Feb. 9, 2009 - Suman!
Ever since we left the Philippines I have been craving suman, so over the weekend we finally got around to buying the necessary ingredients and I looked up a recipe on the internet. The final result wasn't quite what I had expected, because I had used too much water when cooking it the second time and the rice was sort of floppy and didn't hold together very well. However, letting it sit and cool for a while helped and overall I am very pleased. Here are some pictures:
The Ingredients: Banana leaves, coconut milk, brown sugar and malagkit rice.
Once the rice is cooked, (using 2/3 of the can of coconut milk with some water to balance it out) I placed a couple spoonfulls onto each piece of banana leaf, and then folded it like a burrito.
When I had wrapped all of my rice, I put them in a pan, and put just enough coconut milk (the rest of the can diluted with water) to cover them.
Then I let them boil for at least an hour. I should have let them boil until the water was gone, but as I said before, I added too much water, so that wasn't very practical. I took them out after watching a movie, and then we ate them dipped in brown sugar.
Aaaaah! My craving has been satisfied. :)
And now, just one more picture: While we were at the Filipino grocery store in town, we also bought some hot tamarind candies with chili powder. They're very good.
~Joy Bird
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jan. 22, 2009 - Music Page
Well, it seems that I have not succeeded in getting any comments. Oh well. But maybe this will be more interesting.
Daniel and I have been working on recording songs that he composed, and we have put them up on our website. You can listen and read about them here: http://lambsundries.com/music.html
The songs don't have any names yet, so we would like it if you would give us some suggestions. Please tell us what you think! and I hope you enjoy the songs.
~Joy Bird
• 4 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jan. 15, 2009 - The Gun Game
IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOUR LAST NAME IS ORFIELD, YOU HAVE TO COMMENT. THANK YOU.
The gun game. It suddenly dawned on me the other day what a violent game it is. Really, it's horrible. I mean, killing people? Especially for little children. But I should explain. It all started one hot muggy day in the Philippines when Daniel, Vivian and Alli were sitting on the swing, twiddling their thumbs, humming, and in general just being boring. Then Alli suggested that they play a game. Since all of the regular games were either really boring, or labeled as 'dangerous' by the parents, they decided to make one up. Daniel sighed and said "How about we play something like charades?" Alli laughed and pretended to shoot Daniel with her gun, and the gun game was born.
A while later, I came out to find Daniel, Vivian, Alli, and Anna along with some other kids visiting the Guest House all lined up on the front lawn. Alli ran up to me and proceeded to explain what game they were playing and how you play it. "It's called the gun game." "Who made it up?" I asked. "Daniel and Vivian." she replied. Alli ran back and took her place in front of the line of people. "Ok. I'm going to shoot you...hmmm.....with a pistol....in the stomach!" Then she started saying the alphabet. "A, B, C, D...." Here, Daniel gasped and grabbed his stomch. He slowly dropped to the ground, groaning as he went, and then slumped, sticking his tongue out for added effect. Alli giggled and continued; "E, F, G, H...etc..etc" until everyone had 'died'. Then Alli walked around to judge who she thought had died the most realistically. Daniel was still laying there on the ground, wheezing pathetically, sticking his tongue out. "Daniel wins!" said Alli. "So now Daniel is 'it' and gets to shoot us." she explained aside to me. But it seemed that 'it' didn't have to stick to guns, he could also choose other ways of killing people. Daniel got up and announced cheerfully, "You're all going to be run over by a train!"
*edit: Just so you know, after we realized how horrible the gun game was, we immediately stopped playing it, and we don't play it at all anymore. ; ) *
Eventually we got tired of the gun game, and Anna said, as if it were the most original thing she had thought of all day, "Hey, let's go swimming!" Silence. "But we went swimming yesterday." I said. "And the day before.." added Vivian, "And the day before that." said Daniel. "But it is very hot..." I said. So, Anna won and we went swimming. Then, immediately upon entering the pool, Viv instantly turned into a paranoid monkey with nine lives who always insisted on drowning herself, and then blaming her death on her owner (Me). To solve this problem, I held onto her with a death grip. Anna was now Icecream-girl, who demonstrated her super powers by shooting icecream out of her fingers like Spiderman. I requested coffee icecream. Finally, Alli proudly announced that she was going to do a flip off the side into the deep end. This scared me a little since I can't do a flip myself, especially with no diving board, and Alli is only 3. I watched nervously as she catapulted her little self into the air, and then landed safely in the water. We all applauded, which pleased her greatly, and then she offered to do it again, but by then it was time for dinner. So ended a not so boring day in the Philippines.
~Joy Bird
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 15, 2008 - Charlie Chaplin Video
Here's a funny video we found on Youtube--The song is 'If I Were A Rich Man' from Fiddler on the Roof. Enjoy!
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 8, 2008 - Some Random Tag
Well, Sarah tagged me a while ago, so I guess I will have to do the tag.
Five Things that Scare me:
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 1, 2008 - What's for dinner?
'Fried Laminate' was later changed to 'Fried green Laminate'--you know, like 'Fried green tomatoes'. 
(That green laminate was really ugly, by the way. I'm glad we got rid of it.)
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Nov. 24, 2008 - Waves
I have a vague suspicion that Noah may on occasion be told by his sisters some of the contents of my blog, so in light of this terrifying suspicion I decided I should probably start being more intelligent in my posts. I decided this on Friday, then we watched Master and Commander on Saturday, which got me to thinking about Tantara.....and then I came up with this post about waves. So, I guess my intelligent posts will have to wait. Without further ado, I will now begin my random thoughts on 'waves'.
I remember a day sometime in the spring of 2007--we were sailing south just off the coast of Florida. The sun was just setting, casting red-gold rays over the bright blue water. We were sailing the fastest we had ever sailed--14 knots on a wave-- but not faster than a pod of dolphins who leaped and swam in circles around our boat. We could see them shooting like torpedoes through the clear blue water as each wave rose up behind us, then crashed on, carrying us with it. We were running, wing and wing with the wind, and enjoying it; the wind was fresh, life was good, we were headed south.
If we hadn't known better, we would probably have been terrified as we saw the gigantic waves rising up behind us. Each wave rises and rises until it seems to you a mile high, and then, just when you are sure it is about to crash down on you, suddenly it seemingly swoops down and lifts the boat high in the air. Then, at this precise moment--no sooner, no later-- Daniel and i would jump as high as we possibly could. The wave would then crash back down, taking the boat with it and leaving us in the air, resulting in two blissful seconds of 'flying'. Then with a 'thud' we would come crashing back down to the deck, sometimes gracefully, most times not, but it was all worth it for those two seconds. The closest I have ever gotten to simulating this 'wave hopping' experience is jumping up and down on an extra-fast elevator. But of course, it's just not the same.
I have much more to say, but it is dinner time and I have to go see to it's preparation. (In case Daniel poisons the soup, you know, that kind of thing.)
Please comment! And tell me what you think about me posting more about our sailing adventures.
(And by the way, that sunset picture wasn't taken while underway, at least not the day I was talking about. It's far too risky. The camera might fly out of your hands at any moment! And if someone is laughing at this moment because of my mention of 14 knots being our fastest, you must remember that Lagoon catamerans are not racing boats!)
~Joy Bird
• 4 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Nov. 19, 2008 - Trinka decided she wanted to be like Joe.
Here's some pictures of Trinka playing the piano.
Isn't she a talented puppy? She can play, sing, and be cute all at the same time!
~Joy Bird
• 4 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
