Category Archives: Local Stuff

Indigenous Vendor

Leave a comment Posted by on August 23, 2018

Matigsalug woman sells bracelets made from agsam (forest vine of fern family).

Advertisement
Davao del Sur, Local Stuff , , , , , , ,

Batya

Leave a comment Posted by on March 22, 2018

A laundry basin

Cebu, Local Stuff, Market , , ,

Soorya Matchbox

Leave a comment Posted by on June 9, 2016
image

Soorya matchbox

Local Stuff, Sri Lanka , , ,

K-Broom

Leave a comment Posted by on January 6, 2016
image

The native broom of Korea

Apparatus, Korea, Local Stuff , , , , ,

Public Soap Bar

Leave a comment Posted by on December 28, 2015

image

That blue soap bar on a stick that rotates when you use it for easy application is Korea’s unconventional idea of public soap. You’ll get used to it.

image

Korea, Local Stuff , , ,

Philippine Paper Cash Tickets

Leave a comment Posted by on December 18, 2015
image

Cash tickets for the entrance fee of Bulusan National Park, Sorsogon

image

I forgot where I got this. I guess from the NPC Nature's Park in Iligan City

image

Cash tickets for the entrance fee of Cotta Fort in Ozamiz. The fee is 5 pesos so the two-peso ticket was halved. Is that allowed?

Local Stuff, Pilipinas , , ,

Pagulong

Leave a comment Posted by on July 30, 2015

image

Pagulong is an outdoor play where you roll a piece of tyre using a stick from point A to point B as fast as you can while maintaining its upright position. Usually it’s a race among kids and Filipino kids used to play this a lot. Perhaps it’s still true in rural areas though I haven’t seen it nowadays in the barrio.

image

Under the rain I watched my little girl play pagulong alone using a discarded bicycle tyre

Local Stuff, Metro Manila , , , , ,

Popo Snack, etc.

Leave a comment Posted by on April 15, 2015
image

Yummy popo by the river, yummy popo everywhere

There are two packaged snacks that I would buy every time I’m in Malaysia – Popo Muruku Ikan and Hup Seng’s Cream Crackers. Other than as emergency carry snack when wandering around, I would buy these two just because I look forward to simply eat it – with pleasure.

image

Popo Muruku Ikan: A lentil based fish chips. I can’t even think right now of anything comparable to this

image

Hup Seng’s cream crackers on the left. I’d choose this over Ritz Crackers anytime

Food, Local Stuff, Malaysia, Packaging , , , , ,

Gula Melaka

Leave a comment Posted by on December 5, 2014

image

Gula melaka (translation: Melaka sugar) is the palm sugar of Malacca and used as sweetener for Peranakan desserts (e.g. kuih) and beverages. The crudeness of gula melaka reminds me of Philippine panocha, likewise a raw sugar in hemisphere form but extracted from sugarcane instead. Whereas the panocha’s hemisphere came to be because half coconut shells were used to solidify cane sugar, comparatively, the cylindrical shape of gula melaka was formed by solidifying palm sugar in bamboo tubes. Charmingly crude.

Food, Local Stuff, Malaysia, Market , , , , , , , ,

Siesta in Melaka

Leave a comment Posted by on November 25, 2014

image

Observation on everyday scenes is the most honest thing one can get from traveling. Whether it’s about sun drying clothes in poles or clothesline, or people reading in different manner in all sorts of places, or observations on siesta time of locals in public places.

image

Local Stuff, Malaysia , , , , ,

Walis Tingting

Leave a comment Posted by on August 20, 2014
image

Mundane life in the island

This old lady repetitively scrape each leaflet from its rib that came from a fallen dead coconut frond, then she’d set aside each stick on the ground for her to bind all of those together to form walis tingting.

image

A broom out of sticks aka walis tingting

Cebu, Local Stuff , , , , ,

Endemic Ordinance

Leave a comment Posted by on June 23, 2014
image

At the bottom, “(Drivers are responsible for violations of their passengers)”

Ifugao, Local Stuff, Signs , , , , , ,

Kulambo Nights

Leave a comment Posted by on June 15, 2014

image

Sleeping with kulambo (mosquito net) is a must for nights in the bukid, or mountain, or in any place surrounded by nature. More so if the dwelling is not screened.

image

No mosquitos in this mountain inn but moths, beetles, and other flying night critters that may bother one’s sleep

Ifugao, Local Stuff, Pinoy Way of Life , , , , ,

Balikutsa

Leave a comment Posted by on June 3, 2014

image

When I was young, I would suck this lump of solidified sugarcane juice like candy. But now, I like using this as sweetener for coffee whenever available, and I got that from the Ilocanos.

image

Looked simple but it’s very laborious to appear like that with all the repeated hand pulling (after the sugarcane juice was boiled and cooled), to make it white and solid but not stony. And then it has to be curled by hand.

Food, Local Stuff , , , ,

Tudung Dulang

Leave a comment Posted by on March 25, 2014
image

How beautiful this creation from dried dyed pandan leaves

It’s not a hat; it’s a dish cover. So colorful that it makes a pretty wall ornament as covering food to protect from flies isn’t a primary concern any longer. In the present times, screened houses render the usage of tudung dulang as somewhat obsolete.

image

The making of tudung dulang and other traditional crafts are encouraged (even if used as wall ornaments and bought as souvenirs) just so the tradition won’t disappear and thereby preserving the Bruneian Malay culture.

Art, Brunei Darussalam, Local Stuff, Tableware , , , , , , , ,

Bamboo Ventilation

Leave a comment Posted by on February 1, 2014

image

image

image

Local Stuff , , ,

Oleh-Oleh

Leave a comment Posted by on January 3, 2014

The concept of pasalubong isn’t unique to Filipinos. It’s an Indonesian habit too and one can’t fail to notice that at Yogyakarta airport from their baggages and even as I queued at Dunkin Donuts to buy 2 pieces for my kid. Locals would order several dozens but instead of having it boxed by dozens, each doughnut was placed in paper bag, that’s about 36 tiny paper bags for the guy in front of me. Presumably those were for his work colleagues in Jakarta or maybe for his relatives and friends in Surabaya or Bali. Wherever his destination may be, he was leaving Yogyakarta with his oleh-oleh in the form of hand-carried 36 paper bags of Dunkin Donuts.

A place for last minute oleh-oleh shopping such as bakpia in Yogyakarta airport.
image

Oleh-oleh pertains to food/beverage only, that’s the difference between the term oleh-oleh and pasalubong.
image

image

Food, Indonesia, Local Stuff , , , , , ,

Dry Goods

Leave a comment Posted by on November 26, 2013

image

Usually, I’m drawn to the dry goods section in a palengke particularly the native stuff. Though some of the old school containers and implements can still be found in some  supermarkets, yet I’d rather buy from these palengke folks.
image

image

Camarines Sur, Local Stuff, Market, Negros Occidental , , , , , ,

Sartin/Tason

Leave a comment Posted by on November 23, 2013
image

Coffee in old school enamelware mug commonly known as tason in Ilonggo

Local Stuff, Tableware , , , ,

Yaya’s Alupi

Leave a comment Posted by on November 10, 2013

How yaya cooked alupi (kamoteng kahoy suman).

image

Grate the cassava

image

Using a cloth squeeze the grated cassava dry then add brown sugar

image

Mix well the grated cassava and brown sugar

image

Next prime the banana leaf by putting each over live charcoal

image

Wrap the mixture in banana leaf

image

Boil in caldero

image

Presenting yaya's alupi

image

Food, Local Stuff , , , , , ,

← Older posts

%d bloggers like this: