Manila episode

It wasn't difficult for me to love this episode because the happy parts were really light and fun while the heart warming ending pulled at my emotions. Bourdain went out of his way to portray Filipinos as super kind, hard working, family oriented, loyal, unselfish, you name it. It was very refreshing.

With that said, I was disappointed that there was not a segment on Smokey Mountain and "Happy Land" - not the struggles of generations of Filipinos living in slums built on landfills or the economics of working all day sorting rubbish for food and recyclables. No, I was certain Bourdain would question if the popular slum tours were appropriate; if the money generated really does go back to the residents; are these the epitome of human zoos; are tourists ultimately accountable? This is right up Bourdain's alley.

And with such a heavy focus on cover musicians and their ultimate goal of making it big, why didn't anyone at least mention Arnel Pineda? I'm pretty sure Bourdain thinks he's too cool to even think about Journey but come on, Pineda's discovery and subsequent success is as epic as it gets...in this context. I mean seriously. Bourdain said something like, give these guys a minute and they can sing your song better than you. Well, that's Pineda, a cover singer hidden in Manila who sounds just like Steve Perry. Oh well.

Enjoyable episode for sure.

Anthony visited the family of Aurora, at the end of the Manila episode, where she prepared a favorite dish called Kare-kare. Anthony reminded us that Aurora was the babysitter of Eric. I remember Anthony saying Eric was a director of the show. Is Eric related to Anthony by blood?