The fruits of summer

I was initially skeptical about visiting the Philippines in the summer, primarily because the kids might not be able to cope with the heat.  But it turned out my worries were for naught; we had a really great time!  And now I realize what perfect timing we had for our holiday, as fruits were in abundance!  Join me in a visual journey of the fruits we were able to feast on!

One can't go wrong with green mangoes and a shrimp paste dip.  Mouth-watering goodness.

We also had pineapple, bananas, and suha in this trip. An absolute feast.

But of course, the ripe mangoes are the best, especially as "panghimagas" or dessert.  This is one thing I will miss... we had mangoes after every lunch and dinner.

Ripe mangoes are also the perfect partner for suman!

Avocadoes were also in season.  We usually mix avocadoes with milk and sugar, something which the locals here in New Zealand might find odd (just as we find it strange that they use avocadoes as a sandwich spread).  We took advantage of the summer's halo-halo and mixed some avocadoes in it.  Yum!

Another fruit in season: sinigwelas!  Sweet and juicy, even Christine loved it.

I've never had Longgan before, so I bought a bunch.  It tasted like rambutan.  I was hoping it would taste like lanzones because I could not find some in the market...

I also bought some mangosteen, but I was not able to taste it.  My mum requested this so I bought some for her.  I wish I bought extra for myself.

And then I found a couple of stalls selling lanzones! I bought a kilo and loved it.  I came back for more a couple of days later but nobody was selling it any longer :-(.

I also loved the fried saba (cooking bananas) which my ate served occasionally with meals.  We also had some boiled sweet potatoes one time.  It was great.  The sweet potatoes in the Philippines can be fried to a crisp, unlike the kumara here in NZ which stays soft even when deep fried.

I also changed upon some camachili.  It is not popular, but I have fond childhood memories of this, as we caught some using a long bamboo stick with a hook at the end in those fun summer holidays in Dagupan.

I simply had to have calamansi juice too.

Ripe papaya!  Soft and sweet.

And of course, we couldn't be in Baguio without strawberries....

... and Kalinga oranges.

Now this one is a bit confusing.  We were told this was guapple, but it's more like indian mango to me...

Watermelon!  The fruit that exudes summer.

Rambutan season too!

And more mangoes!  We simply could not get enough of mangoes.

There were a couple of fruits that eluded me.  One is the duhat.  My sister said there were sellers in the market, but they start very early in the morning and then they return to their provinces when they sell out.  Unfortunately, we always woke up late.  I also saw some santol, but I did not buy some because just seeing them made my mouth water (too sour for me!).

I would have also loved to sample some guava, but tough luck, there wasn't any available during our visit.

Our country is so lucky to have such an abundance of fruits... it is only when one goes away can one truly appreciate what was previously within our grasp :-(.  But at least I can have other holidays to look forward to! :-)