Binalot’s Green Leafy Love

Ever since I was a kid I learned that love’s colour is red. A colour that’s so strong, it also represents heat and anger. But yesterday, I was shaken. I submit to the invitation of Binalot Fiesta Foods for this out-of-town gathering to share to us not just their love of doing business but also the life behind all those Binalot’s famous banana leaf wrappers. It was just during this event that it registered to me; love can also be represented by the colour green.

This blog has no political agenda whatsoever. Hahahaha!

I love green, I love seeing green fields.
I love eating green leafy vegetables, I love eating delicious foods.
I love traditional Filipino dishes, I like eating in Binalot.

I’ve tasted some Binalot’s dishes, and so far, I love what I had then.

I’ve been attending bloggers’ gathering for quite some time and I’d day that what I has experienced here was the most heart-warming experience I had so far. And I thank the people behind this event for bring us to this place and giving us a inspiration to be a better blogger.

As the invitation said, I met Miss Lalah’s team at Ayala around before 8a.m. I took the day off from the office for I know that this event will be something different, different in a good way. And I wasn’t disappointed, thank God.
 
Lalah and Patrick

We left Makati at around 9 a.m. and arrived at Barangay Buhanginan, Nagcarlan, Laguna.

As we park our vehicle, little children lined up along the sidewalk carrying these banners:


These children are some of the beneficiaries of Binalot’s DAHON program.

Immediately, right after that welcoming band, we were asked to enter one of DAHON’s headquarter to discuss further about this wonderful project.


While sipping fresh coconut juice, prepared to us by DAHON beneficiaries, Binalot’s management headed by Mr. Rommel Juan and Robie Mateo, shared to us how glad they were when they started giving this town a livelihood that they’ll cherish for lifetime. It is part of their CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility, a project that is aiming to help our rural fellows to earn more by buying their banana leaves and assuring them of income on top of banana sales and ensures a steady supply of banana leaves for Binalot.
 
 
 Rommel Juan
Binalot Fiesta Food CEO and Owner

 
Robie Mateo
DAHON - Program Coordinator

Rodney Oriel
DAHON-Nagcarlan Coordinator

I cannot believe that with just banana leaves, a whole community can make a life out of it. I was amazed and happy to know all these. It should be one of the projects that our government should promote.


After some 30 minutes of discussion, they took us the “kinda” banana farm place where they are harvesting these leaves. If you are a Farmville addict, you’ll like attending this kind of event. Hehehe.

DAHON guys taught us how to choose a nice banana leaf for the job. They also demonstrated how to harvest and how to bind them.


Then, bloggers’ turn.


After this survival kinda stuff, they treated us to a sumptuous lunch back at DAHON headquarters.


But before we dined in to those sumptuous meal, DAHON Day Care Center kids entertained us with some DAHON acronym-slash-poem and some sing and dance number (Yeah, that Nobody song).



Oh, they were all adorable and funny.

And right after these, the super kind and accommodating DAHON peeps lead us to the dining table.

Of course, Binalot products were present, and the DAHON guys also prepared something local for us.

The Binalot Dish

Adobong Kalabaw sa Gata

Menudong Gulay

It’s not my first time to eat kalabaw's meat (water buffalo's meat). I had Tapang Kalabaw before, and I find it so chewy, making it hard to eat. But this one, the Adobong Kalabaw sa Gata, this so delicious!  I cannot believe that I liked it. Though, I still feel sorry for the water buffalo, really.

While the Menudong Gulay was delicious, too. If you are a vegetarian, this is really good for you. This is a really unique dish. I love my Ermats menudo, and I think when she hears about this Menudong Gulay, she’ll be curious, too, about it.

After the breathtaking lunch and some picture taking with Mang Bina, Binalot Fiesta Food’s official mascot, the gang took us to their Day Care Center, a small room that will give bright picture to the lovely children of Barangay Buhanginan, Nagcarlan, Laguna.

With Mang Bina

DAHON's Day Care Center

From there, we had a chat with DAHON’s Day Care Centre teacher Joan Carmona and her smart and witty pupils.


This has been a really a heart-warming, eye-opener event for me.
I really appreciate all the efforts of Binalot to these people and with that, I promised that whenever I have a chance I’ll eat at Binalot and remember this one good day I spent with these lovely people of Nagcarlan, Laguna.

And to Binalot, THANK YOU SO MUCH!



4 comments

gneth said...

green ka kasi :D

aMgiNe said...

hay sayang naman di ko nakasama. :(

erlyn of bluerlyn.com

lornadahl said...

Just found this blog entry! Can I grab my photo with Mang Bina? Hihihi!

Alex De Vera Dizon said...

@lonadahl - Yeah, sure, gow! :-)