Curiosity never corrects my interest towards food. Such attitude even defies the risk of unknown species of it. My intake of it is dependent on the stimuli received by my tongue’s receptors. My stomach accepts whatever my tongue likes. Not all of us can stand all the bacteria within that food. Some would just vomit while others suffer from stomach ache. Anyway, my ego can’t deny the fact the despite of my curiosity of taste; my stomach doesn’t always go with it. Fortunately, I was able to withstand a food that usually people hate because in a sense it’s spoiled and stinks. It is called balut.
In one instance of my life, I had an ambiguous consequence of my experience. It’s a case where I happened to encounter the grief of hungriness and resulted to my curios adventure. It happened during my high school years, we, students, are required to undergo or I for say suffer an internship program. This “forced” us to go to training like professionals in different fields of science in preparation for our research subject. One night, I was very reluctant and uneasy to the things around. Three people supposedly should be in the house but I guessed life’s never been busy to them. A whole day of work exhausted me so my mind was eager to rest even for the span time before my two companions will be in the house. I never minded over filling my stomach and went lying on my bed. The quiet night sang me a lullaby and comforts me in tenders towards to wilderness of my subconscious mind. I dreamt of huge chicks was chasing me. They have big scary blade-like claws, yellow feathers, and pointy beaks with like slit eyes. After minutes of chase, I heard a voice coming from everywhere. The voice also did come together with knocks. These two were collapsing the world I’m in. When I realize that I was just dreaming, I need to escape to reality. A splash of atmosphere woke me up. I realize the electric fans were directly towards me. The moment I open my eye, air blows out from my stomach out to my mouth which reminds me that I haven’t eaten my diner yet. Anyway, my cousin was at my side, the very suspect of my wake, asked me if I care to fill refuel my stomach. Moments later, after preparing, we head out. Well, it was quarter to ten and mostly food stores were closed. My cousin was hungry that he could eat a horse. We tried walking along the streets to find a place to eat. With the city lights on, somehow we made this as a light entertainment just for the sake of forgetting how hungry we were. At a corner side, there was a man standing with ice bucket sitting on he’s bike. At first glimpse, my cousin already knew it could be a solution to our suffering. We approach the man and asked what’s in his bucket. My cousin grabs directly the cover and said “Likos nya”. To my shock, I directly went looking at it. I quickly sway my head out because the smell isn’t that appealing. By then I realize we were going for balut. The looks of it makes me want to swallow a lot of it. I observe my cousin putting salt and vinegar while opening just a small portion of it at the top end. He was enjoying it and realize it won’t benefit me if ill just stare so I had to try. I asked my cousin for an advice. He told penoy, a type of balut where the chick didn’t develop yet, would suit me. The vendor gave me one and opened the top of it. When I touched it, it was hot and the unpleasant smell swarm over my nostrils. I pulled it away from my head and rethink of what I’m facing into. The grief of hungriness won against my first impression to it. I peeled its shell and once again the smell blew my mind, decreasing my desire for it. I held my breath, salted the balut, shower it with vinegar and swallow the whole thing. I close my eyes while chewing resisted the feeling of grossness. I felt my inhale and exhale breathe meet up somewhere down my tonsil. I really tried to close my mouth preventing for possible vomiting. After chewing I swallowed and ‘yehheey” i ate balut. I don’t know if my stomach would take it but I felt the relieved of hungriness. It was our remedy for the grief of having nothing to eat. Although it filled my stomach, my second thought said I couldn’t eat more. Ohhh yaa I just realized it was kind of a worthy experience and maybe next time I could eat with less worry.

What is balut by the way?


















Balut is an undeveloped embryo of a fertilized duck egg and a wide known delicacy especially here in Philippines. I usually ate it with salt and vinegar and drink the egg soup mixed with salt and vinegar. After many tries of eating it, I came across a different varieties and history about it.
Before, well maybe almost everyone might think balut is endemic in our nation, I thought balut was long ago a food or delicacy of the country. However, balut basically didn’t originate here in the Philippines. According to my research of its source, in China you can find a similar egg food known as “moadan”. Long ago, Chinese traders thought of bringing balut into trading. After then, though it’s not as popular as where balut originated, the locals developed the crafting and preparation of balut. Basing on my experience, I could generalize that balut is as popular as our staple food (rice) and sold throughout the country.
Maybe when you reach here, you all know that balut is a fertilized undeveloped duck egg. Just for additional info, balut came with different verities of developed duck. We can separate the balut into two domains- with developed chick or without developed chick.
Throughout my eating experience and grossing moments of eating it, I’ve eaten all of the types. Let’s start with undeveloped chick called “penoy”. This is the first balut ive eaten. This one, as eye can see, composed of only the yolk and the hard white part. Of all balut this one is the least stinky one. Other people don’t consider this as balut but a separate egg food in its bracket. Now, balut with developed egg is chopped down to its age.

16 days, 17 days, 18 days
I prefer this balut type and most of people maybe because of its less feathers, beaks, and feet present. These three differs only in how big the chick is and the smaller hard egg white. Compare to penoy, this age type of balut has a chick with in some point might show feet, beak, and feathers.
Likos
This balut type includes the age bracket of the egg around 19 – 21 days. The chick this type is starting to develop feathers, feet and tender bones in which can still be eaten. At this age, people prefer this because of the white part is smaller and has a bigger chick in which they think is tasty. The first time I’ve eaten this type gross me. I can’t stand the presence of feathers that tickles your tongue towards grossness, feet that scratch your teeth while eating it and lastly the cracking bones when chewed.
According to history, our balut didn’t originated here and we only continued to develop this food after trading with the people who brought it here. As said before, there’s an egg food called “maodan” which literally means “feathered egg”. Besides that one there’s also modan (end-stage egg), wangjidan (literally "flush egg") or huozhuzi (literally "living bead"). In other parts of southeast asia, the Lao(people of Laos) call it “kai luk”, Cambodians(people of cambodia) call it “pong tea kon”, Thai(people of Thailand) call it “khai khao” and Vietnamese(people of vietnam) call it “trứng vịt lộn or hột vịt lộn in”. Though balut is endemic in the Philippines but Philippines has the highest popularity among the cited countries.
Balut commonly considered to be an aphrodisiac and contains high protein as a hearty snack. According to a source” Duck eggs, like chicken eggs, are excellent sources of nutrients. They are loaded with high quality and easily digestible proteins, and micronutrients (i.e., vitamins and minerals). The vitamins and minerals that are found in substantial amounts in duck eggs include vitamins A, D, B6 and B12, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and iron. Unfortunately, like chicken egg, duck egg is also rich in cholesterol. A duck egg contains more than 250 mg of cholesterol (compared to 213 mg per chicken egg). That’s a lot if you consider that experts recommend that normal adults ingest no more than 300 mg of dietary cholesterol per day. But duck egg eaters need not worry.” (Balut, 2004) Bibliography Balut. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Balut Balut. (2004, Januray 22). Retrieved October 17, 2011, from Manila Bulletin Corporation: http://www.mb.com.ph/node/153806

1. Mark Twain is the author of Huckleberry Finn.
Huckleberry Finn is a classic American novel.
Mark Twain's real name was Samuel L. Clemens.
He lived in Hartford for several years.
=> Mark Twain, real name Samuel L. Clemens, the one who wrote a classic American novel entitled Huckleberry Finn, lived in Hartford for several years.
 2. Mark Twain's house was very elaborate and elegant.
It was on Farmington Avenue.
It was in an area called Nook Farm.
He was a neighbor of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.
 => Next to Mark Twain's elaborate and elegant house, located in Farmington Ave. Nook Farm, is his neighbor Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.
 3. Mark Twain's home has a large side porch.
Windows and a balcony overlook the porch.
Today, people say the windows and balcony remind them of a steamboat.
In his youth, Twain piloted steamboats on the Mississippi.
 => In Mark Twain's home, windows and a balcony overlook a large side porch that usually reminded people of steamboat, not to mention Mark Twain piloted steamboats on Mississippi during his younger years.
 4. Mark Twain was one of the first three people in Hartford to own a telephone.
The telephone was first used commercially in nearby New Haven.
There was practically no one to talk to.
Mark Twain never really liked this newfangled gadget.

 => Though Mark Twain was one of the three people who owned a telephone which was commercially in nearby New Haven, didn't really liked the gadget because basically he has no one to talk to over the phone.
5. Mark Twain loved industrial inventions.
He lost a fortune investing in them.
One of these inventions was the elaborate Paige typesetter.
Unfortunately for Twain, this machine was developed at the same time as the Linotype.
The Linotype machine was much simpler and less expensive.
 => Mark Twain loved industrial inventions like Paige typesetter but he lost fortune investing this(typesetter) because it was developed at the same time as the Linotype which was much simpler and less expensive.
6. Mark Twain's beloved daughter, Susy, died in the Hartford home.
She died of spinal meningitis.
Twain never felt the same about the house again.
He soon left the house and Hartford.
He returned only once.
He came back for the funeral of his friend, Charles Dudley Warner.
=> Mark Twain never felt the same way about the house and left the house and hartford because his beloved daughter died in the hartford home, due to spinal meningitis, and he only returned once when his friend, Charles Dudley Warner, died.

Calories in Filipino Food
          Concrete information can be seen in this essay from how to calculate the total calorie requirement to calorie intake of the body from foods. Dr. Chua presented data which are specific and straight to the point words. At first, he introduce how calories put impact to our lives and how often big intakes occur. This also to keep us reminded that we could lose or gain weight by regulating this intake. Total calorie intake possibly will be first thing we consider in proper diet as what the had had written.

Indian Food
          The writer expressed things vaguely in his essay. The description of each Indian foods were shallow in terms of appealing and making the readers imagine of how it looks. It was like the writer gave a short but not brief review of Indian foods. Though in any way, it would give us a hint and sharpen our curiosity  to dig deep to the topic. He put his words in a manner that the reader feels like "Nabitin" to what it would really taste.