WHY I VALUE LIFE: cooking service

Spring had come and the sun is starting to peep out. The people of Hong Kong are starting to wear lighter and colorful garments. They can't help but feel excited for what this season could offer as I know a number of people can't wait for their much awaited vacation spree. For some, Boracay is the place to be to unwind and party. So, for my "Wine and Dine" Wednesdays*, I would like to feature D'TALIPAPA situated in the beautiful island of BORACAY.

My vacation leave synced with my man's annual break from the theatre had been approved smoothly that we had planned out a vacation with a bunch of friends at least a month before. As tickets to Boracay and hotels had been booked, I researched for activities to do, places to see, attractions not to be missed, new popular bars and of course, food that we should try out. As I was talking about it to my friend Celine, she had highly recommended this place called D' TALIPAPA ("talipapa" = marketplace/flea market in Tagalog).

D' TALIPAPA is situated in Station 3 (Boracay had named areas of the beaches to Station 1,2 & 3, Diniwid, Bulabog and Manoc Manoc) that holds several lines of stalls rented for souvenirs, beach get ups and an array of accessories, shoes and goods ready to satisfy every shopper's craving.

Besides this much stuff to see, D' Talipapa is famous for the wet market it holds in the center surrounded by restaurants who offer cooking service. For all of you who don't know the fast growing trend of "paluto" (meaning, "Cooking Service" in Tagalog) in the Philippines, you are in for a good experience if you dine in here. "So how do you do "paluto"?

It makes you feel good when you are in control, most especially of the things where you spend your money on. The idea of "paluto" gives you this unselfishly. You make your own preference of what you want to have for dinner and you do your own marketing. Hogan, being from Samoa and Shanay and Randy, being from Taiwan, we loved the idea that we were presented of a wide array of the freshest seafood the island could offer. And we took advantage of it. It took us almost half an hour choosing. These are the reasons why...

To make decision-making easier (most especially if you're tummy is exercising its own id), consider the following:

1. no. of people sharing - When you visit a country for the first time, it's always advisable to bring a trusted
                                       local with you. It's an advantage when he/she is a friend as they know how the
                                       culture goes in terms of asking for a bargain price in places like this. Since
                                       BORACAY is very much popular to tourists, the vendors tend to keep their
                                       selling price high as tourists find it cheap than anywhere else in the world.
                                       Lobsters, crabs, blue marlins and snappers are naturally, expensive. Everything
                                       else is affordable. My own little suggestion is to go around and compare prices. If
                                       you're going there in a group, it's best to choose a viand that's good for a lot to
                                       share then you just divide the costs.

2. budget - Lobsters range from Php 800-1500/each depending on the size and how fresh it is. Shellfishes
                  range from Php 80-120/kilo and fishes are priced way different from one stall to another. So,
                  you really have to budget wisely on this. The cooking service would cost you also as they
                  charge a minimum of 1/2 kilo so, make sure of how much you would want to buy. For example,
                  there's just 2 of you who want to try a little bit of everything and buys 1/4 of this and that. Come
                  to the cooking service, 1/4 will be charged as 1/2 kilo of say, the particular shellfish you want,
                  for a cooking service. Here is an example of the price list for the cooking service.

So, if I have, say, 1 kilo of fish (yellow fin) and I want 1/2 of it to be cooked into a sushi-mi and 1/2 kilo as grilled, they would charge you P320 (refer to the price list above) still. That's like having 2 kilos of yellow fin for cooking service, instead of just 1 kilo. So, just be careful.

3. Are you willing to use your hands? - Some people hate using their hands when they eat or are just not
                                                           used to eating with their hands. This is just but a minor factor to
                                                           consider but I know some people would end up not enjoying seafood
                                                           intake if this wasn't asked amongst the group. Not all of what's being
                                                           sold are seafood anyways, there's a stall for chicken and pork also.
                                                           So, you could bring them there too for their own preference as far as
                                                           "sharing" is concerned.

4. Medical Condition - More importantly, consider your friends'
                                    medical condition. Make sure that they
                                   know if they're hypertensive or allergic to
                                   any kind of seafood. Crabs, Prawn heads
                                   and Lobster heads are very high in
                                   cholesterol. Hypertensive people may
                                   need to refrain from eating oysters too as
                                   these are aphrodisiacs. The heart of
                                   a hypertensive person may get too excited
                                   in the middle of partying (Remember, you
                                   would always party in BORACAY no
                                   matter what, so take precautions!) which
                                   may lead to angina. Stroke also could be
                                   predisposed by the above mentioned
                                   seafood. (My friend Shanay ain't having a
                                   seizure here, it's just her first time.)

Me and my friends have decided on having "Halaan" (clam) soup, Butter-Garlic Prawns, chicken "Adobo" (because I wanted Hogan, Shanay and Randy to taste authentic Filipino adobo), sweet and sour "Lapu-Lapu" (special kind of fish), Grilled Fish and Stuffed "Tahong" (Green mussels). There were 5 of us and it was more than satisfying that for our last night in Boracay, Hogan requested again to eat there.