Eat First, Fight Later ( Read More!.)

Figthing with an empty stomach is like... hmmm ..your're really hungry!

My old sensei used to tell us to eat hearterly, ( of course!) then practice till you are hungry again! I guess I ate more than I fought, During one of practices i rushed to a local eatery there without reading the menu I just ordered something hot and with nooddles...hmmm nice, finished the whole bowl and when I had my fill, I asked politely the host "what did I just ordered? It was really tasty!" With a nice smile the host said "Snake Soup with snake eggs..and that will be 15 Pesos" ( in 1972!)
After that I practiced snake under eagles claw! ( Much as i tried i never had any eagles to eat!)
Anyway that's probably why in old Chinatown in Binondo, there are more restaurants and noodles shop than anywhere else! And there's a lot of stories ( even legend!) about these restaurants and eateries. So as they serve a sumptous Lauriat or even a simple noodle dish it is always something to look forward to ( but no snake please).

Many years passed I came across a friend who inherited his dads eatery, it has many legends too.. from Bears Claw in China to Chewing up BEER Bottles and that's another story...
Shantung Restaurant is the name of that place, and it still exist but not in olde chinatown, but in the West Avenue in Quezon City. Its origin according to its owner Jhonson Chang "the cooking style originated in the ducal states of Qi and Lu, present Shandong Province, the Shandong style of cooking spreads throughout the entire Yellow River Valley and becomes representative of the cuisine of northern China. Shandong cuisine consists of three branches — the Jinan, Jiaodong (Eastern Shandong) and Confucian Mansion styles of cooking. Lying on China’s east coast, Shandong, rich in products and the birthplace of ancient sages Confucius and Mencius, is a birthplace of Chinese culture. The Confucius precept that “(People) take great pains to prepare food as exquisitely as possible and to mince meat as finely as they can…” deeply influenced Shandong cuisine."

Shandong cuisine is famous for its ingredients, the fineness of cutting, the duration and degree of cooking, the exquisite flavoring employed in its preparation and the use of soup. It is also noted for its seafood.

The Confucian Mansion style of cooking is refined and ingenious and exquisitely-prepared dishes are served according to strict standards and rites. For example, the “Manchu-Han Feast”, originally invented for the entertainment of emperors and imperial envoys, consists of 196 courses served on a 404-piece dinner service. Particular attention is paid to the names of the dishes, and often a dish’s name alludes to a literary quotation. Dishes include such specialities as Taking the Son to the Court and First-Rank Bean Curd. In accordance with the ancient admonition that “delicious should be served on a fine dinner setting”, the tableware used in Confucian Mansion cuisine is elegant and elaborate. During a feast, music is played to set rhyme schemes.. Now im hungry!

So if you feel like figthing, go visit first Shantung Restaurant, have your fill, and maybe afterwards, you dont feel like figthing, but sleeping instead. Choww