, less traffic, it just takes a long time if one needs to get into Manila, the longest was nearly 4 hours with heavy traffic.

I know there was again a little time space between the blogs, but I was busy being on holiday and instead of writing I just simply enjoyed the beauty of the country I am in

I don’t know why, but here in the Philippines it is all about eating, food and markets. Everybody has a little stand selling something, being it sweets, savouries, drinks or anything one needs. My first experience here with traditional foods is that we had Balot.

Balot is a delicacy that again could come from Andrew Zimmern’s strange foods. It is duck eggs where the baby duck is already in, very small still, but one can see it. I had a lot of strange foods in my life, but this is one of the most difficult ones to eat, just thinking about the baby duck. The eggs are cooked and eaten hot.. One opens the egg a little bit, sprinkles a bit salt on it and then drinks the juice. It is a clear juice tasting of....eggs!

Then one takes the rest of the shell away, there is a hard white part which is not eaten, then the egg yolk and the chicken. I left the chicken and ate everything else. It strangely tastes nice, just very eggy. So that was my first experience with Balot. Would I eat it again? Yes I would, just not too often.

Singapore

I love Singapore, I think everything is about food in this City and everybody is eating all the times. I was meeting up with an old friend of mine, Sam. We worked together a couple of years ago and it is just nice to meet up again after all these years and chat a bit.

I arrived a day before joining the ship and had a whole day to spend here, what a treat. We met just before lunch and went to one of the many food courts in the city. We opted to have some Thai and Singaporean food and had some sweet chili soft shell crabs (middle) some chicken in black bean sauce and a chicken rice with black olives (bottom). Chicken Rice is typically Singaporean, but with the black olives it gave a bit of a Fusion feel to it. The chili sauce served with it was lovely hot and very fragrant!

After a visit to the "Flyer", a huge turning wheel we had some Thai Iced Tea to cool down a bit. The "Flyer" is a must when in Singapore, one has a great view over town and learns a lot about the history and buildings. At the moment there are two huge Casinos being built, luxury accommodation on Sentosa Island and a new Cruise Ship Terminal, to accommodate the new super liners.

Dinner was then in the hotel, a simple buffet but with some interesting food on it. I had some Honeyed Chicken, Satay, an extremely spicy fish wrapped in banana leaves, man was that hot, I thought my brain would go up in flames!

For dessert I had some Asian Sweets, Agar Jellies, Coconut Jellies and that red thing looking like a Ravioli was a rice dough filled with sweet Peanuts, strange but nice.




Singapore has something for every food lover, I think there is food from every corner of the world available!