My love for the Philippines has been a journey and a major turning point was when I finally started eating Filipino food. It took me three years before my palate become familiar enough with Filipino food to have a craving for it (see what I did there? :) I knew the moment my taste buds had turned when I hungered for a Filipino breakfast before a two week trip to the States. I knew we wouldn't be eating Filipino food for a while and I needed to get my fix.

Aaker, Ate Chanda, Baby Wells, Little Ozzie and Me

From what I have learned, in Filipino culture so much of communal time revolves around food. I am always amazed when the entire rice cooker comes out during a fiesta at the park, seriously impressive! I remember one time during a dinner my husband and I were talking about what we should eat for our next meal and our friends commented, "That is so Filipino to be eating and planning your next meal!" Food is one of the elements that has helped me plant roots in Manila. Beyond that, when food is shared with me it is a gift that comes from the heart, I will automatically be endeared to whomever shared their sweet offering. Recently, I had one of those tender moments.

Social Media can be a weird world but it has sent some of the best people my way. A few years ago I became Instagram pen-pals with my Filipina friend Kriska who now lives in Germany. Christmas 2016 we even sent each other gifts from Haanover to Manila. I sent her paper pasalubong from Papemelroti and she sent me paper stationary from Flow Magazine, which is now one of my favorite publications. We have stayed in touch over the years and recently her parents went to visit Kriska and meet their new baby grandson in Germany. They once again brought me back stationary pasalubong from Kriska but also pasalubong from their home province of Tuguegarao. I was fortunate enough to receive super sarap longganisa from all the way up North! As mentioned before, food is my love language and I now have a new tita and tito. Experiences like this make me fall harder and harder for this place. Salamat Kriska Tita Ingrid and Tito Melo for the masarap longganisa!

Define Silog: Filipino breakfast of champions. But seriously, meat + rice + egg = bongga breakfast. My personal preference is either tapsilog or longsilog. Yes please! My five year olds personal favorite baon is itlog, egg lang and rice. This particular longganisa, Longa Norte, is to be boiled first and then #ChandaPoppins worked her magic and fried it to a perfect crisp.