Journeys in photographs and words.

A little of each town’s story

Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu

Kalamansi

From: Everyday life on Mactan Island

Green kalamansi in a red bowl
Green kalamansi in a red bowl

A small citrus native to the Philippines, also called calamondin in English. Its juice is used to marinate and season fish, chicken and pork, and is mixed with soy sauce (toyomansi) or fish sauce (patismansi) for dipping. Cut in half, it is served as a condiment with almost every kind of pancit.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

This moment in the journey

Longsilog with a squeeze of kalamansi

A comfortable place where time passes slowly. I started on breakfast in the kitchen of my stay. A red bowl held small green kalamansi, and through the screen an orange tabby looked up at me.

I minced garlic, fried an egg, and stir-fried rice with the garlic to make garlic rice. Add a sweet sausage, longganisa, to the fried egg and garlic rice, and you have longsilog, a Filipino breakfast classic. In the dappled sunlight, the same cat lay stretched out.

I added slices of tomato and squeezed over some kalamansi, a Philippine citrus. The refreshing sourness matches the sweetness of the sausage: a perfect breakfast for a tropical country. Green coconuts hung heavy on the palms in the garden, with a church cross beyond them. The start of a day on an island of eternal summer.

Watch this scene on YouTube1:06

Read this scene in the full journey

An orange tabby looking up by the screen door
An orange tabby looking up by the screen door
Mincing garlic on a cutting board
Mincing garlic on a cutting board
An egg frying in the pan
An egg frying in the pan
Garlic rice stir-frying in the pan
Garlic rice stir-frying in the pan
Cooking at the stove in the kitchen
Cooking at the stove in the kitchen
The tabby lying in dappled sunlight
The tabby lying in dappled sunlight
A plate of fried egg, garlic rice, longganisa and tomato
A plate of fried egg, garlic rice, longganisa and tomato
Lifting a piece of longganisa with a fork
Lifting a piece of longganisa with a fork