{"id":269,"date":"2007-05-02T23:44:25","date_gmt":"2007-05-03T07:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toybox\/2007\/05\/02\/blog-060-the-filipino-experience\/"},"modified":"2008-11-22T14:45:38","modified_gmt":"2008-11-22T22:45:38","slug":"blog-060-the-filipino-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2007\/05\/02\/blog-060-the-filipino-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog 060 > The Filipino Experience!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 007 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

Most of you have heard of the “Star Trek Experience” thrill-ride at the Las Vegas Hilton, right? Well, today was quite a “Filipino Experience”! Weeks or months ago, when my best buddy Vanessa first mentioned the Filipino fast-food chain “Jollibee<\/a>“, I was pretty skeptical. Apparently, it’s quite popular in California as well as the Philippines of course. But the “McDonald’s” of Filipino cuisine? Fast-food spaghetti? Hmmm, I wondered if it could be like Panda Express, but yeah, skeptical…<\/p>\n

Well, today, since Vanessa found out that the VERY FIRST Las Vegas “Jollibee” was open today (or pretty recently), she invited me to join her to pick up some food after work. Sure! As a Filipino with a pathetic lack of Filipino culture, I thought this was definitely an opportunity. I drove to her office, then at about 5:30pm, I followed her car North on Dean Martin Drive, East on Tropicana (past the Las Vegas Strip, the MGM casino, etc), North on Maryland (past UNLV), then turned into the big Best Buy and Barnes & Noble parking lot area. Jollibee’s was situated at the far right corner of the lot. And at about 5:45pm, it was freakin’ packed! Swarming with so many cars that we decided to park quite a distance away. I’ve never seen so many Filipinos before, LOL! Fortunately, I brought my trusty old HP digicam for such unique occasions…<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 001 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

001 – For the first few photos, here’s the interior of the Seafood City Marketplace, including Chowking on the right, and Jollibee on the left (out of view). Packed! And packed enough that Vanessa joked about bumping a girl into me so I could meet someone, hahaha! Awww, how sweet and thoughtful!<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 002 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

002 – Although Chowking indeed sounds Chinese, Vanessa assures me it’s a popular Filipino food place, lol.<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 003 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

003 – More Chowking.<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 004 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

004 – Here’s a shot of the open dining area next to Chowking. In the distance, you can see additional stores coming soon. And walking to the right, that guy in the black T-shirt is heading towards the supermarket area (out of view).<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 005 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

005 – In my hand, the Jollibee menu!<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 006 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

006 – At the entrance, the huge statue of the Jollibee bee! Is he dressed up as a waiter? Or as a chef? Hmmm…<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 007 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

007 – Another shot of the entrance. By this time, our line has only travelled half the distance to the actual order counters inside! About 6:30pm or so…<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 008 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

008 – An even closer shot of the bee!<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 009 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

009 – Hey, it’s Jay and the Bee! Unsteady photo taken by the camera-shy Vanessa, lol.<\/p>\n

Funny side story: Before reaching the counters, maybe 6:45pm, I noticed one pretty Jollibee register girl named Sandra. She almost looked familiar, like an actress. And youngish too, maybe 18 years old? Then again, hard to tell with Asians, lol. Within minutes, Vanessa pointed her out to me, haha! Vanessa guessed she was mixed Filipino-Caucasian from the light-brown shade of her hair. And she teased me about talking to her, lol. I asked if she was wearing a ring. Vanessa said nope, she already checked and was way ahead of me! But maybe they didn’t wear rings working at such a food place. Vanessa said nope, others were wearing rings, lol! I told her how funny it was that we have the same taste in women, hahaha! Finally, about 7pm, we finally reached the order counters so Vanessa could give our total order! Sadly, it took about another half hour to finally get our food, pay and leave!<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 010 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

010 – Well, finally home about 8pm. But of course, switching from my HP to my Canon, more photos! “With over 500 stores worldwide. US, Philippines, Hong Kong, Guam, Saipan, Vietnam, Brunei.”<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 011 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

011 – (A) On the far left, the “Palabok Fiesta”: Noodles, sauce, pork, shrimps, garlic, smoked fish and eggs. (B) In the top center, the “Burger Steak”: Burger patties, mushrooms, gravy and rice. (C) In the top right, the “Jolly Spaghetti with Chickenjoy”: Spaghetti, tomato meat sauce, chicken. (D) Below C, is a gravy and a “Banana Langka Pie” (reminiscent of those similarly-shaped McDonald’s apple pies). Everything smelled great!<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 012 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

012 – Closeup of A and B.<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 013 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

013 – Another closeup of A and B.<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 014 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

014 – A, B, C and D.<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 015 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

015 – B, C and D.<\/p>\n

\"Jollibee\"
\nPhoto 016 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n

016 – At about 8:30pm, finally tasted them! Fast-food rating: 5 of 5 stars! Can’t wait for the next taste test, LOL!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo 007 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge Most of you have heard of the “Star Trek Experience” thrill-ride at the Las Vegas Hilton, right? Well, today was quite a “Filipino Experience”! Weeks or months ago, when my best buddy Vanessa first mentioned the Filipino fast-food chain “Jollibee“, I was pretty skeptical. Apparently, it’s quite … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[66,18,59],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7rIwb-4l","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":274,"url":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2007\/05\/14\/blog-065-tutoring-vanessa-chowking\/","url_meta":{"origin":269,"position":0},"title":"Blog 065 > Tutoring Vanessa = Chowking!","author":"xjaymanx","date":"May 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo 001 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge Definitely not your typical Mother's Day Sunday! At a very-early 8am in the morning, Vanessa and Darrell visited my house, so I could help tutor Vanessa in HTML and Photoshop for her Web Programming class. Meanwhile, with his late nightclub job, Darrell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Food"","block_context":{"text":"Food","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/category\/random\/food\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":355,"url":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2008\/06\/21\/blog-136-logos-for-christine-toledo\/","url_meta":{"origin":269,"position":1},"title":"Blog 136 > Logos for Christine Toledo","author":"xjaymanx","date":"June 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Team Kaibigan\" Logo | Click to enlarge Another unusual story... So on Tuesday, 03 June 2008, my friend Mel\u00e1nie asked me out-of-the-blue to design a couple of logos for her friend Christine Toledo, the #1-ranked Muay Thai fighter in the USA and #3-ranked in the world. So for a free\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christine Toledo"","block_context":{"text":"Christine Toledo","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/category\/anime-art\/christine-toledo\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2006\/09\/27\/post-403-nankurunaisa\/","url_meta":{"origin":269,"position":2},"title":"post 403 ~ nankurunaisa!","author":"xjaymanx","date":"September 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\"saya & hagi\" from BLOOD+ post 403 ~ some random japanese and filipino stuff... BLOOD+ ~ i finished watching this anime a couple days ago... but last night, after burning\/archiving the last two episodes 49 and 50 of \"BLOOD+\" onto disc, i tested them on the big TV like i\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blood+"","block_context":{"text":"Blood+","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/category\/anime-titles\/blood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":287,"url":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2007\/06\/07\/blog-077-vacation-days-5-6-of-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":269,"position":3},"title":"Blog 077 > Vacation Days 5-6 of 6","author":"xjaymanx","date":"June 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo 029 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge At last, the final post of my East Coast Vacation! These 70 photos range from our house to scenic waterfront to elementary school to international airport, from the outdoors to indoors to vehicles to FOOD, lol. Enjoy! Photo 001 by xJAYMANx |\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Food"","block_context":{"text":"Food","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/category\/random\/food\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":366,"url":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2008\/08\/08\/blog-147-christine-the-blade-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":269,"position":4},"title":"Blog 147 > Christine the Blade – Part 2","author":"xjaymanx","date":"August 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Christine the Blade | Click to enlarge Hey, this time, she's finally finished! Remember my *Blade* black-white art almost a month ago? Well, here's the color version! Like I've mentioned many times, *Blade* is based on the Muay Thai (kickboxing) fighter Christine Toledo, commissioned by Alias Fight Wear, and obviously\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anime Art"","block_context":{"text":"Anime Art","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/category\/anime-art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4317,"url":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/2009\/09\/16\/blog-217-despair-devastation-delight\/","url_meta":{"origin":269,"position":5},"title":"Blog 217 > Despair, Devastation & Delight","author":"xjaymanx","date":"September 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2007, 2008, 2009) | Enlarge 1440px Despair! Devastation! Delight! Can you truly distinguish one without the others? After all, one girl's pain may be another girl's panic may be another girl's pleasure, don't you think? Haha, welcome back, my Traveling Toyboxers! Welcome to yet another deliciously disturbing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Autumn"","block_context":{"text":"Autumn","link":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/category\/random\/autumn\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":918,"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions\/918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.xjaymanx.com\/toyboxx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}