pickled papaya & milkfish

here is one of my favorite front page newspaper images i saw when i was in the philippines last summer.

that same day i went with my parents to the local school of fishery. dad wanted to get the homemade atsara (pickled papaya pronounced ah-cha-rah) canned so it could be brought back to VA.



the atsara was placed in small plastic bags and then manual seamed into steel cans.

while that was going on, i was scoping out the room and learned more about deboning bangus (milkfish pronounced bawng-oos). dad tells me the bones have to be removed using tweezers. such a tedious task but so worth the taste.



the secret to a profitable bangus business was posted on the wall. $toring is where it's at!


the principal of the school asked one of the grounds keepers to give us a tour so i could take pictures.






MISSION: To develop positive work values and provide quality Basic Secondary and Technical Vocational Education and Skills Training.

VISION: To become among the region's Center of Excellence and leading Training Center for Fishery Technology and Entrepreneurship.

positive messages were posted on the beams.

make it a betterway to have fun while learning or joining sch. organization.


if there is purity in the heart, there will be righteousness in the character


our tour guide wanted to show us where they dry the fish out in the open sun to make tuyo. it was by the shoreline. he pointed to this really narrow path that i would have to walk on to get there. it had water on both sides. i didn't feel risky that day so i admired the view from afar.





break time.


the gate to the fishery school.


surroundings on the way to the school.




stay tuned for more sporadic blog posts about my adventures in the archipelago.