Hornbill

Coming back from the beach, I was surprised to see this hornbill. Hornbills are not common here, in fact, I didn't know what it was called until I googled it.



The background is Imelda Marcos' family masoleum.

Farm animals: Pretty carabao

A garlanded carabao. This is how he did it. Played around in the mud, and went under the weeds and voila!



That's when it came after me..

Farm animals: Chicken acrobat

Practicing for the audition at cirque du soleil.

Farm animals: Mama balut

Ever tasted 'balut'? That embryo-like egg that's not even a delicacy in the Philippines but an everyday energy food for everyone? Those eggs come from this unsuspecting duck specie.

Roasted chicken

Really tastes like chicken. Roasted chickens are more in demand in Tacloban than lechon manok. They do taste better.

Tastes like chicken

Um.. frogs. We eat them here in Leyte, mostly as sumsuman (pulutan). Best cooked with gata, or just fried. They're hard to come by, you can't find them in the market. They've to be caught fresh from ricefields and eaten immediately (after cooking of course). Can you imagine keeping frogs in your freezer???

Banisil

These shells are called 'banisil', commonly known as su-su. When I was a kid, my father made many explanations to make this sound delectable. He called it sup-sup (sucking sound), because you suck the meat out of the shell. I was never fooled. Best cooked with gata (coconut milk). Although I'll probably never know for sure.

Sea cucumber

These are sea cucumbers, the rubbery gelatinous meat you sometimes find in your chopseuy or mixed vegetables. The squirming worm-like sea creatures that are suspiciously called cucumbers.

Sea shells? Snails?

We eat them here.

From the pier

The view from Tacloban's pier. This is where the San Juanico strait ends.

Shrimp paste

Remember those shrimp pastes that some Asian recipes call for? That's what the guy is selling. They're all sizes, colors, type of fermenting, type of shrimp, etc.. Yes, there were flies flying about. I always wonder which is safer to buy, these ones or the bottled/packaged shrimp paste which you don't get to see how they're processed? Something to think about..