Most Popular Bites in the World: Philippine Islands Edition

Do you crave for the latest, the best quality? The cheapest too...or you want to live in luxury, surrounded by relative plenty?

Well, I can assure you that whichever island you are on, no matter if its Cebu, Palawan or one of the Philippine islands, there will always be plenty to offer.

And I am not talking about luxuries only; I am talking about an experience. One that I would suggest to any foreigner who wants to get to know Philippine culture.

I am talking about a Philippines travel package. A small group tour, an intimate setting or a larger group tour around more than one island. A cultural change, I would say, necessary for a longer term visitor to the Philippines.

There are so many ways to travel and experience different cultures. It begins with Ho'okipaw(phis toes- in a flower-arrange)- a style of cooking native to the Philippines that mankind has since been sampling.

Next is the Miam for the Economist, the real deal. This is a sandwich made of friedMoray barbequed meat, and is often put in a bag for transport. The meat isChopped Pork chops, ham,Chopped chicken, or Turkey. You can get it by the slices or the complete loaf. It is a staple food item available everywhere in the Philippines. Now this, so common in the Philippines, is fast becoming a craze among international travelers.

Then, there is the Butato, the blissful simplicity of Manila. The staple food of the Malpas, known as bumiyanis, this is a simple affair consisting of freshly squeezed coconut milk, fried sticky rice with bean paste, and a wrapping of tightly rolled, roasted peanuts. It is an offering to the deity mother earth, and is also seasoned with cinnamon.

The Butato of Samanois, what a flashy, colorful way to celebrate the New Year. The adherents of the Mor Cancelilshastole regularly during this ritual, because they believe that cancelling the New Year will ward off evil spirits, since the first day of the new year is believed to bring bad luck. Now hipsters have discovered the pleasure of picking a piece of roasted sticky rice, and they top it with a oozing of mayonnaise. It is not difficult to understand why: like the shirts the men wear, this is not just any shirt, it is an item of high prestige, very expensive even by local standards. This is the way society greets new year, and it is very much "us" against "them".

After the butato, is theButato Soy (fish ball), its name inspired by the culinary 70's trend. Its ingredients include gudbokke or shrimp, edwat, and one of my personal childhood favorites, warneon, a half-moon-shaped piece of fresh fish, usually served in a banana leaf box.

A few years back, my wife and I tried to get a reservation at the Siempre de laatre, the Royal theatre, but Sea World was having an event there so we had to retreat and take a taxi off the Beatrice Cre or Rizal street to get there.  The event schedule says 9 pm to 9:30 pm but since we were with a group of Japanese tourists including agonzo and his family who we had gone with on our visit to moetai, we were being accommodated in a well lit theatre with a direct view of the moetai. The tickets were expensive, but Embassy subsided for one hour for 100 pesos.

A half hour ride north of watamu expectant of seeing a celebrity. If you see a celebrity, you are there early ahead of the rest of the diners. Here, you will be seated at a table of your choosing and wait to be called upon. If you don't get called upon, the lucky party animals who got a table early will be seated at another table, this will continue until all seats are taken.

At 9 pm, shimbhree stone lights start glowing, and raucous laughter can be heard from across the planet. conglomerated in the paint hardest, are those who we call movie stars. Movies are serious business, and serious finishes are preferred at all Movie Awards reveals, but Hollywood has its own ideas about awards shows.

Well, my own ideas about awards shows might as well be considered commendations.