Filipino Fruits & Sweets!

 I recently visited a local food market where I came across everything from pigs heads to frogs to corn flavored ice cream. My favorite part was all of the new South East Asian fruits I came across, many of which I had never seen before. Here are some of my findings:

"Dragon Fruit" or "Pitaya":  midly sweet with lots
of small seeds that you eat

Lanzones: sweet and refreshing with a strong citrus taste.

"Rambutan": similar to a lychee, but better!

Jackfruit: has the texture of a bell pepper and
tastes like a mixture of soap, banana, and
 pineapple...

It may not look appealing, but mangosteen has been my favorite fruit so far! It's sweet and tangy and tastes somewhat similar to a nectarine.

I've also come to learn filipinos have a crazy sweet tooth, everything comes with sugar and desserts seem to be eaten at all times of the day. My favorite time at work is "merienda" or afternoon snack time where we are always fed some type of sweet treat!

"Halo-Halo": This is the most famous filipino dessert which means "mix-mix" in Tagalog. It is a mixture of shaved ice, ice cream (usually several flavors), coconut milk, rice, ube (sweet purple yam), lots of different types of beans, jello, and more.. mmmmm so sweet but so good!

"Guinitaan": This is a warm porridge-like dessert
with sweet coconut milk, sweet yams,
sweet potato, taro root, and boba balls. 

"Guinumis": Looks good, but was actually a very bland
mixture of rice crispies, shaved ice, coconut milk, sweet syrup,
 and jello. I was not a fan, but maybe I need to try another
 version.

Filipino version of an "ice cream sandwich" The
 mango, buko (coconut), and ube (sweet yam)
ice cream inside was delicious! 

"Turon": Deep fried bananas covered in sweet sugar glaze..
these may be the reason I return a little plumper..

Nothing beats a fresh buko on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world :)