30 x 25 cm, acrylic on canvas (2016)
for sale
When we were still children, our whole clan would take a road trip for our annual summer outing. Our enormous extended family could somehow manage to cram nearly fifty people into two beat-up jeepneys and maybe a couple of cars. Armed with “calderos”of food, banana leaves, paper plates and plastic cups and cutleries, we would take the two-hour journey south of Manila to one of several hot springs in Laguna.
Our potluck would invariably feature different versions of “adobo” – meat marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, pepper, and garlic, then browned in oil and simmered in the marinade.
Adobo is a “resilient” dish because it keeps well without the need for refrigeration making it ideal for traveling – it actually tastes even better days after. Just like our adobo, our family has also gone through many stories of survival and has emerged better and stronger because of the challenging journeys we have been through.
altered state by arlyn 