Dinner at Mandarin Tea Garden with Siblings and Hubby

My twin and my other siblings came over here in the city of Davao. My twin wanted to buy laptop, a digital camera and cellphone. She wanted hubby to accompany her with buying the laptop because hubby is a computer engineer and he knows about computer specifications and he already researched which brand is good.

After buying everything she wants to buy, she treat us with a dinner at Mandarin Tea Garden. We ordered supreme siomai which I did not eat because I have an allergy with shrimps. We also ordered pancit guisado, beef ampalaya, beef steak and fish fillet. I was the one who consumed almost all the fish fillet. It's very delicious and guilt-free because I know it's not gonna trigger neither me nor my daughter's allergy plus the fact that it's not laden with so much cholesterol.

We also ordered durian shake, my favorite. My niece had her four season juice and fresh fruit salad. Having able to bond with my siblings is a good feeling especially when we are feasting yummy foods in front of us:).

Sharing to you some photos:

me and my siblings

hubby with my siblings...beside hubby is tata, weng(my twin), orville (my only brod), langging (our youngest) and Mahal(my niece, weng's daughter)

durian shake

four seasons juice

beef steak

beef ampalaya

pancit guisado

fish fillet

fresh fruit salad with dressing

supreme siomai

Abundance of Sineguelas

Sineguelas fruit (aka Spanish plum) brings back a lot of childhood memories in me. I was about 5-12 years old, when my twin, me and my cousins would play in our grandparent's ancestral house in the province and we would climb up to fruit bearing trees in the backyard, one of those is the Seneguelas. Summertime is always fun for kids and what better way to spend summer aside from playing under the sun, flying kites , swimming to the beach is also eating fruits from whatever is available in the backyard:).

Nowadays, seneguelas is in abundance in Bankerohan Public Market here in Davao City. I bought half kilo at first and when me and hubby ate it while watching TV, our little girl loves it too so every time I buy seneguelas, it has to be a kilo. We enjoy it while there are plenty because it usually ceases to be available in the market when the summertime ends.

Few lanzones fruit this year

I have been waiting for the lanzones fruit to drop down its price to around Php20-30.00/kilo this year but it never goes down. Maybe because of its few production this year. A Php40.00 - 60.00 per kilo of lanzones is just too pricey for me. Hopefully there will be more lanzones next year to satisfy my cravings.LOL

The lanzoness fruit is covered by yellowish, thick,leathery skin. Underneath the skin, the fruit isdivided into five or six slices of translucent, juicy flesh. The flesh is slightly acidic i ntaste, although ripe specimens are sweeter. Green seeds are present around half of the segments, usually taking up a small portion of the segment although some seeds take up the entire segment's volume. In contrast with the sweet - sour flavor of the fruit's flesh, the seeds are extremely bitter. The sweet juicy flesh contains sucrose, fructose, and glucose.

Yummy Pomelo!

Image via Wikipedia

I have a problem with my daughter's bowel movement because she does not poop regularly. Her pediatrician advised us to feed her fruits that are fibrous such as pomelo. So yesterday, I went to Bankerohan Public Market to look for sweet Chinese pomelo. I was really happy that this time its price is back to its original usual price which is Php30.00 per kilo because during the Kadayawan festival it reached as high as Php80.00 - 100.00 per kilo maybe because of its high demand during that time.

Pomelo is a citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe with sweet white, pink or red flesh and very thick spongy rind. It is the largest citrus fruit.

Davao City is blessed with a nice climate that allows pomelo to grow really sweet. And Bankerohan, being the biggest market in Davao City has plenty of sweet pomelos. And for me, the best variety is the Chinese seedless pomelo - very sweet and juicy.

Durian Delight!

Image via Wikipedia

I'm a self confessed durian eater. I really craved durian. I don't eat durian before but when I have tasted a really sweet, creamy durian around 10 years ago, that's when I became a voracious durian eater. The name of its variety was Chanee which is becoming a rare variety now.

I'm very happy that nowadays, Durian in Davao City is in season again. You will know that its production is in peak because there are lots of display in the sidewalks of streets especially during 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon onwards.

Southeast Asian folk beliefs consider the durian fruit to have warming properties liable to cause excessive sweating. The traditional method to counteract this is to pour water into the empty shell of fruit after the pulp has been consumed and drink it. An alternative method is to eat the durian in accompaniment with mangosteen which is considered to have cooling properties. Durian is also believed to contain aphrodisiac properties. But pregnant women and people with high blood pressure are traditionally advised not to eat durian but my officemates who are durian addicts don't believe it.LOL