11 August 2005

Mango madness

Receiving this dried mango treat from Cebu as pasalubong reminded me of the time when I was an Account Manager and travelled outside Manila to set meetings with our clients and evaluate their requirement.

I was in Leyte several years back and I was discussing with the Information Technology Head (who was American, by the way) of a multinational company their connectivity requirements to their Manila office.

It was nearly merienda (snack) time when one of the employees went into the office and placed some fresh, sliced mangoes on the table. And so we went on discussing unhindered the business on hand as he took the spoon and scooped up a manageable size of mango.

He popped it into his mouth and his face went wierd. I remember I was the one talking then and I stopped in mid-sentence because his eyes were really wide open and he had stopped chewing! I was about to call for help (is he choking? is he allergic to mangoes?) when he suddenly blurted out:

"These are the best mangoes I have ever tasted!"

I exaggerate not. I heaved a sigh of relief and we stopped the meeting for a while as he savored the mango.

This incident also reminded me of this other American guy from the same company when we did our occular inspection in Leyte. We had to stop every now and then because he was delighted in seeing the vast expanse of ricefields and he took close-up shots of the carabaos (water buffaloes, I think) to show to his kids when he got back to Nebraska. And how he exclaimed "THAT is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life!" when our companion showed him what the inside of a balut looked like and how to eat it (we were having a round of drinks then while waiting for the boarding time to Manila. Nope, he did not venture a taste of this delicacy).

It's strange how it takes the eyes of a stranger to make us realize how blessed we are of natural resources, and how we take these for granted until they're gone.

14 comments:

  1. my cousin from Canada everytime she visits dito nagdadala sya mangoes and daing na fresh fish when she goes home.

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  2. Hi Amie! Paano naging fresh yung daing? hehehe

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  3. Never been tempted to taste the balut though I have tried many other Filipino delicacies. I swear that we bought that very same package of mango fruit that you took a picture of at the local Filipino store about twenty miles from where I live here in Iowa.

    The local grocery store here in town carries fresh mangos but they are always expensive. Fortunately, nobody around here seems to buy them so the price keeps going down over time and just as they reach their peak in ripeness, my wife and I go load up on them for pennies.

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  4. this is the fav. request 'pasalubong' of my officemates here everytime i go back for vacation, nobody dares to ask for balut though, hehehe

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  5. uyy balut! uyy mangoes! uyy i miss balut!

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  6. Anonymous10:56 am

    balot masarap yan lalo na kapag mainit init pa ang sabaw!!!! :)

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  7. Mangoes are my favorite fruits --- dried or otherwise. Pangit ng konti ang glycemic index, but no doubt very delicious.

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  8. The packaging on the dried mango had other languages written on it so it must be for export too, Mr. Abbey. Mangoes are a favorite the whole year round.

    Tanggers, sarap talaga ng mangga natin!

    Silentmode and DarkBlak, eto pa! Indian mango at yung kinalabaw na mangga ... tama ba?

    Doc, check ko later yang glycemic index...

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  9. sigh. green mangoes and bagoong please....

    anyway, bawal ata ang mangga sa non-diabetic person diabetic diet ko :(

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  10. tama po kayo the best talaga ang manga ng pinas. nakatikim na kong nang galing saudi.. yuck!! sorry po. pero hindi talaga masarap. pero ba dest yung ensaladang manga yun bang pinaghalo-halong manggang hilaw, kamatis, itlog na maalat at sibuyas.. whew sarap!!!

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  11. Cherry, sana ma-clear up na ang iyong strict diet soon para naman you can enjoy the simple things in life... like bagoong ang mangga! :-)

    Airwind! Gusto ko rin yan!

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  12. Dried mangoes, yum! Paborito ko yan! Kamusta na ang cute baby?

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  13. oh how i like to look on their face when they see someone eating balut... one day old chick kaya??? camarro??? durian anyone???

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  14. Anonymous9:26 am

    Very nice site! » » »

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