Philippines - farming life

In the Philippines, farming first and foremost means rice:







This is an asian water buffalo, or "carabao":


And this is what you do if you don't have a carabao:


Close-up of the rice plants:


They dry rice wherever they can, including on the slides of the road - and the middle of the road too:


Proof that anything can be re-purposed:






An army of ducks: it took us literally ten minutes to wait until all of them passed by us:

Philippines - Food

Let's start with one of my most favorite dishes. This heart-attack-on-a-plate is called "crispy pata" - a fried pig knuckle:



A seafood spread in a resort restaurant:


The "Four Seasons" restaurant in Manila:


... where you can get a glass of Pepsi Blue:


The ice cream in this shaved-ice dish does not use artificial coloring - it is colored by a native purple yam:


Chicken foot casserole:


Proof that Filipinos can fry and eat anything:


... especially if it's flavored with this:


Offerings from Red Ribbon, a common dessert shop:


These tire-sized donuts were on offer from the local Starbucks:


But they have other donut shops too! (If a little misspelt...)


Another US transplant. Check out the line of the dancing waiters - they don't do that in US!


Moving on to more natural desserts - an offering of jackfruit in the local market in Tagaytay:


Organic bananas :)


Some fresh mangoes from a local mango tree in the resort:


And some local cashews:


They are really good when fried and served warm!


Now, some junk food. If you've ever wondered whether there are green-tea-flavored KitKats, here is your answer:


Another variation of Coke - not yet common in US:


And finally, a most welcome sign when you are looking for coffee at 4am local time in a foreign airport:

Manila Jeepneys

If Mad Max quit his sandy desert, and moved to the city of Blade Runner, and got a job, this is what he would drive:









Not all decorations stem from post-apocalyptic movies. One jeepney's theme was "Frozen" - never mind that no ice castles will survive for more than a few minutes in Manila.

Manila: the Blade Runner city

IMDB says that Blade Runner was filmed in Warner Brothers' Burbank Studios in California. But I think they are wrong. The cast and crew must have been secretly transported to Manila in the Philippines - they could have easily filmed it there right out in the open! Check it out for yourself:






























I am endlessly fascinated by the complexity of the Philippine wiring. Just in like in Rome one can discover the progression of civilization by careful analysis of the layers of detritus under city streets, in Manila one can do the same with the wiring.


But it all works!