It’s more fun in the Philippines. It’s not an Asian country nor is it totally European, American or Hispanic. It is an artificial nation carved out by capitalist patriots in 1898 as a result of the Secularization Issue, Reactionary-Liberal Wars in Madrid and ideals of the French and American Revolutions. Ironically, the Filipino colonists seceded from The Spanish Empire by means of war to create their own Spain in Asia, a better one that is based on the ideals of equality, liberty and justice (Egualidad, Libertad y Justicia). As a result, there was no process of de-hispanisation but rather a full speed of the process, a product of which was the Marcha Magdalo (music for the national anthem) was intentionally made by Julian Felipe (the composer) to sound like that of the one sang in Madrid and Spanish chosen as the sole official language. In 1902, the Ilustrados, that is the patriots and rising courtiers of Imperial Manila, lost the Philippine – American War and became an American colony. The de-hispanisation job was a result of American Rule but in fairness just died a natural death in the 1980s and totally replaced by American English and pop culture by then. The 1990s was a renaissance of Tagalog Culture (Manila). It is already 2014 and no where near an Asian country. So what is Filipino?
Teodoro Agoncillo, a leftist Filipino historian defined Filipino Culture as those practiced currently that are obviously not Spanish or American. The figures leave us with only 1 percent of what goes on in their daily lives. Filipinos eat hotcakes, bacon, hotdogs, longanisa, tocino, tapa, eggs, Sardinas Seccas (Tuyo or dried sardines), muffins, garlic rice, Pan de Sal, Champurado or corn flakes for breakfast. All of them are of Settler or American origin. The truth is that Filipino Food is anything that locals eat regularly, regardless of origin. Like we said, it is an artificial culture but with a local flare. Longanisa is chorizo with a local taste and McDonald’s serves garlic rice. KFC provides unlimited free gravy, a typical sauce in the Filipino Palette in addition to ketchup, soy sauce and sugar cane vinegar.
In February of 2014, I went back for a short holiday from a holiday (from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) to Manila on a budget travel starting with a budget airline, that is Air Asia, ridiculously AUD600 return trip ticket compared to the AUD1,400 that Qantas or Philippine Airlines was selling. Naturally, they landed us on a budget airport (instead of the brand new NAIA III Terminal) in the rustic Manila Domestic Airport Terminal. Manila is quite new to the sudden increase in tourism and air traffic. As a result, the plane parked in the middle of the airport far from the already rustic old Manila Domestic Airport Terminal and had to be fetched by a bus which would take us to the arrivals. They finally brought the concept of Jeepney all the way to the first point of contact to the country when the “conductor” shouted at us to push back all the way to the end like sardines just as they always did with a Jeepney.. They were cramming a full load of Boeing 777 in a single bus! It was 2:30 AM and we finally arrived at the terminal just to be told that the customs official was still sleeping! We had to wait for him to wake up and finish his morning coffee (a good 25 minutes) while we packed like sardines in a small waiting area without chairs. The locals were giving the security officers an ear bash for being nincompoops while others explained politely to the poor tourists (many for the first time probably) what was going on. It’s more fun in the Philippines. My brother says “Well, you get what you pay for, you saved AUD600 plus my dignity for free to pick you up in the crappiest airport in the city instead of picking you up from the brand new NAIA III Terminal!” Lol. God bless my brother! My advice at this point is enjoy the journey and not the destination. Fly Air Asia. It is cheap, it is shit but more fun, lol. Otherwise, it’s just another AUD600 for a proper airline and modest terminal to arrive in.
The good thing about Manila is that you have a choice between a traditional Filipino Cuisine which will cost just almost as much as dining in Australia or street food as long as you can stomach it, – $1 for a can of coke alone. The prices have changed a lot since I left, almost 300 percent inflation. A bottle of coke in the “bangketa” used to be less than PhP10 or 30 cents and a full meal at PhP20 or $1.50. The bad thing about Manila is that the food scene is no place for a tramp, unlike Singapore or Malaysia where their best traditional food is found in cheap hawker stations.
It’s been five years since I lived in Manila as a local but I did remember surviving on PhP3000 on brunch, dinner and beers with office colleagues after work practically every day. When I came back two months ago, this amount only lasted me three days. With an inflation of let’s say 300 percent since 2009, let’s just do the math and multiply by three and narrate to you what a typical local on a budget eats throughout the week back in 2009:
AUD1 = PhP35 (Circa 2009)
Breakfast
McDonalds
Sausage Muffin and Coffee, PhP55
Pancakes and Sausage with Coffee, Big Breakfast, PhP55
Big Breakfast with Coffee, PhP75
Hash Browns, PhP17 each
Longanisa, Garlic Rice, Eggs with Coffee PhP89
Jolibee
Longanisa, Garlic Rice, Eggs with Coffee PhP89
Hotdogs, Garlic Rice, eggs with coffee PhP69
Tapa (beef jerky), Garlic Rice and Eggs with Coffee PhP89
Corned Beef, Garlic Rice and Eggs with Coffee PhP89
Bangus (Garlic Marinated Milkfish), Garlic Rice, Eggs with Coffee PhP99
Brunch
To save, I skip breakfast and lunch and combine the with a brunch at 10am during my morning coffee break at 15mins
Makati Jolijeeps
Double Rice, Sisig, Coke PHP40
Double Rice, Pork Chop, Coke PhP60
Double Rice, Pork Barbeque (skewer) PhP12
Note: choose Makati jolijeeps wisely. The ones behind Paseo de Roxas are awesome but still dirty but cheap! Lol
Snacks
Street Squid Balls PhP10
Street Kwek-Kwek (fried battered quail eggs) PhP10
Sky flakes (local biscuit brand) PhP4
Chippy (local corn chips) PhP10
Street Taho (tofu tapioca syrup drink) PhP10
Street Chicharon (pork rind) PhP5
Maxx Candy or Rolly Polly Magic Candy PhP2 for 3 pieces
C2 Green Tea (bottled ice tea) PhP10
Yosi (street slang for cigarette, hehe!) PhP2 each Malboro, Winston
To share:
Pizza Hut PhP500
Shakey’s PHP500
Yellow Cab Pizza PhP750
Pancit Palabok PhP200
Lunch
7-11 or Mini Stop
Hot Dog on a Bun and C2 Green Tea PhP30
Siopao Bola-Bola and C2 Green Tea PhP30
Fried Chicken and Rice and C2 Green Tea PhP100
McDonald’s, Jolibee, Cindy’s, Wendy’s
Budget Burger Meal (called Burger McDo in McDonald’s) PhP45
Modest Burger Meal (i.e. Mcdonald’s Quarter Pounder or Jolibee Champ ) P150
Burger Machine or any street burger vendor
Burger plus Coke PhP25
Hotdog on a bun plus coke PhP15
Brother’s Burger (The Best Local Burger!)
Hamburger, Onion Rings, Coke PhP200
Dinner
Gweilo’s, Gerry’s Grill, Pier One, Dencio’s, Catering to moneyless fresh graduates and yuppies
(Once a week only or you’ll go broke if living under 25 dollars a day)
Beers PhP60 per bottle (San Miguel Light or Pale Pilsen)
Sisig (Crispy Pork Mince, rind, onions, garlic on a sizzling plate ) PhP120
Gambas (Spicy Mixed Seafood, bell peppers, paprika, cayenne on a sizzling plate) PhP120
Gourmet Pizza (Marinara) PhP150
Crispy Pata (Crispy Pork Knuckles and leg) PhP220
Kare-Kare (Ox Tail and mixed vegetables in Peanut Stew) PhP220
Chicharon Bulaklak (Crispy Pig Offal) PhP100 per order
Garlic Mushrooms PhP60
Chicken Lollipops PhP120
Rice PhP10 each
Drunken Dinner
That feeling when you are drunk, didn’t get laid and looking for a substitute for sex, lol
Chowking
Congee PhP50
Tapsilog (Beef Jerky, Garlic Rice, Eggs) PhP65
Yahoo! In Ortigas Center
Rice and Lechon Liempo (Roast Pork Belly) PhP65
Rice and Lechon Manok (Roast Chicken) PhP70
At Home:
Canned Corned Beef PhP10
Canned Sisig PhP10
Hot Dogs
Fried Eggs
Salted Duck Eggs and tomato
Fried Chicken
Rice
Swamp Cabbage
Green Beans
Of course, as a general rule you spend more if you dine out every day. Nothing beats cooking at home and save your money on beers with friends, a reasonable night life and out of town trips to Calatagan or Puerto Galera on long weekends.
What was mentioned above is a typical local’s menu on a diet. Most of them are contemporary, meaning recently invented for the commoner’s palette save for the Kare-kare and Crispy Pata which have been a part of the Filipino kitchen since the colonial period. Traditional Filipino Food is found in restaurants at PhP 1000 to PhP1500 per person ($25-30). The really old fine dining restaurants dating back to the times charges more. Some of them are as follows:
Modest:
Barrio Fiesta
Max Fried Chicken
Dencio’s
Fine Dining:
Alphaland Member’s Club
Casa Isabel
Ilustrado
Like any artificial nation, Manila is not so crazy about traditional cuisine but more on new contemporary inventions inspired by traditional Filipino, Spanish, American and European Classic Cookery which they learn from culinary schools. As of present, the places to go are Greenbelt 5, Burgos Circle and Bonifacio High Street. In reality, traditional Filipino Cuisine is hard to find and is a dying cuisine that only their grandmothers could cook. Maybe someday, an institution will be established to preserve their colourful food culture or perhaps a book written about it.
Some traditional Filipino Dishes:
Afritada
Mechado
Morcon
Arroz Valenciana
Caldereta
Pinapaitan
Embutido
Sinigang
Bulalo
Tinola
Salpicao
Kare-Kare
Crispy Pata
Hamonado
Longanisa
Tocino
Tapa
Sardinas Seccas (Tuyo)
Bangus
Lechon
Adobo
Kinilaw
LURKS FLIRTS AND BLUEBERRY PANCAKES 