While we were still in Coron, chilling out in a resort on a little island, we received an email from Mike. He had found us through the couchsurfing website and asked whether we wanted to meet for lunch in Manila on our last day in the Philippines. We’re always keen to meet locals, so we said yes. Little did we know what we were in for.
Mike has come up with a somewhat crazy but cool project: he eats in a different restaurant every day for one year, and he writes a blog about it (walkandeat). Expecting to join him for a casual lunch somewhere (we had told him before that we are on a budget as long-term travellers), he really surprised us when we met him and he whisked us off in a taxi to an upscale Chinese restaurant.
It dawned on us we were in for a big treat. By the time all our orders arrived, there was hardly any space left on the huge table. The Peking duck (the famous dish we didn’t manage to have while we were in Beijing!) was carved for us on the table and was simply delicious, as were all the other dishes. Trying to stay on a budget as long-term travellers, we didn’t have such a classy Chinese meal during the whole six weeks we spent in China… Even though we could hardly move after this opulent lunch, Mike didn’t leave it with that. Next stop on the culinary tour he offered us was coffee and dessert at his own restaurant, Wild Ginger in Rockwell Center, Makati. 
A very stylish place, and their sticky toffee pudding was to die for. We also finally had the chance to try the typical Filipino dessert halo-halo, which literally translates as mix-mix.
While Mario went on a long trek to the other end of Manila to collect our other backpack (which we had stored to travel lighter for our three weeks in the Philippines – who needs fleece jackets and jeans in an island paradise?) Mike and I passed the time in a tapas bar in the heart of the Makati district. Over Sangria, fried quail eggs and grilled scallops we exchanged thousand and one story, until Mario finally joined us again (with our complete luggage), for all this decadent feasting to be continued in a Spanish restaurant. Great wine, jamon, grilled tuna, and some other Spanish dishes with a Filipino twist, like octopus sisig (meaning chopped, marinated in vinegar and then fried) with chorizo, brought the day to a fantastic close.
After travelling around several of the Filipino islands and seeing how basic the living conditions are in the remote villages, it was such a contrast to come back to Manila and be thrown into this glitzy westernized lifestyle that the upper class leads here. It was somewhat hard to believe we were still in the same country. It was really interesting to hear Mike’s take on many of the current issues in this country, be it related to religion, politics or the takeover of the country’s economy by a few super rich Chinese and Spanish families. He managed to show us an aspect of Manila we would have not gotten to know if it wasn’t for him. And of course we thoroughly enjoyed being completely spoiled for a day – we couldn’t believe Mike’s generosity. A really interesting and honest character, and best of all a person who owns several restaurants, writes about food every day and yet has not become a ‚food snob‘, but remains down-to-earth.
Thank you Mike for a delicious, interesting and unusual day.
