JOLLIBEE: Best Fastfood in the Philippines !

JOLLIBEE is a fast-food restaurant chain based in the Philippines. Admittingly, it is an American-McDonald's-style fast-food restaurant with Filipino-influenced dishes specializing in burgers, but also including hotdogs, fried chicken, spaghetti, and rice dishes in its menu. My particular favorite is the Jollibee Aloha Burger [a Big-Mac-style cheese burger topped with strips of bacon and a ring of grilled pineapple]

Back when Fast-Food was unheard of in this country a man by the name of Tony Tan Caktiong was working with his father operating a kitchen in Fujian, China. In 1975, Tony went off on his own entrepreneurial journey by establishing Magnolia Ice Cream, a small ice cream shop in Cubao, Quezon City in the Philippines. Within a short time, Tony established a second shop.

Despite his success with the two ice cream parlors, Tony didn't stop there. He looked around the world and saw the kind of success that chains like McDonalds were having in the USA market. Instead of opening a franchise for an existing fast food chain like Burger King or Wendy’s, Tony decided to expand his business operation with the opening of his own chain of burger-serving fast food restaurants named Jollibee in 1978.

Since McDonald’s had yet to enter the Philippines market, Tony capitalized on this fact by establishing his own brand among the Filipino people. Instead of trying to learn everything from scratch, he traveled to the United States to learn the tricks of the trade from the already established chains such as McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy's. By implementing their various successful business practices and techniques back in the Phlippines, Tony’s hard work began to pay off as his business began to rapidly expand. The division of Jollibee Philippines really tries to serve the specific needs of the Filipino people and their culture by focusing its product development along with its marketing and advertsing to target the unique and traditional Filipino family. Among which are Weekly Specials on a variety of popular menu-items offered in each neighborhood community.

Today, Jollibee has more than 500 stores in the Philippines and 25 in other countries, selling more than half a million burgers every day. McDonald's has about 235 outlets in the Philippines, according to company records, but it is said that the Philippines have been an embarrassment to the McDonald's Corporation. By the time they arrived in 1981, they had already been out-done by Jollibee and could offer nothing new to the Filipino people.

Jollibee opened its first franchise outside the Philippines in 1986, in Taiwan. Since then, Jollibee restaurants have been opened in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Saipan and Brunei, as well as in Vietnam -- where sales grew 46 percent in its first quarter. In 1998, Jollibee went on to encroach upon McDonald's home territory, adding further embarrassment, by opening its first U.S. store in Daly City, California, which has a large Filipino population.

In recent years Jollibee bought Chowking, a popular Filipino fast-food chain that sells mainly Chinese food, which is now the dominant Chinese fast-food chain in the Philippines that has even entered the Indonesian market. Jollibee also acquired the local franchise for Deli-france, a French café and bakery chain,and acquired Greenwich, a small pizza chain that has aggressively grown larger in the Philippines than another American giant, Pizza Hut.

Other easily-recognized American franchises operating in the Philippines include Shakey's Pizza, Texas Burger, Burger king, Wendy's, KFC, Sabarro, and Dunkin Donuts. It's probably just a matter of time before the Jollibee Philippines Corporation and Tony Tan go up against them head-on, too. Jollibee is now the largest Filipino food company, with average sales of 21.7 billion pesos, or $397 million USD, a year. Jollibee is the best-performing domestic stock on the Philippine stock exchange [stock symbol: JFC] and is now being offered on the U.S. Stock Exchange [JBFCF].

Valentine's Day in the Philippines

Valentine's Day is observed in the Philippines much as it is throughout America. Every girl or guy gives a card to everyone who is special to them. Many buy cards in the department store or make them at home to give out to those who are special in their lives. Flowers are also often given, usually red roses, but there is not as much emphasis on giving candy or chocolates as their is in America. Still, other little sweets, such as pastries, small gifts, such as plush toys, and cards are personally delivered or sent. In addition, many couples dress up to go out to nice restaurants for the evening, dance in the discos, or go to the movies.

A truely unique custom in the Philippines, though, is that of wearing RED on Valentines's if a person has no sweetheart with whom to share the day. A man or women observed wearing something prominent in the color RED signifies to everyone that they are available or need a partner. Much like in the West, however, many Filipino weddings are also scheduled on this day and churches are often reserved far far in advance and large group weddings take place at many city halls all across the country on this Day.

As just one example, during the end of January, 1997, my wife, Melba, and her family, attempted to reserve the Cebu City Metropolitan Cathederal for our wedding on Valentine's Day but learned the entire day was fully scheduled with one wedding after another throughout the day, throughout the day before and throughout the days after. Because of a weekend and Sunday services, February 18 was as soon as our wedding could be scheduled and the cathedral reserved. As a result, we celebrate our Wedding Anniversary on February 18. But, luckily with the arrival of Valentine's Day each year, I am reminded ahead of time that our anniversary is approaching!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO EVERYONE.

San Miguel - Beer of the Philippines

The San Miguel Brewing Company was originally established in 1890 as La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel, and became Southeast Asia's FIRST brewery. It produced and bottled what would eventually become one of the best selling beers in all of Asia. Within a short time, San Miguel Beer became an icon among avid beer drinkers throughout the region.

By 1914, San Miguel Beer was being exported from its headquarters in Manila to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guam. As a pioneer in Asia, San Miguel went on to establish a brewery in Hong Kong in 1948, the FIRST local brewer in the crown colony.

Today, San Miguel Beer is one of the largest selling beers and is judged among the top 10 beer brands in the world. It is now available beyond the limits of the Philippines and Hong Kong, to include China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and the USA. In addition, all of its various other brands are also exported to the major markets around the world. These would include such popular brands as San Miguel Pale Pilsen, San Mig Light, San Mig Strong Ice, Super Dry, Red Horse, Gold Eagle, Cerveza Negra, and Cali, the country’s only malt-based non-alcoholic drink.

Overwhelmingly judged by nearly all American & European expatriates as "The Best Beer in the World," San Miguel currently sells for 58 php ($1.29 USD) per 1-litter bottle.

Cebu's Sinulog festival & Parade

An annual event that takes place on the THIRD SUNDAY of JANUARY to climax the week-long observance of Pasundayag sa Sinulog is Cebu City's Sinulog festival parade.

At noon, a great and nearly hour-long parade begins as gaily decorated floats -- covered in flowers and orchids -- and throngs of colorfully-costumed people, marching, dancing, and singing, make their way through the streets of Cebu City. The participants all dance down the street using a unique "Sinulog step," chanting & singing, accompanied by a shrill, rhythmic whistle blast accompaniment while shouting "Pit Senyor," meaning "viva el Senor" or "long live Santo Nino" -- the Christ Child.

This great Filipino celebration event would be comparable to the annual Mardi Gras parade held in the American city of New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro's Carnival in Brazil, but without the sexual overtones.

Cebu's Sinulog festival is a much more conservative & religious event drawing thousands of spectators and tourits from around the world as well as being an annual home-coming reunion event for many Filipinos.

Procession of the Black Nazarene

Every year on January 9, the Procession of the Black Nazarene through the streets of the Quiapo district of Manila draws World-Wide attention.

A life-size image of Christ kneeling on a platform and bearing a huge cross on his shoulder is pulled in a huge frenzied all-male procession to lead a massive throng of barefoot devotees down the backstreets of the district in the north part of Manila toward Plaza Miranda in front of the Quiapo Church.

The statute is believed to have been originally brought to Manila by the Spanish during the 17th century after having been hand-crafted by an Aztec of Mexico. Simply to touch any part of the statue, its palanquin, or even the huge ropes used to pull it, is considered to bring absolution of all sins or to bring a miracle to those who need it. As a result, the procession becomes highly charged as thousands jostle through the huge mass of people and struggle forward to reach and touch some portion of the statute. From start to finish, the statue's progress is extremely slow as the massive surging throng make it nearly impossible to move forward as many others throw cloths to those already on the palanquin hoping they will touch the image with it and throw the cloth back to them.

NEW YEAR'S IN THE PHILIPPINES!

New Year's Eve in the Philippines can sometimes be very dangerous. Many Filipinos celebrate by shooting off fireworks and guns into the air. Unlike in America, there is no limit to the size or power of the fireworks. I have seen some firecrackers, 2-foot tall & 9-inches wide. In the Philippines they believe the New Year should begin with a lot of Noise to help scare-away Evil and to drive away any Mis-fortune. As a result, dispite Government and press warnings to use caution regarding fireworks & guns, every year thousands of Filipinos are killed or maimed by the celebrating explosions and spent falling bullets -- not to mention the Terrific fires that sometimes result! Such coverage dominates our T.V. news from several days before New Year's to several days after. We even have a number of relatives who make their own fireworks -- sometimes more like bombs than firecrackers --to sell throughout the neighborhood and give out to other family members.

Additional New Year's Eve Good-Luck customs in the Philippines include sharing the 13 round lucky fruit and the traditional media noche, or mid-night meal. The round fruit symbolize coins and properity in the new year. The women gather the fruit in the days leading up to New Year's Eve and as the family gathers to ring in the New Year, the fruit plate or basket is passed around among family members to share in the eating to help bring us all a properous year ahead. At the stroke of Midnight everyone in the family cheer and hug each other and march around the house, entering every room downstairs and upstairs, banging pots & pans and shaking tin-cans full of coins making a loud racket to frighten away any evil spirits or bad luck in the house created during the past year in the hopes of beginning the new year with a "clean slate." Meanwhile, many of our neighbors run their motorcycles up and down the street with a lot of cans dragging behind to make a lot of loud noise outside while at the same time, fireworks are constantly going off -- punctuated by an occasional really loud explosion & various ariel displays -- to create a type of war-zone atmosphere!

Once we have made several laps through the house making noise, the family sits down to a fine meal consisting of pansit -- or spaghetti, if that can be afforded -- to promote long-life, plenty of rice to insure that the family will not go hungry & will have plenty throughout the year, any kind of a beef dish to insure that everyone in the family will be hard-working throughout the year like the carabao -- absoutely NO chicken dishes so no one in the family will be "scratching out" a living in the new year and NO pork dishes to insure that no one in the family will become lazy or lay around like the pig -- and any kind of a shrimp dish and plenty of fish to insure an "active" prosperous year, the rest of the fruit to also symbolize good health and wealth in the New Year, and a big dish of biko, the sweet brown-sugar rice-cake desert, to promote closeness -- or stickiness -- and sweetness among the family members throughout the year.

Another popular Philippine custom for New Year's Eve and and New Year's day, is for many of the girls and women to wear dresses, skirts or blouses having a Polka-dot pattern, many making their own in the days leading up to Christmas and New Years. Polka-dot clothing, too, is a symbol for good luck and properity for the family in the new year. The numerous "dots" are supposed to symbolize coin-money.

The Weather of the Philippines

The climate in the Philippines is typically tropical -- hot and humid year round but the months of March, April and May are the hottest months. According to my wife, "it'll bake your head," meaning it's best that all Anglo-boys wear a hat or else the extreme heat of the sun will burn their head and bake their brain inside the skull!

All tourists -- especially Anglos -- are advised: "NEVER, EVER underestimate the power of the Philippine sun, even on cloudy days!" I know from experience, only a couple hours on the beach during the morning and by evening, after you get home, you'll be as red as a cooked lobster!

Although the nation's weather pattern is fairly complex, it can be roughly divided into the "dry season," January through June and the "wet season," July through December. In the Cebu area, January is usually the coolest month while May is the hottest. Regarding those months of July through December, Although referred to as the "wet" season, don't think as I did, that it rains constantly during that period -- normally it rains a lot but not every day and not constantly. Sort of like spring-time in the USA -- showers two or three times a week or perhaps every afternoon for extended periods.

Temperatures here average between 35C to 40C [around a humid 85-90F] during the day and at night it seldom drops below 27C [about 80F].