Advertisement
Published: June 26th 2009
Well here we are with only four days left.... We are currently in Cebu City in the Philippines.. but this isn't going to be a long post just yet. Just a short one with some of our culinary adventures and weird things that we've encountered. In a few days I'll post a looonnnnnnnnnng and final post to tell everyone about the last let of the trip!
Here we go.. lets start off with just some odd observations I've made:
Toilets:
Toilet seats in India and Nepal were ALWAYS broken, so in the off chance that you're in a place (your hotel that you know is cleaned daily) where you can actually sit down, you nearly fall into the toilet every time.
On the contrary, toilet seats in the Philippines have proven to be nonexistent most of the time.
Squatters also come in many shapes and forms...most have a place on each side of the hole where you put your feet... but the ones in Thailand and the Philippines seem to be made for especially tiny Asians and are built into a 1ft high step with only about 6 inches of actual toilet space in between. The only real way to avoid peeing on your feet is to avoid the foot holds all together and leave your feet on the floor below.
British People and Mexican food:
British people don't know what mexican food is. At least not the ones we've encountered traveling. There have been several very longwinded conversations this trip that go something like this..
Brit: "So whats a tortilla?.... Whats a taco? And whats the difference between a tortilla and a taco... how about a taco and a burrito? Wait then, whats an enchilada?
Moira and Jake: ... explain all of these things
Brit: 20 minutes later.. "Wait... whats a taco again?!"
this is just ridiculous.
Taxis and tires:
-as far as tires are concerned, we're pretty sure that all of our used tires are shipped to nepal and india. jeeps and buses, before long trips, stop at used tire stores to buy "spares"... of the three or four jeeps that we were on that did that, all of the tires were COMPLETELY bald, some to the point where you could see the metal strips underneath. this of course made us feel very safe as we bounced over rocky dirt roads on the side of cliffs.
-Nepal is the only place ive been where taxi drivers try to kill you before soliciting your business. Taxi drivers in Nepal come at you at full speed forcing you to either leap out of the way (when often there is nowhere to go) or nearly get rundown... then they roll down the window and say "Taxi mam? taxi sir".. And you just think... you just tried to run me over, why the hell would i want to get in your car?!
-In Thailand, taxi drivers and tuk tuk drivers think they know where you want to go better than you do! If they don't agree with your said destination they will either convince you to go somewhere else or simply refuse to take you..
-In Cebu City, Philippines someone has invented a new occupation which entails people chasing after moving taxis in the middle of traffic on behalf of potential taxi riders, opening the doors while the car is still going full speed, and yelling at the driver to stop. then they run back and yell at you(customer) until you get in the car so the driver can tip them for their indispensible business.
Children:
Children love to be naked... everywhere. In the city, in the country, in rivers, at the beach, in puddles, in the middle of Manila traffic, riding bicycles, pretty much anywhere and anytime possible.
Waiters:
All over Asia, you are expected to have psychic menu reading abilities. The minute you sit down at a restaurant the waiter is standing by your side, pencil and pad in hand, waiting eagerly to take your order even if you haven't opened a menu yet. The response to "Can we have a few minutes?" varies drastically from the person simply walking away, to giving a dirty look and disappearing completely, to "yes of course!" only to return in approximately 30 seconds because by then youve clearly had enough time to decide.
Dogs:
Dogs sleep differently in different parts of the world. Who knew, right?
Dogs in Nepal and India sleep like they're dead. Flat on their sides with all four legs sticking straight out in the same direction. I had to stop every 3 feet to make sure that every stray i saw was still breathing, they all were. Thai dogs sleep like a cartoon dog who has slippped on ice.... flat on their stomachs with all four legs sprawled in different directions... very strange indeed
Now for a short recount of some of our interesting food encounters (recently): I don't know the names.. but these were all in Thailand
-Waterbug: Jake ate this, the outside looks like a cockroach, but you only eat the intestines. i think he said it tasted like a peanut or something.
-"donuthole": now when we were in Thailand i kept seeing these things that looked JUST like donut holes. So finally, i tried one. NOT A DONUT! It was more of a fried ball filled with some sort of fermented fish paste. i almost threw up.
-Fried bread: the tastiest concoction EVER. thick thai bread fried with butter and covered in condensed milk. mmmmmmmmmm
-Black Chinese Jelly (with consistency of gummy candy)- dis.gus.ting. briana and I kept seeing these big mounds of black jelly like stuff that EVERYONE was eating, so why not. I asked one vendor if i could try it and he told me it was some chinese jelly. I dont even know how to describe this taste. Bad.
-Spicy Chicken Ball- Jake tricked me into eating this, it looked really good! I'm not sure what it was but the inside was mushy.
-Japanese plum juice-AMAZING! tastes kindof like pom juice. I could drink a gallon of this. Thailand is amazing for fruits and fresh fruit juices, they are everywhere and totally safe to have!
-pork on a stick.. or chicken on a stick...-jakes new favorite food.
-street sushi- i know, this sounds gross and dangerous, but it was fresh and delicious! you take a plate and some tongs and pick what you want for 5 baht a piece. so we had entire plates of sushi for about $1! so wonderful.
That brings me to the end of this particular blog. I will write again soon for the final wrapup!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.077s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0454s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
naila
non-member comment
i dont have a comment title.
hi. this blog was really amusing. especially the part about brits and mexican food. haha. i remember eating "nachos" in london, which weren't really nachos at all, but tortilla chips sprinkled (sprinkled= 1-2tbsp) with some cheese, a drizzle of salsa, and like 2 jalapenos on top.