I Tasted Phat Pho's Vietnamese Food and I Find It Delicious

It's time for an evening dinner. Rather than go to my usual "sweet spots"--I tried out Phat Pho of the Abaca Group. I got to taste what might be called "revolutionary food" because Vietnam is under a Communist regime. Well, Abaca Group is founded by is owned by Jason Hyatt and his Chinese wife Anna whom he met in Hong Kong. I tried eating Vietnamese spring rolls and Vietnamese steamed egg. I tried the Vietnamese Pho which is their soup.

I was craving some meat and I tried the ever-popular Pho special. It contains some shaved beef, braised beef, meatballs, and some tendon. It takes around 5-10 minutes to prepare to ensure that the soup is well-prepared. The noodles are a different variety from what I get from Chinese restaurants. Condiments are added so the customer can flavor the soup according to their preference. I guess one can say it's served without much seasoning. Adding condiments such as vinegar, chili paste, chili flakes, and pepper is needed. It's pretty much like how South Korean soups are served bland and the customers add in the flavors according to their own personal preference.

I ordered a small serving but I'd say it was quite heavy. It was a very filling meal. I added some siracha, lemon, and vinegar, and you may request pepper flakes and chili flakes. Those would help add the preference of the customer. As a soup person, I usually prefer to have my soup served without much seasoning and I would flavor it according to my preference. I enjoyed almost every bit of the beef pieces served with this delicious pho.

I ordered the Vietnamese rainbow shaved ice. Cal it Vietnamese halo-halo if you want. It had some leche flan which didn't taste much different from the leche flan prepared in the Philippines. The halo-halo contained some pandan flavor. Is that some peanut flakes on top? I think this is the Che Ba Mau or the Vietnamese three-color dessert. I heard the Japanese introduced shaved ice to the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. Vietnam probably got the idea later after the Second World War and maybe during the reign of Ho Chi Minh. Maybe, this was a dish that was introduced during the Doi Moi reforms. I can't be certain about that.

Just eating at Phat Pho might've opened new opportunities for me. I could say that I might want to try their barbecues next. Food can be rather expensive but justified by the price. I paid around PHP 700.00 (round off) but the price was worth it. I'm willing to recommend this because the price is right.

Venezuela as a Cautionary Tale on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, Nationalistic Pride, Welfare State Economics

The Sunday Guardian Years ago, I wrote about Venezuela's pride and protectionism , under a more "formal" style of writing compared to my latest posts. I decided to use an even "less formal" and "less academic" tone since I'm not writing a term paper. Instead, it's like how a professor and a student discuss the thesis using first person over third person, using contractions, etc., while the thesis doesn't use such tones. Back on track, I thought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro can spark debate. Was it a violation of sovereignty? I'm no expert on international law. However, Venezuelans can be seen celebrating Maduro's arrest. Right now, I'm using Gemini AI and Google search to help me find some sources for this blog. It's because I don't want my blog to become another gossip central, but a place to discuss facts with my own personal opinions (making sure they don't derail the facts). I used Venezuela ...

Venezuela's Pride and Protectionism

The Telegraph Venezuela is an oil-rich country yet it's a very poor country. Somebody could go ahead and give every unthinkable reason such as "foreign investments caused it" (a blatant lie) and "It's because America had economic sanctions in Venezuela". Yet, the answer can be found in several causes such as corruption. Yet, China and Vietnam, which can be seen to still have a good amount of corruption, are far more successful. The answer also lies in one policy--economic protectionism . The very idea that a country that first world countries used "protectionism" to succeed is a lie as proven by Venezuela's ongoing crisis. A common-sense examination of one root cause of Venezuela's continuing crisis Forbes magazine mentions this in "What Do Investors Need To Understand About Venezuela's Economic Crisis?" by Nathaniel Parish Flannery on December 21, 2016: Venezuela is far and away the worst-managed economy in the Americas . Ad...

Davide vs. Mahathir: Which Lolo Should Filipinos Take Economic Advice From?

The real issue isn't that something is old or new. Instead, if something old or new still works, or doesn't work! Many modern laws are built on some ancient principles, while adjusting to the current times! The Constitution of Japan is actually older than the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, it's more effective for the reasons that (1) their constitution is silent when it comes to regulating economic activities (ex., protectionist measures), and (2) it's a parliamentary system. Honestly, it's a pretty straightforward constitution compared to ours! As Mahatir Mohamad turned 100 today, I would like to raise up Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. once again. The problem isn't Davide's age but his unwillingness to embrace change when needed (read here ). This time, it's time to bring up a contrast between wise old people and unwise old people. A young person can be right where the old person is wrong. A young person can be wiser because he or she lea...

From Lying About the Marcos Years Parliamentary System to Marcos Years Economic Liberalization?

Manuel L. Quezon III"s Twitter Account The first issue I've had is people saying on social media, "No to the parliamentary system because the first Marcos Administration was parliamentary!" It's really something because such people never bothered to do any further research. Please, knowledge isn't that expensive! Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" A. Aquino Jr. even stated, "We had a parliamentary form of government without a parliament." Later on, even Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s own words showed that the Philippines was still presidential . Why would people still insist that it was a parliamentary form of government? Even more, I'm not surprised that some people are saying on Facebook, "Economic charter change is all about term extension." Even worse, it can be from the Philippine mass media. Sadly, the late Lee Kuan Yew was right to fall the Philippine press rambunctious in his book From Third World to First . I can refer the book t...

Ironically, COMMUNIST Vietnam Continues Improving FDI Conditions, Compared to DEMOCRATIC Philippines

Vietnam National University It's crazy how people don't realize the bigger picture between Communist Vietnam and the democratic Philippines (read here ). It's really crazy how Senator Joseph Victor Gomez Ejercito apparently thinks that delayed proceedings to Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio's impeachment trial could scare away FDIs. Meanwhile, Atty. Renee Louise Co of Kabataan Partylist could talk about economics, all the while Kabataan Partylist is still against open FDI. It's amazing how Raoul Abellar Manuel, a cumlaude in applied mathematics, still believes in #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics! Meanwhile, the biggest picture is that Communist Vietnam , while it's under a One-Party State of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is has the better picture of how to invite FDIs. In fact, the Constitution of Vietnam is rather silent on economic restrictions . The CPV chooses to impose economic restrictions through legislation rather than enshrining them in its Constit...

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