Halo-Halo Festival

Halo-halo (from Tagalog word halò, "mix") is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served in a tall glass or bowl.

Halo Halo Dessert picture grabbed from the Wikipedia.

Ingredients include boiled kidney beans, garbanzos, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains caramelized in sugar, jackfruit (langkâ), gulaman, tapioca, nata de coco, sweet potato (kamote), cheese, pounded crushed young rice (pinipig). In terms of arrangement, most of the ingredients (fruits, beans, and other sweets) are first placed inside the tall glass, followed by the shaved ice. This is then sprinkled with sugar, and topped with either (or a combination of) leche flan, purple yam (ubeng pula), or ice cream. Evaporated milk is poured into the mixture upon serving, says the Wikipedia.

It is one of the Filipino desserts that is truly ours.  There are a lot of variations how we prepare Halo-Halo.  Some are even placed in a buko and some are stuffed with unique ingredients.

When we introduced this Halo-Halo to our AFS scholars for the first time, they hesitated at first.  Accordingly, they were not able to see this kind of dessert before.  It is only here in the Philippines that such unique dessert is prepared.  Some of them had a hard time eating the Halo-Halo because they were not able to observe what were they eating considering that they would not be able to see the ingredients.  Almost all the ingredients were placed beneath the crushed ice.

But because of its unique taste, the AFS scholars, especially our Camille Prudent, would not settle for just a small bowl of Halo-Halo.  Instead they would ask for the large bowl and in fact would ask some more.

Here are the pictures of our Camille and some of the AFS scholars as they enjoy our very own Halo-Halo.

Our daughters selfies before devouring Buko Halo.

Camille as she almost empties the Halo-Halo.

The AFS scholars in unlimited Halo-Halo Treat.

The last photo was actually taken in the establishment of Microtel here in General Santos City that offers unlimited Halo-Halo for a price of 90 pesos only.  It is served with finely crushed ice that melts in your mouth.  I am not advertising the said establishment.  I am just saying based on my personal account.  So, if you happen to visit Gensan, try its delicious unlimited Halo-Halo.