It is pleasurable cus food s quite low on my list of priorities. As for PI, I did a lot of eating fruits and veggies out of the supermarket and went to various restaurants. And I spent time in Baloy Beach and Subic Bay where I did fine. Yes, I did eat mostly non-native food but so what. I do that in Taipei too. As long as its abundantly available, that's what counts. For example, I could easily find some great Korean BBQ places. Which is more than I can say for some US areas. Just a couple weeks ago, I was staying in the north part of downtown Chicago and couldn't find a Korean style BBQ restaurant within a 3 mile radius (the only one within 5 miles had gone out of business). We ended up going to "Ron of Japan" which was not the kind of Tepanyaki I was hoping for.Winston wrote:We all like new experiences. But shouldn't you be seeking out new PLEASURABLE experiences rather than new negative experiences? lolRock wrote: I'm here for a new experience. I don't mind bad food and/or service for awhile. In PI, I never complain about the food either cus I think its adequate. And I wanna point out that its far from the worst on the planet. I've been to a few countries which I think are much worse for eating including this one. Fast food wise, there's a local chain here which I think is worse than anything you have there.
Girls are approachable but language barrier is a pain in the ass - Haitian Creole or French. But you can find a local English speaking guy to go out with you and help you to talk to others, translate, etc. for a beer or two and maybe 10 bucks at end of evening. I have seen some hot black girls here. 5% or so of the population is lighter skinned cus of mixing in past with Syrians, etc.
I'm gonna try to bus over to Dominican Republic from here to see what that's like.
In the PI, you only hung around expat joints that served food. And of course, you came with me to places that I recommended you eat at, which would not be bad, otherwise I wouldn't have taken you to them. lol
If you went out food exploring to restaurants in the PI where local Filipinos go, on the other hand, you might be saying something different right now...
There may be countries with worst food than the PI, but still, the PI is known as having the worst food in Asia. That much is certain. Every expat I've talked to concurs with that.
Plus, keep in mind that you only tried the best of PI food, not the average typical type, which you said you didn't want to try. lol. Remember? I told you to order some meals at Chow King so you could get an idea of the crap that Filipinos like. But you didn't, cause you said you did not want to KNOWINGLY order food that you knew you wouldn't like. lol (understandably of course)
Thus, you haven't really tasted all the crappy food that mainstream Filipinos eat. lol
So have you found any P4P action available there? Do you get a lot of attention there for being a foreigner or white guy?
Anyway, stay safe and give us all a trip report.
Why should I taste all the crappy food that mainstream people eat if what I like is abundantly available. In Taiwan, I can tell you that over 90% of the stuff locals eat disgusts the hell out of me. But so what? I can still find the food I like in most places around the city. For example, I often eat Chicken salad with a protein shake out of my gym or a nice salad for Subway. PI is not much different in that I can find healthy options which I like.
Haiti is actually weak for straight-up P4P. Dominican Republic on other side of island (Hipsonola) is supposed to be much better for that. But I've noticed that expats can easily find local girlfriends or wives here. Since its one of the poorest countries in the world, you are considered rich here if you are a foreigner from about anywhere. Most foreigners are UN, NGOs, and NGO subcontractors. It seems like most white people I see here are able to speak French too. Since there are a lot of those expats driving around the city in their big SUVs and acting as a secondary police force, people in the city are kinda used to seeing foreigners. But yes, you are still considered exotic I believe and that dynamic might be magnified out in the countryside.
I'll try to post a trip report after I get back to States.