One man’s poison is another man’s staple food. Most foreigners would balk at eating balut. Heck, there are a lot of Filipinos who don’t even eat balut. Balut is a Filipino delicacy of boiled fertilized duck or chicken egg while the unfertilized egg is called penoy.

Come to think of it, nobody sells balut at daytime and certainly nobody seems to be eating it at daytime. Balut is traditionally sold by street vendors at night who shout “Balut! Penoy” in their most modulated voice. They usually wrap the balut in cloth inside a basket to keep it warm. Today’s street hawkers have discovered a more creative way of keeping the balut hot. They use pedicabs (bicycle with a sidecar)  installed with a tin can with water heated by a small stove. The steam keeps the balut hot.

Balut should be eaten while hot to enjoy it’s juice. You eat it by lightly breaking the bottom shell. Partially opening it with only enough space for you to drink the juice. Then peel the shell, sprinkle a little salt and add vinegar if you like and eat the egg.

Balut is probably hell to those who can’t take eating it and heaven to those who love to savior it’s exotic taste. Balut was listed as the top most terrifying food in the world by the website Cracked.com. Although some of the food listed there seemed more horrifying than balut, I understand where the fear is coming from. Before I came to love eating balut, I used to think of it as a human fetus. I overcame my fear when I stopped thinking and started eating instead. I especially love the juice, the soft yolk and the chewy egg white. I don’t even notice whatever chick is already there.

Balut without shell.

Our lowly balut received, perhaps it’s redeeming moment when Tom Parker Bowles, food editor of Esquire and son of Camilla Parker-Bowles, recently visited the country to write about Filipino food for the August 2011 issue of the magazine. I’ve read about his visit from Marketman so I’m also looking forward to what he’s going to say about our food.

Parker-Bowles received caution from friends about Manila that it’s “one of the grimmest cities in the world”.  The promdi in me would nod to this but then it’s my country’s capital you’re talking about so I couldn’t help but feel bad. Fortunately, he is a little adventurous when it comes to food so despite all the warnings, he managed to visit the Philippines particularly Manila.

Here’s what he has to say about balut before eating one, “But then there’s balut, the pavement equivalent of Animal Farm—the porno version you saw as a teenager on grainy VHS. It’s fertilised duck egg, complete with embryo, and like the porno (and Manila, too), suffers from a wildly exaggerated reputation.”

Then after eating balut, “But if not a delight, then balut is certainly a surprise. The broth is rich, tempered with a hint of shit and decay. But no worse than a decent Époisses cheese. The duck is tiny, no bigger than 5op piece, with the texture of a warm oyster. I swallow it down and bite into the egg. It’s beautiful, regally rich and pungent. A soft-boiled egg in mink cape, packing gold-plated AK-47. One more Filipino myth destroyed.”

I never thought of balut in that manner but thanks Mr. Parker-Bowles, you have definitely raised our balut to a level beyond just a street food.

Come to think of it, balut is like us Filipinos. We may sometimes be hard to like on the surface but once you break our shell, we are one of the most lovable people in the world.

We have been bitten by the Azkals and now acting like one rabid country for football. For the longest time, football has had no following on a national scale like basketball and boxing. Unlike us promdi from Iloilo and Negros, who have remained true and loyal to the game, other parts of the country have not shown the same enthusiasm for the world’s most popular game. We Ilonggos can even brag that Paulino Alcantara, one of the world’s best football players came from Iloilo.

Fans are going gaga over the Azkals who are composed mostly of Fil-Foreigners.  But they are not all about good looks, they do bite and thanks to the historic performance of the Philippine National Team at the AFF Suzuki Cup, football has become the country’s object of affection at the moment.

This coming February 9, the Philippine Azkals will be facing Mongolia for the qualifying series for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup. All roads will be leading to Panaad Park & Stadium as it is already ready for the game, tickets already reserved and  Phillipine Azkal players are already complete here in Bacolod City. Fans from Metro Manila and other provinces are expected to arrive for the game. It’s fortunate that Panaad Park & Stadium has passed the standards of the AFC otherwise our Philippine Azkals will not be playing in the country.

I hope this is not just another fad that we’re having. I hope this is already the break that Philippine football has been waiting for. We have the potential to make it big internationally. Unlike basketball, height is not that important in football. However, in order for the national team to reach their full potential, they need the support of the government and the fans. Let’s all become rabid and give our full support to the Philippine Azkals!

The Twilight Filipino Version is not going to be titled Takipsilim as what’s been going around the net in the past two years.  This time it’s for real and it’s entitled Imortal with Angel Locsin and John Lloyd Cruz in the lead roles. Although it’s not the same story as Twilight, it’s quite obvious the concept is the same as Twilight.

ABS-CBN is jumping in he bandwagon of vampire movies and TV programs. Imortal is said to be a sequel to Lobo and Angel Locsin will still play the role of a wereworlf  leading man John Lloyd Cruz as the vampire. Imortal will be directed by Chito Roño.

A lot of fans of Angel and John Lloyd are already excited for the airing of this fantaserye on September 1, 2010. A different story from Twilight is a good decision since basing on the comments when rumors of Takipsilim came out two years ago, a lot of people are not too excited to a Twilight Filipino Version. Lobo already has loyal followers and Angel has earned an Emmy Nomination for Best Actress for her performance Lobo. Hopefully, the viewers will give Imortal the same enthusiasm.

Watch the teaser-trailer below.

Image credit: imortal.abs-cbn.com

Her answer may have cost her the Miss Universe crown but the tables have turned unexpectedly in favor of Venus Raj. It’s her that the media are talking about thanks to her “major, major” answer. More than the proclaimed Miss Universe Ximena Navarrette of Mexico. It gave us something to talk about other than the tragic Manila bus hostage-taking.

A lot of people have criticized Venus in her answer and the question of whether it’s about time we require an interpreter for candidates have surfaced. I think it’s not a question of having an interpreter. She said she will still have the same answer if asked again so it doesn’t really matter if she answered in Tagalog or English. If your answer sucks, then it sucks no matter what language you say it.

Venus can bask in her new-found fame and she can become a model, even an actress if she wants to. Given her background, it’s her big break to help her family. Not everybody gets a chance like that.

Read more about what the foreign press has to say about Venus Raj’s ‘major major’:

• The Philippine Bus and Miss Universe
• Making Sense of Miss Philippines’ ‘Major Major’
• No Major Major Mistakes for Miss Philippines
• Miss Philippines stumbled on question
• Miss Philippines: A life of no ‘major major’ mistakes

Image Credit: CBSNews.com

When are we going to have a team playing at the FIFA World Cup? Probably not in a very very long time. Despite the fact that we obviously lack in height, our number one sport is basketball. Every barangay in the country may not have a health center but they surely have a basketball court. While the rest of the world is going gaga over Football, the sport has never gained such loyal followers as basketball.

However, we in Western Visayas are the “enlightened ones“ in terms of football. Iloilo is considered as the country’s football capital because most of the national players come from the province. The sport also has a wide following in Negros Occidental especially since the football event of the 2005 SEA Games was held in Bacolod City.