My Trip Report

[stevjulietb]

KFC...I like Bohol Tropics also!.......we stayed there for a week......I went by plane to manila...tag to manila...i think its easier than supercat to cebu, plane to manila....Thanks for all of the updates...\

Steveb

[z_k_g]

I really appreciate a member who will take the time to post a trip report during his honeymoon...  

Thanks kfc!

Ray

Ray, thats the new fangled thing called MULTITASKING!  

ZULU

[thekfc]

KFC...I like Bohol Tropics also!.......we stayed there for a week......I went by plane to manila...tag to manila...i think its easier than supercat to cebu, plane to manila....Thanks for all of the updates...\

Steveb

We thought about doing MNL to Tag to MNL but we wanted to see Cebu so we flew into Cebu & spent 1 1/2 days there & spent the rest in Bohol.

[thekfc]

We encountered a lot of foreigners in Cebu (Americans/Europeans) - more so than in Manila.

The Vast majority were elderly gentlemen (over 60 years old). There were a few families & a few younger guys going "solo".

There were a few foreigner that I was hoping that someone would smack the crap out of - because of their behavior.
Some people, no matter where they are - they think that they are "the king of the world".

At the Bohol Tropics, most of the guest were Koreans & Japanese. The Japanese were very friendly, especially the elderly couples, they would approach us & start a conversation with us.

[thekfc]

Family & Friends.

[thekfc]

More Pics

[thekfc]

The Houses in Bohol were beautiful, similiar to some that I saw in Baguio. I didn't see any gated communities in Bohol (very low crime rate?).

I did had a chance to tour a few construction "faculities" in Manila.

Some of the brick that I saw, I can break them with a punch. There were other bricks that were very good quality.
I also went to 2 places that make kitchen/bathroom countops. Some of the granite, marbles & ceramics were very good.
My father used to work for the NYC Housing Preservation and Development & I did "tag along" with him & did learn a few things about constuction.

I also stopped by a carbinet workshop - excellent craftsmanship.

There is a hotel/highrise being built and I did stop & ask a few questions, I watch the cement being mixed & the laying the cement & a few bricks. If I was to build a house - I would pay the extra cost & hire these guys.

[thekfc]

A lot of the people here in The Philippines would not believe my age.
I tell them that I am 42 years old & they wouldn't believe me  - they think that I am in my late 20s/early 30s.

[piglett]

I will continue when I return to Manila - we will be taking the Super Cat to Cebu & then fly back to Manila in the evening.

Man those super cats " get it on". one passed us when we were on the boat returning from the province. we were making about 10 knots & this thing buzzes on by at  probably 30 knots +/-. i am not sure if they go to any of the smaller islands though so it mite not have helped me in my situation.




piglett
hey great trip report so far KFC

[z_k_g]

The Houses in Bohol were beautiful, similiar to some that I saw in Baguio. I didn't see any gated communities in Bohol (very low crime rate?).

Great research for my Building thread.  Add some comments when you debrief so we can get some on the ground insight.

Thanks, and continue to have fun in PI

Zulu

[thekfc]

Zulu, if you are on top of things you can built a very good house.

Since you are already in construction & you know the quality of the materials - it will be easier for you. For my "little" amount of construction knowledge, what I saw was both good & bad. It was not really the quality of the materials but how they mix the ingredients (aka trying to "stretch" the materials).

The cabinets makers are good - just give them a design/directions & they will create it for you.

The countertop materials were good quality.

I walk into a Home Depot & an Ace Hardware Store to check out their supplies. They have everything that you would need, though I am not sure on the quality of the material.

Some of the things that I "disliked":
The sinks & toilet bowls - the ones that I saw were small.
The mixing of the cement/concrete - you will need someone you can "trust" to supervise the mixing so you do not get a less inferior finish.
Appliances - There are very good quality appliances & electronics available but like I have mention many times before, I am an electronics & technology guy.  I need my toilet to tell me "don't forget to flush " haha,  that was a joke.
Seriously for some people their vice is either drugs or alcohol. My vice is music, movies & electronics (and Martial Arts). So I need my HD. 

[z_k_g]

I walk into a Home Depot & an Ace Hardware Store to check out their supplies. They have everything that you would need, though I am not sure on the quality of the material.

Home Depot in Bohol or Cebu or both?

Zulu

[piglett]

Home Depot in Bohol or Cebu or both?

Zulu

my understanding is there is one in Manila, not sure about other locations.


piglett

[robert angel]

From every good, experienced source I've heard or spoken to, if you're going to have a house built in the RP, if you want it to be even half way decently constructed, you need to do it yourself (which is almost impossible) or be there every minute they're working on it--watching them as closely as white on rice. Of course, then everyone will get uptight and you risk a mutiny and the inevitable delays..

Even Kanos who had Filipino family members doing a lot of the work seem to always have had problems.

Maybe it can be done, but I think it'll drive you crazy.

Hell, even having a house built in most places in the USA is a pain in the ass and many contractors will cut every corner they can get away with. They usually know how to 'do it right' and just choose not to, because it's cheaper and easier not to.

I'm not even sure if many Filipinos know how to 'do it right' even if they wanted to, when building a sturdy, reliable house. Its just not common over there. Well made cinder blocks, rebar, insulation and good plumbing and electrical systems? I really dunno...

[thekfc]

The Food.

This time I decided to just go with the flow. Ahya already know what I "like & dislike", so she will just feed me. I did get to sample a few new dishes  This time we didn't have any pizza once but had Jollibee a few times. 
There were times that after eating I just wanted to go in a corner, rollover & go to sleep. 

I took a party of 5 (6 including me) to lunch, we had our full meal, drinks & halo-halo - 980 pesos (a little over $21).

The one thing that I could never get used to - eating rice 3x per day ( I am not a big rice eater).

[Dave H]

Even Kanos who had Filipino family members doing a lot of the work seem to always have had problems.

Hey Rob,

That can be very true, especially if the carpentero is an elder relative, like a tito. We use a master carpenter on for our home construction. He used to work for one of the largest home builders in the Philippines before working for himself. He is working on a home now so we have been waiting...well worth the wait! He can do more with a few simple hand tools than I can with my storage room full of high tech power tools!

There is the Cebu Home and Builders Center, which I am told is similar to Home Depot.

Dave

[Dave H]

We encountered a lot of foreigners in Cebu (Americans/Europeans) - more so than in Manila.

The Vast majority were elderly gentlemen (over 60 years old). There were a few families & a few younger guys going "solo".



At the Bohol Tropics, most of the guest were Koreans & Japanese. The Japanese were very friendly, especially the elderly couples, they would approach us & start a conversation with us.

Hey thekfc,

Thanks for the GREAT photos!

I have found the foreigners in Cebu more pleasant than in my city. They really think that they are all that here! I guess the "wild west" reputation of Mindanao attracts more rogues! I have also found the Japanese very friendly and polite! The Koreans, don't even get me started...  

Dave

[piglett]

The Food.

This time I decided to just go with the flow. Ahya already know what I "like & dislike", so she will just feed me. I did get to sample a few new dishes  This time we didn't have any pizza once but had Jollibee a few times. 
There were times that after eating I just wanted to go in a corner, rollover & go to sleep. 

I took a party of 5 (6 including me) to lunch, we had our full meal, drinks & halo-halo - 980 pesos (a little over $21).

The one thing that I could never get used to - eating rice 3x per day ( I am not a big rice eater).

dude white rice with nothing on it to me is just flat & bland tasting.
i did learn a trick , if there is adobo also then get as much juice as possible & add that to the bland rice then it's not too bad. there were times when i would have given 10 bucks for a p58 Jollibee burger. i think some chow king chicken mite have fetched  rather high price when i was stuck in the province too.

piglett

[robert angel]

While white rice was pretty much always available when other food was, it seems that so was a variety of 'sauces', certainly at least soy sauce and various vinegars, along with hot and ultra hot peppers, etc that we'd mix together. You guys know the routine by now.

In other words, could always find something to 'jazz up' the white rice. The fairly common 'fish sauce' and a few other 'mystery sauces' I could do without, but overall, I was cool with the rice. We get oyster sauce, and some other Korean and Japanese sauces we like and there's some Vietnamese hot sauces we get that can strip the chrome off a trailer hitch--totally brutal--a little dab'll do ya, for sure..

What's really weird and at the same time noble of my wife, is that she's willing to switch to eating more brown rice, which has much more fiber, along with other benefits over white rice for our health.

White rice, in and of itself, is not a healthy food by any means and the body rapidly converts it into sugar. It can really accelerate people into diabetes if they're prone to it already and fatten you up as well.

I still prefer the taste and texture of white rice though, The brown may be better health wise, but it's sort of gritty and I really enjoy a great, juicy steak and some white rice instead. I'll get my fiber, take some vitamins and watch my sugar intake in other ways....

[Ray]

i did learn a trick , if there is adobo also then get as much juice as possible & add that to the bland rice then it's not too bad.

There you go Pig...now you're learning!

Adobo isn't hard to cook. I prefer the chicken adobo, but pork adobo isn't bad also. You can also mix pork & chicken in adobo.

Squid adobo you can keep... BLEAH!

Ray

[Dave H]

dude white rice with nothing on it to me is just flat & bland tasting.
i did learn a trick , if there is adobo also then get as much juice as possible & add that to the bland rice then it's not too bad.
piglett

Hey pig,

I am not much of a plain white rice eater either! But there are plenty of ways to flavor it, as you discovered, even if you don't have condiments. I did the same with white rice and Hispanic food for many years...lots of sauce ! If left to my own devices, I would probably only eat rice once or twice a month, that being "Chinese fried rice" (American style).

Dave

[z_k_g]

If left to my own devices, I would probably only eat rice once or twice a month, that being "Chinese fried rice" (American style).

Yeah, chicken fried rice here!

Not sure about a lot of rice tho, rice is just pure starch and after eaten instant sugar rush!

Not really into brown rice either, white rice has absolutely no nutrients, you can actually starve eating it!

I already told my sweetie we will be be eating varied foods, she is a good cook so I'm looking forward to her meals!

Zulu

[robert angel]

Re:

>>Adobo isn't hard to cook. I prefer the chicken adobo, but pork adobo isn't bad also. You can also mix pork & chicken in adobo<,

Isn't that the truth. I sort of mix up recipes a lot and I'll put tamarind and adobo spices on typically American dishes as well. I like adding a bit of tamarind to the 'traditional' slow cooked pot roast/stew, slow cooked with potatoes, celery onions, etc. As is typical, if something gets too sour or salty, you can usually 'back it down' some with a tablespoon of sugar.

We love to cook together and one of the things we enjoy saying and sharing in the kitchen when the dish is almost done, but isn't 'quite right' is offering a spoonfull to the other and asking 'what's missing?'

We like some of the various Korean sauces, but I am not a big fan of most dishes served at Korean restaurants.

Where are you guys at on hot sauce? As mentioned, we sometimes like some of the Vietnamese sauces--they make the hottest stuff I've found locally.


But there's a million different hot sauces and I have discovered and some of the ones from Central and South America, as well as Mexico, are pretty good.

The movie director (The Godfather, etc.) Francis Ford Coppola makes his own hot sauces, as well as his better known wines. He spends a lot of time in Central America and likes the cooking there. I think his hot sauces are based on a Belize recipe. Most of the hot sauces from that area just don't add 'heat', but they add some distinctive flavoring as well, that's pretty good.

I saw some at the deep discount store 'Big Lots' for $1.50 a bottle, and liked it so much I went back and bought about a dozen bottles. Coppola sells three 'levels' of the stuff, but the middle level has to us anyways, the best flavor and heat ratio. It's available online at some places.

[Dave H]

[quote author=zulukong link=topic=5401.msg65474#msg65474 date=1278687495

Not really into brown rice either, white rice has absolutely no nutrients, you can actually starve eating it!

Zulu

[/quote]

It has been reported that if Filipinos went back to eating whole grain rice, the hunger and nutritional crisis would be solved here without having to import food. Good luck! We only partly mill rice ("brown" rice) for my personal consumption. Everyone else wants the sticky white stuff!

Dave

"The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids." http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128

[Ray]

I just cooked a big batch of chicken fried rice yesterday. The wife will eat 95% of it over 2-3 days.

It’s a full meal with eggs, chicken, onions, peas, carrots, corn, or whatever you can find to throw in.  Shrimp, ham, or spam are also good options. Be sure to use plenty of garlic and soy sauce to taste.

I found that the best rice for frying is cold leftover long grain or cold leftover brown rice. Thai Jasmine is too sticky.

Try steamed rice with chili on top. Add some chopped onions and/or shredded cheese.

Ray