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Want to restore a 40-year-old decoration to its former glory? Try these simple, safe cleaning tricks that won’t damage the finish.

Have you ever seen a decoration your parents kept, carrying it with them from another country or a previous marriage? Carmina realized that parents often hold onto items they've purchased in the past. While browsing Greenhill's shopping center, she stepped into  Mystic Gems by Bensani and saw so many nostalgic items that reminded her of growing up.  I pointed out to Mom Violy that she had a similar crystal tree decoration at home. She said it was forty years old and already dirty. The saleslady explained it could be cleaned easily with soap and water. Carmina decided to take Mom Violy home and bring the crystal tree decoration with her. Mom Violy questioned why she was taking it, and I said I would clean it and return it.  I noticed Mom Violy had placed planting seeds inside the decoration, for reasons I didn’t understand. Before cleaning it, I checked online to see what was needed, knowing its value. I placed a towel underneath, prepared a plastic container with dishwas...

Exotic Street Food and Merienda in the Philippines

In the Philippines people eat merienda (snack) and buy food from the street. There are vendors on the street all sorts of food to choose from. Everything is all cash basis. The common street food in the Philippines are the following:

Prito (Fried) Merienda (Snack):
  • Turon (banana lumpia with jack fruit)
  • Banana Cue (banana cooked in brown sugar)
  • Kamote Cue (sweet potato cooked in brown sugar)
  • Maruya (banana fritters)
  • Fish Ball 
  • Squid Ball
  • Kikiam (mixed pork and shrimp wrapped in bean cured)
  • Probem (chicken proventriculus) 
  • Kwek Kwek (duck egg) 
  • Chicken Empanda
  • Beef Empanda 
Inhaw (Grilled) Merienda (Snack):
  • Pork Barbecue on a stick
  • Isaw (chicken intestine) on a stick
  • Betamax (dried pork or chicken blood) on a stick
  • Adidas (chicken feet) on a stick
  • Helmet (chicken head) on a stick
  • Pig skin on a stick

Other Merienda are bought in a Filipino restaurant or cooked at home:

Sabaw (Soup):
  • Sopas (chicken noodle soup)
  • Mami (noodle soup) eaten with asado (pork bun) or bola bola sipao (pork bun with hard boiled egg)
  • Goto Lugaw (rice porridge cooked with ginger and beef tripe)
  • Arroz Caldo (rice porridge cooked with ginger and chicken)
Pancit (Noodles):
  • Spaghetti
  • Pancit Bihon
  • Palabok
  • Carbonara
  • Pancit Canton
Dare to try and explore:
  • Dinuguan (diced pork, pork blood cooked with spices) served with puto
  • Sisig (pig head with chicken liver season with calamansi, cooked with onion and chili pepper)
Fresh Fruits:
  • Fresh buko (coconut) drink with a straw
  • Pakwan (watermelon)
  • Pina (pineapple)
  • Manggang Hilaw (unripe green mango with bagoong (shrimp paste) or salt)
Dessert:
  • Bibingka (baked rice cake with salted egg in butter, shredded coconut and sugar)
  • Puto Bumbong (purple rice cake dip in brown sugar and shredded coconut)
  • Cheese Puto (steam rice cake with cheese on top)
  • Pandan Puto (steam rice cake with pandan flavoring)
  • Ube Puto (steam rice cake with purple yam flavoring)
  • Pilataw (steam glutinous rice coated with sugar, sesame seed and shredded coconut)
  • Ginatan (cooked in gata (coconut milk), glutinous rice balls, purple kamote (yam), saba (banana), langka (jack fruit) and sago balls (tapioca).
  • Ensaymada (bread baked in butter, sugar and grated cheese) 
  • Taho (cured tofu top with brown sugar and sago (tapioca)
  • Champorado (sweet rice cooked with chocolate, gata (coconut milk) served with fried tuyo (fish)
  • Ginataang Mais (sweet gulintious and corn)
  • Ginataang Munggo (mung bean rice pudding)
  • Suman (wrapped in banana leaf with glulintious rice with coconut and sugar)
  • Biko (sweet sticky rice cooked in gata (coconut milk and sugar) served with latik (coconut jam)
  • Halo Halo (shaved ice topped with ice cream, sweet beans, langka (jack fruit) sweeten banana, ube halayan (purple yam), nata de coco, garbanzo beans, macapuno (sweeten shredded coconut), sago (tapioca), gulaman (jello), leche flan (custard) and evaporated milk
  • Sorbetes (dirty ice cream sold in a cart outside in the street)
Sandwich:
  • Chicken Spread in tasty bread
  • Pimento Spread in tasty bread
  • Club Sandwich











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