A son’s gift turns into e-Trike business

A son’s gift turns into e-Trike business

Beijing Quickie


I hope the title doesn't give you a wrong impression. Don't bookmark my blog into your porn list just yet! I just wanted to post this quick little snack I found in China!

It's a little something I found while walking around in Beijing sometime in December 2005. At Minus 8 Degree temperature!



On the right... it is I, The Anonymous Food Tripper in full winter gear! Forever scouring every corner of the globe (that my wallet permits) to discover new tastes, new textures and new food cultures that have yet to be discovered by bloggers of planet Earth.

Well actually some of the food I find is no real big wup, but who cares! As long as I enjoy finding them and enjoy sharing them with everyone!

Now let us move on to the food I found in the streets of Beijing.

As we walked across the Forbidden City we found an old lady by the sidewalk forming on a flat round hot plate what looked much like a french crepe.

Upon closer scrutiny I saw her scoop a spoonful of her batter (mixed with egg) and pour it on the hot plate. As the batter started to form a round omelette-like appearance. The cook put some chives and veggies I dont really recognize and then brushed a brown souce on top. Then she skilfully picks it up with her oversized chopsticks and suddenly rolls it up like a shawarma and serves it.

To make a long story short I loved it! It was a very satisfying snack on a freezing winter day!

The bread tasted much like a Malaysian Roti however its the fillings that made the difference.

It had a sort of peanut buttery flavor and the veggies tasted really great.

My sis (Who is now an adopted daughter of the People's Republic of China) describes the concoction as : crepe with egg, pickled vegetables, chili, crunchy sheet of something, kinchay, special sauce and chili.

So whenever you happen to passby Beijing, look for this snack (which I failed to ask what it was called. I really need to start asking).

And if you do try it. Remember me...The Anonymous Food Tripper , who braved the winter chill, the scary foreign land and even...diarrhea. Just to be able to tell the world of these wonderful discoveries.

So in the spirit of Marco polo, Christopher Clumbus ans The Enterprise. See you soon as you join my never ending culinary journey to places no tongue has been to before! Bye for now :)

The Bocaue style Lechon in Bulacan


Whenever we would go to Bulacan, we would always make it a point to passby a little stall along Mc Arthur highway on our way back to Manila.



It's located on the right side of Mc Arthur Highway right before you make a left going to the Expressway in Bulacan



An old lady mans the stall sometimes with her husband but most of the time by herself.



One or her specialties is the SINUSO, which is the mammary glands of a mother pig. This she sells with her regular Lechon slabs and also her very tasty Bituka ng baboy, which is very crunchy yet not so oily.



She would take pride in telling you that she eats BABOY every day of her life yet is in the pink of health. :)



Aling Neneng's Original Liempo is a landmark in Bocaue. Many copycats have sprouted around her little stall but they have all come and gone.

Aling Neneng is an institution.

She makes special mxture with her vinegar that goes perfectly with her lechon products.

A special treat is when she chops some peices of her lechon stuff for you to try.

For some reason, eating pieces of lechon while it is being chopped always seem to taste ten times better than when it is already served at your table!

Maybe it's the risk of your fingers being chopped off as you get, or the anticipation of picking the best morsels while you are standing beside the chopping board. Or then again maybe its just ME :p



On the right is a sneak peak of Madam Neneng of Bocaue with her worldclass lechon :)


Now let me give you some tips on how to get your moneys worth with Aling Neneng:

1. Engage in very light small talk. Complement her lechon, ask about how she started and mention how her lechon glistens when hit by the rays of the McArthur sunset.

2. Once you notice that she is pleased with your small talk, try to ask for as much Patikim as possible! hehe

3. Always weigh your order after it has been chopped. If you weigh it before it is chopped you will notice that the weight decreases after chopping. (i dont have a scientific explanation for this, i figured that its just the oil splashing out as it is chopped hehe )
4. Enjoy you fresh and hot lechon and bring some for your loved ones!

I hope you foodies out there can try this special Bulacan treat .

Sometimes great culinary discoveries can be found right in your own neigborhood. And if you do find one, please don't be selfish! Let other people know. Let ME know. The Anonymous Food Tripper.....signing off ....till the next time! Woooo Hoooo!!!

The Legend of The Bangkok Duck

There is a tale which oldtimer foodies have been telling for many years now. It's mystery has eluded many Foodie explorers in the past.

The story has been passed on from one foodie to the next, yet no proof was ever produced so the story remained a legend...until now.

Join me as we explore the mystery and the wonders of The Bangkok Duck.

Legend has it that Filipino pilots stayed at the Amari hotel near the Bangkok airport many years ago. These Pilots would get bored and would sometimes get out of the hotel and roam free, to explore and discover what Bangkok had to offer aside from its lewd shows and insect street food.

It is through this endeavor that the elusive mystery fowl was discovered. For the benefit of curious foodies as yours truly....The Anonymous Foodtripper!

The journey begins when you check in your baggage at the bangkok Airport. Once you have checked in, chances are you have an hour or so to spare. And rather than walking around the airport to be tempted to buy overpriced duty free products, look for a sign that says: To Amarri Hotel!

Go down the elevator and proceed to a flyover that goes across the street towards the hotel.

This is the flyover on the left.


Before reaching the hotel go down on the stairs on the right side.





Now walk. Walk like there is no tomorrow. For with every step you come closer to gastronomic ecstacy. (excuse my tendency to exaggerate. gutom na ako e).

You walk about 100 meters until you reach. . . . . . . . . .


The Watdonmuang Phra-Arramluang! (can you say that 10 times fast?)

What it is , is actually a Buddhist Temple. This is you main landmark. Once you reach this you must never look back. For you will turn into salt!

Just keep walking my friend. Your quest is near its climax. Just a few more steps an you will see. . . . . .

A motorcycle taxi station!!! hehehe.

But be patient my young grasshopper. Ignore the throbbing pain of your legs. Keep your mind focused to the task at hand. For yet a few more paces will expose to you . . . . .

Tan taaaa daaa daaaaaan!!

This huge yellow signage written in Thai! Is it a Thai Andoks? Is it a Thai kodak cameraworld!!? No My friend. The sign reads : Osharos Restaurant. As indicated in the menu below.

You have found your bounty! Rejoice for all your patience and hardship will now be rewarded. But before anything you must first acknowledge the magnitude of your great fortune to have the opportunity to meet the awe inspiring . . . . . .

Bangkok Duck Dude!!!

That's me on the right. The equally bodacious, Anonymous Food tripper!

The Duck dude will choose for you the most prime of his freshly cooked ducks. One that is not too hard nor too soft, not too old nor too new, not too fat nor too thin, not too oily nor too dry, not too....oh you get the picture!

The Duck dude is an extremely cool senior citizen who is also a champion marathon runner. He has pictures in his store of him recieving a trophy for a marathon which he won. I think he still runs up to now as he is still very chipper , bouncy and light on his feet.

The Duck Dude will now display his amazing skill in crafting and cutting the Bangkok Duck.

He may even debone it if you request. However I don't recommend it because it takes too long. And sayang din yung meat na sumamasama sa bone when you debone it.

If the Duck Dude likes you he will give you a discount! The Duck right now is 450 Baht. But he can give it to you for 430, which he writes on his chopping board with his cleaver if you don' understand Thai, such as I. (uy rhyming!)

The duck is very juicy and tasty. It comes with two sauces. One is made from the drippings which is good when you mix it whith your rice (yum! but sinful). The second sauce is like a sweet and sour soy sauce with peppers where you dip the duck meat itself. The peppers are not hot and is actually good to chew and not just swallow! (sounds kinky)

The Duck Dude will take awhile to chop your duck so the best thing to do while you wait is . . .

Eat right there such as these 2 lovebirds! I recommend that you order 1/4 order of duck and 1/4 order of roasted pork with rice and an orange soda! Scrumptous!

And so ends the Mystery of The Bangkok Duck. You may now take away the duck which you have ordered. The duck Dude will put it in a syrofoam container and wrap it properly to enable you to handcarry the duck home. I suggest that once you get hoe you refrigerate it right away to avoid spoilage. If you intend to keep it for a longer time, put it in the freezer. It'll keep for about a week max.

I now conclude this edition of my foodtrip blog.

This has been The Anonymous Foodtripper saying to you: "Keep your eyes open and your tongue exposed!"

See ya next time!

The Famous Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles!

My next adventure came just 250 meters away from the Barbecue Duck place. The cosmopolitan Taiwanese dude was nice enough to not just assist me in ordering at the barbecue place, he even accompanied me to the Famous flour noodle place! (kinda reminds me of rural folk in the Philippines who will really get off their carabaos just to give you proper instructions, and would be willing to leave their carabao to ride with you just to make sure you don't get lost).

The dude who accompanied me can be seen in the picture above, he's the leftmost guy with glasses. He's kind of a metrosexual kasi japorms sya e.

As we approached the place I observed a humungous line that dwarfs the line at the barbecue place. This of course excited me tremendously!

The line was moving steadily and quite quickly. I later found out that the product line was not very diverse. Their main product was the flour rice noodles with some pork broth soup with some pork intestines. You only have to choose between 2 sizes: medium and large.

As such the assmbly line was quite simple, with one guy getting the order, one guy scooping the noodle soup and one guy getting the payment.

They serve the noodle soup to you piping hot. And once you get the soup you go to the street and eat it standing up. I guess it's part of the "aliw factor" seeing 20 guys standing around sipping soup in the street.

The Flour rice soup is basically miswa, and the taste is much like nilagang baboy. But you do taste the freshness of the noodles as well as the pork innards. (you might say Euck! but did you know that most gourmet cuisine around the world consist of innards one way or the other).

The soup was piping hot and once you finish it, you find yourself sweating like a pig...yet refreshed!

Another thing to point out is the discipline of the customers. Outside the place in the sidewalk you will find 2 pails.

One pail is for unfinished soup and the other is for the used bowls and spoons. Automatically after eating people then line up to dispose of their used bowls in the pails. Ang galing! Parang trained na sila na wag magkalat.

Above is a picture of 2 lovebirds feeding hot Flour Noodle soup to each other. Sweet noh! Aaaaw.

We walked more after the noodle place and we explored. The place Shing Lin is a night market and you'd enjoy yourself just watching the streets bustle with people looking at the millions of little items that they sell on the street side.

Before goin home we passed by a little hole in a wall resto where we had Taiwan's famous Ground meat on top of rice meal.

Its a pretty popular dish which I heard even my grandpa likes to have.

By the end of the night we were stuffed like turkeys but I was happy to experience the Taiwan street food night life!

That marked the end of my Taiwan adventure. But I vow never to rest while there are scrumptous dishes out there, waiting to be discovered by The anonymous Foodtripper!

Hi ho! Anonymous Food Tripper here. Walking you thru my Taiwan adventure. This is still in the Shin Lin night market walking street. I saw a lot of people lining up at this store and before you can say "I'm a foodie usyusero" I was lined up yet again.

I stared at the place, marveling at the variety of food items they were selling.

Upon closer scrutiny. I realized that they were selling different barbecue products. They all seemed alien to me. Wierd yet wonderful. Again my problem was , I didn't know what to order.

So I looked for the most cosmopolitan looking taiwanese around and started talking to him in english. Actually I found out, a lot of taiwanese people really speak english. I guess that's also why they are very successful as a country . It's because they're flexible. ( English is really an advantage! We Filipinos should realize that!)

But I digress....Anyhoo, I talked to this young local and asked him what I should order. He asked me, "where are you from?" and I told him "The Philippines!! You should visit us there. We have the best beaches in the world! ". And then told me that the most popular were the duck necks and the duck tongue! Yup you heard right , Duck Tongue!

So I ordered that and tried it. Ok naman sya. The barbecue sauce was a kind of spicy sweet marinate. The duck tongue didn't really taste awesome, but it was different. It had a texture much like the cartilage of a chicken leg. And you don't just eat the tongue because its too small. It's connected to the esophagus as well. Next time I eat there Ill try to get a picture to show you . It was nice and different.

While lining up and making chikka my new found Taiwanese friend who was kind enough to order for me as well, I asked him what other places are popular and people really like. He told me: Aaah you should go to Ay Chung! Flour rice noodles!

My next adventure was set.

Hello! I'm The Anonymous Food Tripper! I'm a foodie from the wonderful Republic of the Philippines! Come and visit us! We have the best beaches in the world!

My trip is scouring obscure places and discovering great places to eat! I like finding hole in the wall places which only locals know about and discovering what their specialties are. Sometimes the food isn't really a big deal for me but nevertheless, I like trying 'em out anyway. It's the thrill of discovery and lining up and catching a glimpse of the local culture that turns me on!

I'm new at this blog thing so bear with me for awhile! I'm still experimenting. But eventually I'll get this thing and hopefully come up with something nice :)

Ok let me first post this picture of a resto in Taiwan that I saw in the Shing Lin area (or is it JinBiao, I forget) . Their specialty is a big siopao thats is so juicy inside. Its like a giant shao lung pao! Ang sarap!

I can't actually remember how to pronounce the name. So a description should suffice for now.

While I was walking down the street I saw a long line of locals! So pumila din ako! It took me about ten minutes to get to buy one but I enjoyed the line. I observed what people ordered and how they ordered it.
Usually, I spend my time in the que looking for somebody who can speak English so I cn interview them about what is good to order and do a little pr. After they tell me about the place I'm queing up for (I ask when it was established, what do people order there, what are they known for etc). Then I try to ask them waht else is popular to the natives, so I can visit it next!!

They often ask me where I'm from and I tell them enthusiastically. I'm from the Philippines! You should try to go there, we have the best beaches in the world. (might as well do some Public Relations for the country diba).

That's me in the picture on top!!!!

THE ANONYMOUS FOODTRIPPER! Whoooooo Hooooo Hooooo!

Here is their calling card in case you want to taste it for yourself. You can also call them if you happen to speak mandarin. I have no idea who the lady is in the picture. Might be the owner, inventor or some cheap model. hehe