the recipe

ADOBO
Ingredients
8 whole chicken legs (about 4 pounds), cut into drumstick and thigh sections
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, crushed lightly
1 cup water
3/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions
In a large kettle combine the chicken, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 1 cup water, bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer it, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the soy sauce and simmer the mixture, covered, for 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken with tongs to a plate and boil the liquid for 10 minutes, or until it is reduced to about 1 cup. Let the sauce cool, remove the bay leaves, and skim the fat from the surface.
In a large skillet heat the oil over high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it saute the chicken, patted dry, in batches, turning it, for 5 minutes, or until it is browned well. Transfer the chicken to a rimmed platter, pour the sauce, heated, over it, and serve the chicken with the rice.

111608

and that completes the adventure. the last few days were a bit crazy, but all in all, a very successful development trip. due to a dead camera battery, there was an absence of photos, but enjoy what i do have, and stay tuned for the next adventure.

111008

saturday was another long day, more packs, more rice. towards the end of the day, a co-worker and i walked to a local corner store to buy some beer; which ended in a karaoke session. the filipinos love their karaoke. the product are looking good, but we still have a little ways to go. sunday was our day off. our factory hosts took us to a private beach resort, montemar, about an hour away. the drive out there was super sketchy. the concept of "highway" in the philippines is different from that of the US. in the country side, the farmers spread out and dry their rice harvest on the shoulder of the road, which is usually used as a lane for the slow moving motorcycle taxis, bicycles pedestrians, parking, and a spot for randomly standing. but in the "back country" , where there is no shoulder, and only two lanes of paved road, the villagers will take up an entire lane with rice, which sometimes get driven through in the event of a game a chicken with an oncoming buss.monsoon rains when we got there, but cleared up. the snorkeling right off the beach was cool, but later in the day we hired a traditional Filipino fishing boat to take us snorkeling out a reef. it was like being in a tropical fish tank. wait a minute, i WAS in a giant tropical fish tank (the south china sea). i don't know the names on many on the fish i saw, but i did see angel fish, parrot fish, neon colored fish that seemed to glow, crazy star fishes, beautiful corals of all shapes, colors and sizes. it was awesome. when we got back to the beach, baby sea turtles were hatching out of the sand and making a break for the sea...pretty cool sight. i got a nice break from kimchee, rice and boot soup on sunday. now it's back at the factory.

110708

same as before, more backpacks, and more kimchee, and that's all

super brutal day at the factory yesterday, we recieved 10 packs to review. the process involves measuring and testing and making sure the pack is constructed to design intent; not always an easy task. still haven't gotten out much, the days routine starts with breakfast( kimchee and rice) and the we take a van to the factory and sit in a room going over proto's, emailing, updating, tracking, researching, testing and meeting with factory workers; then for lunch, we take the van back to the staff house to eat(kimchee and rice), then its back to the factory until seven or eight, then it's a van ride back to the staff house for dinner(kimchee and rice) and after a couple of the local beers it's off to bed. hopefully tomarrow will be a bit more mello. the products are looking good so far; so all is more or less well. at some point we'll go the shore (only a few hundred yards away) and check out the view, or climb a local peak. working hard, looking forward to sunday(my only day off)

110508

another long day yesterday at the factory waiting for prototypes. went on a facilities tour, the factory is a bunch of buildings that house different production tecniques, from sewing soft goods, to compression and thermo-molding, to aluminum anodizing and powder coating. the main compound is on the gronds of the former Ford plant. Mrs. Marcos wanted some free Ford stock, Ford said no, things got sticky, Ford pulled out. it is super cool to see products go from an idea to finnished good off the end of the production line. still haven't gotten a chance to really check out the surrounding area but hopefully today. i have been able to go for short walks in the mornings, this morning i found myself in the jungle, thick!

110408

second day at the East Cam tech, Dong-In factory in the Marivalies?, Bataan, Philippines. looking forward to a tour of the factories. Manila was interesting, stayed at the Renaissance hotel in Makati, Manila is more of a huge metro area split into large districts, than a city. the drive in from the airport was exciting. traffic laws are all but absent, vehicular anarchy. heavy security at the hotel, bomb sniffing dogs, armed security guards, metal detectors. hotel was nice! good size pool(+25yards) too bad i left my speedo at home, sauna and steam room in the well equipped gym. like the district of makati, the hotel was super clean and nice. the makati area is groomed for the "elite" of Manila, you can find all your top international luxury brands at the large greenbelt mall(s). not exactly my scene but there were some cool restaurants that served local fare, the adobo was of course the best; but still not as good as tristin's. the ferry to Bataan from Manila is no longer, so we drove for 3 hours to get here. most of the way was on a relatively new toll road that was smooth and fast. getting out of Manila was interesting. some spots of heavy traffic, but a nice glimpse of the street life that seems to exist in its own world outside of my experience moving through it. i love to see how different people exist. how they adapt and move through their world. very different experience than mine. the country side is beautiful. a lot of rice fields. rice fields always remind me of pheasant hunting in the rain with WWII surplus outfits and rubber boots, stuck with 20 lbs of mud....."...Derek you go and walk down to the end of this check and then come back up the side of the drainage ditch and flush the birds out, kyle, you on the other side.....". no pheasant, but a bunch of water buffalo. enjoy the pictures, more to come