Visayas Delicacy: Kilawin Lukot (Donsol Sea Hare Secretions) is Like Green Pancit!
25 February 2013
And even though Bohol is not new to Tutubi, as he's been there for about 4 times already, he again asked the question to a local and here's her reply: "try Lukot," it looks like green pancit or green spaghetti (actually like green angel hair pasta to be correct). then he remembered it featured way back on GMA7's Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.
kilawin lukot from Mira Villa Seafood Restaurant, Tagbilaran
Lukot, has almost the same green color as the guso and lato, both seaweeds, but it's not seaweed, it is actually secretion of the sea hare (known in the Visayas as donsol) but not waste or poop, that form like green noodles that's why it's sometimes called marine spaghetti.
The hunt for lukot brought them, not the nearest beach in Bohol to gather lukot, but to Mira Villa Seafood Restaurant in Tagbilaran City to sample the "exotic" delicacy known as lukot (exotic for Luzon denizens like Tutubi).
lukot looks like green pancit
How does lukot actually taste like? texture? It's not slimy nor even have a distinct smell (maybe partly because the vinegar in the kinilaw drowned the smell) and smooth, soft texture but if you have a bad imagination it may feel like chewing/swallowing a worm. Tutubi can't actually describe it but it's good.
Better taste it yourself and find yourself say: kalami gyud!
Labels: Delicacies, Seafood
posted by GingGoy @ 9:00 PM,
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Malabon Horse Meat, Tapang Kabayo of Parañaque: Healthy, Exotic Delicacy?
19 February 2013
Now if you're not the type who won't mind tasting horsemeat and actually have the guts to try and taste how horsemeat tastes like, there are two areas where you can buy horse meat: Malabon and Parañaque.
Can you stand to taste horse meat, considered as delicacies and sometimes exotic food in some cultures yet a taboo to some like the Americans and the BritishIt's not a secret that Malabon horse meat selling is a norm. You can find them at various Malabon Public Markets sold at meat shops labeled as Malabon Tapang Kabayo. The horse meat source are said to come from horse breeders in Quezon and Batangas as well as disabled horses in race tracks.
There's a lingering rumor, and believed to be true, that one of the best tapsilog in Metro Manila, particularly on the tapsilogan strip on Quirino Avenue in Don Galo, Parañaque City is not serving beef tapa but actually tapang kabayo (cured horsemeat) to customers for decades now that gives it a unique taste, flavor and texture different from tapang baka (cured beef).
There's a blog dedicated to eating horse meat and promotes it as low fat, low in cholesterol and high in iron. Horsemeat is also claimed as the secret to long life of the people of Sardinia and some people of Malabon who consume it regularly.
What's your take on this? Is it ok to eat horse meat? The issue in Europe is actually of deception where consumers were deceived into eating horse meat. Filipino culture does not prohibit eating horse meat, what's actually illegal is eating carabao meat, due to Erap's only law.
Want some kind of horse meat food trip?
Labels: Delicacies, Exotic Food, Malabon, Metro Manila, Paranaque City
posted by GingGoy @ 8:30 PM,
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Eat Sea Urchin/Tajom/Tayom/Uni/Ricci di Mare- Filipino Style!
08 December 2011
These sea creatures are considered delicacies in many cultures, called uni in Japan (expensive or as the Japanese say it in Nihongo: takai!), ricci di mare in Italy. If you're unfamiliar what are sea urchins, they're the small balls with spikes you see on your snorkeling trips to the islands. (Sea Urchin photo from Wikipedia creative commons)Tutubi has been looking forward to eating them just to taste for quite some time now but his wish was granted, without him asking for it, by his friends who informed him it's a usual part of daily fare, uncommon in urban jungles of Manila though.
kinilaw na tajom/kilawing tayom (served raw with vinegar and spicesAs they always say, the sea urchin is an aphrodisiac though there's really no scientific proof to it. Sea urchins dont' actually taste slimy, has a unique texture to it and are, actually, good.
Now where can we find the urchin served in Manila restaurants, anyone? Japanese restaurants have it as uni, but not popular even in Makati in other forms, probably due to supply problems.
Labels: Delicacies, Filipino Cuisine, Filipino Food
posted by GingGoy @ 9:23 PM,
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Tamilok: Exotic Palawan Delicacy is Not a Worm
08 October 2011
Tutubi got his curiosity sated when he and his friends went to Kinabuch's bar and Grill on Rizal Avenue in Puerto Princesa City.
How does the tamilok taste and look like?

Never mind it looks like a translucent worm, rather icky, but it really tastes like talaba (oyster) like most people who've tasted tamilok swore. To enjoy tamilok, you eat eat it fresh and raw (kilaw, kilawin kinilaw) style by dunking the slimy worm-like creature in vinegar laced with chili and other spices.
Tutubi tried but failed to ask his contacts to see and catch tamilok in the mangrove forests but was not able to do so.

For the less adventurous, there's also fried tamilok in bread crumbs at Kinabuch's Bar and Grill but waters down the icky look of the once mangrove-boring crawlers.
fried tamilok cooked with bread crumbsWould you dare sample this exotic and bizarre food (for Metro Manilans) next time you're in Palawan?
Related Posts:
Dos Palmas Beach Resort Day Tour
Palawan Underground River
Puerto Princesa Airport Guide
Palawan Ecotourism Tour Packages
Labels: Delicacies, Exotic Food, Mimaropa, Palawan, Puerto Princesa
posted by GingGoy @ 8:19 PM,
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Tinubong: Kakanin Inside Bamboo Tubes in Vigan, Ilocos Sur
01 September 2011
Tinubong beside Candon Kalamay offered by hawkers outside Baluarte
Tinubong is a sticky, sweet delicacy made from glutinous flour, sugar, coconut milk, small strips of buko (young coconut flesh) and sometimes cheese and margarine inserted into the bamboo tube then roasted over charcoal embers (traditionally) or in ovens (in commercial quantities).
tinubong with the sweet stuff exposed when you split the bamboo tube.
You can buy tinubong sold by peddlers, near the Baluarte, city plazas, and other Vigan pasalubong shops in the old heritage city for about PhP20.00 per tube depends on size and your haggling skills.
Related Posts:
Royal Bibingka
Candon Kalamay
Vigan Longganisa
Hidden Garden
Labels: Delicacies, Ilocos Region, Ilocos Sur, Vigan
posted by GingGoy @ 8:55 PM,
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Pasalubong: Vigan Royal Bibingka by Marsha's Delicacies
31 August 2011
Tutubi saw Tongson's Royal Bibingka on Calle Crisologo but he opted to try the newer Marsha's Delicacies along the national highway in Bantay town,
the counter of marsha's delicacies
How does vigan royal bibingka taste like? it's not like your usual bibingka made from rice fluor (galapong) and it's consitency is nowhere near it. It's sticky, more like cassava pudding (budin) but no cassava.
Now, even if Tongson's Royal Bibingka is the original, some people claim Marsha's version is better, even others claim the relatively new The Sisters Royal Bibingka, located less than a kilometer from Marsha's, is the best.
Vigan Royal Bibingka, Marsha's version. a dozen of these comes in a box for PhP140.00
Be Tutubi's guest, which is the best Royal Bibingka of Vigan of them all: Tongson's Royal Bibingka, Marsha's Delicacies or The Sisters Royal Bibingka?
Tutubi's real question is why are they called royal bibingka? what's the history behind the sweet things? what's the secret ingredient of the secret royal bibingka recipe? is it because it goes well with...well...royal tru orange? :P
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Royal Bibingka Prices: PhP80.00 small box; PhP 140.00 large box
Marsha's Delicacies
Address: Nat'l Highway, Brgy. Cabalanggan Bantay, Ilocos Sur
Telephone Number: +63.77.722.8119
GPS coordinates: N17 35 17.0 E120 25 08.5
Labels: Delicacies, Ilocos Region, Ilocos Sur, Pasalubong, Vigan
posted by GingGoy @ 11:50 PM,
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Ilocos Delicacy: Sweet Candon Kalamay
05 July 2011
Tutubi chanced upon this pasalubong vendor near Baluarte in Caoayan town peddling Candon Kalamay and another Ilocos delicacy (to be posted later). Each packet of Candon Kalamay, wrapped in brown paper, costs PhP20.00 (still expensive for Tutubi)
Candon Kalamay in bite-size portionsOther well-known kalamay variants include, Bohol kalamay, baguio kalamay (popularly known as sundot kulangot), Iloilo kalamay, Nilubyan of Tarlac made from pounded green rice and Mindoro kalamay using grated coconut and flavored with peanut butter or vanilla.
Candon City celebrates Kalamay Festival in March of every year.
Labels: Delicacies, Ilocos Region, Ilocos Sur, Pasalubong
posted by GingGoy @ 9:01 PM,
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Victoria's Secret Kinulob na Itik (Fried Duck)
11 October 2010
A favorite of Tutubi's younger brother now living in Malabon, kinulob na itik is a deep-fried duck recipe in Victoria, Laguna, a town with duck raising as main industry that was visited by the contestants of Amazing Race 5 where they chased ducks in their muddy shelters to get the next clues of the popular reality show.
Tutubi eats kinulob na itik not on his own initiative but mostly due to his brother's "addiction" to the Laguna delicacy. While in Victoria, he asked some locals around that led him to some sort of "victoria's secret" on the best kinulob na itik in town: Rollyesmer's Kinulob na Itik, deep inside the town center of Victoria, kilometers away from the main highway, in a hidden location yet sought after by locals and people in the know, bypassing the numerous stalls on the highway, including one that boldly proclaims itself as the "original" kinulob na itik, mimicking the highly successful original buko pie of Los Banos marketing ploy.
The owners of Rollyesmer's Fried Duck, Rogelio Ramirez and Esmeralda, both in their 60's, developed their own kinulob na itik recipe that still lures customers to their humble home, lighted only by a simple, slightly damaged sign outside their home. On talking with Mang Rolly about his secret fried duck recipe, he also narrated that he has relatives in Paete, Laguna that Tutubi's father also knew, unlike Tutubi who's now virtually unknown and knows less people in his hometown. Tutubi also asked around for bibingkang itlog (puro), related to the stinking bibingkang abnoy of Pateros.
The secret of the fried duck recipe? Mang Rolly first removes the duck feathers and internal organs before boiling the duck in water for about three to five hours. Garlic, onions and secret ingredients are then added, until the duck’s own oil starts to appear. Then the duck must be deep fried until it becomes crisp. The secret ingredients, in right amounts during the boiling process, removes the smell and pungent taste that turns off most people to ducks.
the wood-fired stove where the ducks are boiled for hours
The result? Tutubi's new kinulob na itik specialty discovery was also eaten by family members who don't normally eat ducks, in any form. Note that most fried duck dealers serve their product with sauce, but Rolly's fried duck don't need the sauce.
Victoria's Secret kinulob na itik, served without the usual sauce. Price is P140 each. Note the lettuce only added by Tutubi to add color.It's by their special fried duck recipe that keeps them in business, selling about 30 fried ducks a day, in a hidden location somehwere that's called Victoria's secret...now in the open!
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Rollyesmer's Kinulob na Itik
Barangay San Roque, Victoria, Laguna
Contact Number: +63.915.547.7356
Coordinates: N14 13 28.2 E121 19 30.8
How to get there:
Commuting to Victoria, Laguna is easy. Take a bus to Sta. Cruz (either
HM Transport on EDSA, Cubao, Quezon City or a Green Star bus on Taft Avenue near corner Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia, near LRT and JAM bus terminals) and request the driver to drop you off in Victoria's Poblacion (Landmark: Petron gas station and a Victoria poblacion arch, the bus conductors call Balite (probably a balete tree used to be there) a few kilometers from the giant ducks statues in Masapang. Transfer to a
tricycle and ask to be taken to San Roque specifically at Rolly's Kinulob, locals know the place.
Driving Directions to Victoria, Laguna:
If you have a Garmin GPS navigator, the easiest way to get there is to use Open Street Map with the map of Victoria, Laguna updated by Tutubi that shows the actual location of Rollyesmer's Kinulob na Itik deep inside the town :P If you don't have one, just drive down to the town of "Mighty Ducks," enter the main road to the poblacion, a right turn followed by a left turn going to San Roque (a basketball court at the end) then left when you the San Roque arch then a right to an unknown road. Ask for Rolly's kinulob there and you won't get lost.
Labels: Calabarzon, Delicacies, Frugal Food Find, Laguna, Laguna Food Trip, Southern Tagalog
posted by GingGoy @ 10:22 PM,
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Sorsogon Delicacies: Kuyog, Hinagom, Binut-ong, and Kinagang
07 July 2009
This time, he has yet to ask the question to his hosts in Gubat, Sorsogon and yet his question have been answered when they served him two of Gubat's delicacies that turned his ordinary lunch into a Gubat food trip.
First, besides usual dishes known to Tutubi, was a serving a fried small fish, locally called kuyog or cuyog, probably some sort of anchovy, whose taste reminds Tutubi of bangayngay of his childhood in Paete, Laguna. One of his hosts cautioned though that catching the kuyog fish, still small fries, is illegal but people are so fond of the fish they continue to catch them. Fermented kuyog fish is usually paired with cooked pili fruits as side dishes/appetizers/dips.
crispy fried kuyog.cuyog fishTutubi's host narrated how the side dish of cooked pili fruit and cuyog is made from boiled ripe pili fruit. The dark skin of the boiled pili fruit is peeled off and the dipped in fermented cuyog sauce, similar to bagoong, accentuated with a dash of calamansi juice. The pungent flavor of the pili combined with the sour and salty kuyog sauce is heavenly to the locals (peninsular Bicolanos and even those from Catanduanes) but is an acquired taste for others. It's very popularly paired with angol fish in coconut milk.
Next was a serving of brown cake made of rice called Hinagum (or hinagom). The rice dessert is also popular in nearby Samar Island, home of the Warays, where the Bicol Peninsula is separated by San Bernandino Strait. Hinagom recipe is simple, it's made from freshly harvested rice that's pounded, roasted in a pan, then pounded again in a mortar mixed with coconut meat and sugar before wrapping in leaves. It tastes quite similar to espasol of Laguna.
home-made hinagom served to Tutubi by his gracious hostsOther Gubat delicacies that can be tried there for a Gubat food trip is binut-ong, a simple recipe of glutinous rice mixed with coconut milk and anise seeds, wrapped in banana leaves and boiled over low fire for about an hour and a half.
The timitim, is some sort of cassava cake made from grated cassava, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and pili nuts. The video below, a clip fro m ABS-CBN travel show "Trip na Trip" where they demonstrated how to make the various Gubat, Sorsogon delicacies (shot at Veramaris Resort).
Kinagang, a unique Gubat delicacy made of crayfish. How to make kinagang: remove the shell of the crayfish, mash the meat and mix with strips of coconut meat and leaves of herba buena (a mint variety). Wrap the mixture in higikhik leaves (it's one of the secret of the delicacy or else it will taste differently) then steam.
Too bad, Tutubi wasn't able to taste timitim, binut-ong and kinagang but he hopes to be back in Gubat, Sorsogon someday for this
The worst part about Tutubi's stay in Gubat, Sorsogon was that there's really no restaurant where you can sample their gastronomic treats and culinary treasures except from the home of a Gubatnon. People of Gubat, like most other Filipinos, should really showcase their own native delicacies and unique cuisine as well as develop various tourist attractions to improve tourism in their town.
Most people still think Gubat, is a forest, as the name in Filipino means, but Gubat is actually a progressive town in Sorsogon, now with an ATM of her own by Gubat St. Anthony Cooperative (GSAC), and a lovely Rizal beach that can be developed as a surfing, skimboarding, kitesurfing/kiteboarding, and windsurfing beach if the locals and government officials get their acts together.
Combine culinary treasures with natural attractions and pride of place and you'll have a tourism success story!
Related Posts:
Rizal Beach Resort
Veramaris Resort, Gubat, Sorsogon
Labels: Bicol Cuisine, Bicol Region, Delicacies, Filipino Food, Sorsogon
posted by GingGoy @ 9:17 PM,
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Zabala's Tikoy Especial in Lucena, Quezon
15 February 2009
As a child, he used to eat tikoy in Paete as well as those made in nearby towns of Laguna and Quezon. Zabala's tikoy was one of his favorites due to it's no-cooking required tikoy recipe, unlike Chinese tikoy during Chinese New Year that require dipping in egg batter and deep-fried, Zabala's Tikoy can be eaten out of the packaging.
the sign in front of Zabala's with their address and contact numbers
Zabala's tikoy recipe is tasty and not too sweet, with slightly yellow color and sticky so you sometimes need an oil-dipped knife to cut it. All ingredients, mostly glutinous rice, mixed in a bowl and then steamed on trays stacked on one another. Too bad, all tikoy for the day were already cooked and Tutubi wasn't able to take pictures of tikoy being made for "documentation purposes."Although business is brisk during the Christmas season for decades, the business has seen the best of days due to competition and changing people's habits.
half-tray of tikoy about an inch thick. these are sliced to the desired sizes then wrapped in colored plastic wrappers similar to those used for sweet yema.Origin and history of Tikoy:
A chinese friend of Tutubi mentioned to him once that tikoy came from the Chinese word for sweet cake but Filipinos misheard the Chinese name and now calls the sweet pudding tikoy.Tutubi was able to find Zabala's tikoy in Lucena through the help of his sister who used to live there as guest of the transient house, also at Zabala's tikoy factory.
Tip: looking for cheap accommodations in Lucena? Zabala's, besides having catering services and tikoy, also have rooms rented out to transients for just P150.00/night/person (that's about $3.30/day)
Zabala's Tikoy Especial
Zabala St., Marktown Subdivision
Red V, Lucena City
Tel. No.: +63.42.710.2402
How to get to Zabala's Tikoy Lucena City, Quezon:
Zabala's is inside Mark Town Subdivision and just a few meters from the highway where SM City Lucena is located. From SM Lucena, drive towards Lucena city center, look for a huge store with Quality Ceramics sign about 500 meters from SM and turn there. Zabala's Tikoy Especial is about 100 meters from the corner. If you're commuting, a tricycle ride from SM will do.
Labels: Calabarzon, Delicacies, Lucena City, Pasalubong, Quezon, Southern Tagalog
posted by GingGoy @ 9:00 PM,
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Leyte Tacloban Delicacies: Binagol and Moron
13 December 2008
This time, Tutubi "met" Leyte's delicacies with the binagol of Dagami , chocolate moron (how he loves the name) and pastillas of Carigara town.
a pile of binagol sold on the sidewalk of Tacloban City public market. Binagol costs P25.00 each (about $0.50)
binagol without the banana leaf cover exposing the sweet stuff inside on a coconut shell (picture taken using Canon Ixus 30)
the chocolate moron, similar to suman but with chocolate flavor.How to make binagol? If you're looking for binagol recipe, look for those people who has been making them for generations in Dagami town. Binagol is sweetened taro (locals call the gabi species as talyan endemic in Palapag, Northern Samar) pudding with nuts Leyte. The talyan is first grounded then mixed with eggs, gata ng niyog (coconut milk), sugar, butter, nuts and chocolate. The mixture is placed in receptacles of coconut shells, called bagol (hence the name binagol), wrapped in banana leaves then steamed.
Where to buy them? Tacloban market or from the towns who make them: Dagami for binagol, Carigara for pastillas, hubhob, and moron.
No information yet on where to buy binagol in Manila. Tutubi has yet to see them in malls, even at weekend markets.
Labels: Delicacies, Eastern Visayas, Leyte, Pasalubong, Tacloban City
posted by GingGoy @ 11:17 PM,
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Ormoc: Cassava Cake from Young Attitudes
08 November 2008
In Ormoc, he again posed the same question to his hosts and got the answer: cassava cake, with unique recipe from Young Attitudes. He thought it's just the usual cassava cake that can be bought anywhere else but when they got to a store in downtown Ormoc, he found out the cassava cake has it's own twist-- it's mixed with buco (young coconut) plus a sprinkling of cheese on top and packaged in mouth-watering bite-size pieces.
After buying a box (just one, ever wary of Cebu Pacific excess baggage charges), When Tutubi got back to the hostel, he got curious, opened the box and sampled the cassava cake. Tasting it was really good, even if he doesn't have a sweet tooth, he ate more than he usually does and stuffed the box inside the refrigerator lest he devours them all.
a quick photo of the box packaging, labeled Young Attitudes Cassava con Buco Delight, on Tutubi's bed in a room with poor fluorescent lighting :(
Cassava cake, the delicacy in bite-size, heavenly goodness eliminating the need for the knife (and fighting in case of uneven slicing)Verdict: Young Attitudes: Ang pinakalami nga cassava cake!
Young Attitudes
Address: Bonifacio St., Ormoc City, Leyte
Tel. No.: +63.53.255.4790; +63.53.255.7739
Branch: P. Burgos. St., Tacloban City
No information yet whether this Ormoc delicacy is available at SM or anywhere in Metro Manila so Tutubi requested his friend from Ormoc to bring one when he travels to Makati in the near future.
Labels: Delicacies, Eastern Visayas, Leyte, Ormoc, Pasalubong
posted by GingGoy @ 6:20 PM,
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A Sampling of G&B Buko Pie and Pancit Cabagan in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya
12 August 2008
The driver parked the car in front of a small restaurant named G&B Noodle Station, with many other vehicles parked nearby, to buy a famous pasalubong of the province that even buses, on the request of passengers, stop to buy the stuff in boxes.
Sampling the buco pie, Tutubi tasted hints of cheese and milk, a recipe quite different from those sold in Laguna, particularly Los Banos' Orient Original Buko Pie but equally good.
photo of G&B buco pie. The pie is about 6 inches in diameter and 3/4" thick.
fresh buko juice to wash down the buko pie and later the pancitSimilar though to Orient Original buko pie is the so called "Original" syndrome where all buko pie vendors in Laguna now put the word "original" in their own "trademarks" to confuse buyers unaware of the authentic original. In Nueva Vizcaya, you can see buko pie vendors boarding buses selling pies with the same, almost identical, colors of G&B buko pies, the reason why at G&B, there's a sign warning unknowing people that they only sell their pies at their store and ambulant vendors boarding buses sell G&B buko pie clones are not sanctioned.
Looking at the menu plastered on the walls of the street side restaurant, the picture of pancit cabagan tickled the curiosity of Tutubi that triggered his ordering the local version of pancit that originated in Cabagan town of Isabela. Tutubi's driver told him the authentic version of Cabagan pancit comes with raw egg smothered on the wheat noodles the same way Filipinos do with sisig.
pancit cabagan in all it's goodness.G&B's version of pancit cabagan comes with pieces of hard-boiled eggs. The pancit version is named after Cabagan town of Isabela where the noodles are made, similar to the naming of pancit bato in Bicol named after Bato town of Camarines Sur.

G&B Buko pie costs P40/box and usually bundled in boxes of three for P120.On the way to Isabela, Tutubi bought one box to sample and later bought three boxes on his way back to Manila as pasalubong.
Question: should you happen to sample both, can you give your opinion on which is the best buko pie out there? Or do you have other pies in mind?
You may visit G&B official website for history and contact telephone numbers.
How to get to G&B Noodle Station:
Commuters riding buses to/from Isabela, Tuguegarao or Banaue will just have to ask drivers and conductors to make a brief stop at the place. Oftentimes, you don't have for chances are other passengers already requested a stop-over at the place.
Labels: Cagayan Valley, Delicacies, Nueva Vizcaya, Pasalubong
posted by GingGoy @ 8:44 PM,
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