To haute cuisine or not?

That's another question.

I've had my fair share of fancy dinners. Nobu, Allain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon, Mario Batali. Been there, had that, have the book of matches.

But even if I've had the finest meals at some of the most famous restaurants in HK and NY, I've never woken up in the middle of the night and said, "Wow, am I in the mood for some stuffed quail with apricot sauce." I wake up and think, "Now is a good time for tapsilog. With sinamak on the side."

So here's my theory for the day (I gotta tell you about my "universal vegetable" theory that C shot down in mid-chew at dinner last night, but that's another story) -- haute cuisine has very little to do with eating. At least for those certain people (and barn animals) who like me like to get "down and dirty" when eating. I eat to enjoy the food, and know that there is a lot of it, that it costs almost nothing, and that I can eat until I feel ill (I know, this is gluttony, but you can't just have one sausage... and you *need* to go for some "extra rice"). To eat for the sheer pleasure of it, without regard to price, place or setting (pun very much intended).