Left Alone

I learned there are disadvantages to be the one of the younger ones in the group. One thing is, you have to do everything the seniors tell you. We had a break in our schedule and the consensus among the group was to stay in our foster families and study our scores for the competition.

As I said, I was with the 2 oldest guys in our group and they had their own agenda. These guys decided to meet with their clique in the choir. They call themselves “the family.” My two housemates and 2 of the youngest girls in the choir. The girls would call my housemates, “Big Brothers” In Philippine society today they would be “oppa” (borrowed from Korean Dramas)

They told me they will go to Belvedere and they will just commute so they didn’t want to bring me along. They told me to just stay at home.

I was pissed. I wanted to go out in revenge but with no idea where to go, I stayed.

A day wasted...

Wiener Schnitzel

I can say that you’ve never really been in Austria if you’ve never had Wiener Schnitzel. It literally means “Viennese Schnitzel”. It is a thin, breaded and pan fried cutlet made from veal. It is one of the national dishes of Austria.

After all that walking around we went inside this Resto/Bar and our hosts Camille and Pabs ordered this for us. They also ordered fried chicken.

If I could describe it I would put it like this: Perfect breading cooked in clarified butter, meat that’s tender and juicy, finished with a dash of lemon. I’m salivating just thinking of it.

Lemons were a rarity in the Philippines prior to globalization. The taste came as a surprise for me because it was a mild flavor that enhanced or brightened up the salty schnitzel. I’ve never had veal before either. Since we don’t eat beef much in the Philippines there is no actual word for Veal in our language. Veal is meat from young cow.

There is something in Viennese Cuisine I like. To me or at least to the Filipino Palate, they hit the right amount of saltiness in their food. In succeeding tours after  I discovered that their salt is one of the highest grade, no wonder their food tastes amazing