Day 15 to 16: Downtime

We were over two weeks through the trip and we certainly felt it in our bodies. The minimal rest days and three nights camping were catching up with us. (Okay, fine, Saturday night’s party was fun and kept us up until 2am). It was also time to say goodbye to Team North Face – all the athletes and helpful people who made Miel and I feel so welcome.

To top it off, James parted ways with us before doing the 7-hour drive from Lauterbrunnen back to Connaux, so it wasn’t exactly our favorite part of the trip.

TNF Athletes and Staff

Photo op with our new friends from UK.
They're already planning their visit to the PH!

Goodbye hugs!

But the journey went on, as we take the highs with the lows. Caro did a tag team with Miel behind the wheel, while I stayed awake for them both as the talker (to keep them awake) and navigator (credit to Waze and the car’s GPS). We had a quiet dinner along the road before hitting home past 10pm.

The next day, Caro drove to Montpelier (one hour away) for a radio talk show, while Miel and I stayed home to recover. It was a chill day, just taking it easy and doing clean-up. I wrote on this blog, Miel probably played COC ;) We did laundry of all the stuff we used during the festival, and re-packed all the tents and sleeping bags that we left out to dry the night before.

There was something that perked us up, however: Preparing a Filipino meal for Caroline.

This involved us having to drive out to the nearest grocery using their camper van that was low on gas (so we mustn't get lost and run out of fuel), and searching for the right meat cuts and condiments. It sounds simplee enough, I know. But try zeroing in on an adobo’s ingredients when you’re surrounded by a hundred varieties of cheese, wine, and Lindt chocolates, and you’ll find it takes quite an amount of discipline!

Completing our checklist of ingredients wasn’t all that straightforward, either, with bay leaves costing much more than expected, and cane vinegar non-existent on the shelf. There were multiple brands and flavors of balsamic vinegar, there was apple cider vinegar, and rainbow colors of wine vinegar, but no cane! I also tried to buy a different brand of soy sauce than what was in Caro’s cupboard (only to find out later that it still tasted like Kikkoman).

Sosyal! Naka-bote yung itong dahon :D

aka Kikkoman

Closest-looking thing to cane vinegar in Carrefour.
Everything else was of a darker shade!

Fast forward to three hours later, back at the house, the scent of vinegar floated its way to the uppers floors from the kitchen, and Miel started to worry. He tasted the adobo and found it too sour for his taste. He opened all the windows to let out the smell. Meanwhile, I added some water to lessen the acidity, and crossed my fingers that the adjustments will work out well.

When Caro arrived, we decided to have a bottle of red with our Filipino fare of adobo, chopped tomatoes, scrambled egg and rice. Voila! The dish was a hit. Caro enjoyed it, even if for me, it had a distinct, tangy aftertaste not present in our adobos. It turned out, the vinegar we used was made of wine, and sniffing its bottle alone, one can already tell how much sharper the acidity bites.

Caro doesn’t seem to mind, though, as she helped herself to an extra serving. Miel and I were satisfied too. We migrated our conversations into the living room, lit the fireplace, and opened another bottle of wine.

Adobo with a French twist!

Before we knew it, it was way past our bed time. Bonne nuit!

Day 11: How To Stay Cozy

The weather forecast for Chamonix was grim: The rain didn’t look like it was about to let up, so there was no point for us to do the one day stop-over as initially planned. Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland’s proposal wasn’t anything better either: The weather looked just as foreboding, so much so that Caroline even considered leaving us in the sunny south of France to get more climbing out of the coming five days.

“No way!” we responded indignantly. “We went here to see how climbing life is like, and if bad weather includes it, then so be it. It’s all part of the discovery; wet, miserable, rainy and all."

Caro suited us up for the potentially wet camping weather. She lent us extra down jackets, beanies, water proof pants, Goretex (rain-proof) shoes, gloves. Thick sleeping bags – good for up to negative 20 degrees – were pulled out of the storage, and if all else fails, even their lone Himalayan jacket was included in the inventory. It all sounds absurd, but better to be overpacked for this kind of trip, than to suffer and regret later.

We were so excited to see Chamonix that the drive felt shorter than it actually was. Chamonix is, after all, one of the valleys skirting Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. Our friend, Alex, was just in Chamonix the week earlier, as a participant in one of the biggest ultra-trail running events in the world, the UTMB. The city is also one of the regular venues of the Sport Climbing World Cups.

I spent the four-hour drive alternating peering through the windshield and the backseat window, observing as the landscape turned from less browns to more greens; from moss and dark greens, to lush, luminous greens. From moderate-size mountains with their tree-dotted gray faces, to taller, prouder mountains with bare, weather-worn limestone crowns. Basically, I watched in awe at the unending vista of mountains and rock faces at this country’s disposal.

Miel testing the Himalayan down jacket at a stop-over

Mont Blanc coming up soon! 4810 meter elevation :-D

The highway going up to Chamonix

It was uplifting to know that the feeling of exhilaration was something that James could relate with. He shared with us how when he first arrived (at the south of France) after growing up in flat England, practically every cliff he saw seemed more alluring and of better quality than a typical home crag. It also made sense how he could easily tease us about every mountain peak we saw, joking how it’s the Mont Blanc when it wasn’t...Our excitement was just that obvious.

But the joke ended at some point when we finally saw the white mountain, for which Mont Blanc is literally named after, having perpetual snowfields and glaciers. We finally arrived in Chamonix. Stepping out of the car, we put on our extra jackets and beanies. Together, we admired the Mont Blanc's barely-visible peak under a cloudy sky. We also met up with Andrea, our host for the one-night stay in this winter sports capital of France.

Andrea wasted no time in showing us his favorite hot chocolate joint, and made sure we each ordered a full mug (my Venezuelan hot chocolate was superb!), to go with the macarons that he also ordered, for our taste buds’ enjoyment. The macarons came in different colors, not necessarily corresponding to its flavor profile, which only suited the flavor guessing game better. Who would ever think to use basil or passion fruit in a macaron?! Apparently, the café’s owner/baker did!

Afterwards, a trip to the boulangerie and cheese/salami shop was in order, all for the dinner he was getting ready for in his cabin. 

So much cheese!

Yes, we were apparently going to stay in his place, which was a cabin. A real, proper cabin, with a stone foundation and wooden interiors, in the mountains, with a fresh spring water source, with a cellar underneath the floor, and a fire place.

Opo, pwede po inumin, malinis po.

Books, a keyboard, and in the other corner his guitar collection. This guy is some kind of genius!

Down the cellar...

Wine stash lang naman

Enjoying the warm fire!

It was also in this cabin where he hosted tonight’s dinner party of seven, where he served cheese, salami and wine for starters, before the main course of his home-made tartiflette with salad and bread, and ending with tiramisu.

If it all sounds so filling, well, it certainly was! Here we were just letting our tummies digest the hot chocolate and macaron merienda, and already he was popping open the bottle of wine and laying down the cheese and salami platter.

And the tartiflette? It was as comforting as cuddling with a book and hot chocolate under a warm blanket while it rains (snows) outside. A tartiflette, I learned, is one of the most common dishes in the cold/mountain regions of France and Switzerland, with its base ingredients being potatoes (easy to grow in the mountains) and cheese (just common all over this country). It is made by simply slicing potatoes and onions, assembling them in a casserole with lardon (or bacon, ham, etc.), crème fraiche and cheese, and baking in the oven. (Some people choose to pre-cook the potatoes to shorten baking time).

Ingredients are obviously not complicated, and the result is just something satisfyingly rich. I mean, cheese, cream and pork fat?! You absolutely can’t go wrong! And with Andrea serving it right from the oven in the weather we were in (a lit fireplace being a necessity, not just for the purposes of ambience), it made perfect sense.

His tiramisu was equally heavenly, and I have the sweet tooths Miel and James to attest to it. The two had more than 2 servings each – and whatever portion was left was easily swept clean by the guys. I particularly loved the cocoa powder that was generously sprinkled on top, which just complemented the rich (fatty) cream really well.

Careful, hot tartiflette dish!

Freshly made tiramisu!

Without a doubt, stomachs and hearts were full after all that. Caroline was so satisfied that she fell asleep on the couch by the fire. Meanwhile, instead of feeling guilty about all the fat, carbs and calories we wolfed downed, I took comfort in the advice that eating heartily was one of the ways that locals counter the cold.

Considering the 10-degree temperature drop from Connaux to Chamonix, well, then may I have another plate of tartiflette, s’il vous plait?

a new mission

i wrote a whole entry but my browser crashed and erased everything i wrote before i even got the chance to save it as draft. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

so to get straight to the point of this blog.....

i have a new mission: LEARN HOW TO COOK! 

cooking adventure #1 - beautiful courgette carbonara

cooking adventure #2 - puttanesca with tuna and mushrooms

these two turned out pretty okay, so i'm bracing myself for some full-force failures... ;-) watch out for next weekend.

cheers to more cooking adventures!!! :-D

why i love being at home

this is just one of the reasons: 

bottomless guinumis

guinumis (gee-nu-mis) is a mixture of crushed ice, sago and/or gulaman, pinipig, coconut milk, and sugar. the ingredients are simple enough, but the effect of the mixture makes for a perfectly refreshing dessert or merienda. if you're a gata lover, naku, this will bring you to heaven :-D 

personally, aside from the coconut milk flavor, what i love about guinumis is its wonderful mix of textures, what with the crushed ice (that eventually becomes water, so two-fold pa ang mouthfeel!), the crispy pinipig, and the chewy gelatine. then depending on your taste, you can pour in your preferred amount of gata and syrup, for that perfectly personal concoction.

my mom started "experimenting" on its preparation last year, and we (our family) have been hooked on mixing, serving, and devouring it ever since!

our modest ice shaver

first in: shaved ice in the bowl

gulaman, made using Megaliciois Mr. Gulaman jelly powder mix (who warns consumers to "beware of FAKE imitation")

pinipig

coconut cream in tetra, as alternative to fresh coconut milk that spoils very easily

coco syrup, made by melting coconut sugar in hot water

the mixture

now ready to eat!!!!

i had two bowls for dessert ;-)

snacku...

...should be the official snack of the climbers.

pang-isports pala!

who knew?

dare to innovate

Red Ribbon’s Chocolate Mousse and Ube Cake are THE BEST of their kind.

 

It’s a bold claim, I know. But I dare to say it, ‘cause I’ve never tasted any other Chocolate Mousse or Ube Cake that has topped it.

 

And even I myself am shocked at my statement, for isn’t it odd that the best cake out there is not produced by some obscure, hard-to-find, non-mainstream bakeshop?

 

Hindi ba kadalasan ang mga pinakamasasarap na pagkain ay mahirap abutin—mahal, o mahirap puntahan—dahil produkto sila ng isang tao na mahilig lang magluto; na hindi entrepreneur, at hindi kailanman inasam na yumaman sa kanyang kadalubhasan dahil isa lamang itong matinding pagkahilig sa pagluluto, at wala ng iba pa?

 

So that led me to wonder how I can admit to saying that Red Ribbon, a fast-food, massive, industrialized bakeshop, can come up with the best cakes out there. How is it possible?

 

It’s by Red Ribbon having come from humble beginnings, as an obscure bakeshop with (apparently) great taste, that opened our eyes to such wonderful cake flavors. And therein lies the differentiating factor: Apart from having the knack to come up with great-tasting products, you also have to be the first to offer them in the market.

 

I grew up eating two of these great cakes from Red Ribbon. They were the first of their kind that I tasted, and set my personal benchmark for what Chocolate Mousse and Ube Cake should taste like.

 

Similar progressions have resulted from the following, among others:

• 
  
  our Lola’s home cookings (ever feel like no other adobo or caldereta is better than her recipes?);


• 
  
  the Magnolia Ice Cream Pinipig Crunch (original version, please!);


• 
  
  the slim, salty, and perfectly-fried French Fries at McDonald’s;


• 
  
  the cheese and bacon baked potato at Wendy’s;


• 
  
  the Frapuccino at Starbucks (which has become our common term for blended ice drinks across all coffee chains).

 So to food service businesses out there: Try. Experiment. Innovate. Be the first.

 

Who knows? If it’s good enough--even if it’s not the most authentic recipe--it might land on our taste buds just perfectly. And you’ll be the best in our books.