As easy as my US dollars were converted to millions of Rupias, it was quick to be spent. Price tags were in thousands to hundreds of thousands. The millions on the palm were fleeting with so many food to try and things to take home from Ubud.

Bali’s beaches were already popular then. Surfers, mostly Australians, were the top tourist arrivals. Inland, foot and vehicle traffic was light during the day even more at night. Clubs were few and far apart.

Today, Bali is the total opposite. Busier it might be, the island is still a sweet destination. I’m glad I’ve seen both.

Bangkok is a favorite. Both work and leisure take me there. After years of visiting, I have only scraped an inch of the Big Mango’s surface. Buildings, malls, restaurants, clubs, it all sprouts like mushrooms. There is always something new to see and try with each visit, and I haven’t even gone around the islands yet. The farthest off Bangkok I went to this year was in HuaHin, said to be the Hamptons of Thailand.

Catching the sun rising in Hua Hin, a new place visited off Bangkok in Thailand

The most exciting trip this year was Japan during the Sakura. This one was in the bucket list and it took years before it finally happened—and it was worth the wait. Like a kid in a candy store, I savored the fleeting Cherry Blossom Season and chased the blooms in several cities of the Japanese prefectures— Tokyo, Machida, Yokohama, Odawara.

One off the bucket list- the Sakura season in Tokyo

Hanami 1 along Meguro River with this bunch.

Hanami 2 at Ueno Park with this bunch.

A boat ride to Olango Island in Cebu.

It’s “lokot lokot” to some and “tinagtag” to others, the noodle-like roll, a traditional Muslim delicacy, made from ground rice was love at first bite. This was the reason I nodded to an invitation by Department of Toursim Soccksargen Regional Director Nelly Dilleza to get first dibs on Maguindanao’s planned Halal Goodness, a Maguindeli (Maguindanao delicacy) food tour in the coming year.

There was no better moment to sample the region’s cuisine than on one the most important festivals of Islam, the recent Eid’l Ftr, a celebration to end Ramadan. The breaking of fast is the time to feast with the family.

I took part on this important feast. In replicas of tribal villages, hosts prepared a feast set for traditional dining—portioned servings filling round tables for four set low to the ground.

With three other friends, we partook of the traditional richly spiced fare—the specialty crabs, native chicken in chili coconut milk, beef and mutton stews, a condiment of fermented small shrimps, fried noodles and turmeric and glutinous rice to complement. “Turmeric and coconut milk is almost always present in Maguindanao dishes,” said Bai Shalimar Amerkhan Candao, DOT-ARMM assistant secretary.

Part of the feast is the dessert. Along with the “Dinakdak” are several other easy to fall in love with delicacies—the “B’rua” or “Bulwa” (muffins with pound cake consistency); “Dudul” (kalamay-like spread); “Tipas” (sweetened bread much like the pilipit) and it’s spiral version, the “Kumukunsi” (the spiral shape signifying unity), “pelil” (deep-fried balls of mashed bananas mixed with ‘natak’); and the dessert I call “love at first bite”, the “Putri Mandi”, a delicious cake made from red bean flour.

The Puntri Mandi’s disguise is that of a short, misshapen finger (or sometimes two fingertips pressing), but wait until you take your first bite. The mildly sweetened confection coated in rice flour, which resembles the taste of the Filipino kakanin of “Espasol”, is a “don’t judge a book by its cover” case. The goodness is in its taste. My love for it will be forever.

The near future will be an exciting time for Maguindanao when the cuisine takes center stage and DOT XII thrusts the Cotabato’s food tourism to the forefront. Halal Goodness will be about making halal food available in the restaurants around the city all year long.

Pride of food and pride of place, this is what to expect of Maguindanao. Hand in hand, the cuisine and the city will wow everyone who steps on its soil, or even its waters. This is where you will find the largest mosque in the country, the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, and one of the coolest oasis, the Blue Lagoon in Barangay Margues in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat, and the People’s Palace, the city hall of Cotabato City built from the citizen’s taxes, are among many other spots worthy of a visit.

The largest mosque in the country, the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid

THe mosque at night.

What was the former Provincial Capitol building is now the Army headquarters  located at the Pedro Colina Hill, the highest point of Cotabato City.

The interior of the once Provincial Capitol with the original appointments, including the map of Mindanao.

Kutawatu Cave at the Pedro Colina Hill

The People's Palace aka City Hall

The Blue Lagoon in Barangay Margues in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat

Maguindanao is truly ARMMazing! Let your own love affair unfold.



For more photos about this story and other travel stories, visit http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/ . For lifestyle stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/


Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on July 29, 2015.