However, the best part came afterwards.
After a full day of geek-talk, we retreated to Whistlestop for post-Wordcamp dinner with the speakers, organizers and volunteers. We had the usual Pinoy favorites: pork sisig, crispy pata, sinigang na baboy, kare-kare, chicken adobo in gata and Whistlestop’s bestseller, the buffalo wings. The three guests enjoyed the greasy and utterly sinful dishes, especially the sisig and the crispy pata. The most memorable, however, was the balut.
It seemed like every foreigner who visit gets badgered to try the balut when traveling in the Philippines. I’ve done it to a couple of guests, even if I don’t eat it myself. Gen, having grew up with a Filipina nanny knew all about balut and managed to escape having to try it by leaving the table. Seth was eager to try it, while Beau was clearly not sold on the idea of eating duck embryo. However, when the balut was handed to him and all the cameras came out, he balked under pressure and subjected himself to this Philippine streetfood.
Markku demonstrated, guiding them all the way from gingerly opening the shell, sipping the juice, getting rid of the stuff that’s not edible (which Jeff, the other Pinoy who ate balut with them, ate), and eating the embyro itself. They were lucky because the balut they got wasn’t as developed yet, so it was basically a weird looking blob. Seth and Beau managed to finish their balut, and both admitted that it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be. Kudos to both of you, for eating something that about 60% of people in that room does not eat XD
A huge congratulations goes out to Blogie, the Mindanao Bloggers Society and the rest of the Wordcamp organizers and volunteers for another awesome WC this year. Looking forward to 2010!
Interested to read more about WordcampPH 2009? Here are posts from other Wordcampers (thanks to Jehzlau for compiling the links!):
1. I’m a Happy Camper at WordCamp by Maki Eduardo
2. What I learned in WordCamp 2009 by Melvin
3. WordCamp 2009 by Nina Fuentes
4. My First WordCamp by Venus
5. WordCamp Philippines 2009 by Rowjie
6. My WordCamp Philippines 2009 Experience by Menard
The Wordcamp is a gathering of WordPress users and enthusiasts to talk about… WordPress. Sounds utterly geeky, no? But I’m terribly excited about this. Wordcamp Philippines is on the 6th of September at the College of St. Benilde Taft Ave., Manila. I had my heart set on finally attending the yaoi convention, but alas, WordPress beckons! I have to surpress my inner BL fangirl for a year more *strikes tragic pose*
Wordcamp Philippines is organized by the Mindanao Bloggers, and is made possible by the following sponsors: