"Deliberately grounded on a tiny reef in the #SouthChinaSea, part of an island chain claimed by the two Asian countries, the #BRPSierraMadre is now the unlikely base for a detachment of Filipino marines who stand guard over the atoll, scanning the turquoise waters for Chinese ships." #AyunginShoal#SecondThomasShoal#Philippines
Just great, first the super typhoon and now this 😔 And that is NOT a "slight increase".
"#Phivolcs also observed a slight increase in #SulfurDioxide emissions in the past two weeks. From an average of less than 3,000 tons per day between April 1 and May 21, the average rose to 5,360 tons per day between May 22 and June 1." #Philippines#Volcanoes
During a visit to a marketplace, looking for local delicacies, I chanced upon this. The translation app said it's "crispy rice crust" , and in the #Philippines , these are never commercially sold, and are the unwanted (?) by-product of cooking rice on a stove.
This weekend I learned that the bibingka I grew up eating may be different from Luzon bibingka. I tried making it following Panlasang Pinoy’s recipe, and while it’s good, it’s not the bibingka of my childhood
I did not like Arizona Brandy that much in Meet the Queens. But goddamn!! She's the star of this episode. She stole every scene she was in. Almost feels like they are already setting her up to win.
I get the hype for M1ss Jade So now.
Matilduh... such a beautiful man. Boyfriend material 😆
Katkat is exactly what the stories around her tell. I don't like her one bit.
From 2010 to 2017, there was a thing called #AseanCitizen that we Aseans started as a grassroots movement. We were all bloggers from across, well, #ASEAN or South-East Asia.
Some of us joined together to produce one of the best multi-authored regional blogs. We talked about our cultures, write about what makes the region awesome. As well as, try to address the oftentimes silly and sometimes heated debates.
It's all gone now. Forgotten. The blogs dead or offline. We all grew up, got busy with our personal lives, and moved on separately. And the important reason? We lost interest in it as we started to see ASEAN was, is, and will never be for the grassroots.
That was the end of what was once a vibrant grassroot ASEAN Citizens effort. We did it all voluntarily. Without a single recognition from the top-down organisation that is ASEAN.
But today? ASEAN is still a top-down organisation. They kept trying to get the grassroots involved, but they are always failing. Why? Because it is a top-down organisation, as simple as that. They will never understand until they shift their mindset and approach to bottom-up.
(P.S I want to restart this grassroots movement, but I just no longer have the spark. Give me a very good reason why I should give it another chance. Or, at least, guide the new generation.)
#TodayILearned that the delicious Mexican fruit sauce #Chamoy probably derives its name and recipe from the #Philippines’ “kiamoy”, which is a fruit sauce made with the same recipe. That recipe was in turn derived from a #Hokkien#Chinese recipe brought by Chinese immigrants, who called it 鹹梅 “kiam-mui” (literally: salted plums).
As a Hokkien descendant who loves #Mexican#fruit salads, this makes me happy.
I honestly do not understand why lato-lato (clackers) is viral here in #ASEAN.
Did some young generation kid re-discover our old #toy? 😅
I mean, I'm thankful the younger generations are playing our old games and toys. But at the same time, I'm curious how it was re-discovered and how the new craze started.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the landfall of #TyphoonYolanda 🌀, also known as #Haiyan, in the #Philippines 🇵🇭. This devastating event had a lasting impact in my country and is still the deadliest typhoon in the 21st century having killed over 6300 people.
For the #OpenStreetMap Philippines community in particular, the typhoon radically transformed what it means to volunteer our time, effort, and resources to map and provide freely accessible geographic data.
I learned this week that there are prepaid SIM numbers that are not showing up in their database hence there is no need to SIM reg.
What is interesting is that, these SIM numbers also doesn't expire. You can use it regularly for SMS and calls, load it, some even have unlimited data (enable a low-tier Internet data and it becomes unlimited).
Here's the kicker, there are people who are looking for these numbers and will buy it for a very high premium. Though I'm suspecting these are from the mobile operators because they are hunting these numbers so they can disable it.
Don't really know much about chocolates, but I ended up researching the best #Filipino-made chocolates because we needed to find something good to give relatives for our #Christmas party. Tigre y Oliva was on that list, and their #bonbons were in the range of our budget, so we purchased some. They're really good. 👌
Also, I didn't know there's a growing number of local artisanal chocolate brands now. If we can make chocolates this good, it's an industry that needs more support. #Philippines
That KathNiel issue needs to die, it's getting boring seeing all these obsessed fans praise a man, who they were accusing days ago of cheating with a girl years younger than him, just because he gave his ex a coat at an awards show.
And somehow, the attacks on the woman they were alleging the man cheated with is still ongoing on every social media platform. #Philippines
#Rappler, a #news organization in the #Philippines, has set up a community for their readers based on #matrix. Neat to see that happen in the more or less mainstream. Maybe I'll give Matrix another look. I've wanted to use it but never had a use case. #matrixchat
Decided to try dishes from cuisines not very accessible in Manila, namely from #LaoPDR and #Myanmar.
Left: Ping Gai (grilled chicken), Tam Mak Hoong (papaya salad), and sticky rice. Unlike the Thai version, the Lao PDR version has no peanuts.
Right: Myanmar's Mohinga, a very satisfying rice noodle in fish soup dish. Contains shallots, lemongrass, chickpea flour, garlic, ginger, banana stems, and boiled eggs. (I need to learn how to make this!!!)
Americanos are pissed that they can't have bananas year round if #degrowth/ #communism/ #anarchy happens. Banana availability has its roots in imperialism, destructive monocropping, and grueling agricultural labor/slavery.
We literally have a word for client states of #imperialism for the export of bananas: banana republic. Banana imports to the West is drenched in the blood of thousands massacred for your God damn commodities. In the #Philippines, companies told this instruction to banana worker syndicalists: “turn them into fertilizers for the bananas.”
On top of that is the steep ecological and carbon costs to actually shipping the damn things. Do you really need bananas year round?
There's also the problem of monocropping which destroys the biodiversity of forests to make way for plantations, even if we discount the slave labor. Monocropping has made Cavendish plantations at high risk of diseases. It could very well be that Cavendishes would become an endangered species just like the Gros Michel after nature erases its scourge. Maybe the extinction of the Cavendish is already a matter of time, rendering banana disocorse moot.
Americanos just don't understand that in a liberated world, maybe people won't be breaking their backs for some Americano to get their god damn banana. Of course degrowth/communism/anarchism means that relations to luxuries will change.
Besides, Cavendishes suck. They literally taste terrible. Y'all seriously live like this? Lakatan, Señorita, and Sabah tastes way better. Yeah, they can't be exported, boohoo. Not everything has to be a commodity, much less to please some Americano half a world away.
Parched farms, cancelled classes: Extreme heat scorches South-East Asia
"Due to the unbearable heat, the [#Philippines'] Department of Education has allowed #schools to either hold remote lessons or cancel classes altogether.
The country is also in the process of shifting back to a June to March academic calendar, following complaints among students and teachers over holding classes during the peak summer season."