Burnt Lumpia

Shanghaied at Rasa Malaysia

Photo illustration and overall awesomeness by Rasa Malaysia

I couldn't help but to giggle a bit when Rasa Malaysia asked me to be a guest writer for her blog--especially because she specifically requested that I write about the Filipino spring rolls known as Lumpia. Quite apropos, I thought, considering the name of my own blog. Though I tried vigilantly to avoid any charring of any spring rolls for this post, the last one or two in my frying pan did set off the old smoke alarm (sometimes I can't help myself)...

So I decided to do a recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai--a small, thin type of fried lumpia. Lumpiang Shanghai is a favorite of mine because it is fairly easy to make--just roll the wrapper over the meat, no fancy folding is required so the spring rolls are left open-ended.

To learn more about different types of Lumpia, and to find my easy recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai, hop on over to Bee's wonderful blog, Rasa Malaysia, to read my guest post.

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Fresh on the heels of Joey's guest post about adobo, I was ecstatic when Bee asked me if I'd like to introduce even more Filipino food to her readers. Of course I would! After all, everyone deserves a little bit of Filipino food in their bellies!

No Reservations Update

Hello Everyone. Just wanted to provide a quick update on the No Reservations: Philippines episode. In my last update, I said that episode would air on the Travel Channel on February 9, but I've just been informed that that has changed. On February 9, a No Reservations: Food Porn episode will air instead (mmmmm, food porn).

No Reservations: Philippines is scheduled to air on the Travel Channel here in the U.S. on Monday, February 16 at 10pm ET. And yup, you guessed it, that time and date is subject to change. I'll keep everyone updated as the date gets closer.

In the meantime, enjoy a sneak peak of this Monday's episode of Tony in the Azores:

On My Low Horse

With a shopping basket in one hand, and a short grocery list in the other, I was skipping (ok, I was walking, but there was a lilt in my step) up and down the aisles of my local Filipino grocery store. As I stopped to mentally check off each item on my list, something squatting on the store floor caught my attention.

"Psssst. Hoy!" the object of interest seemed to simultaneously shout and whisper to me.

Normally, whenever the words "Psssst. Hoy!" are shouted/whispered (shoutspered?) at me, I usually duck and cover and/or run as I've probably done something wrong. But that's another story for another time. I digress.

This time however, I couldn't help but to kneel down and take a closer look at what appeared to be a mini-skateboard with short wooden stumps in place of wheels. Strange, that. Stranger still was that the nose of the board was fitted with a rather nasty-looking serrated spur.

Whoa.

After picking up the menacing looking device, I immediately recalled some childhood memory of my Great Aunt (my grandmother's sister) using this contraption in the kitchen.

What exactly is this thing, you ask?

It's a Kabayo, AKA a Coconut Horse, AKA a Filipino Coconut Grater.

Still in the dark? I thought you might be. So I made a video of me riding the Coconut Horse (out of context, that sounds awesome terrible!).

New Year's Reservations

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but in addition to enjoying the holidays and the New Year, I've been saddled with a nasty cold that's curled me up into a pathetic little ball hidden underneath a pile of sheets and blankets. Good times! As soon as the fog, grog, and snot clear from my head, I'll be back to posting shortly, hopefully.

But I did want to write today in response to a handful of emails I've received from some readers the last few days. It seems that everyone is wondering when the No Reservations: Philippines episode will be airing on the Travel Channel. I assume this line of questioning is directly correlated to the season premiere of No Reservations being debuted tonight (it's the Mexico episode), and people are curious about the Philippines episode.

I found these emails amusing because I usually only receive emails that A)Tell me how much I suck (thanks, I enjoy constructive criticism), B)Ask if my father really is as violent as I portray him to be (ehh, maybe), and C)Ask if I really am married (yes I am, now leave me alone).

Anyhoo, to answer the original question, the No Reservations: Philippines episode will be airing here in the U.S. on Monday February 9 at 10pm ET, so I'm told. Now don't go marking your calendars with ink just yet, use pencil as that date and time is tentatively scheduled. And I'm not sure when that episode will air in the Philippines and the rest of Asia, so it's best to check your local listings, or to follow along with Market Man as he will actually be appearing on the Philippines episode and undoubtedly knows a whole lot more about it than I do.

When I know more about the Philippines episode of No Reservations, I will definitely post the info here as I'm sure everyone is super excited about it.

In the meantime though, I was given a sneak peak of the season premiere episode in Mexico (airing tonight on the Travel Channel at 10pm ET) and I'd like to share it with everyone here: