Saturday, February 7, 2009

Blusyl and UP LB Kesong Puti

Hubby and I got invited to hubby's family reunion and his aunt's 85th birthday. They celebrated it in Blusyl, a resort with private hot spring pools which you can hire for the day for special events and parties in Los Banos Laguna. Los Banos is home of the hot springs in the Philippines.





Would you believe this lady is 85 years old? She still walks like a spring chicken! She and her entire family travelled specially back to the Pihilippines to celebrate her milestone.



I remember when I was younger, Los Banos was the "it" place for out of town family excursions. The province is teeming with private pools for hire, spas, hot springs and hotels. The only drawback, at least from my standpoint, is that there aren't enough chic garden and farm restaurants there for you to actually make the trip. It's only about an hour and a half away from Manila.

Anyway, after a full lunch at the resort, hubby and I travelled to University of the Phlippines, Los Banos (UPLB for short) which is about 15 kilometers away from Blusyl. UPLB produces the best Kesong Puti (literally means white cheese) in the country (or so I'm told by my mom).



Kesong Puti is made from cow's milk. It's a very light cheese, sort of like feta cheese but less salty. The best kesong puti is made in this building:



And purchased at this non discrepit counter for P48 (<$1) per block of 200 grams. Not only are they the best, they're also the most reasonable priced (if you exclude your gasoline expenses, he he he).



Kesong puti is tradionally sold wrapped in banana leaves. UPLB wraps them now in plastic but they taste the same nonetheless. Maybe bacause the cows eat the freshest grass from the cool mountains of Mt. Makiling.