I apologize in advance for making you hungry as you read this post or for making you wait for the myriad of pictures to load. But as I was ill for the bulk of my trip, all of my outdoorsy plans were unfulfilled, and I spent a lot of the time either at home noshing on treats my parents brought home from their trip to the Philippines or hanging out with my siblings and friends, while sharing a meal, of course. And, to prove that I did just that, I took a bajillion photos. Because if there aren't any photos, it didn't happen, right?
Ridiculous amounts of snackage. These photos don't even show everything my parents took home with them, you can see some close up shots on my facebook page and don't forget to like it as well :) I couldn't get enough of those Choco Crunchies, which are like digestives but with less biscuit and more chocolate, and I basically inhaled a bag each of dried mangoes and cassava chips, plus a handful of polvoron, which are compacted sweet bites of milk, sugar, nut flour, and love. This durian candy, however, is not the stuff of love.
For those of you who have never had durian, keep it that way. I mistakenly ate a bite once, a long time ago, and I don't wish to repeat that ever again. Durian has the texture of warm butter, the taste of concentrated garlic, and the smell of sweaty armpits. In candy form, the weird texture and smell are eliminated, but the taste remains, which subsequently evokes the butter and armpit combo with every bite.
I have a lifelong love affair with SPAM. Say what you will about luncheon meat, but grilled and soaked in a mixture of oyster sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar, then sandwiched between rectangles of sushi rice wrapped with crunchy, toasted seaweed, SPAM is delicious. My brother and his friend made piles of musubi for snacking, and I washed mine down with a cold can of coconut juice... with coconut meat of course!
I also got to enjoy a little bit of my mom's home cooking, which I so totally missed. She made kare kare, which is an oxtail stew with a peanut based sauce (for which I took allergy medicine) and some kalbi, a korean dish of grilled marinated short ribs.
Because we didn't want to bother with cooking too much, though, we spent many a meal trying out different restaurants in Anchorage. One of my favorites was Yak and Yeti which offers Himalayan fare.
I had a rice bowl of pork vindaloo and oh so freaking delicious yam tikka masala
and my brother got a rice bowl with pork vindaloo and palak paneer
I also tried Hula Hands, a Hawaiian restaurant, and had some pretty amazing ahi poke. OH MY GOSH, POKE, I could eat that all day long.
Every combo meal came with a gigantic side of Kalua pork, which is slow-cooked pork flavored with Hawaiian sea salt, and macaroni salad.
One of my sisters is obsessed with gravy. Thus, this gravy bowl.
The poke of life. A huge thing I miss about Alaska is how delicious the seafood is there. I can't stomach the seafood I get from grocery stores in the Midwest, even if they proclaim them to be "high quality" or "authentic." It just can't compare.
Thank you, all for your sweet wishes! I am feeling much better and I actually finished balancing accounts today. That is a chore, I tell you. I also started responding to emails and opening packages/letters, which you don't realize can become a chore if you let it pile up. Makes me wish I was back in the AK vacationing and stuffing my face with poke.
