Surviving Siruma: A Summary

This is the sixth part of my 10-months adventure in Siruma, Camarines Sur.

I’ve shared all about the places to visit in Siruma, as well as the foods to eat, and activities in the area. This is just a summary of some sort.

Siruma is a beautiful place with lots of resources and beaches that could rival other beaches in the Philippines. Granted, it’s not as beautiful as the ones seen in Caramoan, but still, Siruma has a charm of its own. Maybe it’s because it’s a small, peaceful place, but basically it’s because of the people. In small towns such as this, the hospitality of the people in it is astounding. I don’t know if it’s because I’m their doctor or what but whenever I walk their streets, people always greeted me with a smile. I never felt that I was out of place even though I’m from Manila and I don’t understand some of their language. My 10 months stint there taught me a lot and for that I’m very, very grateful for Siruma.

Sunset view

If the CamSur government and Local Government would take the time to fix the roads going to this place, I am pretty sure that this place would be teeming with tourists all over. It’s a great tourist spot. Too bad the government is not doing anything to improve the roads going there. Hopefully, in the near future they would really fix it so that not only are tourists able to visit the place, but also the people there can go back and forth to Naga easily and without any hassle, most especially the fishermen who are selling their goods in Naga.

So, please, please CamSur government, see the plight of the roads of Siruma!! It’s a simple “cement” the road project which I’m sure you could achieve! And please to those reading this, spread the word, link this page, maybe some day, some one from their government would be able to read this and see the pictures of the deplorable roads they have not paid attention to!

Really, really sucky roads!

If ever you’re interested in going to this place, just message me, I have contacts there which could help you.

Is it worth it to go here? Yes, most especially during the summers so the road are not that hassle and dangerous. Need I say it again, it’s a beautiful place!



Read more:
Surviving Siruma: An Introduction To An Unknown Island
Surviving Surima: Where to Stay and Places to Visit
Surviving Siruma: The Town Fiestas
Surviving Siruma: Things To Do in Siruma
Surviving Siruma: Food Tripping Galore

Read More»

Surviving Siruma: Food Tripping Galore

This is the fifth part of my 10-months adventure in Siruma, Camarines Sur.

I mentioned in my previous blog posts that Siruma is a coastal island, meaning it’s beside the sea. And because of that, there are so many seafoods you could buy if the fishermen’s were able to catch said seafoods. If the waves are too high or too strong, they are not able to go out to fish thereby no seafoods available.

My first night at Siruma (way back last March 2012), my staff surprised me with a huge food feast. They bought squids (pusit) and cooked them in 3 different ways: fried calamares, inihaw (grilled), and adobo. It was heaven! The squid was so fresh it tasted different then the squids we have here in Manila. 1 kilogram of squid there costs only 120php!

The Different Squid Feast!

This is how fresh the squids are: they're still moving before they cooked it

There are also a lot of different varieties of fishes sold, such as Lapu-Lapu, Maya-Maya, etc. 1 kilogram of these ranges from 90php-150php. There also fresh crabs (90php/1kg) and shrimps, sometimes even giant shrimps (sugpo). These all ranges from 100php-150php per 1kg, which is really, really cheap! And even though it’s cheap, it’s still very delicious since it’s freshly caught. There are also little scallops for sale which is just 20php per plastic, just boil them, team it with toyo (soy sauce) and voila, instant dinner/merienda/lunch.

Cheerful Kuya selling his freshly caught sea foods

Buying sea foods

Fishy!

Very fresh Lapu-Lapu. Perfect for frying and then adding soy sauce and "sili"

Fishes that are grilled are also a favorite. Though, I prefer fried fish.

I love this!

Little scallops

Cholesterol-filled Sugpo

Crab galore!

Little fishes. This is usually the one used in cooking "bagoong" and in placing in pancit

A personal favorite of mine would be the “kinunot na pagi” (in English, sting ray). Whenever I go back to Siruma, I look for this, and my staff cooks it with coconut milk (gata), and kang kong. It is amazing! If you’re a bit squeamish, then you should not look at the pagi when it’s not yet cooked, other than that, it’s really, really yummy!

Pagi (sting ray) before cooking it

My all-time favorie! Kinunot na pag (sting ray cooked in coconut milk)

Now, if the waves are strong and there are no sea foods available, you could still choose a lot of variety of foods from plants which is just in their backyard. I was able to try fresh kamote straight from the soil and then just boiled in around an hour or so, and it was very tasty. Banana-ques are frequently seen as well (this are bananas with sugar and then fried). And let’s not forget the famous “Laing” which are gabi or taro leaves cooked in coconut milk (gata). Another favorite of mine when there is no available sea foods would be the “Ginataang Puso ng Saging” (banana heart cooked in coconut milk).

Banana-que, which are bananas coated in sugar and then fried

The Famous Laing

Boiled Kamote

Another new food that I was able to try was fried chicken. Yes, not exactly unique or new, but this is different because the chicken used was a “native” chicken (which they said is tastier compared to chickens usually sold in the market) and it was unique for me because I was part of the group that “killed” the chicken. And yes, it was morbid. But then, it was very delicious after haha.

Chicken for Lunch!

Ready for Cooking

A favorite merienda of my staff would be the “Nilupak/Linupak” which is technically, green bananas crushed in a mortar and pestle together with peanuts, brown sugar, shredded coconuts. Later on, it is topped with margarine and more crushed peanuts. It’s not really a favorite of mine because it’s too heavy in the stomach but still it’s a yummy treat. Another merienda usually done by my staff is “Pansit” with little shrimps in it. Again, it’s very delicious. We were also able to cook our own pancake from scratch, not those pancakes from boxes which is already flavored. It was a bit weird tasting but still edible haha.

Ingredients for Nilupak

The Fun Part: Crushing All The Ingredients Together!

Finished Product: Nilupak/Linupak

Homemade Pancakes

If you’re lucky, in the afternoon, there are some selling ice creams (dirty ice creams) and squidballs, fishballs, kikiam. But this is a bit of a rare commodity. Usually seen only of there are activities in the area.

Street Foods!

Very happy to see this!

I scream for Ice Cream!

And that's the different foods I was able to try in my stay there. The fun part about this all of these are either very cheap, or for free. No problem at all in buying it. And they are all fresh!

Next, the summary!

Read more:
Surviving Siruma: An Introduction To An Unknown Island
Surviving Surima: Where to Stay and Places to Visit
Surviving Siruma: The Town Fiestas
Surviving Siruma: Things To Do in Siruma
Surviving Siruma: A Summary

Read More»

Surviving Siruma: Things To Do in Siruma

This is the fourth part of my 10-months adventure in Siruma, Camarines Sur.

So, what can you do in Siruma during the times when there are no fiestas? Surprisingly, still a lot, even though it’s an isolated place with no “gimmick” areas and malls. If you’re not used to a simple, provincial life, you would probably get bored. But, if like me, you prefer the quiet, peaceful life away from the city, then you'll enjoy these activities featured in here.

OTHER THINGS TO DO IN SIRUMA:

1. Lounging in the Hammock (Duyan) under a tree - best done with a book in hand and some chips.

This is the life!

2. Karaoke/Videoke - this is basically the favorite past time of the people in Siruma. Except when there's a brownout. Videoke machine here costs 1php/song! Also, it's located along the beach so if you get tired of singing, then do some swimming!

Sing your hearts out!

3. Sleep all day - best done during the rainy seasons and if there's a brownout because you don't have anything else to do.

My very comfortable bed

4. Explore the neighboring barangays and look out for weird, unique animals

A monkey eating a lollipop

Poor doggy

5. Play with weird, squishy animals in the beach

Upside down jellyfish

According to her, this are the eggs of the jellyfish

Giant squid. And yes, you could eat this.

Giant jellyfishes

6. Collect seashells found along the shore - I did this and by the end of my 10 months, I had like 3 plastic full of shells. Now, I don't know where to place them haha.

Shells galore

7. Bond with the local people - In my case, since I am their doctor, I get to do this a lot especially if they have their consultation. The people of Siruma are very, very nice. Some has a hard time speaking Tagalog, but they try just to talk to me. They would really make you feel welcome and it was just a fulfilling thing for me to be able to help these people.

Seeing patients

Basically, just have a good time! This is the time where you could go back to your roots, commune with nature, leave all the gadget-y, modern city times, and just have a simple, fun life. So, just have fun!

Enjoying squishy animals

Enjoying swimming at the beach

Me and my Siruma buddies

After eating squid

Up next, foods to eat in Siruma!

Read more:
Surviving Siruma: An Introduction To An Unknown Island
Surviving Surima: Where to Stay and Places to Visit
Surviving Siruma: The Town Fiestas
Surviving Siruma: Food Tripping Galore
Surviving Siruma: A Summary

Read More»

Surviving Siruma: The Town Fiestas

This is the third part of my 10-months adventure in Siruma, Camarines Sur.

In places such as this, provincial place, slightly secluded, town fiestas are very important occasions. Fortunately, I was able to experience my fair share of town fiestas, including the Poblacion Fiesta which is the town proper.

Provincial fiestas are so much fun! They celebrate it for 3-days, the pre-fiesta, the fiesta itself, and the morning after the fiesta. And in these 3-days, there are always dances during night. There would be live band playing and people would be dancing around, whether it be hiphop or cha-cha or old school ballroom dances. And the foods are limitless! Every house that you enter in, you have to eat the food they serve otherwise, they would get slightly offended. They prepare 3-meals, even the breakfast after the day of the fiesta itself. It’s a joyous occasion which brings family members together as well as friends. It’s too bad these kinds of fiestas are not celebrated in Manila anymore.

POBLACION TOWN FIESTA (First week of June)
Poblacion is like the city proper of Siruma. This is where the hospital is located and where I stay in. The first day of the fiesta showcases different programs held in the school. What I enjoyed most are the mini-games situated all around the school area. These are what we called “Perya” games. For a mere 1peso (piso) you can win up to 100pesos if you’re lucky and you know how to stop haha. I was able to win 100php plus but then I opted to continue playing and I lost multiple times. In the evening of the first day, there is a dance being held. There are bands playing and alcohol drinking (of course). It was actually a fun experience for me (minus the part where there was a bit of a commotion and “knifing” incident). The morning after, just walk along the road and you would find yourself being called in by people in their houses to eat breakfast. Usual town fiesta breakfasts consists of “suman” (sticky rice), fried lumpia, and just a lot of foods.

School Dancing Programs

Coloful Chicks For Sale

One of my favorite games. Mechanics is there are 3 dice with different colors on it. You bet on the color which you think would come out after rolling the dice. Very addicting!

Very hard, almost impossible game. The prices at stake are higher, which includes cellphones. What you have to do is insert a coin in the small box and it has to land on the other side, but you won't be able to see the inside of the box.

Disco dancing fever!

Showing off my killer dance moves hahaha

The morning after breakfast

PAMINTAN TOWN FIESTA (Last week of June)
As seen in my previous posts , J was able to go here during our Naga-Siruma trip. Pamintan is the barangay known by its selling of dried fishes (Tuyo, Abo, etc). I love those dried fishes! I could literally eat them every day (poor kidneys). We were able to go here during lunch time of the 2nd day of their town fiesta, and still, the people does not disappoint with all their food giving. There was no electricity during that time but it did not stop them from giving us food. We were also able to buy some dried fishes to take home to Manila.

My plate full of food!

Dried fishes for sale!

BAHAO TOWN FIESTA (August)
I was not able to really experience this like I did in Poblacion because this barangay is about 30-minutes to 1 hour walk from Poblacion. We were only able to go there the morning after and have breakfast. As usual, the road going there is a bit of a rough road. If you know someone who has a habal-habal (motorcycle) ride, the travel would be faster. But if not, you can still walk to the barangay. Again, the people are amazing!

Bahao Town Fiesta

The road going down to Barangay Bahao

Breakfast feast

Again, these are just the fiestas I was lucky enough to experience during my stay there. I'm sure that there are a lot more since there are 22 barangays in Siruma, so I'm assuming there are 22 fiestas in a year, all in all.

Up next, other things to do in Siruma!

Read more:
Surviving Siruma: An Introduction To An Unknown Island
Surviving Surima: Where to Stay and Places to Visit
Surviving Siruma: Things To Do in Siruma
Surviving Siruma: Food Tripping Galore
Surviving Siruma: A Summary

Read More»