Happy Diwali to our Indian friends in Manila! We saw a Diwali Mela (Indian Trade Fair) last Sunday when we went to Mall of Asia. I started to realize that there are a lot of Indians now in Manila. Just in our company, we have three holding key leadership positions. The Diwali Mela is very interesting because it showcases Indian dances, fashion and food (which is why I went there). I would think that Diwali will become a big occasion next year in Manila. Rumor has it that next year, it will be a holiday already because Bollywood is already investing in Manila. (can someone confirm this?)
Tina Vaswani gave me Jamoos on Diwali and these are the round balls soak in sweet liquid which I first tasted during the Pink Kitchen event. She was proud to say that they create one of the best Jamoos in Manila. This got me interested to explore the different flavours of India in Manila and see which ones are the best. I’m looking for Indian foodies out there who can show me the secrets of Indian cuisine in Manila (aside from the usual Swagat/ Bombay Kitchen/ Prince of Jaipur).
On a personal note, my wife has not given birth yet. The dilations got stuck at 4cm and she is experiencing no regular contractions. It is the 40th week and we have been walking around the Mall of Asia this weekend but still Baby Joshua won’t come out. While waiting for Baby Joshua, we already signed up for StemCord where you bank the stem cells from the baby’s umbilical cord for future use ( which I will feature separately). We have eaten in the newly opened Haagen Daz in Mall of Asia (watch out for that post). I’m dying to post the Pampanga tour we had and a definitive guide to Claude tayag’s Bale Dutung.
Aww no baby Joshua yet? Maybe he wants to be nearer Xmas para happy spirit lagi ang birthday nya 🙂
Stemcord – whoah. Nascare naman ako agad…I will look forward to your explanation here.
Who create the best Jamoos? Pink Kitchen? Is this the event that you posted before or am I getting confused? Hehe 🙂
Anton-
Your wife got to have contractions. And the best way to get it is thru s*xual stimulation. You have got to have lots of IT now. Or you can just stimulate her n*pples.
I hope her bag hasn’t rupture yet.
Cord blood banking, do you know how EXPENSIVE that is? Because the nearest storage is in Singapore. I think there is a cheaper one, called something like an indirect donation. Well, anyway if you can afford it, then why not?
Cheers!
Peter
p.s. my wife is at her 36th week.
Hi Anton! I bumped into wifey at Powerbooks! I think Baby Joshua wants a grande entrance!! Everyone is awaiting already! 🙂 Hehehe.. 🙂
Regards to wifey and Aidan!
I wish I’d known about this, I’m an Indian food fan! Why don’t you post about the different dishes you got to try? I’m sure you have other readers who like Indian food and would like to see the photos of what they had at the trade fair.
By the way, in case you haven’t tried it, one of my favorite Indian restos is Queens, on Jupiter. You must try their breads!
Indian trade fair? That sounds interesting. Nothing more exciting though than actually visiting the markets of Delhi and dining in India. Did they have nice and reasonably priced fabrics at the fair?
Grand entrance talaga ang iyong bunso. Here’s to a safe delivery and a healthy baby, mom, dad, and kuya. Am sure when he finally arrives, your whole planet will be more awesome. Congratulations in advance.
You’re right, there are a lot of Indian nationals in Manila. I also noticed this in New York when I went 2 months ago. Sa States ang alam ko dumagsa sila dahil sa Y2K tech-run. They’re very tech-savvy kasi. Dito I suppose it’s because of the proximity. I actually met some Indians in the US who have relatives working in Pinas.
Pareho kami ni Rach. My 2nd child was born at 40 and a half weeks. I was already scheduled for inducement but I went into labor 2 days before schedule. As long as Joshua is ok, don’t worry too much. Has she done baby monitoring na?
I see now that a Diwali is starting to be celebrated in Manila. Sweet, as I’m still awed by the event here in Singapore. And I fell in love with the food and spices of India. If Deepavali (Diwali) becomes a major celebration there next week, then I’d like to visit RP on that day of festivities to experience it.
May your wife have a safe delivery.
Just wanna say congrats for you new bebe =)
jamoos? baka gulab jamun. those are my dad’s favorites. (i’m named after divali by the way though i’ve never celebrated it.)
ay sayang i ddnt get to go to the Diwali event. I’m half-indian & i love their food, ung sweets lang.hehe as weird as ot may be, im not fond of spicy foods. where can i go to buy jamoos??? makati area lang sana kung meron.
Many of the call centre offices in Manila are actually branches of the big call centre companies of India. Inout-source na rin ng India to the Philippines some of the outsourcing contracts they get from US cause they can’t cope with the demand fast enough. With these offices in Manila are the Indian officers sent by HQ to oversee the business.
The CEO of Nestle Phil is Indian and if I’m not mistaken, so is the top honcho of Citibank in the Phil.
Hello Anton,
My daughter, Cathie, introduce your blog and from then on, I would like to read the archives. I am a food tripper, maybe thats why I like your blog. Anyway, better late than never, congratulattions to the new born. Sayang, I was not able to attend the Happy Diwali festival in MOA. I just dont know that they will celebrate it there. Back in 3 years yata, I happened to be there in Glorieta where they celebrated the Diwali day. I have a lot of Indian friend too in India. I was assigned to work in India, so I learned to like their food too. I like tandoori chicken, their bread dip in a sauce with mongo crushed and the very spicy cauly flower balls fried. uh spicy and hot! I have to give you a festival of light file, later. may I know your email ad where can I send it. Thanks Henry