What to Do on Rainy Days in MManila

Tourists and balik-bayans--attention! Just because there's a storm coming and it's been raining all day (July 16, 2009), doesn't mean your stay in MManila is all spoiled. Rainy days are fun days in the city!

When there's rain all day, cancel all trips and just enjoy what's available in your immediate vicinity. And what I mean is hot food available around the street corners--or right at the doorstep of your neighbor. There's never a time so apt for hot local food than when it's raining and the climate is super cool.

When I was working in an office and there was suddenly a storm canceling my sales appointments, I hurried home for a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup while watching TV. Or, on the way home, I bought thick and hot rice soup or "lugaw" with matching crunchy lumpia rolls and tokwa at baboy (fried tofu and pork ear) soaked in soy, vinegar, and some crushed garlic. I and my wife would re-heat these snacks and enjoy them as we watched what the early evening news had to say.

We would enjoy looking at commuters braving the rain or stranded due to flash floods. Oh, I know the feeling of getting caught in street floods and having to step out into the deep! All you think of is how to get home the easiest way and get some hot snacks into your tummy.

If you're home and think your vacation is spoiled by stormy weather, think again. Just roll up your pants, wear a pair of thick-rubber slippers, grab an umbrella and head for the street corners to look for local eateries or "carinderias." For sure, there are hot and spicy bowls of lugaw or arroz caldo (chicken flavored lugaw) being offered, with fried tofu and pork, or a simple dip of fish sauce and kalamansi.

You may also opt for hot bowls of sweet mixed cooked fruits (saba, sweet potatoes, langka, gabe, and ube, mixed in coco milk)--what we call ginataan halo-halo--or else corn and rice soup in coco milk. Buy them take-home or eat right there in the carinderia sharing the long table with the masses and rubbing elbows with them. Listen to their stories or join them listening to news on the radio or watching it on TV. Even some makeshift eateries are sometimes installed with a colored TV for patrons to enjoy together.

Or drop by a wet market eatery, which is often just a jeepney or tricycle ride away from anyone's place. Wet market carinderias offer a variety of native snacks that's easy on the budget but heavy in nutrition. Try pancit luglog or pancit palabok (native noodles with lots of veggie and seafood toppings) with puto or rice cakes. You may also opt for Dinuguan (pork cooked in pork blood) and puto.

And how about "goto"? Umm, super tasty! It's rice soup flavored with beef innards.

If you're fortunate enough, your next-door neighbor may be cooking up something special for a rainy evening, and may be planning on inviting you and your family. If not, all you have to do is comment about the tasty aroma you're smelling and make sure you say it loud enough to be heard next door. Most Filipino neighbors easily get the message and send over a hot bowl or two.

My brother-in-law and family (they just came from the US) pushed through with their Corrigidor trip this morning despite the bad weather. How I wish they just stayed home and enjoyed the cool weather or watched the street canals swell with flood water rushing down from uphill. When I was a kid, we would simply sit on the canal and be washed down by the strong current coming from a hilltop in one of the highest points of Project 8, here in Quezon City. Oh, it was so much fun!

Another fun thing is to walk leisurely around the villages and check out the swelling rivers below bridges. Sometimes the waters touch the bridge or overflow it. Then usually there is a nearby banana cue or barbecue stand where folks gather round to eat and share stories of how the storm has been. There's also often a nearby balut stand where hot duck eggs are available and super fitting in a cool rainy evening. You may also try some crunchy chicharon (dip-fried pork skin) on the side, with cooked and super spicy vinegar.

I enjoy walking to stalls with my wife and kids on rainy afternoons or early evenings where lechon manok or liempo (roasted chicken or pork) is available. Or hike to the nearest "Pares" eatery to order various beef or vegetable dishes freshly cooked and uniquely spiced.

When it rains and it pours in MManila, it's time for getting around the block hunting for hot food and the latest stories.

I love tokwa't baboy as much as I hate rainy days. I just don't like it when my feet gets wet, especially with mud. As a matter of fact, I didn't go to work yesterday (hehe). I just spent my time with my son indoors.

I live in a suburb north of MManila where (street) food trip during rainy season is not so popular because of imminent flooding ( from rain or high tide) but still, we manage to pig out (in my case pig in) when it rains. Instead of eating out, we cook our own finger/snack foods. Bola bola (fishball and squidballs) tops my list and since goto-congee (and tokwa't baboy-boiled pig and fried tofu and lumpiang prito -spring roll) at Susan's is a bit far from our house so, we would cook ginataan saba,kamote at bilo bilo or plain and simple banana cue instead.

Another past time during rainy days is playing boardgames with my nieces and nephew while munching a bowl of chichacorn ( Ilocos' corn crunchy) and waiting for the familiar cry from the street peddlers "taho" or "balut" whichever comes first.

Love Lugaw, Lomi, and Sotanghon during rainy days, hate it cause my car will have to go thru floody streets of Manila =(

Originally Posted by crizel1021

hate it cause my car will have to go thru floody streets of Manila =(

why would you have to go to MANILA when it's raining? you're from BACOOR, right? do you work in Manila or are you just visiting someone? Yiheee mushy! Rainy days are surely equal to cuddle days.