Dry fishes are a typical Filipino delicacy. The best ones are said to come to Bantayan, the bulad/buwad (dried fish) island. They are the iconic products of the market, spilling over huge bags and stalls in all colors and shapes..
It does not take long before they all disappear, Pinoy eat them dropped in vinegar or in soups, with rice of course.
Trying those fishes is a must do when you are in the Philippines, as mandatory as singing in a karaoke or having a San Miguel. I must admit I haven’t yet. We always go to the market by 7AM, far too early for me to even think about getting one close to my mouth!
First timers, make sure you cover your nose so you can really appreciate the visit. And if you don’t feel like tasting them, at least make sure you buy some as Pasalubung (souvenir) to bring back to a Filipino friend. Success guaranteed!
Those fishes used to remind me of the golden little ones that Colonel Aureliano Buendia was making in “100 Years of Solitude”. He would forge them and melt them, and repeat the process all over again, like a mantra..
They now symbolize what we are experiencing in Cebu: a few days ago, the prolonged dry spell prompted Cebu Provincial government to declare a State of calamity. 
Those fliers are everywhere: elevators, lobbies.. We just received a letter forbidding us to water plants and informing us on the water restrictions for the month. The letter concluded :”water, please treat it like liquid gold“.
When I think that I used to take baths in liters of potable water back in Europe…
My take on Jennifer Nichole Wells’One Word Photo Challenge: Dry
Estelea's Blog 
What, really? No watering plants?! Was this in Bantayan or Cebu City?
Cebu, we live in Lahug!
Yikes. We didn’t get the letter. Yet. I guess that means my father and son won’t go to jail yet, despite the incriminating evidence of my last post. Our water stops running at around 10 PM and only comes back at dawn. I saw in the news tonight that we’re up for a heat index of 39.5C in the coming days. It wasn’t always this bad though. It’s the first time in years.
Who can seriously deny the consequences of global warming ? Pretty worrying isn’t it? Be careful what you post, the management wrote us that they would monitor our “compliance with the rules”. They did not go that far last year, and the heat has just started .. Keep it up and visit us in Bantayan 🙂
If I go to Bantayan, that means I won’t have to use water here. It’s really doing Cebu City a favor if I go, isn’t it? 😀 When my schedule eases up, I would like to, very much!
You got it perfectly right! 🙂 see you there soon I hope!
and my reblog of the week is for you too 🙂 if you focus long enough, you should feel the cold 😛
Dried fish ❤
That’s how you spot a real Pinoy, right? Dried fish comes with a heart 🙂
Absolutely!
😉
Thank you for sharing this! So many things I didn’t know about the Philippines!
Paradise with a hellish kind of weather 😉 And soon enough, we’ll enter the rainy season, made of typhoons and hurricanes …
No wonder Filipinos are so looking forward to Xmas as early as from Sept. At the end of the year, the weather is back to normal and Jan is the best month of the year…
Love the “paksiw” version of that fish..
Is that the one in vinegar? I never dared trying it so far…
Oi, you got “pot-pot” there! One of my favorite dried fishes. Then there’s danggit and dried “nokus” too. Yummm…. I was going to ask you if you have tried them especially that you were at Bantayan but you answered my silent question already. 🙂 Make sure you let us know once you’ve had a bite.
So the El Nino is that bad again huh. I don’t remember the local government being that aggressive with its campaign. Hope you get rain pretty soon!
Will probably give it a try this week end.. or next 😉 the clouds were all heavy and grey today, we danced and sang as bad as drunk karaoke singers, but nothing happened, not even a drop.. Have to do it louder next time maybe.. at least a neighbor will throw us a bucket of water, would be a good start..
LOL!!! 😛 you are definitely learning doing it the Pinoy way.
Hello! Love your blog and its versatility! I nominated you for the Versatile Blogging Award — visit my post of June 4, 2015 for details. Keep up the great work!
THanks a billion 🙂 really appreciate!!!
Here they tell us to not shower for longer than 4 minutes… Hey, I’ve nominated you for this award: https://amommasview.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/the-infinity-dreams-award/
THanks 🙂 Will look into it right away!