Pinoy Street Foods

These are the common food that you will find in any place in the Philippines being peddled in the streets by Pinoys who want to earn a living for the sake of their family. Mostly purchased and prepared by themselves, they make sure that it is clean and sanitary for public consumption. Also some municipalities issue mayor and health permit to street vendors so that it is strictly regulated and the local entepreneur can ply their products legally. So if you are curious to know the taste, dont shy away give it a try and check it out. I tell you that it is clean, delicious and it is truly a pinoy food experience.

Balot - (boiled fertilized duck egg) This is one of the popular food that you can buy on the streets. It is a good source of protein and some say that it is a good aphrodisiac. Many locals prefer to eat balut during or after their drinking session. If your guts are strong enough, I recommend you to try it like an initiation. This is very delicious and it comes with a dose of vinegar or salt to enchance more the taste.The vendor as you can see from the left also offer some other food stuffs like itlog pugo (boiled quail eggs) and sitsaron (skin pork rind). Penoy as you can see from the right frame is also boiled duck eggs but this is not completely fertilized unlike the balut.

Common Tagalog Words and Phrases

Now We will disscuss about some of the popular Tagalog words and phrases that may become handy and useful to you when you communicate or transact here in Pinas. A simple words when uttered by a foreign tourist may bring a smile or laugh to somebody. Although we are also an English speaking country, a simple Tagalog words may bridge some of the language gaps. So why not try to learn a little and impress your Filipino friends.

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isa - one / dalawa - two / tatlo - three / apat - four / lima - five /anim - six / pito - seven / walo - eight / siyam - nine / sampu - ten /

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magandang umaga - good morning / magandang tanghali - good afternoon / magandang gabi - good evening /

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maganda - beautiful / pangit - ugly / mabaho - stinks / mabango - fragrant / malaki - big / maliit - small / mabait - kind / salbahe - nasty / tahimik - silent / maingay - noisy / malinis - clean / madumi - dirty / mayabang - arrogant / mabilis - quick / mabagal - slow / mabait - kind / madaldal - talkative / eksperto - expert

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lalaki - male / babae - female / bakla - bisexual / tomboy - lesbian / tatay - father / nanay - mother / kuya - brother / ate - sister / lolo - grandfather / lola - grandmother / kasama - companion / kaibigan - friend / turista - toruist / asawa - husband or wife / kasintahan - boyfriend or girlfriend /

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kalsada - street / road - daan / tindahan - store / palengke - market / pananderya - bakery / ospital - hospital / istasyon ng pulis - police station / istasyon ng bumbero - fire station / istatsyon ng bus - bus station /

Public Transport

You can find different modes of public transport in the Philippines from "Jeepneys" which is the popular way to travel, buses, trains, mrt, fx, taxi, tricycle and the pedicabs, and also the unusual which are the habal-habal, also called the "skylab", the train cart, kuliglig, kalesa. I have some photos here to familiarize you and hope that you try it while you are here on a visit, not just for the thrill of it but also to experience the way we travel and move to our daily jobs. Have fun and by the way I hope that you endure the traffic, the smoke, and the noise of the daily commute.

Left: 1.Taxi / 2.FX / 3.AUV (Asian Utility Vehicle can be called "xlt" or "Ford" by Pinoys)
Middle: Jeepney- The Philippine's "King of the Road"
Right: Buses- Provincial or City Operation, Aircon or Non Aircon available

Left: Kalesa - Horse Driven like wagon- Popular among Tourist in Manila

Middle: Multicab- Similar setup of the jeepney and auv but few passenger capacity only

Right: Tricycle- You can find and ride it anywehere in Pinas! very versatile transport

Left: Pedicab or Padyak - human powered rickshaw especially for students and merchants
Middle: Train Cart - Can be found to areas that has rail tracks only. Human or petrol engined

Right: Habal-habal or Skylab this can be found in the Visayas and Southern regions - can
carry up to 8 passengers, enjoy!

Left: Kuliglig - Used mostly by farmers for their crops and goods. Can not be found in the cities!

Right: Bangka or Basnig -Sea transport for Island Hopping and Touring.

Current Philippine Currency

You can see here the current monetary denomation being used in the country today. The following person that you see in our money are the popular politicians, past presidents, heroes educators and prominent personality that help shape the lives and history of the Philippines.


The bills is composed of
20,50,100,200,500,1000
unit denominations

While the coins are divided into 1,5,10,25 (centavos),1,5,10 (Pesos) unit denomination. The current rate of the Phillipine Peso to the Us Dollars is around 45.80 and still rising . There are lot money changers located in the capital city Manila,in the Airports and in every region. But it is more safer to exchange cash from legal money changers and banks in order to get the right rate and not be scammed by those operating underground. There are incident reported in the news with regards to foreigner being tricked by those illegal changers so my advise is deal only to those who operate legaly and better transact with banks if you will shell out a large amount.

Introduction

Decided to visit our country? After your recent trips to other Asian Destinations like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, China -- why not try Philippines? If you are worrying that it is not a good place for your next trip because of the negative images being thrown by foreign medias, Dont believe it fully. Give it a try and you will realize in the end that it is such a nice place to visit, it is more budget friendlier than the others, The culture is warm and hospitable and you may consider it a second home or good place to retire and settle in. So just relax and I will give you bit by bit what I understand about my country - being streetwise! that is, and I hope that we can disscuss every details that you want to learn so that you can fully optimize your stay here. SALAMAT!!!