The Lemoncito Blooms In Tracy

Though arguably a native of the Philippines, the lemoncito (Sp. diminutive for lemon), or more popularly known in the Philippines as calamansi, does grow and fruit in temperate climates like in California.

The lemoncito is a shrub or a small tree known to grow as high as 3 to 6 meters and is better adapted to tropical areas. Known in the West as the calamondin, its scientific name is citrofortunella microcarpa. Aptly termed microcarpa because of the fruit’s small size, looking like a small orange orb when ripe.

Old childhood memories prodded one to transplant a growing lemoncito shrub from foggy Daly City to our new abode in sunblest Tracy, CA. Nostalgic recollection points one to childhood experiences where the fruit and its many uses figured prominently.

One such use could be classified as medicinal or therapeutic.

As I easily recall we were a family of nine kids, living in cramped quarters in the middle of a bustling city and whose young members were thus most prone to ordinary ailments children were heir to – colds, coughs, sore throats and other irritating EENT conditions.

Our ever resourceful doting mother was always ready with the concoction she called agridulce to treat those minor distractions. And preventatively dispensed with at times when the climes were ripe for them to visit us, like the rainy season, or the very humid nights spent inside our shuttered rooms curled inside our musty mosquito nets.

Agridulce, which is Spanish for sweet and sour, was blended from the juice of the lemoncito, with hot or tap water added, flavored with a liberal dose of sugar, and stirred with all the fruit’s pits swimming in the pale mixture. The fruit’s very sour taste blended well with sweet cane sugar, creditably acquitting its name of agridulce.

Our present lemoncito tree, which grows proudly side by side with a regular lemon tree, appears stunted in growth though abloom with fruits that are now ripening. I blame that on negligent maintenance, due to the long absence of the resident gardener, me.

Still I eagerly look forward to the day when I can harvest the lemoncito’s fruits and make me an agridulce.

Cheers.

Pictures Worth Three Thousand Words

Sarah Palin Stuns US Politics

Fresh from a revealing interview with Runner’s World which is accompanied by an impressive pictorial(many dainty desk-bound lady pundits and politicians would die for), Sarah stuns anew the political world and the kibitzing blogosphere with the unexpected announcement not only not to seek reelection as governor of Alaska, but to resign from her current term – effective within a few weeks.

Point guard Sarah Barracuda passes the ball to her trusty Lt. Governor.

Not one used to taking the beaten path this surprise move by Sarah, shrouded in a bit of mystery and vague in the actual reason(s) for its abruptness, has thrown the political “establishment” (from all sides) into a writing uproar. Memeorandum is hard at work cataloguing the items devoted to scrutinizing and analyzing this sudden turn of events.

Expectedly, the pointed pens of grossly obsessive detractors have been blindly thrusting at anything that moves – ranging from a rehashed rumor that an indictment is forthcoming against Sarah, to parsing and diagramming the written text of the rushed announcement.

But to date nobody can point a finger to what exactly is the reason(s) that prompted Sarah to make such a pivotal announcement on the eve of July 4th and the start of a slow-news weekend.

But wherever the chips may finally fall, as a supporter of Sarah we stand by her, because of what she stands for us.

More power to Sarah Palin.

Vignettes Of Life In A Busy Intersection (Cont.)

The Taho Vendor

Shouting out in baritone key as he passes along, this itinerant vendor makes his rounds in our busy intersection during mornings on the weekend. Above the din and when carefully cocking one’s ears in his direction, people can actually make out his shouts of taho!, the snack food product he is hawking.

Slung on one shoulder is a pole typically made of resilient bamboo where two stainless-steel deep and large-mouthed containers are balanced at its ends. One can contains the taho itself and the other the ingredients needed to complete this soupish snack food.

But what is taho?

Classified as one popular street food:

Tahô is a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar and vanilla syrup), and pearl sago (similar to pearl tapioca).[2] This staple comfort food is a signature sweet and can be found all over the country. The Indonesian and Malaysian equivalent of this dish is Tahu.[3]

And tofu?

Tofu (豆腐), also tōfu (the Japanese Romaji spelling), doufu (the Chinese Pinyin spelling), toufu, or bean curd (the literal translation), is a food of Chinese origin,[1] made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in some way. Tofu has very little flavor or smell on its own, so it can be used either in savory or sweet dishes, and is often seasoned or marinated to suit thedish.

This particular morning, the next door neighbors answered the sonorous vendor’s pleas and asked for two orders. One order is for 10 pesos, served in a smallish plastic cup.

The vendor settles his burden on the side of the street and opens both containers. With a scraper, he gently shaves small thin slices of the taho and layers them in the cup, adds the other ingredients and tops it off with a little pour of condensed milk from an opened can.

After repeating the routine and having received his payment, the pole balancing act is ready to hit the road, preceded by his baritone shouts.

BTW, our little conversation yielded the following snippet: that he himself does not prepare the stuff but is simply consigned to him by the maker. Too much time and trouble in the preparation, he reasoned out.

Taho!

Vignettes Of Life In A Busy Intersection (Cont.)

Motorbike As Family Sedan

In this land of million-peso four-wheeled cars (and I do mean your typical Toyotas, Hyundais, Nissans, Kias, Suzukis, etc) which is affordability beyond the reach of your average Filipino family, the notion of the family sedan most times taxes and stretches one’s ordinary perception or definition of what it is or should be.

In this country it can be anything with wheels, transport that rolls and moves by its own power. With four wheels or even less, like just two.

In this same busy intersection a most unique type of family sedan is on parade daily, sharing traffic with the bigger and heftier transports like jeepneys and SUVs. They are motorbikes with 2, 3, 4, or even 5 family members sitting astride, machines rated as single cylinder engines of 100cc or 125cc; most passengers riding bare-headed, sans helmet, passenger restraint, or any head protection.

The economic logic behind these choices is quite iron-clad and unquestionable. Bikes of such sizes are within the 40-50,000 peso price range, an outlay many straggling families could well afford if only through an installment plan. Definitely much more below wistful thinking about buying a brand-new four-wheel vehicle.

Here’s a pictorial sampling of the family sedan, local version, seen in busy intersections, and even amidst fast-moving traffic on multi-laned national highways where passenger perils are grossly multiplied and aggravated.






































To be continued.