Philippine Foodventure pt. 8 - Manila and A farewell

 Well, we've come to the end of the series. Looking back...I ate really well on this trip. hahahaha... Here's the last few meals before returning to the life I'm familiar with. We took a trip the The Fort, which is like an outdoor mall area. A friend of mine from college met up with us at a place he recommended. Murray & D. Vine. It's a small space. It one of those places where you can go to when you've just come from a bar or wanting to go to a bar. We sat at the balcony level. It's got a little chic modern feel to it.

Wagyu Sliders

 Tender, delicious and juicy. I love how they served it up too. Simple.  

It came with some french fries (accompanied by a personal sized bottle of Heintz ketchup)

I ate it all up! Glad my friend suggested the place. 

-----

The night before I left, we took a walk around Rockwell mall. It's not as crowded as the other mall, but it still had a sizeable amount.

Vendors making taho

Taho

Tofu custard with tapioca pearls in a brown sugar syrup. This is usually sold by street vendors in the early morning. The men yelling out "TAHHHHOOOO" to the top of their lungs caalling out for customers. It already great to have it fresh in the morning. It's still warm and soft. Luckily, these guys had a fresh batch. Mix it all together and drink it up. Mmmm...childhood memories of my sitting by the table taking big spoonfuls and eating it all up. Oh, the memories.

More mall days. This one is inside Rockwell. 

The size of this one is a little more comparable to the malls here in the US.

pronounced Chitchiria meaning snacks

Like how McDonald's has Ronald, Jollibee has the bee. The bee and I good friends. (hypothetically)

I liked this jeepney. It was funky retro and appropriately enough has a "food trip" sign on top of it. I didn't notice until someone pointed it out to me. 

Bugong

It's a new chicken joint near my cousin's house. It's a roasted chicken place. 

and it's fresh cut. We had it with a couple of sides like mashed potatoes and gravy, macarroni salad, and coleslaw. I surely had my fair share of chicken on this trip. 

Mongkok

Located in the Shangri-La mall. It's a Chinese style cuisine. This was where we had our final family lunch just a few hours before I had to leave for the airport. I was one of those moments when I wanted lunch to last a little longer. 

There was 16 of us altogether.

Fried Squid

pork asado? I think that's what it was. 

crispy noodles

with beef and bok choy

Crispy Pata

Sweet and sour spare ribs. *drool*

Patatim

It very much like crispy pata, but served in some broth with bok choy.

kuchay pork dumplings ordered from the dimsum menu

pork siumai -- sorry it's blurry. I was in a rush to take a pic as I wanted to 

devour those dumplings right away.

Chicken feet -- i must say they were actually delicious.

After lunch, the mood was a bit of a somber one. As we all knew it was only a matter of time before I had to leave. We we head home back into the house. 

I spent a couple hours playing with my nieces and nephews. A couple rounds of guitar hero and the endless jokes and laughter from them. I was trying to stall to the last minute. Packing the things I would be taking back with me. They were filled to the brim, I tell ya. It's funny how traveling works. You always end us leaving a place with more things that you arrived with. 

As the final moments ticked down, I wanted to so much to stall my leaving. but the inevitable was to happen. We loaded our belongings into the van and began our ride to the airport. it would be a good hour before we reached Ninoy Aquino International Airport. 

We get there and my emotions get the best of me. I had promised myself I wouldn't cry and yet there I was with a stream coming down my face. I know it won't be the last I see them, it's just to hard to have to wait so long and live so far. We say out final goodbyes and my mom and I head inside. We check in our luggage and get our boarding passes and wait. In a way I was hoping the flight was delayed. Ok maybe not.

Surrounded by the many others going back to their lives in the United States. Several of them feeling the same as we were. It really came to the point there I wanted to stay indefinitely. It a little hard to believe, but that's how I always feel when I'm there. 

We get on the plane close to 10pm. I sing several rounds of "Mary had a little lamb" to keep me from crying like a baby with several tissues in hand, red eyed.  it was hard not to think of my family.

Lunch rolls around...

Sweet and Sour fish.

with veggies and white rice. A greek salad mix (top left), Lemon custard with cake, dinner roll and a pat of butter.

It was good, but I wasn't really in the mood to eat. The appetite wasn't there. I was just too busy trying not to cry. But I forced myself to eat at least half of the food. It had been several hours since I had eaten lunch and I knew it would be another several hours before the next meal would be served. 

After that, I try to watch a movie, but I managed to catch a few winks. I was just too emotionally tired to really concentrate on anything else. I tried to read my mood, but my eyes were saying to me "no you ain't." I was in and out of sleep. Something about travelling in planes just doesn't mesh well with me sometimes.

Chicken tocino with scrambled egg, mushroom and a wedge of tomato, Also some garlic fried rice. Served with a side for fresh fruits, a slice of banana bread cake and a dinner roll.

Several hours later, we land back in the US of A

View of California from above. This was the view from my window. 

We arrive and head through customs. A close cousin from my dad's side was gracious enough to pick us up. Once we had gotten home, it was a weird odd feeling walking into my house after two weeks. We unpacked and divided up all the goodies that would be given away and ones that we were giving away to friends and family. Then we got hungry once again. This time I really had an appetite. So my mom and I decided that our first meal would be something I haven't had a LONG while.

The first meal back -- Grilled Cheese with animal style fries from IN-N-OUT

That's a wrap on this foodventure. Thanks to you all who came along for the ride.  Even though these are the cliff notes version, I hope I was able to show you some of the delicious eats the Philippines has to offer. It's really not as scary as some may think. It's a fusion of the many cultures that had made the Philippines their home. Friendly, hospitable people, who can really cook up some yummy goodies.

On to the next foodventure!!!! What that will be and when...well...that's still to be determined. :)