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Beng-beng, Pigar-Pigar and Imbaliktad

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EACH dish has a story… Eating outside a public market stall in Mangaldan led me to a delicious meal and a local cuisine history lesson about “beng-beng”. Beng-beng is Mangaldan’s version and the precursor of the more popular street food Dagupan Pigar Pigar, which is deep fried carabao meat seasoned with salt and pepper and garnished with onions. The stall owner and cook who prepared my meal turned out to be the originator of beng-beng, Belen Aquino of JR Bengbengan. According to her, beng-beng is a Pangasinan word for the meat in the abdomen near the ribs of the cow or carabao. The meat trimmings were once given “free” to the matadors/ butchers of Mangaldan who had them cooked by her wayback in the 80’s even before “Isaw” of Dagupan became famous for cooking “pigar pigar” as concocted by Councilor Chito Samson and the late Manny Vent Cornel. Fast forward to more than 30 years, she now maintains a stall outside Farmacia Petilla in the Mangaldan Public market where you can en
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Cherry Finds: From Canada to the Philippines

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Authentic fashion finds and designer brands shipped from the Great White North to the Pearl of the Orient Seas made affordable and accessible!  Cherry Finds is a your trusted online personal shopper who meticulously shops and selects premium authentic designer brand clothes, bags, shoes, perfumes, colognes, etc. like Kate Spade, Victoria Secret, Bath & Body Works, Tommy Hilfiger and more. Ships from Canada to the Philippines!  Looking for authetic branded items in particular? Cherry Finds them for you!  Message Cherry Finds https://www.facebook.com/cherryfindsthings on Facebook and Follow @_cherry_finds on Instagram for inquiries and orders.  Visit www.cherryfinds.com Here's what @SiRVis got from Cherry Finds: A Tommy Hilfiger cotton T-Shirt and a Vanilla Bean Noel fine fragrance mist from Bath & Body Works
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Villaflor Hospital wins Philippine Quill Excellence Award for innovative services campaign

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Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (DDVMH), a leading medical institution in Pangasinan and Region I, affirms its commitment to quality healthcare, standing out as the only regional hospital to win at the 18th Philippine Quill Awards of the International Association of Business Communicators - Philippines (IABC Philippines). DDVMH bagged the Quill Award of Excellence for the promotion of its Help is on the Way campaign, which the hospital launched during the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The Help is on the Way campaign, which highlighted the hospital’s Hello Dok telemedicine consultation services and Villaflor on Demand mobile medical services, aimed to assure residents of Dagupan City and surrounding towns that their medical needs are still taken care of amid fears of contracting the new coronavirus. Promotions for the campaign have reached roughly 2.5 million people living within the Metro
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Bangus Harvest in Dagupan City

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Gilon gilon ed pukok (Bangus harvest in a fishpond in Dagupan City)  During bangus harvest, water in the fishpond is slowly and partially drained by opening the pond gate. This usually happens during low tide. Schools of milkfish are pushed to the harvest net through kalukor (seine fishing) where nets tied to bamboo poles are held by men from end to end as they slowly walk from the far end of the fishpond towards the harvest net. It is important that the schools of milkfish are slowly sent to the harvest net to weaken them in order to avoid injuring them otherwise we would get bloodied and limp bangus. The bangus in the harvest nest is then scooped with the use of a ringed net and transferred to a motorboat filled with crushed ice to ensure that the milkfish remains fresh as they are brought to the fish market. 
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Amid new normal, DDVMH actively advocates contactless payments and online consult services

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With the practice of physical distancing expected to be prolonged, Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (DDVMH) , a leading healthcare provider in the Metro Dagupan area, actively offers contactless payment options , so patients would not have to carry cash, lessening the chances of being infected by or being carriers of the new coronavirus. Patients availing of the hospital’s Villaflor On Demand and Hello Dok services can now pay via GCash and PayMaya. They may download and register on their e-wallet app of choice, then call DDVMH to avail of their needed services. The hospital’s call center agent will then request the needed details and provide the instructions and payment link for an efficient transaction. Villaflor On Demand is the hospital’s mobile medical service offering laboratory extraction services in patients’ homes -- the first in the Metro Dagupan area -- as well as home delivery of medicines . Meanwhile, Hello Dok is an online consult
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Tio Berto's Pizzeria

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I was invited and whisked away to a 21 hectares serene verdant foliage resort and wellness sanctuary in Brgy. Niñoy, Aguilar, Pangasinan - Hiraya Wellness Resort and Ecopark (formerly Goldkrist). But since it's not yet open to the public, I'll reserve the resort details for another post in the future. Let's talk about their food instead. Inside the resort is its organic farm to table restaurant: Tio Berto's Filipino Grill . It is named after Don Alberto, the patriarch of Hiraya founders. But because of the Covid crisis, health standards precautions and to sustain the employment of the resort staff, they decided to go with pizza, chicken, coolers and desserts sans the full restaurant.  Tio Berto's Pizzeria Premium Pizza Tio Berto's pizza is thick, crispy, and chewy crust made from freshly tossed dough topped with pure mozzarella cheese, high-quality EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), handpicked herbs and tomatoes
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Piolo Pascual: His funny videos help OFs bear the pandemic’s mental burden

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Experts in the Philippines and other countries have been warning us: along with the wave of COVID-19 infections would be a wave of mental illness. There’s no avoiding that: people are anxious, afraid, and many have lost jobs and face an uncertain future. Add to that our collective isolation, loneliness, and dread. Overseas Filipinos (OFs) are particularly vulnerable. Actor Piolo Pascual is among those calling for more support for OFs during the pandemic. He said that overseas Filipinos are already under a great amount of pressure as they face tough emotional, physical, and financial challenges. It’s not surprising then that some of them would have mental health issues. “For decades, our economy benefited from billions of dollars in remittances. At this time, it’s our turn to give back and support OFs now that they are going through both a pandemic and an economic downturn,” said Piolo. OF roles in movies, TVCs  Piolo has played several OF characters in various dramatic films--it
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