momoese

Yes Bob, that is exactly what they do at Whole Foods! I've been told the same story from others in my local photography group. They are very worried about photos being taken in the store. To get these shots at Seafood City I had to be very low key and quick about it which meant having my camera settings ready before entering knowing they have florescent lighting and some sky lights. I shot in RAW just in case I didn't get the white balance right and it was a good thing I did! The whole time there I had store clerks watching me. The photo of the banana aisle was taken 2 feet behind the produce man's back with another at the end that you can see, so I had no time for camera adjustments! I had my wife carry my camera bag for me so I could quickly get it and shoot while shopping.

Anyway, it was quite a bit of work to process the RAW files and get the colors accurate in post process, but hey, I love to share my work.

Dean W.

I have had the blossom with Vietnamese soup before. It was shredded into a veggie to put on top. I don't recall to much taste to it though.

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Rmplmnz

Saba is my personal favorite based on taste and versatility. Pan fried green (tostones), pan fried ripe, eaten out of hand ripe, boiled green (eaten like a potato) and of course microwaved (20 – 40 seconds)/baked ripe with frozen yogurt. I have also had them steamed ripe (not my favorite).

With respect to the banana blooms we occasionally sell them to one of the local Asian markets. Nice Pommelos in the pic.

Patty in Wisc

As we drove past my local Whole Foods store this a.m., on the way to the hospital for my colonoscopy, I told Mike we gotta go there soon - he'll love it there. Now, after reading this, I will go there sooner & take pics of their produce & see what they have in the 'nana' section LOL. SPREAKING OF......
Good news...I got a hand of nam wah nanas from Mitchel yesterday (Mon) - 13 in all. Put a big smile on my silly face! But, I could not eat anything all day yesterday except jello, for this YUCKY colonoscopy today! All I could do was look at them... no energy to pm Mitchel to say I got them. This a.m. I told Mike to have one & tell me how it tastes .. (he LOVES nanas) & he made the mistake of offering me a bite just before we left for hospital. THE NERVE! They musta gave me a elephant tranq cus I was there over 4 hrs, & Mitchel, that first banana was SOOOOO GOOOOD LOL. My son came over & had one & loved it - esp when I said it was home grown in L.A. by a friend!! Seems they are perfectly ripe too.
Still feeling woozy, but a note on watermarks: I remember several years ago at GW forums where they made a not of telling all that any pics posted became their property. A lot of people were angry & said they wouldn't post pics anymore unless they watermarked them.
When I post pics here, it comes from photobucket & they are not watermarked by the org. I don't store pics here cuz it seems more time consuming for me. Pics I put on threads here don't have any watermark - not even from the org. Only pics stored here are watermarked. At the GW forum, ANY pic posted became their property & like I said, ppl did not like it.

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Got a lite?
Patty




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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

momoese

Just be quick about taking pics there Patty or the fun police will be after you.

Glad to hear the Namwah fruit got there and I hope your feeling better!

aash09

I can hear the "Mission Impossible" music now! Go get 'em Patty!

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Rmplmnz

Saba Banana Integrated Development Program

momoese

Wow, interesting video! I see some products that I'd like to try. I wonder what an OFW is?

chasbear

Hey thanks for posting this great video! I've learned quite a few things about other banana growers here on the island I'm on thanks to you!

Rmplmnz

chasbear

An OFW, my friend, is an "Overseas Foreign Worker" and is considered by many to be the one of the top exports of the Philippines; filipino workers who go abroad sending "extra" money to families back home amounted to nearly $16.4 billion US dollars (ABS-CBN news). ABS-CBN further states that, "The Philippines is one of the world's leading sources for skilled and unskilled workers with up to nine million people, about 10 percent of the population, living and working in 140 countries.

Their remittances have become a major pillar in supporting the economy contributing to about 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product."

My wife is one of 8 children, 2 sisters of whom now work abroad, a nurse in New Zealand and a caregiver in Canada. Since there is no useful social security here, the children are usually the major source of livelihood for elderly parents. My sister-in-law, the RN now in New Zealand, was making the equivalent of $5/day US in a hospital here while waiting for her work visa clearances; pretty hard to live yourself let alone take care of parents as well with those kind of wages.

CookieCows

Kudos to you and your wife Mitchel for getting these shots! I have the whole scene pictured! I've never seen flowers for sale around here, that is so cool!

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chong

There's a new store with the same name that opened recently in the Southcenter Shopping Mall area, south of Seattle, with the same name. My sister-in-law told us that this is a Filipino store. My wife went shopping there yesterday and came home with nothing but, guess what? Seafood! She thinks that the prices are competitive with Ranch 99 chain. But she said that the place was HUGE! Now she's got a new place to waste her time and spend her money.

momoese

Yeah the seafood selection is crazy there! I wanted to get pics of that too but there were way too many workers watching me walking around with my camera.

I want to try those Saba fries with some banana ketchup!

chong

Now, that that's truly being a banana fanatic! Way to go!

LilRaverBoi

Interesting....most places call them OFW's....but here in this country, we call them 'illegal immigrants.' Truly interesting.

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BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

saltydad

At the hospitals I've worked in here, the percentage of Phillipino RNs is higher than any other 'OFW'. And they're good!

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Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


http://flickr.com/photos/saltydad/ and
http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
http://s751.photobucket.com/albums/xx151/saltydad/

cheson74

That's a quite a crude and ignorant statement. The majority of these OFW's have legal visas and they work in environments that you and I would not. Sure there are some that are illegal but imagine going abroad and sending 75% of your income away to support your family. I know of some OFW's that saw their kids once in 5 years.

I've been deployed to Iraq 4 times and the Filipinos and Africans are hired to do crap jobs (i.e. clean the porta johns, wash endless pots and pans, deliver fuel, etc etc).

Their help is greatly appreciated. Otherwise, we'd have to do that work!

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chong

Almost all OFW's from The Philippines are documented in their host countries. Very few of them are illegal. A majority of them are not immigrants either. Just temporary workers. I'm a naturalized citizen from The Philippines myself. So, I try to keep up with immigration laws in this country.

LilRaverBoi

OMG....it was a JOKE....please lighten up!

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!