Things to do in Makati: Eating

When I first arrived in Makati, I was struck by just how many restaurants there are.  It's not like some of the other Asian cities I've been to where there is lots of street food, hawker stalls and hole-in-the-wall type restaurants.  I'm talking about proper restaurants.  And a really international selection.

Perhaps this is because Makati is the main financial centre in Metro Manila.  It's not entirely representative of the rest of the Metro.  But this is where we live and work, so this is where we spend most of our time.

Within Makati there are at least 3 BIG malls - Glorietta, Greenbelt & Powerplant.  Within each of these malls there are countless restaurants representing cuisine from all over the world.  Often these are chains, either national or international.  With lots of fast food choices.

Outside of the malls, particularly within Salcedo Village, Legaspi Village and the area around Burgos Street there are numerous other restaurants.  The restaurants found here tend to be independent and a bit more interesting.

There is a great website, www.munchpunch.com which gives details of local restaurants including, sometimes, a full menu.  This is really useful as most restaurants don't seem to have their own websites.

We've eaten at Japanese, Korean, Italian, North African, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Indian, Thai, American, Vietnamese, Mexican, Serbian & Filipino restaurants.  Generally, the quality of food is decent (some better than others).  But sometimes it's just a bit sweet, or a bit greasy.  The service isn't quite up to European or American standards - the most common grumble being that food is just served when it's ready.  If you're part of a big-ish party, this can sometimes mean that the first person has finished eating before the last person's food has even arrived.  And the costs are far below what we'd pay in the UK.  Generally, a meal for 2 in a decent restaurant, with drinks is almost always less than £15.

Particular favourites are:

1. Spudoo (for lunch) which is found in the RCBC office block.  Spudoo serves what is probably best described as 'comfort food'.  Roast lamb, spare ribs, lasagne, salads, great sandwiches, baked potatoes etc.
2. Balkan (Serbian food) which is on Perea Street in Legaspi Village serves delicious food, but the bread rolls in particular stand out.  Really good bread isn't easy to find here.
3. People's Palace (Thai food) in Greenbelt is excellent, serving authentic tasting Thai.
4. Tsukiji (Japanese) which is on Pasay Road, almost directly opposite our apartment block.  A bit more expensive than some of the others but really really good quality.

During the working week, there are also Jolly Jeeps, which are a bit like the trailers you get at the side of the road in the UK serving breakfast rolls, hamburgers etc.  Jolly Jeeps display their available, ready-cooked, dishes of the day for punters to pick and choose.  They're then served on plastic-bag covered plates, and the punters will stand at the counter wolfing down their food before making way for next-in-line.

I've only been brave enough to try the banana-cue and banana turon from the Jolly Jeeps.   Both of these are local specialties which tend to be served as merienda or an afternoon snack.  Banana-cue is 2 small bananas, on a kebab stick, covered in sugar and fried.  Banana turon  is banana, wrapped in a pastry case similar to a spring roll, covered in sugar and fried.  Both frighteningly healthy.  But who cares about the health properties when they're so tasty!

What's on the box tonight?

I've never been a big TV watcher (other than when "The Great British Bake Off" or "The Apprentice" or "Spooks" or... oh wait, maybe I watched more than I thought).  Mr H, on the other hand, loves to watch sport (or, more specifically, football) and the odd action or drama series.  Back in the UK we had Virgin Media, with a Sky Sports top-up.  But I remember often flicking through the channels and complaining that there wasn't much to watch.

In the Philippines, it seems there is even less worth watching.  When we first arrived, we were pleased to have cable TV installed in our apartment.  It meant, at least, that we could see world news.  It also meant that Mr H could watch a bit of sport (even though the 8 hour time difference often meant quite a late night) and the odd episode of "River Monsters".

But, what else is on?  We now have Sky Cable installed in our apartment.  Admittedly, there are quite a few channels on there.  But how often can you find anything decent to watch?  And how do you know what's on?  There is a TV guide on Sky Cable's website, but it's a usability nightmare.  To see what's on, you have to select a channel from a drop down list, enter the date and hit 'Go'.  Oh, to have the Radio Times where you can see what's on different channels at what times.  There is the option of scrolling through the channels when the TV is on, but even that is a pain to use.  The things we took for granted in the UK - Virgin Media's on screen TV guide and their mobile app.

Back to what else is on.  There are movie channels, sports channels (including a channel dedicated to basketball), news channels and some lifestyle channels.  I haven't even bothered to explore the rest.  Whenever I go to those channels by accident, I just hear noise blaring from the box.  I find myself watching A LOT of "Asia Food Network", full of programs made in America.  Generally they just leave me drooling and wondering where I can get half of the ingredients to make the dishes mentioned on the programs.

Luckily, Wimbledon is being shown at the moment.  I'm wondering whether The Ashes will be shown when they start, but I am doubtful.

Thinking about it now, I would love to be able to watch endless repeats of "Have I Got News For You", "Dragon's Den", "QI" or whatever else is showing on Dave.  Never mind that I may have seen them before, or that they're years old.

It's raining, it's pouring

In the Philippines, there are 2 seasons: wet & dry (depending what you read).  The wet season runs from June - October and the dry November - May.

On the 10th of June, the rainy season was officially declared as 'started' by PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration).

Within a 2 week period, we had 2 tropical storms (Dante & Emong).

"Ah, so it is true," I thought "the wet season really is wet."

It's still hot though, with a range from 26 - 33 degrees Celcius.

The storms we saw were fantastic.  Unbelievable lightening, and thunder which could be heard through our soundproof windows.  The rain too, it's the kind of rain that you could stand in for less than 30 seconds and be drenched to the core.

All that wonder aside, I was thinking to myself "will we really have to put up with this weather for the next 4 months?!  Does this mean that we'll be stuck in Manila week after week with no exciting beach adventures?"

On the plus side, I can walk 98% of my journey to work undercover.  From our building, there is a covered walkway linking us to the Greenbelt shopping area.  From there, there is an elevated, covered walkway on Dela Rosa Street (which runs parallel to the main Ayala thoroughfare) all the way to Rufino Street.  On Rufino street (when you come back down to street level), the pavement is partially covered too.  You probably won't be able to stay completely bone dry as the wind will blow the rain horizontally too, but it certainly beats being drenched.

Another plus, as I write this we are experiencing what is referred to as a monsoon break meaning that we've had clear sunny skies for the past few days.  I even managed to get a swim in after work yesterday evening!