Having sat around for over a year in Bahrain, Dubai and Oman in hotels and apartments, waiting for the Philippines to open their borders to Foreigners, things went a bit crazy in March 2022!
One minute I was getting my medical and Good Behaviour certificate apostilled to send to the Philippine Retirement Authority for my Retirement Visa and the next I was on a plane to Manila! Sometime in that week a parcel arrived from Austria and I gave it to Corleen to send to Palawan in my second Babikayan box! A few months later Jam asked if I had tried any of the recipes in the "Recipes for Keeps" Recipe book he had sent to me in Bahrain! That week the box arrived and I found this wonderful Recipe book inside:
I loved the inscription that Jam put inside the front cover for me:
What greater motivation does one need to cook such lovely food shared by so many talented OFW in Austria! I quickly selected several recipes that I wanted to try !
The very talented Luis Castro , now back at Uni with a short haircut
Around this time I had been receiving lessons from Luis on how to use my Canon Camera ( which returned from repairs in Manila that took 3 months in August) and we made a short Vlog of me making Chester's food. Once he had taught me the basics of editing a Vlog we agreed I should have a go on my own and call him for help if I got stuck!
I decided to film myself cooking the Oven baked Salmon from the Recipe book as it was relatively simple, allowing me to focus more on practicing the skills Luis had taught me the week before. I set up the lighting, got the ingredients ready and tried some new camera angles, and to use a variety of camera angles. Previously my vlogs focused too much on me rather than the real hero- in this case the Salmon.
The Hero of the vlog was definitely the Salmon from Puerto Deli
However, it's one thing watching Luis film me making Halo Halo for Jhoanna's 22nd Birthday and quite another me filming myself add Olive oil to the salmon and spring onion! I even messed up the photography with everything looking washed out as I used the manual settings for the first time, rather than the automatic settings Corleen had shown me when we bought the Camera in Bahrain in Feb 2021!
In my first attempt the Olive Oil bottle mysteriously appears in front of the camera but completely out of focus! In our "TBK feeds Chester " trial Vlog we had been very impressed with the sound quality of the Boya Microphones.
Luis explained I only needed the cover outside to reduce the wind noise!
What I forgot was that as well as recording the sound of me cutting the Zucchini (or was it a cucumber?!) really clearly it also picked up the music I had playing (breach of Copyright) and the man working in the building site next door!
The finished dish is served- paired with sparkling water!
After what seemed like an eternity the Salmon was cooked, and I started work editing the Vlog. It was only when Luis and I reviewed my work a few days later that he pointed out I had not tasted the food! This was one of my favourite bits at the end of the Vlogs I made with Chester- we had lots of "Sarap" and "Bonga". When Luis suggested we film the tasting and add it to the vlog I had to admit the Salmon was so good I ate it all, and Kevin's portion when he did not show up!
Special thanks to Jam for the wonderful recipe book- and to all the Pinoy Chefs that contributed and the Publisher. The recipe book raised money for a number of Charities including the one that Jam, and I are actively involved with here in Palawan - FRIENDS for HOPE. It was great to read the full page about the charity in the Recipe book.
We will certainly be cooking many more dishes from this wonderful Recipe book over the coming months, and I am even going to try and make your special recipe "Moist Chocolate Cake" soon! Thanks also to Luis for all his tuition, advice and Hacks and proving, that as I approach my 62nd Birthday in September that you can teach old dogs' new tricks.
Guess there are now two Matalino (smart) dogs in our house, Chester!
Having edited over 100 of my Vlogs Chester (The Hooman) was a hard act to follow so I was delighted, after we both watched the premier of the first vlog, I edited he wrote to say:
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The first Vlog I edited!
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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