Food and More Food

As mentioned in a previous entry, there is a lot of fast food here. From American and European chains to homegrown copies of the same, to the international variety of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, and Indian restaurants, there is no lack of food for those who can afford it. Eating is not expensive here either.

On of the most successful Filipion restaurant chains is Jollibee. This McDonald's replica has hundreds of locations accross the country, and has apparently even opened a location in Las Vegas. Their menu is somewhat more elaborate than their western counterparts, with a full KFC style chicken menu, pasta, burgers, and you name it, all served with a side of rice as are most meals here. More than anything, this company has a very consistent and rather quite likeable design system. Like other Mickey Mouses and Ronald McDonalds, the "Jolly Bee" is a very recognizeable character, which along with simple graphic shapes and a consistent red and yellow colour palette (sound familiar) that really stands out from its surroundings because of their incosistancy and randomness. A lesson to be learned for other small business, and something which will have to be applied in my own dealings with small product developers, is how to create simple, yet consistent branding which will help to raise a local products above the noise of what is really a visually polluted culture.

Foodcourts in the malls here are also a spectacle in themselves. Unlike their niche western varieties, the malls here have food floors. I'm serious. Entire floor dedicated to every kind of fast food you can imagine. And what's shocking is that there are often several of the same kind of restaurant. It isn't just a matter of choosing what ethnic food you feel like today, but rather filtering out the way too many choices. In the upstairs food court in the Mall of Asia, my colleagues and I went to the food court (which in this case was only a tradional court, not floor) and after walking around the perimeter, agreed that although each business had a different sign, they all had almost the exact same selection of food. If there was a long queue at one, it didn't matter. You could just go to the next one and get the same meal. (see photos)