Comments on: McPinoy

By: Sarita

Sarita — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:10:53 +0000

I’m hungry just reading your post. Tocino (Filipino bacon) was what you had for b’fast – fattening but YUM! Hawaii is the only other McD’s that I’m aware of that was allowed to change their menu – theirs has the ubiquitous spam. My understanding is that McD’s (notorious for insisting on sameness across all franchises) OK’d the PI and Hawaii changes b/c otherwise, the locals wouldn’t find the menu appetizing (like your Jolibee’s hamburger experience). Pork not beef rules, hence the corned beef selections. Enjoyed this post and looking forward to more.

By: craig zabransky

craig zabransky — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:32:45 +0000

although I did give up McDonalds after watching SuperSizeMe (3.5 years ago) I still am fascinated with the Golden Arches overseas. In Hong Kong when my favorite Fish Filet (the item loved by many ordered by few in the US) was the top extra value meal, the #1 – I took a photo. Strange moment for the staff.

Since then I decided to take photos with Ronald everywhere I can overseas…I have one from Bali and another from Bangkok. Americana overseas – I just love it.

stay adventurous,
Craig

By: Tonnie

Tonnie — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:40:29 +0000

Jollibee is crap, they have 2 resturants in Guam, then it became 1. The opened a few resturants in California and no one goes there. I’ll go to Goldilocks 1st or Chow King before I ever go to a Jollibee.

By: Evil Woobie

Evil Woobie — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:59:49 +0000

Wow, you went to Vigan! You must have passed by my hometown, San fernando, La union!

The crispy pork in Vigan is called “bagnet” and it is just pork belly marinated in spices for a while then deep-fried to crispy perfection.

By: Dale

Dale — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:22:23 +0000

Ive never seen bigger macca’s advertisements

Dale
http://dzrbenson.com/blog

By: dr_clairebear

dr_clairebear — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:06:55 +0000

i think what you ate in your hotel was what we call “tocino.” they’re slices of cured pork that we boil in a small amount of water, add a little sugar to, then fry in its own fat once the water evaporates. :)

one reason why our food is less “asian” than the rest of the asian cuisine you’ve tasted so far is because our food is a complex mix of our colonial spanish and american past, as well as some chinese influences. :)

yes, jollibee burgers suck, but they serve good fried chicken. ;P

i’ve enjoyed reading your observations about my country and hope you enjoyed your stay! you should come back some day – there is still so many undiscovered pieces of paradise to be seen.

safe journeys!

By: lotusflower

lotusflower — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:14:29 +0000

Hi there,

No. Filipinos don’t use chopsticks as a matter of practice. But in many Chinese restaurants found all over the Metro, they do.

By: Manny

Manny — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:31:47 +0000

Hi Gary,

I wish I’d checked your blog a bit earlier (I lurked here a few months ago and just came back to it today) so I could have noted that you were dropping by the Philippines. I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience in Manila.

You’re right, Jollibee doesn’t have great burgers. We usually eat the spaghetti (‘Jolly Spaghetti’) and fried chicken (‘Chickenjoy’) instead. Jollibee works hard at understanding the Filipino palate, which tends towards sweeter and, in some cases blander, foods. McDonald’s tries as well, but it often seems hampered by a slower-moving bureaucracy: Jollibee will introduce twelve new dishes for its patrons to sample in the same time it takes McDonald’s to introduce three.

Kare kare (the beef dish with the peanut sauce) is usually eaten with a paste called ‘bagoong’. It’s essentially a fermented shrimp paste.

The fish sauce you had was probably what we call ‘patis’. It’s sold abroad as a Thai or Filipino fish sauce. Like bagoong, we use it when we want to add a slightly salty flavor to our food.

I guess that’s it for now. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. :)

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:27:19 +0000

I really enjoy reading about your adventures in travel. I really want to visit Asia on my next foreign travel trip. I enjoy the McDonalds comparisons. When in Europe a few years ago we tried to visit a McDonalds in each country to see how they differed from each other, which was really interesting. My aunt have travel all over the world and has a book containing interesting bathroom pictures plus toilet paper samples (she has some pieces that I swear are thicker than printer paper).

By: Ocean.of.dreams

Ocean.of.dreams — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 21:02:26 +0000

ehehe
seems i’ll not enjoy those Jopllibee either!!
LOL
Happy trip**

By: Courtney

Courtney — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 19:49:20 +0000

Gary,
Do you like to eat alot of pork? It doesn’t look very good. Your favorite neice, Courtney