As they say, let bygone be bygone, at the least crewing gave her a long Manila instead. The was the second time she was in the capital of The Phillipines. Manila was not a pretty city, but what it lacks in look it makes up in character. Filipinos are such a bunch of friendly and hospitable host. Everywhere you go, you're greeted with "Good morning, Ma'am" or "Thank you' Ma'am" with such enthusiasm The Princess felt like lifting their blouses to check whether they're running on Duracell.
There's not much sighseeing to do in Manila, but the shopping is quite good. And oh boy, on this trip it was even better as Christmas sale was going on. The Princess gets her supply of wrappers, gift cards, and gift boxes from Manila (as fated, she always get sent to Manila in Dec). Mind you, these wrappers and cards are from Hallmark and they only cost a fraction of what you'd get in Malaysia.
Food wise, some food taste similar to Chinese food (as there are a percentage of Filipino of Chinese origin). On the first day itself, Ken Lee couldn't wait to grab hold of Crispy Patha (whole pork knuckle deep-fried till crispy). Suffice to say Mama Tju would have a heart attack just looking at this plate of cholesterol-laden dish. Filipino food tend to be on the sweet side. The Princess once asked her Pinoy friend why is it so. Her reply: Because of all the tastes, sweet is the most pleasant one, so Filipinos simply love it. Don't know how true is that or she simply made it up.
At night,
Frm L-R: Stuffed Crabs, Pork Ribs Soup, Seafood Platter
The red circle is used to highlight the stupidity of Ken Lee in displaying the date, AND the WRONG date at that.
Grilled seafood platterOn the platter, there were some mussels topped with fried garlics. There's also a big piece of fish and a few of not-so-big prawns but very-big heads. Right at the center is a whole stuffed squid and lastly, some assorted vegetables to take your guilt away from indulging in such a heavy meal. The squid was the best compared to the rest, as the stuffing was really nice, crunchy with bell peppers and onions, with some minced beef added.
As for the soup, in the menu it was clearly stated pork ribs, but in the end 3-layer meat (The Princess doesn't know what it was called lar, so she translated from Chinese) was used. Sourish soup good to go with rice and very appetising.
For two whole days, they indulged in everyone's favourite medication - retail therapy! The next time you're here, do remember to grab a few jeans and tees from Guess as they're cheaper here (jeans for men can be as cheaper as 50%). The Princess got herself a pair of Levi's Lady Style for RM 150. Whee! Ken Lee got herself a pair of jeans from Mossimo (for less than RM100) and all the while grinning from ear to ear as she said "It makes me look so thin hor? See, see..".
And they both stocked up on instant noodles to last a world war! The Princess just loves,loves,loves their pancit canton. Damn those Japanese for creating instant noodles. Now she'd probably go bald before her father does.
All in all, a good trip admist the initial chaos. Just don't give her another Manila before she recovers what she has spent there.
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