eat like a king

about 8 years ago in 2011 i designed a framework for food delivery services for the philippines - https://ian-crystal.blogspot.com/2011/10/foodbookcom-mark-suckerberg-wannabee.html. now there is foodpanda, honestbee, lalafood, grabfood, zomato, mangan, deliveryguy  and metromart (in america there is now grubhub, ubereats, square, doordash, postmates, delivery.com and even amazon is joining the party). these services are great but still not optimal in terms of time efficiency, nutrition, and enjoyment of good taste.

you don't even need to be rich to eat like a king. if you already have a motorcycle errand boy, which in the philippines even a middle class family can afford to have, you can be like a king where you can eat the best food you want anytime, anywhere. even better than the kings of distant past because their food choices were limited.

let me nickname the motorcycle errand boy (or girl in my case) - streethawk. a hawk fetches food. also in the 80's there was a crime fighting vehicle tv show craze. first it was knightrider (car), then airwolfe (helicopter), then  streethawk (motorcycle). my high school physics teacher even nicknamed me streetmaya, a parody to streethawk because i used to ride a motorcycle and maya is our national bird.

i have rich friends who own very expensive cars but they often settle for unhealthy meals because they don't have the time to prepare or follow their desired healthy diet. people tend to prioritize material things over the quality of their food. there are comforts in life that really do make a difference such as air conditioning your bedroom. of course an air conditioned and reliable car is better than riding a jeepney, but a 10 year old toyota car can already give you that. beyond that most material things that eat up your budget are just psychological, while food is concrete and physical pleasure because health is the biggest factor when it comes to quality of life and happiness.

online food delivery services don't cover great canteens and cafeterias like that of lola eats (goat kaldereta, guso, fresh fried fish, ampalaya with egg, beef steak, native chicken tinola, pochero), lola conching (grilled native chicken, grilled squid, mongos, beef soup), AA bbq (shell tinola), velez canteen (shell tinola, beef soup), bucket shrimps in salinas, grocery and palengke items such as raw peanuts, lumboy, sineguelas, santol, lansones, banana tundan, and even snacks like movie popcorn for netflix binge days (microwave popcorn is cancerous).

you can even have your streethawk deliver your favorite home prepared meal that you can't buy anywhere if you are stuck in a meeting at work like red kidney beans, buwad nukus, bulinaw and sardines - all good with with organic eggs. you can even allot a day for a fun motorbike ride with your date to survey fishing villages in mactan and forge a relationships with a fishing family where you just text them what's the latest catch and they will text back "just caught your favorite parrot fish still alive ga kisi kisi pa" and then you reply "my streethawk is on his way".

just list all your favorite food in the city. don't be afraid to think outside the box. example my favorite is the shell soup in velez hospital. it sounds unorthodox because hospital food don't have the best reputation but it's actually my favorite. besides, kids from rich families go to school and eat there. they have perfected the BROTH that just blows my mind when i sip. not even the high end restos like cafe laguna can come close. it's not served regularly so you need an insider to text you when they have it and your streethawk just pays her P50 ($1) for the insider trading tip (please don't report me to the SEC). 

when you have your golden list of dishes. you create a document where each item has the address and directions to the restaurant or karinderia. print it out and give it to your motor cycle lackey, or put it in the notepad in his smartphone. so now the entire city is like your big giant food court, each stall just 1 text away and the food will magically appear in about 30 minutes wherever you are, whatever you are doing.

the fun part is the treasure hunting to add to the list especially if you have a motorcycle and you don't have to worry about traffic and parking. don't be afraid to venture out of your comfort zone like that  nilagang baka joint in labangon. it caught the apple of my eye because there were tons of taxi and jeepney drivers eating at that place.

think outside the box. example, if the tinuwa in your favorite seafood resto does not meet your expectations, it's most likely because they are trying to generalize the taste by adding less sili spada. simply add sili spada, re-boil it for a couple minutes, and enjoy the mind blowing broth.

(for more of my knowledge bombs, click the "ian's knowledge bombs" banner at the top of this article and choose any article in the table of contents that piques your interest)