Batanes Diary 7. Eating Our Way Around Batanes

Do not expect gourmet-anything in Batanes. No fancy frappes and smoothies either. If you're a coffee connoisseur, bring your own beans because chances are, "cappuccino" in 3-in-1 sachets are the best you can find in Basco. Curb your burger and chip cravings..no sign of the golden arches there, not even Jollibee or Minute Burger. 

What Batanes has is plenty of seafood -dried and fresh, vegetables-dried and fresh, organic, home-grown or wild.

Like these wild mountain ferns that we asked the staff of a small canteen to cook for us the way they'd cook it in their homes - they boiled some meaty pork bones and added these ferns just before serving.  Yum.

There is not much choice of foodstuff around Batanes. The locals make do with what is in the market everyday, or what they have in store, so the rule is, what you see is what you get. Most of the basics like pork, chicken and vegetables come from the mainland (Manila or Tuguegarao). 

A lot of fish is dried and stored for the rainy season. We saw this man in his front yard preparing the day's catch of dibang (flying fish) for drying.

We saw fish drying from clothes hangers..

..from wires strung between houses

..and even from street signs!

Other types of seafood are plentiful, although these days, the prime ones are reserved for tourists, like this huge rock lobster accompanied by smaller slipper and rock lobsters.

The Ivatans like turmeric, and they slice and dry them on the streets...

..then pound them into powder which they add to rice to make the elegantly-hued Ivatan rice

The freshest ingredients are cooked very simply. Here are some of the dishes we had:

Mountain snails cooked in light coconut milk and wild ferns - this was really yummy!

Uvud balls. Our guide told us these are made with  ground pork mixed with the root portion of banana plants. They are cooked in a slightly salty broth. 

A whole parrot fish steamed with soysauce and ginger

Coconut crab, a Batanes delicacy which we later found out is already on the endangered list! Sad. And no one seems to be in charge of controlling the catching of these. 

Beautiful large onion shoots and flowers which were stir-fried - this was one of our favorites!

 Here's what a  typical food store in Basco looks like

No hypermarts here

But they offer to cook the goat meat for you!

ou

Three beautiful words sum up typical Batanes food - fresh, organic and healthy!

"Make voyages. Attempt them. There's nothing else." - Tennessee Williams

Our Group's Travel Rules 101 - 5. Leave Your Comfort Zone (But Bring Along Your Creature Comforts)

Or, How To Make Sure We're Still Talking To Each Other At the End of the Trip - 5

We travel to get away from it all. Well, not quite. Travel always takes us away from our comfort zone no matter how luxurious our hotel/resort accommodations may be. It may be the Four Seasons, but it just isn't home. A little unsettling may occur along the way. If we're in a tiny hostel, or in a remote island, the unsettling may be major.

Some people embrace new situations with wild abandon, immersing themselves in the environment as if they had lived there in their past life, while some are able to sleep in a hotel room only by their third night there. 

Our group believes that part of the thrill and learning that occurs whenever we travel is brought about by this new-ness, the change, and the difference from our accustomed lifestyle, and how we cope with it. Not that we've waxed philosophical about it; we just know better than to leave home without some creature comforts. 

All of us are creatures of habit in some way, so there's certainly nothing wrong with bringing along a few creature comforts. If you want your coffee as soon as you wake up at 6 and the hotel does not start serving until 7am, then you'd be a lot happier if you bring along a handy electric water heater and sachets of instant coffee, like Mats does. 

Or, if you insist on eating your breakfast eggs with tomato catsup and nothing but, just tuck a foil pack of catsup in your bag, as Nancy does. Trust us, so many places in the Philippines stock banana catsup only.

 http://www.bunzlcatering.co.uk/bcs_webstore/p/288584039289152/A00839/

Tomato+Ketchup+Sachets+10g

If you're like Millet who likes to read in bed before sleeping, bring along a small reading light (the type that you clip on to a book or e-reader) that can also act as a flashlight. Not all hotel rooms have reading lamps and side tables. 

Some people, like Tony, want an extra pillow, and this may be hard to come by in budget hotels, so the best thing to do is to bring along a small pillow or neck pillow. It works for the head, back, butt, legs and..oh yes, the neck.

Scared of cooties in hotel towels? Get one of those microfiber bath towels that sell for P100 each at SM; they're very light but absorbent.

Scared of cooties in hotel sheets? Or roughing it up and not sure if there's privacy in the beach/forest/tent? Bring along a malong/sarong so you can cover up. 

Photo from http://pinoy-culture.tumblr.com/post/34332784469/asean2015-

\asean-community-malong-philippines

Not sure if the hostel/dorm has hot water in the showers? Bring along a portable water heater and ask the hotel for a pail and dipper. 

Bring all chargers for phone, camera, tablet, and such. Check beforehand not just the voltage output (110 or220 volts) in use in your destination, but also the type of electrical outlets used. Some Asian countries, for example, use a three-hole outlet, so you will need to bring a 3-pronged outlet adaptor like this for your electricals:

All this stuff is lightweight and don't make a dent on our 7-kilo carry-on baggage allowance, but they certainly pack a punch in terms of making for happier trips. 

We have another secret stash of creature comforts. After a day of "feeling-like-20" trekking and exploring, nothing soothes "so-feeling-like-55"  tired muscles like a  rubdown using any of our group's preferred "perfume of the night" (all kinds of liniments and salves). Take your pick!

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone". - Unknown

Our Group Travel Rules 101-4. Find the Positive in Negative Situations (Or, Sometimes the Unexpected Is More Fun )

Or, How To Make Sure We're Still Talking To Each Other At the End of the Trip - 4

Anything can happen on a trip..or not happen. We arrived in Cebu from Hongkong at 2am and found out when we tried to check in that the desk clerk of the hotel had mistakenly booked us for the following day. We had made a 50% deposit before leaving for HK but there she was, telling us they had only two rooms available for the twelve of us, and admitting that she had entered our reservation for the wrong day. 

Twelve tired and sleepy people slumped on the lobby, clueless desk clerk, only two rooms available..what to do?  Have a sleepover! We requested the hotel to provide mattresses for everyone, and decided to put all the girls in one room, and the boys in another - 6 girls in one room (2 on the bed and the rest on mattresses on the floor), and the same arrangement for the six guys in the other  room. We did not have the time and energy to argue with the clerk then (what happened the next day is best reserved for another story), and this did not turn out to be exactly more fun, but at least we got our sleep on proper mattresses. 

On another trip, we decided to fly from Davao to Clark, with plans of taking the bus from Clark to Manila. When the day of the trip came, there was a typhoon affecting the whole of Luzon, and the entire Metro Manila was flooded including the expressway from Clark. So we decided to go to Baguio instead, because we love the cold and we love Baguio in sunshine or in rain, and because in Baguio, we could stay in the terrace and just watch the rain and the pine trees, and still feel good. So we took the bus, got there in five hours, got ourselves in a cozy hotel, and met up with a dear friend, Flo.... 

..who took no time bringing us to activities indoors like bowling, and lots of eating. At other times, we simply had coffee and each other's stories and never-ending laughter. 

And one day, Flo decided to bring us down to La Union (an hour's drive away) for some sunshine, and brought us to the beautiful Thunderbird Resort.

Who would have thought that just a five-hour drive away, Manila was swimming in floodwaters?

On another trip, a road trip in Davao City this time, we had a flat tire that took much longer than usual to fix. 

So while waiting for the tire to be fixed, we decided to walk around the neighborhood, and made many interesting discoveries in the process. 

We found this neighborhood basketball court totally handmade of bamboo, for instance

And a saddle made of wood,rattan and abaca fiber...

And still another time, we were booked for the Underground River Tour in Palawan at 12 noon, but we arrived in Sabang (the takeoff point) at 10 am. We did not want to spend two hours in the hot pier waiting for our turn to board the boats, so when the van driver asked us if we wanted to go caving, we jumped at the chance..even if we were all wearing flipflops. The cave guides assured us that we would be fine.

So we climbed...

..and squeezed our way amongst the boulders..

...and ziplined our way out of the caves and over rice fields..

..and had the time of our lives. And this was even before we had glimpsed the underground river, our original destination!

Sometimes, you just have to make serendipity happen.

"If at some point you have not asked yourself, 'What have I gotten myself into?', then you're not doing it right." - Roland Gau

Our Group's Travel Rules 101-1-We buy budget flights/promo tickets

Or, How To Make Sure We're Still Talking To One Another At The End Of the Trip - 1


We buy budget flights/promo tickets only 

Nancy and Tony have designated themselves as the promo-watchers and ticket purchasers, and they have it down to an exact science. They can predict 90% of the time the dates when Cebu Pacific offers its "Piso Sale" (P1.00 seats), know whether PAL's promo is better than CEB's, and know how and where to pay for the tickets. We pay in cash whenever possible, and we understand, albeit grudgingly, the statute of limitations of promo tickets - non-refundable, non-transferable, etc., etc. 

Since promo flights are usually booked months ahead of the flight date, if something comes up by flight date and some of us are unable to make the trip we do not fret, but only a little; after all, foregoing a P1,200. roundtrip ticket to Manila is much less painful than giving up a P7,000 ticket, right?

Some tips for booking online:

a) The airline websites may be  swamped by too many people trying to book flights during seat sales, so you just need to keep trying. Sometimes you may need to refresh your browser. The best time to book flights used to be between midnight and 2am, but I guess everyone got wind of that so everyone's logged on at that time. ;- (  I used to panic whenever I heard my cellphone go off after midnight, anticipating news of an emergency, but these days, the text message at 3 am is usually, "BFFs, we're booked to_____ on ____".

b)  If you're booking for a group, have a list of everyone's complete names, birthdates and addresses in front of you. Some websites save your details so it's easier to fill in the forms the next time you book online.  Check and double-check your entries.

c)  Some airline websites are tricky in the sense that you may be unaware that you're paying for add-ons like seat selection, meals, flight insurance, etc. Make sure you un-check those boxes and those seats. It takes more effort, but that difference could cost you as much as P1,000. each if ignored.  Make sure you review the details of your total fare, especially the "Add-Ons". 

d)  And because they're promo flights, we bring along our own sandwiches, chips, blankets, pillows, and even water. and we don't mind the 2 am flight schedules. Of course we still expect courtesy, comfort and basic amenities, but that is another story for another day. 

"You don't have to be rich to travel well." - Eugene Fodor