MY CHEAPEST MEAL YET!

Yes, this is as cheap as it gets. A 3 peso egg, a 2 peso, or so, onion and probably about 5 peso worth of rice. Basically a meal that costs less than a quarter in US money. The funny thing is, fried rice also happens to be my favorite. I suppose the only thing cheaper would be a single pack of ramen, but is that really a meal? What strikes me is the level profit some Chinese food places must be making, especially in Burbank where a plate of fried rice might cost as much as $10.00. Some places, like Wokcano, it costs even more than that. Granted their Singapore Fried Rice is leagues better than what I made, but it is still just fried rice.

Of course, not everything is about being as cheap as possible. Sometimes I want to go out and taste the goodness of some of my favorite restaurants. I miss the wings at The Dessert Factory, which are still super cheap compared to getting similar in the west, but they are probbaly expensive by local standards because it's in the mall.



Speaking of malls, while Ayala is much closer to me, such that some might dare to consider it walking distance, and so I spend a lot more time there, sometimes it's good to venture out further and see what the other malls have on offer. The other day I went to SM City, which I wrote about very early on this blog. I didn't really get a chance to explore the place, as I was on a mission to get connected to the internet at the time. I had been back a couple of times since, but was usually on a mission. This time, I went just to look around. There is some cool stuff in here. Unlike Ayala, which seems to be all shopping, SM City seems to actually host events. The car company Kia seemed to have some kind of car show going on in one area. I don't know what was special about the cars, although I think one had fire painted on the hood, but people were milling around and some were even getting inside them to check them out.

I can't imagine why anyone would by a car here, unless they lived out in the boonies. A taxi here costs nothing, and you would spend more on your own gas than it would cost to take taxi everywhere. Also, like any major city, parking isn't exactly abundant. A car seems like an unnecessary hassle. I wouldn't buy one under any circumstances. A motorcycle would be far more practical, but the way people drive out here, you'll never get on one of those either.

While in SM City, looking at the cool sites, including one of thos kiosk type things where they take a widescreen HDTV and turn it on its side, I decided I wanted to try some eats not prepared in the home. I first went to the all powerful Jollibee. Whoever started this chain is a genius. I think it was created by a Chinese guy, but I am not sure. Still it is the Asian version of McDonalds. Even though they have typical fast food items like burgers, they have quick and easy Asian items on the menu. They also have better crispy chicken than KFC. Unfortunately, on this trip, I ordered the spicy chicken and it was spicy! On the whole, Jollibee isn't be best food in the world, but you can eat well for $2 and it is always crowded, with plenty of eye candy.

Later, having been at the mall so long, I decided to eat at Chow King. I think I wrote of this place before, and how I saw a cool TV commercial about it once. One thing I did not know is that Chow King also has crispy chicken. I guess fried chicken is just that popular here. Chow King is Chinese fast food done pretty good. Not the best by any means. Chen & Wok chains in the US are far far better, and just as fast, but still Chow King is pretty good, and very very cheap. You can eat for just over a $1.

So I just got paid for the last gig I did, and with good timing since I had about $1 to my name and was running out of groceries, so today I am off to the mall again. I already have a pretty big gig lined up and a couple of big looking possibilities in the queue. Remember I said I was working on something that Book II on this site will be about, and I can say it is starting to kick in. The adventure is going to grow.