Office Food Snack: Maruya

This is called Maruya. Made with banana, flour and perhaps additional sugar and then fried. 

The friendly elevator ladies sell this for Php 15.00 ($0.33). This is filling and I didn't have any space for lunch. Try this! 

Shine, Pilipinas!

-Maria

Packaged office food

Working in one of the business districts of Manila can be expensive. Prices escalate when eating out.

To save money (apart from preparing your own lunches) is to buy the packaged lunches prepared by the elevator ladies. 

These lunches, like the one you see above is just Php 55.00 ($1.22) In case you can't tell, its porkchop and missua (more on this in the next couple of posts) These are delivered around lunch hour. The ladies wait by the elevator of your office floor and you can then choose what you want to eat. Since these are packaged lunches, choices are limited. A week on this would just cost you a little over $6.00. 

Shine, Pilipinas!
-Maria

When is the best time to visit?

The Philippines is a tropical country so expect it be humid and hot.

Summer can start around end of February until end of May. 

Rainy season is from June to about September. 

October to February is when the weather gets great. It doesn't rain as much and the temperature is cooler. Although for people who are used to cold climates then you might still think its hot. 

The hottest recorded temperature this year was 41ºC (105.8 ºF) last May 2015. So, be careful and hydrate. We don't want anyone fainting from heat stroke.

   Photo Credit: Philippine Daily Inquirer


Right now is July and can I say that we've been hit by two consecutive typhoons already. (Egay and Falcon). This is not the typical rain showers that some people enjoy. Also, what makes it dangerous is the flooding in the streets that can leave you stranded. So, I would suggest not visiting at the onset of typhoon season. Unless of course that, that is your thing. 







Shine Pilipinas, shine!
-Maria

Where is the Philippines?

The Philippines is located south east of China, north of Australia and south of Japan. 

We are surrounded by water. Water, water everywhere. I dare say that you cannot travel a whole day without encountering some sort of coastline. 

This also makes travelling to the islands challenging. Air travel, specially from people from Europe and the U.S. is quite expensive. I think right now air fare is around $1,500 easily.

Travel to other Islands within the country is possible by ship or by air or even by bus (if you are that patient) 

Time is at GMT+8:00. 

Take time to visit and get to know our very diverse culture. 

-Maria

Good Day!

And what a fascinating day it is.

Not everything is right in this little corner of my world but I am absolutely sure that we are getting there. 

Why start this blog?

Simple.

I love my country and I want to share to non-filipinos all there is to know about being filipino. 

It's funny though, you think someone whose lived almost all her life in the Philippines would probably know about her country a lot. But this is a learning experience for me too. 

I would try to do a lot of research to be able to write blogs that would make everybody appreciate the Philippines a little bit more. 

Okay, that's that!  

Maria