The real shocker was when I went to a ” Travel Doctor ” here in the USA and recieved several precautionery vaccinations in preparation for going tho the Philippines for the first time. I was given a large folder full of precautionary information in how to avoid becomming ill while traveling in tropical climate countries. This information had so many precautions I wondered if I would be able to even try any traditional food there.

As it ended up and as I had thought all along, nothing I purchased from any of the Jollibee Food Corp franchises had the slightest disagreement with my normal digestive system. I even ate Ice Cream based Jolli-zert. My precautionary information advised me not to eat ANY dairy products as they may not be pasteurized or homonogized.

After my first few days, I did sample some local ( Iligan City ) independent eateries although I stayed with things I knew on the menu. Fortunately I had no problems at all. On my next visit I may become a bit more adventerous in eating.

I did run some of the precattions I had recieved from the Doctor here, by Bob Martin. His reply indicated that if my digestive system was any where near normal I should be able to eat just about anything there without difficulty with the exception of Tap Water or anything derived from it such as Ice Cubes etc. I really did like everything about Jollibee, I visited about 6 of their locations in Iligan City and Cagayan De Oro. They were all very clean even at peak traffic periods, the ” CR’s ” were well stocked with paper for the toilets, hand washing soap, sinks with hot and cold water, and functional electric hot air hand driers. The CR’s were clean too. The courtesy and service at these Jollibee locations excelled, even in USA standards. I know now I will never have to starve when visiting The Philippines !

In Cagayan De Oro I spent a few days in the Dynasty Court Hotel and the restaurant was primarily Chinese menu offerings, few of which I understood. Fortunately I had friends who could describe some of the items on offer to me. This was a well run establishment with a reputation for quality so I ordered what sounded interesting to me without hesitation. It was some kind of sliced up steak and vegatables mixed together with some kind of sauce served in a hollowed out pineapple. When I had finished the beef and vegatable mix, I picked up the pineapple and started scraping the remaining pineapple from the interior of it. I never tasted such sweet and tastey pineapple before as it was so fresh compared to what you can find in a store here in New York.

Obviously most of the food I ate most likely is not what would be found in an average Filipino home, this gives me something to research further and look forward to on my next visit. There do seem to be a lot of nice restaurants in Mindanao and compared to here, the prices are nothing less than a bargain.

Now anyone for Brain Nuggets???