Advent Crabs

There are blue crabs, and there are red crabs. Even purple crabs. But I have never heard of, nor read about, any violet-legged crabs, let alone see one. 

Until that fateful weekend not too long ago at the Cavite City public market. I was late, as usual - it was already nearing noontime, and there were not that many vendors at the fish and seafood section. Needless to say, there weren't a lot of choices, and not even a tumpok of the ever-present blue crabs.

So this heap caught my eye. Their color was attractive....but not in a crabby sort of way. Violet crabs? I associate that color with sweetness, as in purple yam sweetness - ube. But seafood? Nah.

It was expensive, at Php180 for the entire lot. More expensive than the Cavite City blue crabs. 

But on second thought, they were not - considering the novelty. And because of the cold weather that has uncharacteristically enveloped the holiday season, there had not been a lot of seafood  choices lately. So, on the basis of supply and demand, these were cheap.

But I was on a budget. And, how sure was I that these were edible? Would they taste great? And they weren't moving anymore, so they might not be that fresh. And on, and on, and on. 

But now, no matter how early I go to the market, or how late, I cannot find any violet-legged crabs. No sign of blue crabs, either. 

So I let an opportunity pass me by. Now I will never know how violet-legged crabs taste like. No matter if they taste bland, or bitter, or they might be diarrhea-inducing. I will never know. 

So this is my new year's resolution. I will not skip something, for I might  regret it later. And reviving this blog is part of it, because I have gone around the country twice, some even thrice, over, and have explored several foreign countries in-between, but I have kept all the memories of these trips to myself. Some I have even forgotten about. 

I don't even know if blogging is still relevant these days. But no matter.

So, violet-legged crabs, watch out.

A Year's Worth of Eating

An Ifugao tending to his cooking, in Batad, Banaue, Ifugao

No, let me correct that. I have more than a year's worth of eating - three years maybe, but five years is closer - that's been waiting to be written about these past several years, but somehow have been languishing in my head and in my external drive for an era. I lost my handbag recently, along with my identity (all IDs, cards,etc.) and my personal belongings, but I am consoled by the fact that I put my external drive, which contains all food photos going back, like, fifteen years, and family photos and videos, in the other bag that was not taken.

I feel I need to apologize - for neglecting this blog, and consequently neglecting the few of you who have followed its progress over the years. You don't know how nakakataba ng puso (sorry, I don't know how to translate this) it is when you take the time to let me know that you read it, and enjoy it despite the rarity of posts. So let me thank you, all of you, and let me say sorry, for being an absentee writer.

My career has picked up this last year, which has left me with too little extra time for anything else, and consequently always exhausted to even attempt writing - which, I'm sure you know, is a very draining, though vastly enjoyable, exercise. Ironically, though, I've been eating a lot - partly because of the unprecedented explosion of the restaurant scene in the country, and partly because I've been travelling so much. Eating is also an outlet - a way to unwind, meet with friends - and I seriously needed to go out frequently. Especially since I stopped writing for this blog, which had been my main creative outlet.   

This post is a form of commitment that I will try, no matter how long it takes me to do the first one. I need to finish my Japan trip - the things I ate there and the places I visited are not along the trendy line, so I'm sure everything I've experienced are still all there. Afterwards I will go on an extensive Philippine tour, culled from all the travels I've done these last few years. Hopefully I get to finish all the fourteen regions before I go on a foreign trip again, this November. 

So see you.