Makati City, Philippines

[slang]

Thanks for you attention and interest. Thanks to Mr Toad too for the server space.

[zippyt]

dude put up a flickr site then you won't be burning up UT's server space ,,, just hyperlink the pics .

Hogs head soup ,,,,,,,,, Yummmmy !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get some pics of the girls intrested in you in front of the hotel !!!

[Tonchi]

Gosh, Slang, the food you photographed looks really appetizing and certainly no more dangerous than I have seen in Mexican mercados many times. They have wrapped it very nicely, and that helps a lot because in the wet markets you have to beat the flies off the food in order to examine it. One of the things I hope you can photograph is the LECHON, the roasted piglets which are tremendously popular there for parties. They are truly delicious, but you have to purchase the one you want before it has been standing out on the street in traffic all day. Lu has some great photos of those which she sent me before, maybe she can post them here.

Zippyt, yes, balut make you strong like bull. Filipino bull maybe, hee hee. But I have heard that the people who can't even afford balut have ANOTHER gross delicacy that they scavange as a substitute. It is so gross that I doubt Lu can be persuaded to tell us about it. There is also a tradition of releasing all the dogs in the pound to the homeless beggars on Friday afternoon. Yes, so they can have dinner Luisa's aunt rescued one of their own pet dogs from such a fate after it had escaped from their compound; she actually had a tug of war with a man who was just about to begin butchering the mutt.

[slang]

Just some random thoughts from the day....


slang: So.... can you tell me again why is it that we're walking in the street as cars are passing when there is a sidewalk?
FR: That's what we do here. That's how we do it.
slang: Would you be terribly upset if I were to do my own demonstration of how we "do it" back in the US and walk on the sidewalk?


In Pembo climbing into a tricycle......

FR: Come on in, there's room for you here (points at a small space next to her)
Slang: Yeah but we'll need a rope to pull me out of that little space when we get back. ( I climb in hesitantly trying not to inhale the 2 stroke engine exhaust )

The driver hits the gas hard....and it stalls from the big load. Me. Kickstarts it, revs it up high...lets the clutch out and we start moving slowly as the sidecar brackets flex away from the bike.

Slang: I'd bet a peso that I weigh more than the two of you (pointing at the driver too)
FR: Dont be silly slang, you're fine
Slang: I'd bet another peso that next time we ride one of these fucking things I'm wearing a blindfold, holding the "last cigarette" in my lips, and have a crucafix dangling over my head.

...and the driver laughed out loud.

[Tonchi]

Silly boy, sidewalks are for cars passing in traffic or for parking, all Filipinos know that

[slang]

yes, what was i thinking?


im posting this from a cafe in pembo. the keyboard is very bad. we just took lots of photos of the wet market here.

im still looking for the pigs slit wide open and prepared for partys food.

more later.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

Silly boy, sidewalks are for cars passing in traffic or for parking, all Filipinos know that

At least the ones who've been to South Philadelphia.

[wolf]

They let Filipinos into Sout' Philly? When did they start doing that?

[Luisa]

Slang, the slit pigs that Tonchi was speaking of can be seen lining the streets of La Loma in Quezon City. They don't mind you taking shots of the pig. Just remember to include the butcher in it. Ask your friend if she knows about the Christmas lights lined village in Policarpio St. in Makati. (I could accompany you as well There are ways to skip the tricyle ride. How you managed to ride it without kicking a hole into the cab is a puzzlement to me.) It is a street where all the houses are decorated for the holidays and the home owners sell stuff flea market style ( Remember, bartering is key to buying anything on Philippine sidewalks) and you also get street food galore ! While you are here, try taking in some Bibingka (Glutinous rice cakes) and Puto Bumbong ( Rice cakes from a bamboo cylinder). Those are traditional holiday fare here that is available at street corners from November to December. You eat it with Salabat (ginger tea).

Keep that iron clad stomach ! And stay away from anybody drinking a beer and offering you food. Tourists get conned into eating either dog or cat meat with beer. Don't eat anything offered by street drinkers to be on the safe side.

[Luisa]

FYI guys,

here is what a typical lechon in the Philippines looks like.

[slang]

Originally Posted by Luisa

Don't eat anything offered by street drinkers to be on the safe side.

My guide finally allowed me to drink the beer with fast eddy that morning. This was after explaining that I only drink to capacity and not socially and always alone.

Reluctantly, I had one beer with no food.

Two hours later I was poised in front of the throne sweating bullets wondering how a tall, athletic American asskicker such as me could possibly be so negatively affected by ....one beer.

I dont think there was anything wrong with the beer but just the jetlag, anxiety from the trip prep and the total change in climate and location tweeked my system. Now I only smoke dope with the natives that want to be social and flatout refuse beer or food.

[Luisa]

Originally Posted by slang

Reluctantly, I had one beer with no food.

Two hours later I was poised in front of the throne sweating bullets wondering how a tall, athletic American asskicker such as me could possibly be so negatively affected by ....one beer.

Did you by any chance have breakfast that morning before taking the beer? Filipino beer is known to give you the foreigners tummy aches and runs if you have it on an empty stomach. I warned you the local food and drinks isn't for the faint of heart and stomach. Fear Factor ain't got nothing on us. Filipino men specially seem to have intestines made from the highest grade of non-corrosive material on the planet, they could drink beer all day sans food and it won't have any effect whatsoever on them.

Did I mention that the first and last time I humored my friends and took a swig of beer, I was really sorry? not only did it look like urine but I believe it tasted the same as well. Horrid ! I'm never doing that again.

Play safe next time and tell them you would rather drink a Cali Shandy in either ICE or Pineapple flavor. That is a local cocktail that is made from malt but won't get you drunk nor give you the runs. It is a teen agers preparatory drink before graduating to the local beer.

[Sundae]

Wow! Thanks for the pictures, and the description of the food from Luisa. Needless to say, coming from a proper East End (London) background I am not really shocked by what other people eat, even if I wouldn't fancy it myself.

Offal is big news again in the more expensive restaurants here - River Cottage HQ served braised tongues & hearts as their Valentines Special for example

I've had trotters in my time & would certainly consider some slices of that pig's cheeks. Then again, thats probably the best cut.

I don't know how likely I'd be to eat food cooked at the roadside - would have to go with the opinion of someone I trusted. I had rampant diarrhea after having soup in a restaurant in Spain and yet no problems at all after eating from raod-side stalls in Sri Lanka. Go figure.

Keep up the good work Slang, whether its here or via a link to a website. I doubt I'll even go to the Philippines, so its a good chance to see something I won't see on the holiday programmes. More prices would be intersting (I can convert them into £ sterling).

[zippyt]

Filipino men specially seem to have intestines made from the highest grade of non-corrosive material on the planet, they could drink beer all day sans food and it won't have any effect whatsoever on them.

San Mguel was tastey if i rember correctly , well it was cheap any way !!
They had a special edition out when i was there ( early 80's ) called redhorse , GOOOOD STUFF !!!!!
I bet it was the famaldihide that they put in the beer over the international date line to keep it from rotting in the bottle that messed with his stomic , you drink enough and after a few days you sound like you have a gravel truck in your throat !!!

[zippyt]

They still make it !!!!!!!

http://www.redhorsebeer.com/index.asp

Good stuff , if i rember correctly , big bottle , strong stuff !!!!!