Back from the Philippines

My wife and I took a vacation to the Philippines, I took about 600 pictures and expect to have them online soon, but for now I have 8 online at:

http://www.mywowfl.com/html/vac.html

We went to one placed called St. Francis Square which is like a flea market. Mostly clothes, which my wife enjoyed, but I did come across some nice flashlights. They are basically like the LED's you get at walmart, but they only cost me $3.00 in the Philippines. I think walmart sells them for $9.00.

I also picked up some lighters, which have a switch on the bottom that allows you to turn a shocking mechanism on and off. Until then I had never seen one of the shock lighters that could actually produce a flame. There were also writing pens which did the same, but I only loaded up on the lighters.

While in the Philippines we flew to an Island called Baracay, which was awesome. I have some pictures of that which can be found above.

Anyone else visit the Philippines? This was my second trip, I can't wait to go back!

Hi!
I've been there just a month ago. Business trip to Manila and Cebu City.
The Mangos from Cebu are the best in the world!
Friendly people, tropical weather, all very nice but I was on business so not enough time to do many things.

Luigi

Nice pictures; looks like a beautiful place, and I have heard that the people are very friendly. I hope to visit that region of the world soon. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
V

BTW, I think there are a few forum members in the Philippines.

Hi Joshua,

It's Boracay, btw. Where did you stay in Boracay? I went their 2 years ago. I've never been to other countries with famous beaches but a friend who has tell me that none of them will compare to Boracay when it comes to the powdery white sand. It's actually whiter than the pictures can show and it's truly powdery with no pebbles or rocks. Unfortunately, our corrupt government is too stupid to finance its development into a world class destination or it'll probably smoke Phuket, Bali, or Hawaii in beauty.


Here's another picture. It was raining when we went there so this picture was taken during a somewhat cloudy day.

Nice pics Joshua. Looking forward to see the others. I'm planning on visiting the Philippines next year. it will be my first time back since 1971 - I was just a toddler then. I wonder if I will remember anything when I actually get there.

Let us know when you get the other pics online. I'd be interested in seeing them.

How was the heat and humidity? Bearable? Did you find it hard to sleep with the humidity? Did you ever happen to stay in a place with A/C? I want to go, in fact, I know I'll be going (not sure when), but the humidity worries me! Nice photos, BTW. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

I was there in june for about 10 days......on business, only had a day to do stuff.

Plan to go back though.

dragoman

Trashman said:

How was the heat and humidity? Bearable? Did you find it hard to sleep with the humidity? Did you ever happen to stay in a place with A/C? I want to go, in fact, I know I'll be going (not sure when), but the humidity worries me! Nice photos, BTW. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

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If you're sensitive to humidity, avoid the months from March to May which are the summer months. The heat and humidity during this time can sometimes be unbearable even for someone like me whose used to the weather. The months from December to February are the most pleasant but if you're planning to go to the beach, it's going to be very cold if you wanna go swimming so there are trade offs either way.

Resorts without AC are probably in the minority here. I would guess it's pretty difficult to attract guests without this "basic" ammenity in our country with this kind of weather. The only reason you would want to stay in a place without AC is if you're really short on budget because these places can cost as little as $10 per room per night.

Alright, AC! I'm there! (wow, $10 per night is cheap, though! :thinking

In the last photo, the food photo, I think I can spot a few pots of Kare Kare. I don't know what that sea food soup stuff is, though.

Edit: Found out that I actually do know what the other pots were--shrimp sinigang. I love sinigang, but I haven't tried it with shrimp yet, though.

I want ALL of you guys to come visit us if you get the chance!

Trashman said:

In the last photo, the food photo, I think I can spot a few pots of Kare Kare. I don't know what that sea food soup stuff is, though.

Edit: Found out that I actually do know what the other pots were--shrimp sinigang. I love sinigang, but I haven't tried it with shrimp yet, though.

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Yummy..Kare-Kare & Sinigang!! All Sabau/Digu??...wheres the Adobo,lechon and Pancit? hehehe :naughty:

Had Pancit Canton for lunch last week. . . but it's been about 10 years since I was actually in the Phils. I imagine a lot has changed in Boracay since then.

-LT

Anyone coming here who will come through Manila, let me/us know. We'll give you all the kare-kare and sinigang you want till you puke. We'll also introduce you to some foods that might make you puke before you eat it and then you'll realize they're actually delicious. Ever heard of Balut, Sisig, or Soup no 5?

Billson said:

... Ever heard of Balut, Sisig, or Soup no 5?

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Don't know anything about Sisig or Soup no 5 but I do about Balut...
It's a boiled fertilized duck egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside... yikes... :sick2:
They believe it's an aphrodisiac... :shakehead
It's a delicacy in other Asian countries as well...

I've seen balut, but I've never tried it. I don't think I will, either. I actually ate sisig for the first time, earlier this month. I thought it was delicious and I went back for more like 4 or 5 times. I know, it's stomach or something like that, but it tasted like little pieces of crispy lechon (the crunchy fried one, not the whole pig one) with vinegar and onions. I actually thought it was the best dish of the night (and there was LOTs of food). I'll ask about Soup no. 5. Is it dinuguan? (I had some of that the same night, but I'm still have trouble with the thought of it. It was good, but you know how your mouth waters when you see something gross, like when you're thinking about gagging? Well, my mouth kept watering, but I did try it more than once (that night).)

Edit:

I asked about soup no. 5, but my better half wasn't sure. She said she really doesn't eat the really wierd things but she thought that it was either made with eyeballs or beef *****. Was she right, and if so, which is it?

I've never tried soup no 5 myself but AFAIK, it's bull's testicles. It's supposed to be an aphrodisiac too but luckily I'm not that desperate yet.

Balut is cooked from an 18 day old embryo. I believe if it's not cooked, it will eventually hatch into a little duckling. I do think it's a cruel way of doing things. I don't particularly like to eat it but I won't refuse it if it's being offered. It really is very good and very nutricious but eating too much could also kill you with the cholesterol. It's good enough that I eat it even if it sounds and looks gross. I just pop the whole thing in my mouth without looking. If you look at it first, it'll be difficult to put into your mouth.

Sisig can be made from a lot of things but the the original recipe consists of the parts that are not normally eaten like the skin from the pig's face, it's ears or the entrails which are usually thrown out. I wouldn't be surprised if poor people actually came up with the idea because it was all they could afford to buy. It's now one of the most popular dishes in most mainstream restaurants serving Filipino cuisine. There are now a lot of variations to make the dish a bit more sophisticated and palatable.

Diniguan is literally blood which is what it actually is. Pig's blood. The trick is not to think about what it is and you will learn to appreciate it because they really are very good.

I don't get grossed out by exotic foods as long as I don't see them when they're still uncooked. If something is cooked, smells and tastes good, I don't care what it is made of.

yuuuuukkkkk....

Pigs face doesn't really sound that bad. Neither does stomach or entrails. These things are common in Mexican cuisine and are served all over the place here in SoCal. I grew up eating menudo (mexican menudo, not filipino menudo), which is made from tripe (cows stomach) and I've had tacos de buche, which are tacos made from pigs cheeks. I've also had tacos made from a cow's brains, which was pretty good and didn't gross me out. Cows tongue is really popular around these parts, too. They actually sell it in the mainstream markets. I've eaten many tongue (lengua) tacos and had some tongue (not tacos, just the meat) prepared by my coworker's sister (Guatemalan) and it was the bomb. It was incredibly tasty and tender. I grew up eating pigs feet, too. I think these are more common though, although the way I grew eating them was in my grandmother's spaghetti sauce (she's Italian, born in Italy, but raised here). The meat was so tender that you could suck it right off the bones and chew it with your tongue!

Hey, that's a coincidence! I just got back too. I'm out of vacation time so I had to come home, by my wife and two daughters are still there. It was a good family visit, unfortunately, for my 40th birthday, I got.... kidney stones. Not the kind of gift I treasured that much.

On the bright side, there was plenty of great food, beaches and family fun. My Fenix got a great workout (it's also still there with my wife ) It was too hot for my tastes though.

We were on Bohol most of the time with a short trip to Bukidnon.

Just curious if you saw any of these critters over there. For reference, I included my Fenix I took this on July 7th, 2006. This spider, a Tapaitapai, is about 5" in diameter (13cm), but I've seen them much bigger.