My Family Health Blog

Committed Family Healer's Research

10 Day Road Trip Finished: Bayombong, Banaue, Tuguegarao, Pagudpud, Vigan, Manila

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We are back in Manila from our 10 day road trip! Family road trip was fun. Nothing to be homesick about for me, I’m traveling with the family so wherever we are is home. Our route was from Manila to Bayombong, to Banaue Rice Terraces, then Tuguegarao, then Pagudpud beach, then back to Manila.

Our original plan was to sleep in a hotel in a town prior to Bayombong, but we couldn’t find it. We wound up in a town just after Bayombong in Balay Gloria. A recommended restaurant in Bayombong was Mrs. Bakers. I had a wonderful rare lamb. This restaurant was the restaurant food I liked in the entire trip.

We got to Banaue Rice Terraces and proceeded immediately to Native Inn in Uhaj. It was totally scary driving up the mountain to Uhaj as the road was a single lane slippery muddy road where a mistake will make you fall of the cliff. We arrived up to Native Inn after some “piss in your pants” scary driving. Our SUV did not have off road tires and was not a 4 wheel drive so I was scared to the point I said to the family to take off their seat belts and unlocked the doors and if we make a mistake and start to fall off the cliff, everyone jump out the doors.

Native Inn in Uhaj is what it claims to be, heaven. You live in the clouds, you have the most majestic view of the Uhaj rice terraces, you live in authentic Ifugao houses. Paleo dieters need to bring their own meats as the resort owner is of the belief system that fat is bad for you and the pork they serve has been trimmed of all fat.

We got a guide / driver to go up Uhaj and fetch us and guide us down the mountain back to Banaue town proper. We stayed at the Banaue Hotel grandest suite. There was a nice cultural presentation show in the evening. We went around several view points in Banaue. We also explored their market. We also went down to an authentic Tam An village. We bought more than 30 kilos of authentic Banaue rice terraces rice. Most of it red because it was cheaper. We had it bused to Manila along with some big handicrafts.

Banaue was cool, calming, relaxing. I vow to come back to Banaue. Next time by bus. No more driving.

We were supposed to go to Sagada from Banaue but 4 days prior, a landslide in Bontoc has made the roads impassable so we decided to abandon our original route of Banaue Sagada Cervantes Ilocos Sur and instead back tracked and went up to Tuguegarao.

In Tuguegarao we slept overnight at the Hotel Roma. Good hotel. In hotel parking which was important in Tuguegarao as lately carnapping was rampant.

We then drove on up to Pagudpud beach. Prior to that we saw the beached North Korean ship being torn apart piece by piece. Will probably be sold for metal scrap. Pagudpud beach we stayed at the Kapuluan. Pagudpud was windy, non-stop, great for surfers. We immediately found the time to check out the hillside for escape from possible tsunamis. Pagudpud is a nice, natural, alive beach. With living creatures on the beach, shells, and all, nothing fake. There is a small dynamic community. And best was I discovered where to buy fresh fish and other food so we can have our superior home made meals… which are always better than restaurant fair.

We drove down to Ilocos Sur to Vigan and stayed at our new friend Marsha of Marsha’s fame. Wow, her home was her castle, non stop improvements and artistic to boot, it’s her hobby. Super thank you to Marsha. Vigan was a nice historic place to visit. The Burgos museum made my day and the zoo visit was great too.

On the last day we drove from 7am to 6pm from Vigan to Manila. We had a lunch stop and a fruit buying stop.

Lots more stories and details to tell in more blog posts. This trip was just so good I want more trips.

Medicinal Raw Honey Hunting in Ifugao and Ilocos

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One of the goals of our 10 day Luzon road trip was to hunt for wild honey in the far flung provincial markets. My usual suppliers of honey have dried up. Even the bees in the farm in Alaminos are on honey strike when I visited last month.

Our first leg through Nueva Ecija, to Bayombong, to Ifugao netted 2 big quattro kantos bottles in Lagawe costing a lot each.

Later in Bangui, Ilocos Norte we were able to buy up 10 bottles of wild honey, of course they tasted different from the Ifugao wild honey. But this was much cheaper per quattro kantos. They also sold en mass some farmed honey which was obvious to my taste buds, they cost less, but still I only bought 1 farmed honey bottle.

Later on in Vigan, we met up with my sister in law who just went honey hunting in the wild mountains with native honey gatherers and she brought back 30 bottles (tasted different too)! And she’s asking us to pack this big box in our car! And she gave us the story of how they got the honey and with pictures too.

Of course we will find a way to accommodate this new honey stash. We will be sending our used clothes in our big maleta by bus. Then we can stuff the big honey box in the car! Hooray for honey.

I’ve learned how hard it is to have to go out of your way to collect true wild honey. And found out from Ifugao that the people there just buy up all the wild honey immediately… it is medicine… medicine primarily for children.

I give raw honey for myself and my children as a digestive aid. Raw honey with raw calamansi is also a remedy for coughs. I’m valuing these raw wild honey so much I’m keeping a good amount of stash in the hidden cupboards for medication emergencies. Must never run out of raw wild honey ever again.

Will make a write up of my sister in law’s adventure in wild honey gathering. Awesome story coming up!

Jumping Shrimp Salad: A Traditional Ilocano Way of Eating Raw Shrimp

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My previous post discussed about how we caught and cooked the live river shrimp from Kabigan falls in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. This morning we had breakfast in Kabigan falls. Found out from conversation with 2 women that their usual, traditional Ilocano way of eating those live river shrimp is raw! Yes, a traditional raw paleo diet meal.

How to make Ilocano Jumping Shrimp Salad technique:

1. Sprinkle salt on live shrimp to “kill” them.
2. Remove shells from shrimp.
3. Dip in freshly squeezed calamansi juice.

Eat.

And by the way, even if my 2 younger kids gorged on the cooked shrimp at lunch time, for the very first time, absolutely no allergies came out of their skin.

Which proves that shrimp store toxins if they come from polluted waters. Say a polluted lake, polluted ocean, polluted fish pond. These Kabigan Falls shrimps are so very very very clean.

River Shrimp Paleo Diet: Live from Pristine Waters of Kabigan Falls in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

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Kabigan Falls

Kabigan Falls

We are staying in a resort in the beaches of Pagudpud. Yesterday late afternoon the family went to Kabigan falls. Kabigan falls is a pristine impressive waterfall. Our tour guide for the afternoon was Rey.

Kabigan falls is a nice nature trip. The people live at the opening part where the highway is. Then inside the people have planted rice fields and vegetables and grow their own roaming native chicken. You will notice a stream flowing down the middle of everything, a clear clean stream.

Follow that stream and you get to the beginning… Kabigan Falls. Very nice, very cool. The people have tapped the top most source for their drinking water for all their households. Rey says there are some 2000 people who live in these parts.

cooked river shrimp

cooked river shrimp

I asked Rey about what common food they have in these parts, if they had shrimp or fish in their mini-river. He said they usually caught river shrimp for their meals. Aha! Good idea. I made a deal with Rey for him and his buddy to catch me some 2 kilos of live river shrimp for our family breakfast the next day. Rey agreed for a price both of us were happy.

The following day I was prompt at 6:30am and I did get what I ordered. 2 kilos of live river shrimp. They kept the shrimp alive by putting them in a porous basket and dunked in the stream. So when I got to their village, the shrimp were jumping alive. They called this kind of shrimp UDANG.

I came back to the beach and went to my chosen cooking hut and showed the lady my catch and that I wanted them to cook it GISADO. She was wide eyed impressed by my catch, she knew what it was but was puzzled where I could get such a prize.

I fetched my kids and they played around with the river shrimp for a few minutes before we proceeded to cook them. I was there to watch every step they took so we could have a clean breakfast. They had sea salt, onions, coconut oil, onions… and the extra special 7-Up softdrink that when it evaporates in the pot gives good flavor… it’s an old chef’s trick with shrimp.

They suggested margarine 2 times but I turned them down both times. Let’s keep this paleo diet guys.

Finally, the 2 kilos of river shrimp were done and served to excited children. Normally, my 2nd son and my daughter are allergic to shrimp, but I figured these were absolutely clean shrimp from the most pristine natural waters, so let’s take the risk. They initially had only 2 shrimp each at breakfast, but lunch time they just chowed down on the shrimp.

This nutritious paleo diet was brought to you by parent ingenuity. This dish is not available in any menu of any resort or cooking outfit in the Pagudpud beaches. With deliberate paleo diet “hunting”, we get food that’s best.

I had to drive some 15 minutes from Pagudpud beach to Kabigan falls and back and had them cooked just the way I liked and watching over the shrimp so they did it right. Parental labor of love.

If you are in Pagudpud and would like to catch some live river shrimp, call on Rey at 0930-5591605

Raw Wild Honey in Such High Demand and Expensive In Ifugao

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On this road trip, our first leg took us to Ifugao province. We took the Nueva Ecija to Bayombong and up route. In every w et market I stopped and asked for honey, pulot in the local language. Always no honey. In Lagawe I asked for honey, no honey either. The young lady said to me I should go there on Sunday market day and even then I’d have to go real early because people just snap up raw honey.

The Ifugao locals all know the value of raw honey as medicine. They keep raw honey for their children. The formula is to mix a tablespoon of raw honey with a tablespoon of raw calamansi juice. Just like the candy combination of honey-lemon. Or is that the westerner’s staple honey-lemon remedy. Seems it is the same for the Ifugao.

Finally in Lagawe, the big town capital of Ifugao I found raw honey. A big square bottle of gin. 600 pesos per bottle. And no discounts. And that is the local price, not tourist prices. Only 2 bottles left. Of course it tasted like the real thing. Unique. Unlike any other honey I’ve tasted.

This honey is so expensive and fabled to be medicinal when I go back to Manila I’m keeping these 2 bottles as medicine for my children. I’m not bringing this out as food. It will be in my personal stash of medicines.

I think I’ll try the honey lemon combo now. It is said to be used for kids’ coughs. Well, I haven’t had any coughs since I turned raw paleo diet. But whatever, let’s try it before we give it to the kids.

Be Afraid of GMO Cows Mimicking Human Milk

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Thinking of having a new baby? Thinking of the convenience of commercial milk substitutes and condemning your child’s health by not giving him your mother’s milk? Thinking of avoiding breast feeding? Total Frankenstein’s monster news:

Genetically modified cows produce ‘human’ milk, Scientists have created genetically modified cattle that produce “human” milk in a bid to make cows’ milk more nutritious. The scientists have successfully introduced human genes into 300 dairy cows to produce milk with the same properties as human breast milk.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/geneticmodification/8423536/Genetically-modified-cows-produce-human-milk.html

First off, it is insane why some mothers do not breast feed their own children. You put your child at risk for many many things, at risk to die, at risk to grow up sub optimal and for what? Because you actually think breast feeding is a hassle? That breast feeding is no longer the domain? That you have mutated to a higher life form? That those infant formulas can actually deliver? Puhleez.

And now this freak show comes along and they may silently eventually just sneak it into the infant formula… again, a new generation of human guinea pigs. Raise your hands those who want to willingly participate in this freak show experiment.

Veganism Resulted in Vitamin Deficiency Kills Baby

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Vegan parents who fed their 11-month-old daughter only vegan mother’s milk went on trial in northern France on Tuesday charged with neglect after their baby died suffering from vitamin A and B12 deficiency. Sergine and Joel Le Moaligou, whose vegan BELIEFS diet forbids consuming any animal product including eggs and cow’s milk.

From http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.35c2caa5efa0e183b7b38a2d0e2b7f40.71&show_article=1

Seems that the purpose of this publicity stunt is to tell the French people that veganism is drastically unhealthy and drastically malnourishing. Which it obviously is! Look! Dead baby caused by vitamin A and B12 deficiency!

Even vegan sympathetic Mike Adams reminds vegans:

So what to do? Well, for one thing, if you are on a vegan diet, don’t forget the B-12 and the omega-3 oils — two nutrients that do tend to be very low in many who pursue vegan diets. A vegan diet requires a lot of nutritional monitoring to make sure you don’t leave out a few things.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031883_vegans_criminals.html

So Mike, why do vegans require a lot of nutritional monitoring huh? Because veganism is malnourishing to majority of the population. Sure if they were organic raw vegans they may have clean diets but still malnourishing enough to kill their baby. Veganism is so dangerously malnourishing that people on SAD diets seem to do better even though SAD is inherently dirty and allergenic.

Excuse me folks, but it is RAW Paleolithic Diet, the original human diet which is bounty full of clean nutrition that requires no nutritional monitoring because it simply works and works really good. The dirty version is cooked paleo diet but it is still a whole lot better than raw vegan.

I’m speaking from personal experienced. I did the boy scout try along with my wife’s uncle and we failed miserably on raw vegan, even under the tutelage of a raw vegan guru… we gave up raw veganism rather than die of malnutrition.

And since I couldn’t make raw veganism work for me or my wife’s uncle, I as hell will not do the same stunt on my children. And since I thrive on raw paleo diet, I do the same raw paleo diet stunts on my children. Raw paleo diet cures children of all illnesses. The only reason they don’t go full time with it is because of peer pressure… social reasons (teacher, calvin’s packed lunch is bloody raw meat, he must be a vampire!). Raw paleo diet cured me of every single complaint I had, cured my first son of tuberculosis, cured my next son of hand flesh eating eczema, cured my daughter of painful tooth decay. The power is in raw meat, raw fat, raw internal organs… raw animals dude, raw animals rock! Fruits rock too for hydration.

Some people, like this French couple, did not know when to stop, when to see that enough is enough. Of course they experienced the consequences of malnutrition, the death of their daughter.

Of course, the case slapped on them is idiotic and they should eventually be let go… what more punishment do they need to get? Their precious daughter had already died. That already is the ultimate punishment.

Remember, the proof is in the eating. No dogma. Just go with that works. Raw veganism is a big fat sad lie that is killing many many people. Yo vegans, you can’t detox forever. Wake up, it’s time to build muscle, stop wasting away.