You will better know a country and its people through their food and Macau is one destination that a gourmand should never miss. Like Filipino cuisine, it’s good fusion food, a beautiful marriage of the orient and the occident plus modern international dishes.

The surroundings were luxurious with opulent decors. Nothing has been spared: thick carpeting, expensive dinner ware, large tables with immaculate white covers and plush seats. Couple this with stunning views of Cotai Strip. And of course, good food.

I got curious with it as I didn’t really understood what it meant. Even the supervisor or anyone at the restaurant was in a quandary. But the dish was infront of me in all its delicious splendor glistening and beckoning me to taste it.

Susie’s Cuisine in Nepo Mart is one of the popular restaurants in Angeles City, Pampanga. And a visit will keep you asking for more with its trademark tibok-tibok and other other dishes perfect for merienda and pasalubong.

Bahala nang mabaho basta masarap (Never mind the smell as long as its delicious).

No. I wasn’t talking about things in the nether regions. You. Dirty minded you.

While waiting for the Santo Señor Sepulcro’s bier to arrive back at the church in Lucban, I was invited to have cooling halo-halo. What I didn’t expect was the unusual ingredient that they mix it with.

I liked it here. The ruggedness, the rundown atmosphere that are patronized by the locals. When I first saw this, I didn’t quite believe it but there it was, a reality check in this gambling eden.

It’s flaky, tasty and unforgettable. Melts in your mouth goodness the way egg tarts should be. But it’s not from Lord Stow’s Bakery but from arch competitor and ex-wife’s Margaret’s Cafe e Nata. It’s dessert with its share of intrigues.

A casual mention of it is enough to send eyes looking at you and women hiding a giggle. Or even a condescending stare trying to look at you from head to toe (and stopping at the crotch) and thinking if you’re having inadequacies under the sheets. But for its believers, lansiao is better than that blue pill.

The first time I learned about kinalas, a popular noodle dish in Naga City, I was queasy. The thought of eating pork brain gives me goosebumps. It is one part of an animal that I avoid and this one is said to contain this organ. But my curiosity got me and I didn’t look back.

I was overwhelmed with its taste. A hard to grasp but distantly familiar flavor exploding inside my mouth that I just have to close my eyes and revel in gustatory ecstasy. Ibos-ibos, a fusion rice concoction of a Filipino native delicacy at Chef Doy’s was one of two unforgettable experiences I had in Naga City, Camarines Sur.

Fruits in Davao City? You name it! From durians, to mangosteens to pomelos, rambutans and marangs. There are lots to chose from. But there is another one, strange looking, small, and rather curious and fleshy: the yellow dragon fruit (Selenicereus megalanthus) is sweeter and better tasting than it’s red/pinkish cousin (genus Hylocereus). This, I’ve found only in Davao City.

Simple. Fly or travel to Davao and upon arriving stuff your nose with the smell of durian. During the months of August – October, the air in Davao is perfumed with this fruit. It’s all over the place. From parks, to malls, to streets. It might be a stinking city for the uninitiated but for durian lovers, it is heaven.

It wasn’t in my plan but the moment I saw the restaurant’s marquee, Kusina Davao, a flood of memories came rushing in. Wow, pork with salted egg siopao and I can almost savor the hot steaming white bun before me.

I needed a jolt, a caffeine kick that will really convince me that I’m indeed back in Davao City. Not just any kind of drink but one that is spiked and infused with, some say, a malodorant that is sure to assault the olfactory senses. I just have to give in and surrender.