Chicken-Pork Adobo in Jollibee Hong Kong

After two days of eating 'real' Chinese and Western food, we suddenly missed Filipino food. And when accidentally found Jollibee Hong Kong near the Central MTR Station (near exit C), we made sure that we will eat there the following day.

To my surprise, they serve Chicken-Pork Adobo there. Not as good as what you can buy from a Jollijeep in Makati but good enough for our craving for authentic Filipino food. Of course, they serve Chickenjoy. Most Filipinos in Hong Kong order a two-piece Chickenjoy, and when the cashier was serving a freshly cooked piece, she quipped "ang bango talaga ng manok!" 

The best thing about Chickenjoy is that it is served with gravy. We ate at Mc Donald's and they do not serve gravy, only a sweet and sour sauce that they call Thai sauce. Mc Do HK also serves Mc Shaker Fries with either seaweed or salt and pepper.

Throughout our trip, we met a lot of Filipinos. Their stories were really interesting and meeting them makes you proud of being a Filipino. It also helps that I really look like a Filipino (Carol was often mistaken as a Chinese), that fellow Filipinos reply to me in Tagalog. Filipinos in Hong Kong and Macau were very helpful, they find it a pleasure to help other Filipinos who were lost or in need of assistance. Here are some of our/their stories.

1. We were searching for the St. Joseph's Church, it is near the Peak Terminal and the St. John's Cathedral w/c is an Anglican Church. We were already five minutes late for the mass and we were lost. We asked two Filipinas who walked past us and they replied, "Magsisimba din ba kayo? Dun kami papunta." Thank God. About 90% of churchgoers in that church are Filipinos, the priest and the choir are also Filipinos. One thing about Filipinos, we never lose our faith.

2. Our hotel booking did not include breakfast. When we saw that our hotel serves breakfast for only HK$22 (around PhP150), I thought it was a bargain since a budgeted HK$50 for every meal. At the dining room, we were greeted by a group of Filipino tourist. They informed us that whatever we see on the buffet table was already everything. The picture was really deceiving. Pinoy Guy 1 told us that they have been eating the same food for the past three days. The food is really disappointing. They serve spaghetti with pork and beans (straight from the can) and bread straight from packaging.

Pinoy Guy 1 said that since they are leaving early the following morning and breakfast is not served until 8 am, they are giving us their breakfast stubs. We hesitated a bit (Pinoy nga naman, kunyari sa una nahihiya, tatangi), but we eventually took it (mas nakakahiya na tanggihan). Sayang nga naman ung breakfast (SAYANG: the great Filipino word without a direct English counterpart). To our surprise one more, breakfasts on a Sunday are different... there are more and better choices (but still served straight from the can, bottle or whatever packaging they come with). It is twice more expensive if you pay for it but we got for free, thank God once more.  Another thing about Filipinos, we are generous givers and we always value scarce resources (Sinusulit ang mga libreng bagay).

3. Jollibee Hong Kong is more than just a Filipino restaurant. It is a comfort zone for Pinoys, a networking and socializing area, a place to find job openings or vacant bed spaces, a place for Filipinos to feel at home right at the heart of Hong Kong. Right next to Jollibee HK is Little Quiapo, next to it is a remittance center were we found the best exchange rate (US$1 = HK$7.65), near that is Banco de Oro, and at the street next to all of it is the place where Balikbayan boxes to and from the Philippines are delivered/ picked-up. 

Most of the crew in Jollibee HK are Pinoys, including the aforementioned cashier, the store manager and the janitress who were scolding other Pinays for spilling Pepsi (they serve Pepsi instead of Coke). Later, I found her talking to some Pinays about her family in the Philippines. The place was full and it was very difficult to find and reserve seats... it was, of course a Sunday (day-off).

Right across us were two Pinays talking about their families they left behind. One of them was saying how her sister attended all her son's important occasions (graduation, birthdays, swearing in as a registered nurse). She wished that she could go home more often and so on and so forth. It was a bit surprising to find out that it was their first meeting and they started talking after one agreed to save their seats while the other orders food for both of them. Instant bonding. I do not know how to describe this Filipino trait.

4. When we were at The Venetian - Macau, Carol called my attention that the song playing in Duty Free Americas is in Tagalog. We went in and was greeted by a Filipino sales clerk. It was a Jimmy Bondoc song and he said it was his cellphone used as an MP3 player for the store's music. He told us that while Venetian Casino is still making money, other affiliated casinos are already losing money. He also said that a lot of Filipinos who were employed by casinos and hotels were already sent home. He said he is lucky that he is still there but his contract is up for renewal within the next few months and he is really unsure about the future. But still, he is upbeat that everything will be alright, he said while laughing a bit. He already learned how to speak some Chinese (probably Cantonese), which will make him slightly recession proof (he is now trilingual). Several Filipino traits all the same time...

5. Finally, we were going around Macau's city center, visiting World Heritage sites. We were approached by two Filipinas, they were looking for "Putol na Simbahan." You can surf the internet all day, read all the travel guides and maps, ask all the tourist information people and you will not find Putol na Simbahan in Macau. What they have is the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral. Only the facade of the church was left making it 'putol'. And hence, I marvel at the creativity of Filipinos.

Of course, we met so many Filipinos along the way. In Macau, we met a Filipina, we'll call her Cinderella, she's been to Macau for only three months, she was lost after boarding the wrong bus, she stayed out too late and must get back to her place before midnight but before that she must buy something from the red market. You'll easily hear Tagalog spoken in MTRs and other tourist areas, on Sundays you'll here other Filipino dialects.

And just like Adobo in Hong Kong, Filipinos will always find their way, cope and survive . with a mix of sour, sweet, salty and spicy experiences along the way.