Quest’s World of Wonder visits Manila

In the latest episode of CNN’s Quest’s World of Wonder, Richard Quest is in Manila, the Philippines’ bustling, energetic capital city, alive with its own rhythm and dance. He tries their most famous dish, Filipino fried chicken, explores traditional feasts, and takes a ride on a Jeepney.

Quest meets Maul, a local who leads him through the markets on the hunt for ingredients for a Kamayan feast. Kamayan is a way for family and friends to come together to share a great meal, a celebration of one another. The heart of Kamayan is a copious amount of food served on a bed of banana leaves. Maul shows Quest how to partake in ‘The Boodle Fight’, a symbol of camaraderie that encourages ‘fighting for food’. Quest reflects on his experience of this feast, “The Kamayan Boodle Fight is an absolute institution here and you can see why, it brings together family and friends in this wonderful spirit of friendship and unity.”

From the hustle of the Kamayan to the bustle of the traffic, Manila’s travel isn’t for the faint-hearted. To overcome this, the ‘Morning Rush’ radio show was created with commuters at its heart. Quest joins co-hosts Chico Garcia and Markki Stroem on an episode of their show, to find out what it’s like to be on the receiving end of questioning.

Stroem is not only a radio host, but an actor, singer, and beauty king, coming fifth in the 2024 Mr. Universe pageant. He explains, “Pageantry in the Philippines is like the Super Bowl. My national costume, which won best national costume, was a Tikbalang, which is a mythological creature that is usually feared by people. But in this circumstance, joined forces with Mother Nature that protected places like this.”

Stroem brings Quest to the ‘Masungi Georeserve’, an area spanning hectares of land which has been undergoing years of reforestation. Conservationinst Ann Dumaliang tells Quest how she has dedicated her life to defending this refuge of biodoiversity, “It’s like a little brother to me. When we first got to this place. It was a barren landscape. And so, I saw it recover through time.”

Among the flora and fauna of the reserve is the Balete tree, a sacred tree which works as a source of life for the forest around it. Stroem describes how the tree is a gateway to the supernatural, “When you walk past the Balete tree, you have to say something called Tabi Tabi Po […] because they say there are a lot of different mythological creatures that are in the tree. They make you lose your way and you never find your way out of the forest. But the only way to get out of the forest is to flip your shirt upside down, and then that is when you’re able to keep walking out.”

Inspired by his day out with Stroem, Quest embarks on a mission to find out why the Philippines is obsessed with beauty pageants. Rodgil Flores, a pageant mentor for the last thirty years, explains the popularity of the sport, “It’s a symbol here, that admiration of the people and the whole Philippines rallying for you.”

Finally, Quest takes a ride on a Jeepney, a form of travel which is uniquely Filipino. The Jeepneys have their routes, stopping and starting on command, picking up passengers, and charging less than 25 cents a trip. Quest reflects on the fun of it, “I think what I really love is that a ride in a Jeepney assaults all of the senses. You’ve got the noise of the machine, of the traffic, you’ve got the smell of the diesel, of the fumes, and all of the cooking along the roadside. Then holding on for dear life, the smiles of the people! It’s got the lot!”

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