PQ Team Feast in Manila (January 15, 2026)
You’ve probably heard the expression, “My cup runneth over.” If you haven’t it essentially means that my blessings are so vast and rich that my life’s cup can’t possibly hold them all. That’s how I felt today.
Members of the PQ Customer Care Team who were unable to meet up in Boracay (see related post), went out of their way to come together today and take me on an incredible culinary journey in Manila.
Bill, Pedro Lazaro Pineda, Hazel Javier and Zsander Ong with Egg Tarts
Pictured above is the now world famous Egg Tart bakery called Lord Stow’s. There’s actually a fascinating story behind this bakery. If you’re so inclined to learn more, check out this short (3 min) YouTube Video:
But I’m getting ahead of myself. We first all met in the lobby of my hotel to take our “before” picture together.
Pedro, Hazel, Bill and Zsander with our Korean Love finger signs
The culinary experience started right here in the lobby as I was presented a series of bakery treats from San Pedro, Laguna including Ensaymadas, Mamons, bread rolls and Navarro’s Premium Crab Paste from Masantol, Pampanga. Each product came locally from where they lived and travelled from to be here with me today in Manila. Isn’t that so incredibly thoughtful? My taste of the Philippines would extend far beyond Manila today!
VIP Transportation provided by Zander’s Husband, Sayah
Then we loaded up in Zander and her husband Sayah’s car to head on over to Chinatown. Yes, I’ve experienced Filipino food here in Manila, but I hadn’t enjoyed the Chinese cross-over Filipino foods … until today.
This was not the original restaurant we were heading to, but when the light drizzle started to become the warning of a coming downpour of rain, we ducked inside and found everything we wanted to have for lunch anyway. It was delicious — even the chicken feet. Yes, that’s me eating chicken feet for the second time in my global journey (see related post with my delicious time in Birmingham, England with Moon Li and her husband Adrien).
And when I told the team that today Keely Cormier was celebrating her birthday AND her anniversary, well …
I’ll pause here to share what an incredible impact Keely has had on all of our lives. Her ears were most certainly burning some 7,687 miles away as we shared how much each of us love and respect Keely. Never have so many felt so loved by one human. We all loved working with her and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Continuing on our journey, we visited the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of San Lorenzo Ruiz after cutting through the mall, getting our picture taken with Hello Kitty (because, why not?) and posing in front of a beautiful fountain.
Now, to be clear, I’m SO FULL from lunch. Between the dim sum, noodles, soup, and chicken feet, I’m feeling I don’t need to have dinner tonight either. And THAT’s when we visited the now world famous Egg Tart bakery called Lord Stow’s. Thankfully, we all have that dessert stomach that seems to be seperate from our food stomach ;-)
Surely we must be done eating NOW, right? Nope. One last stop to try the best tofu you’ve ever had — Filipino style with incredible sauce. I swear I thought I was eating squid and egg, but everything we sampled was tofu.
Beautiful day of glorious gluttony.
The only thing better than the food was the company. I loved getting to know Pedro, Hazel, Zander, and her husband Sayah. We walked, we talked, we ate, we drank (oh yeah, I forgot to mention the freshly squeezed sugar cane juice) and we took lots of pictures (as you can see on this post). I also learned why the posts are painted like this:
The color coating helps to measure the flooding during a typhoon
I don’t think about it because I purposefully flew to the Philippines when it’s NOT typhoon season, but when the waters flood, the government needs a way to measure how bad the floods are in the streets. Painting these posts help to provide quick feedback on where the flood level is so that the authorities know how best to respond.
For our final stop (not food related, I promise!) we took a stroll through the National Museum of Fine Arts. This is where Sayah and Zander dropped us off and headed home. Meanwhile, Pedro, Hazel and I visited the most famous painting in the Philippines: The Spoliarium.
The Spoliarium is famous as it ignited the revolt against Spain
I get to thank Hazel for her interest in this painting. You can read the full history via Wikipedia, but the summary goes like this. Juan Luna's Spoliarium is famous for its historical triumph as the first Filipino artwork to win a gold medal at the 1884 Madrid Exposition, bringing international acclaim to Filipino art, and for its powerful symbolism as an allegory for the suffering and exploitation of Filipinos under Spanish colonial rule, reflecting the nation's struggle for freedom and justice.
The dark depiction of fallen gladiators being stripped of their humanity in a Roman arena (i.e. the spoliarium) was interpreted as a powerful metaphor for the oppression and degradation of Filipinos under Spanish colonization, resonating with the Filipino people's desire for liberty. Historians believe this helped galvanize the revolt against Spanish rule. Spain occupied and ruled the Philippines for over 333 years — from the establishment of its first permanent settlement in 1565 until the end of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Revolution in 1898, marking the end of Spanish colonial rule and the beginning of American occupation.
I wouldn’t have learned any of this if Hazel hadn’t brought up why she wanted to go to the museum and see this historical painting. Thank you, Hazel! I learned a good chunk of Filipino history today.
The “after” picture once we had this incredible day together
Not only was I thrilled to meet Pedro, Hazel, Zsander and Sayah today, I loved this incredible culinary experience and impromptu history lesson. This truly was an exceptional day and I’m so lucky to know these beautiful souls.
