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You cannot live here very long before realising that the media and/or government have a very negative attitude towards aliens. Read newspapers and they are full of headlines "Foreigner does this, foreigner does that", even if the behavior is very common among Filipinos. And I note that if a group of foreigners and Filipinos are caught doing something illegal, it is headlined "x foreigners and y Filipinos caught ...." when y is the greater number - the foreigners are mentioned first.

Perhaps some may think that is correct as we are guests here, but in many Western countries the headlines seem to favour immigrants against citizens.

 

Final update. Replaced my APC UPS 650 (325 watt modified sine wave inverter, 3 amp charger, with 9 Amp/hour battery) with a 1,000 watt pure sine wave inverter, 30 amp charger, and a 170 Amp/hour battery.



size comparison

 

Good Morning Shabbynomad70, Thank you for your kind and honest review.

My wife arrived shortly after you left and is to be forgiven. She is not tardy, she is suffering from violent bouts of morning sickness.

Oh yes, the rubble which is our car park and constantly up and down the steps to the truck for me is a nightmare. I'm only awake now because of the pains and cramps in my feet and legs. However, hopefully all is not lost. Myself, a good friend and his associate have mapped out a plan to , more or less, solve this problem. We're moving the truck to the very rear of the car wash, away from the ever present traffic noise, then employ some type of grass. The rear of the truck will be converted into a service bar leading to the next area which will be dominated by heavy duty bamboo walls and a combination of wood and bamboo flooring , all being well we'll be on stilts to keep our tortured feet dry. Superior furniture for customer comfort is already stacked at our house.This will be topped with a nipa roof to combat the sun and rain. Of course, finance will rear it's ugly head so this will not be happening overnight.
The shabby sign up front is to be replaced by another one, more vivid and possibly illuminated , I'll look into that forthwith.
It was actually Heinz tomato ketchup .
Yep, turmeric. White rice will not be a problem in future.
Your fish preference I don't think will be be a problem ( what is it ) ?
I get a number of requests on a regular basis, yours are easily dealt with... ask "momma" for her recipe and I'll make my best effort..

Other requests.... The fennel didn't, or has yet to turn up. I have a little time today so I'll get around myself and see what I can do.

Beef Rendang.
Usually cooked in advance for visiting dignitaries
A rich and creamy Malaysian/Indonesian beef stew made with beef, spices and coconut milk.

Calories 416 kcal
AUTHOR BEE | RASA MALAYSIA
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef short ribs, cut into cubes
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 stick cinnamon, about 2-inch length
• 3 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 lemongrass, cut into 4-inch length and pounded
• 1 cup thick coconut milk, coconut cream
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons tamarind pulp, soaked in some warm water for the juice and discard the seeds
• 6 kaffir lime leaves, very finely sliced
• 6 tablespoons kerisik, toasted coconut
• 1 tablespoon sugar or palm sugar to taste
• salt to taste

Spice Paste:

• 5 shallots
• 1 inch galangal
• 3 lemongrass (white part only)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 10-12 dried chilies, soaked in warm water and seeded

CLICK HERE FOR CONVERSION TOOL
DIRECTIONS

1. 1
   Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a food processor until fine.
   
   
2. 2
   Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom and stir-fry until aromatic. Add the beef and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, water, and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked. Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (toasted coconut), sugar or palm sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat.
   
   
3. 3
   Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy has dried up. Add more salt and sugar to taste. Serve immediately with steamed rice and save some for overnight.
   

RECIPE NOTES
To prepare the kerisik or toasted coconut, just add the grated coconut to a dry wok and stir continuously until they turn golden brown.

Nutrition Facts
Beef Rendang Recipe

Amount Per Serving (4 people)
Calories 416Calories from Fat 468

% Daily Value*
Fat 52g80%
Saturated Fat 24g150%
Cholesterol 100mg33%
Sodium 132mg6%
Potassium 1001mg29%
Carbohydrates 20g7%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 36g72%

Vitamin A 330IU7%
Vitamin C 5mg6%
Calcium 64mg6%
Iron 7.4mg41%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
COURSE: MAIN COURSE
CUISINE: MALAYSIAN
KEYWORD: BEEF RENDANG

Beef Rendang is my Nemesis. From day one all I ever wanted to do is fish and chips. Zak's Place is just a food truck with 2 gas burners , a deep fat fryer and a puny little oven. My days of striving for Michelin stars are over , I tired of all the pretentious clap-trap back in the 80's ..

I'm going back to bed

 

I am not sure what forms of testing are available in the country but, sure, you are correct that a test performed days before they fly will have little bearing on their Covid-19 status if they mix with others in the intervening days. It will only eliminate those definitely infected at the time - which is, of course, a good thing.

If I had to design a methodology, I would say:

1. Test a few days before flying - enough time to get results back (and, obviously, eliminate the positives from flying).
2. Put the tested persons in guarded individual quarantine for those few days (families together). In fact, they should already be in quarantine and the swab taken there.
3. Test temperature and check other signs (e.g. coughs) and then take them, fully showered and in fresh clothes and mask, to the airport in a bus with social distancing.
4. Either re-do the test on arrival and quarantine until results are available or put them in guarded quarantine upon arrival for 14 days.

It might seem that if steps 1 to 3 are performed accurately then step 4 is not required - but better to be water-tight as test results are, I believe, not 100% correct. The putting of families together is a risk, but young children simply cannot be traumatised by being held separately. I suppose, therefore, that families who quarantined together in stage 2 should have to do stage 4 on arrival.

 

Ah, yes! There's the rub! Once it's available to the masses and the masses subscribe en masse, and performance will suffer until the digital infrastructure comes up to worldwide standards. It is possible to have screaming internet speeds with fiber even with a large subscriber base. Until I moved to Dumaguete, I never bothered checking my download speeds. Now, I feel ecstatic to get 2.0 Mbps on my Smartbro Pocket Wifi (the ONLY thing that works at my apartment in Liptong, Valencia.) For grins I check everywhere now.

Most restaurants in Duma and Valencia with a cable modem clock in at a nice +/- 5.0 Mps.

The food court on the top floor of Lee Plaza stunned me with their time-limited, but free, Wifi. I nearly fell off my chair when it clocked in at 49.3 Mbps. It expired in 30 minutes, and I tried desperately to purchase a 3-day pass to continue it, but the Philippine digital infrastructure has been particularly cruel in not allowing me to purchase through my cell phone no matter how many times I try.

Back in the US now for a little while. NYC to be exact with it's incredibly dense population (driving me crazy already) and enough wealth so that virtually everyone has a cable/fiber connection. Even with the huge subscriber base in the "neighborhood", the cable modem-to-wifi connection in the apartment is 230 Mbps! (The same cable also carries the land line phone and digital HD cable TV.) I will miss that wifi speed when I get back to Negros Oriental, but I will enjoy the pace of life and even the roosters outside my windows waking me up at 4 am.

 

was at the main public market this morning, all the eateries are open and doing business, all customers are sitting down and doing there thing, then you have to ask who owns them, no small fry owns them you can be sure, it seems only certain people are allowed to lose money in this epidemic, 8 weeks is it now, trying to secure passes, avoiding the crowds, trying to do your little bit, to get back to some breed of normalcy and just when it was getting a little brighter, WHAM, all we have to show for it is empty pockets and greyer hairs, everything that was gained has been lost, you just know with all this bullshxx talk from the higher powers, blaming him and her and them and you, with every passing day these clowns are just showing us they are and never were up to the job at hand, and that was pre-virus

 

Im currently in bali indonesia ,which is a developing country to the phils ,similar problems but at least the power is stable with the occasional cut ,the last one around 6 months ago for an hour so ,the voltage is rock solid less than a couple of %.
If this place can do it why not the phils ,your power cuts remind me of somalia 30 years ago ,boring always on and off ,the boring rumble of generators ,what is wrong with the philipines it should be better than a broken country like somalia .

 

You want them served together? In many countries the appetizer is served ahead of the main course, along with drinks, to prepare your appetite for the main course.

I find this is easily fixed by ordering drinks and the appetizer and then, when they arrive, ordering the main course. Adapt and overcome the problem. Otherwise, you are allowing their failure to be your problem.