Memories of Manila

Jollibee is Filipino fast food at its finest. By that I mean that it’s fast food that will please most Filipinos menu-wise, taste-wise, price-wise, and location-wise. So don’t expect to automatically be endeared to this bustling, buzzing establishment--Jollibee was not developed to cater to everyone’s taste, much less the Westerners. But it is the ultimate Filipino fast-food experience.

There are not many countries that can claim that McDonald’s isn’t number one. But the Philippines can. For years (I think for already about 2 decades?), Jollibee has held the top slot. If you look around Manila, it may be a bit hard to believe as foreign brands are almost always deemed to be better by anyone. But I guess McDonald’s just hasn’t quite captured the Filipino taste.

The menu consists of the usual fast-food mix: burgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, pasta, and ice-cream desserts, plus some local meals and concoctions. All foreign dishes are given a local twist. It's important for Westerners to note that the Filipino cuisine doesn’t mind the fat, but it does mind blandness, and dishes are usually either salty or sweet. And although I’m the first to admit that I absolutely love the longganisa meal (a local sausage meal developed by McDonald’s), I’m a Jollibee enthusiast. My usual order would be palabok (vermicelli noodles with a tangy sauce), a Jolly hot dog, and peach-mango pie, or sometimes Chicken Joy and spaghetti (this is sweet spaghetti, mind you).

Furnishings are made up of vivid orange-and-white stools and tables. You may find these fixtures a bit small and arranged a bit too closely together so that things tend to get a bit tight during rush hours. But the food is great, the crew is helpful and cheery, and a full meal costs $2 to $3--now that’s hard to beat!

Jollibee--it's a foreign concept that’s undeniably Filipino.

Last December, I got treated to one of my best movie experiences. Mind you, by that I don’t mean that the movie was fantastic (the King Kong re-make – all hype and no substance, but that’s another review), but the Globe Platinum Cinema was.

It’s located at the Gateway Mall, a new mall at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City. Now they do have the normal movie theatres that are crammed wall-to-wall with those "snug" seats that immediately introduce you to your seatmates (whether or not you actually want to know them). But we went to the premier Platinum Cinema and it was amazing!

There’s a small lobby at the front where you can wait comfortably until the movie starts. Popcorn and drinks are furnished just before the show, and you can replenish your stock to your heart’s desire. Unfortunately, the popcorn is a bit tasteless and flat, but that was a small glitch to the whole package.

Going inside was a refreshing view. Lush brown leather La-Z-Boy reclining seats are generously spaced, maybe about a meter from all sides so much so that the whole theatre probably housed only 60 people! You can recline your chair to the fullest extent without touching a hair of the person in front of you. Also, a small side table is conveniently placed adjacent to your seat for your popcorn, drinks, belongings and what-have-you. Now with all this space it’s a bit difficult to communicate with friends, but on the same note, you don’t have to overhear snippets of conversations you could hardly care about.

The Platinum Cinema seems well maintained – carpeting looked fresh and litter-free, and the recliners have that soft and buttery leather smell and glow. But it’s not all cosmetic. The cinema also boasts of Dolby Digital Ex Ultra Sound, and an extra-wide screen.

All these comforts truly do enhance the whole viewing experience and make people positively receptive to whatever lies in store for them. Take King Kong for example. I can imagine that with any other movie house, I would have been cursing myself, sorely regretting spending a single cent on such a long-drawn movie. At the Platinum Cinema, I could just close my eyes and doze off a bit on those excruciating "love scenes" between Naomi and the King.

Talk about watching a movie in style! The ticket fee is a bit pricier than the usual movie ticket in Manila, but at PHP300 (about $6) it’s definitely not prohibitively expensive. But be aware that with the restricted capacity, along with the relatively affordable price, seats may be hard to come by. Try to book at their site 2 weeks in advance (http://www.gatewaycineplex10.com/), and you may just get lucky.