Japan and Philippines food

　Edette Lumacad （フィリピン）

　-I heard that you stayed in Japan for your vacation.　What is the difference between the Philippines and Japan?

Eds: The big difference is the technology. Japan has advanced train system and toilets but the Philippines is still developing.

-What did you eat during the trip?

Eds: I ate many things such as sushi, tempura, yakiniku, tonkatsu, okonomiyaki, nabe and so on.

-What is the best food in Japan?

Eds: It depends on places, I like yakisoba and mostunabe in Fukuoka. Jingisukan and sea food in Hokkaido are nice.

[In Kinkakuji Temple]

-Have you tried eating natto? Many foreigners don't like it.

Eds: Speaking of natto, one of my Filipina friends told me that it tastes better if I put something in it. Natto is not so bad for me. I can eat it. By the way, I really want to say that Japanese rice is delicious.

-Thank you.

Eds: Of course, we have good rice here but they are very expensive. But Japanese rice is more expensive than the expensive Philippines'.

-Is there any difference about the food?

Eds: When it comes to crabs, we eat different kinds of crabs and we eat the meat from its body and pincers. We raise them in the ponds and they are called mud crab. Another one is caught in the ocean like in Japan. I think Japanese crabs are called snow crab. They have a different shape, so Japanese people eat the body and their legs too. So I found they used special equipment to eat legs. I saw them in a Japanese shop in the Philippines after coming back from Japan. We don't use them because we usually eat crabs at home. But I want to buy them because they are very useful.

-How about the price?

Eds : Crabs are expensive even in the Philippines, I think they are about 1,000 yen per 1 kg. But Japanese crabs are more expensive.

-How about the other food?

Eds: I often buy bento boxes but we don't have them in the Philippines the same as in Japan. We can eat bento here but only in the Japanese restaurant. Comparing the price of the daily food I eat, Japan is more expensive than in the Philippines. Bento price in Japan is the same price of eating in the fast food restaurants in the Philippines. And then we usually buy vegetables and fruits in the open markets and we sometimes buy our daily meal in the shops called carinderia and each dish costs under 100 yen there. Carinderia is a shop where we can buy many kinds of dish. Some carinderias are big and some are small. They are in the residential areas. Most tourists just stay in their hotels and go to places around there and there are no carinderias in these areas. So they cannot see them.

-I'm sorry to hear for them. Can you eat the food there?

Eds: Some carinderias have tables and chairs so we can eat our meal there.

[Ms. Edette as Hideyoshi]

-I know many Malaysian people eat breakfast in the restaurants where are near their houses and the meal are cheap. How about the Philippines? Do you have the same custom?

Eds: It depends on people, some people eat breakfast in the carinderias but many people eat breakfast at home.

-Do you eat dinner in the carinderia?

Eds: A very few carinderias open in the evening. Most of them open until lunch.

-How about the rich people?

Eds: I think they don't need cooked food from carenderia or supermarket because they hire some maids so the maids cook for them.

-Do you eat vegetables and fruits much?

Eds: We eat much. We like cooking.

-What can you tell me about the taste of the Philippines food?

Eds: The taste depends on the kind of dish you are preparing. Some dish tastes sweet, some are sour, bitter and spicy. For example, speaking of sour, we often eat sinigang. Sinigang is a soup with many vegetables and pork. And we eat bitter gourd called goya in Japanese language. There are many kinds of vegetables and fruits. We enjoy them.

-What do you think about Japanese food?

Eds: It's milder than the Phillipe's food. They tastes plain. I think most of the food depends on the taste of the sauce or dipping sauce or you can just adjust the taste base on your likeness. The taste vary on the kind of sauce you make.

-I see. Thank you so much for sharing the things you experience in Japan. I appreciate it a lot.
（2017年4月25日掲載）