Foot and Fire

  I was treated by a friend to a tour of Guimaras last May 2018 when the Manggahan Festival was going on. We went to Roca Engcantada  which was declared as National heritage last 14 August 2002. Outside the pretty white mansion with ornate details is a ground planted with coconut trees and the native Bangkiling or the sour gooseberry tree which I often miss. Too bad, there were no fruits when we were there. We toured the place and took our selfies and poses in all of the nooks and crannies and I had two favorite photos below aside from the one above where I enjoyed the sun and the coconut midrib casting its shadows on my face.   ****   Do the island hopping from morning till noon and trek, swim, collect stones, sip coconut water and have several jump shots in between. The waters are clear and if you ae lucky, you can observe marine life at the SEAFDEC where turtles a nd and saltwater milkfish or bangus and other fishes swim. *** ...

             Who can still recall the small sour-sweet pitted fruit that has the taste and texture of starfruit or  balimbing?   This one almost slipped my mind if not for the local expression (among Hiligaynon-speaking in the Philippines), " daw bangkiling ang imo balhas" which translates to "your sweat looks like sour gooseberry."  Since we have a local word for it, I believe " bangkiling " is a native fruit here in the Visayas. When I was a child, I ate it plain or with salt. Its taste just tickled the tip of my tongue as I was trying hard to recall its local name. Photos below are grabbed from the web. Ownership reverts to respective owners.