Our friendly pilot was Captain Peter Kollar and he took us up in the air at 4,000 ft.  I watched the sunrise .   The sun rose steadily and the beauty seen from an aerial view is always priceless!  The tranquility above the sand dunes in between pauses of hot air gushing forth was intoxicating.  I was fortunate to have a nice spot at the corner of the basket as it turned 360 degrees with a beautiful view of gazelles and camels at the dunes.

                                                                        Source: picturesandquotes.net via Tiffany on Pinterest

Sinigang Photo by: Lito Flestado

I remember arriving in this foreign land, alone, not knowing how to cook.  Like most of you, I was pampered by our kasambahay (housekeeper) and was blessed with a mother who prepares warm meals. I didn't appreciate it back then, the luxury of coming home to find a hot  pot of sinigang waiting for me after a long work day.   Not to mention waking up in the morning with the scent of garlic from the sinangag.  There I was, with my can of Century Tuna (a local brand of tuna ). I would have different flavors every day and would replace it with Lucky Me pancit canton some days.   I survived these  for a  few months, but as my homesickness grew along with my craving for  lutong bahay  (home-cooked meal), my mother's cooking, my immediate cure was a trip to the closest Filipino restaurant across the block.  The tastes of pinakbet with inihaw , kaldereta, and the kare-kare in palayok drew me closer to home. Each flavor brings with it a certain memory of an event, of a certain someone, of a childhood friend whom I used to share the food with or a place that means a lot to me.

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