Sweet as Chocolate Hills

Carmen / Sevilla / Antequera, Bohol, the Philippines

April 2 – 3, 2011

My 78-year-old mother didn’t balk at the 214 steps before her. She was as gung-ho to climb one of the Chocolate Hills as my sister and I.

Mom and the Chocolate Hills

The Chocolate Hills are a collection of over a thousand conical hills of similar height and shape. During the hot and dry Philippine summers, their grass cover turns chocolaty brown. These geological Hershey’s Kisses are generously strewn all over Carmen and neighboring towns at the heart of Bohol Island. But this year’s monsoon season started too early; the hills were alive –  lush and verdant.

Food Porn and our Daily Bread

Tagbilaran / Dauis, Bohol, the Philippines

April 1 – 4, 2011

The quickest way to a traveler’s heart is through his tummy. The province of Bohol, home of the Chocolate Hills, is not really known for its food though. But this cookie-shaped island and the adjacent Panglao Island, which looks like a crumb on the map, got me at first bite.

Mom, the Food Critic, in Dauis, Bohol

I’m not much of a foodie. My gastronomic standards scrape the bottom of the food chain. But I was with my mom and sister on this trip so at least I was assured of decent food, not my usual sustenance of street food when I’m on the road. So I’d let my mom (the real foodie in the family, along with dad) reveal her inner food critic.