the Philippines I fell in love with this country earlier this year it's a land of Stark contrasts so I'm back to cover some of the basics that I missed last time around to prove some points and to once again dive in a little bit deeper first up adobo the quintessential Filipino meal but in its most shocking form it's f more than just a dish it's now an integral part of the Filipino identity and Heritage however in the slums of Happy Land it has to be adapted with fast food scraps being used as the main ingredient but dishes here are not just about survival extreme conditions in condo Foster Innovation giving rise to tumbong soup quite honestly that is one of the best meals I've had here in the Philippines no word of a lie and it's not just the food tondo is a place dedicated to transforming what others often discard it's from scrapyards and recycling slums like this that the Filipino art of sword and Bol making dbes discarded medals are given new purpose as they are forged into symbols of enduring Independence and resilience and when I think of a bolo I think of like the Philippines it's like the Filipino sword right what kind of use do Filipinos use the B for mostly for every everyday use in the jungle in the f farm like that just a multi-purpose thing finally our journey takes us to the sinking regions of the Philippines where rising sea levels has transformed the landscape making traditional rice farming untenable in the face of this change villagers have pivoted towards cultivating higher value valued Goods panga once a Bastion of lush rice fields now adapts ingeniously farming thousands of monster mud crabs these crabs are produced in such abundance that they have become a culinary staple you can just it's so juicy I can't get over that bed it it's not dry at all you can just suck it out so if you want to check the crab if this fatty you can press it here if this hard it means it's FY like this one what was once reserved for high-end restaurants is now common fair at fast food joints in these parts this is my second series on the Philippines first up adobo the quintessential Filipino meal but in its most shocking form have you ever thought about what it would be like to cook and eat scraps that others have thrown away to scavenge for leftovers what if I told you that here in the slums of condo discarded scraps are not just turned into desperate meals but into Innovative and truly amazing dishes like tumbong soup quite honestly that is one of the best meals I've had here in the Philippines no word of a lie I'm back here with a feeling of unfinished business since my last visit I've been eager to return something's been nagging me tondo often labeled as merely a slum rumored to be Rife with crime drugs unbearable living conditions is somehow in my experience a place that brims with smiles hard work productivity and Innovation it's the Paradox of tondo that despite the hardship it operates pretty effectively it boasts a self- sustaining economy that provides real value and a culture that encourages creativity and it's not just about food it's from junkyards like these that scrap metal gets a new life transformed into essential tools for hardworking Filipinos and symbols of national resilience and [Music] Independence Louie a resident of manila's biggest slum Happyland is guiding me today he earns his living as a junk Runner collecting bottles at night and selling them the next day in his day-to-day life mie gathers and processes plastic bottles he sells them to one of the many slum junkyards the value of these materials has reasen he shares especially when collected in bulk shelling everything other than the food and he's get paid by the kilo they're weighing up right now getting in the way for instance the 80 kilos of plastics that he amassed last night are fetching him around 423 pesos for 3: a.m. till 10 a.m. 82 kilos worth of garbage collected these bottles are later processed into a myriad of different items from bricks to [Music] fabric amidst this laborous routine Lou still manages to engage in basketball offering a moment of rest and a communal connection and you like basketball culture yes what's your favorite team that's my bricks what's your favorite player l in Happy Land basketball is everywhere just as it is in the rest of the Philippines that's legit the hardest hoop I've ever seen these guys are going to be basketball gods that thing was Tiny and Tall hello alongside this he picks up leftover fast food which he later recook for his meals I like it so much you like it so much yes this process is known as pugpug I've tried pugpug during my last visit to Happyland but it seemed hard for some people to believe so when Lou offered to share his pug pug lunch with me I accepted without hesitation you know what it shouldn't be a surprise it's fairly juicy there's a good amount of chicken in that in some weird and twisted way adobo might be the perfect way to cook pug pug a technique historically used to fight off contamination a combination of high heat salt and vinegar all combined in attempt to save off bacteria and I'm not in any way trying to claim that this is safe but when it comes to pug pug you may as well pull out all the stops do you have a sell it or do you just eat it personally itat personally you never sell it never you just eat it personally yes you ever give it to friends and neighbors no no just for yourself I just cook it and believe me consuming this adobo styled pug pug is a lot tougher of a mental exercise than eating the deep fried variety Lou how you doing man it's good to see look I really appreciate you cooking up the P pug adobo for me it's something that I've been thinking about ever since the last time I was here in Happyland let's just try some let's Dive Right In can we we grab a bite yes right H go straightforward all right guys here we go Moment of Truth this is pug pug adouble so wow is that different or what it is hugely different from last time when I had the Jolly Bee version of pug pug last time I CED a lot of criticism because I ate a very full piece of pug pug this now today is an adobo hug pug you still get that kind of like vinegary incredibly salty flavor it's really nothing like the adobo we had at the markets at all that's for damn sure and you're sort of picking away at the bones the remaining bits of chicken that are left in and around the joints of the chicken you get a really really strong salty flavor I think that this preservation method the vinegar and the salt is kind of what makes this maybe a bit less dangerous Lou this morning sold 80 kilos of just the Rish that he's collected he would have processed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kilos of trash and that's what he's got this food from I'm going to try one more piece and then we're going to dig in a little bit to Louis lifestyle you know what it shouldn't be a surprise it's fairly juicy there's a good amount of chicken in there it's got a really different flavor you're never going to really try chicken like this it almost tastes like a chicken curry it's actually pretty good it's just the mental block the hurdle here of seeing it getting cleaned off it's a bit that's hard to get past once you actually try it it becomes relatively normal pretty quickly and if you were served this without anybody telling you what it was it'd be good it'd be like a really salty chicken adobo chicken stew [Music] almost so Lou thanks for doing this how how often do you eat this meal every other day every other day yes where do you usually find it garbage fast food is it really common here in Happy Land does everybody eat hug pug no the others do not eat just a few people yes a few I like it so much you like it so much yes when did you start collecting Plastics cardboard that kind of stuff from 3:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. how old when you started 17 17 yes look I couldn't help but notice if you don't mind uh what happened to your leg I was sit hit by a truck when I was 5 years old and how long did it take you to get used to life with one Lake 2 years 2 years to to adapt in your profession didn't it make it tricky to get around town to collect trash with one leg no no we used to cycle around right yeah yes with one leg yes and you're fine no no not fine oh do you like living in Happy Land yes you ever wanted to get out of here or no no really all man thanks a bunch man I really appreciate you cooking up this adobo for me and sharing a bit of your lifestyle with me thanks man thank you it may be easy to think that pondo's food scene is dominated by pug characterized by mere necessity and a touch of desperation but that's a limited view this is five this is 10 I'll get a five all right thank you street food that you'll find here it's not all hug buug in Happy Land This is like a spring roll but apparently inside it's just like mung bean taste five be for one just like everything here in the Philippines especially in the slums is dipped in copious amounts of vinegar and T exactly like that in Happy Land Ingenuity rules the kitchen pug pug adobo and tumbong soup are more than just Foods their Testament to the resident skill in turning scraps into hearty meaningful Meals one of these is about pure survival but the other is something truly special right up there with some of the best stuff I've eaten in country promise in tondo tumbong soup is a culinary standout made from the part of a pig's intestine closest to the anus the body part is stigmatized and typically discarded elsewhere but tono's unique ethos centered around utilizing what is commonly thrown away ensures that even Tong finds a valued place in the local Cuisine here it's not just used it's transformed into something simply extraordinary it cleans with a [Music] [Music] heart [Applause] [Music] for [Music] [Applause] I'm going to go straight for this soup first the thick collagen soup base it's particularly interesting because they use the part of the intestine Which is closest to the pig's anus so it's very important that you clean it quite thoroughly wow that is really good actually I think Pig's head always makes for some of the best soup sock it's just all of that fat and collagen just breaks down renders right right down it's been boiling away for hours it's not exactly like a thick soup but it is packed with flavor you see a little bit of oil you have shot's fried garlic giving the soup extra flavor and a little bit of texture that it is that is legit just outstanding all right guys let's go we're going to grab a bit of this and I mean it does have like a little bit of an intimidating look a lot of the time when I've eaten awful intestines before it's often like barbecued grilled there's a lot of that in Vietnam let's see how it goes H just a meaty flavor it's perfectly al dante I think it's an incredibly hard thing to cook intestines you sort of run that balance of if it's overboiled it's just going to be a gooey squishy mess and if you don't cook it at all it's just going to be rubbery and too thick to even chew through this is just perfect it has just enough bite your teeth sliced right through through but it's not just disintegrating away they really know what they're doing here you would never know that this was an intestine if you weren't told it or if you didn't see it it has none of that gy or strong flavors you might associate with intestines and with awful quite honestly that is one of the best meals I've had here in the Philippines no word of a lie really really Sensational I have rice here I guess I'm supposed to eat it with the rice this is how you do it in Vietnam I'm not exactly sure wow actually with the rice really comes true do it got garlic in the rice I think it does like a garlic bread with the soup I would not have thought I really don't know what else to say that is an absolutely Sensational soup if you are coming to the Philippines definitely give this a try right up there with some of the best stuff I've eaten in country promise uh do you like C sou yes how old are you 44 do you have any kids yes two two kids do they like this sometimes the small one the small one like they like this small one and do you cook it every day yes last 2014 does anybody else in Manila make Kum soup as good as you guys or are you guys the best there's no way anyone else is good you guys this is thank you but it's not just food that is reborn in Happyland here discarded steel begins a New Journey finding its way into the hands of skilled Craftsmen across the Philippines and so I'm setting out to craft a blade of resilience and freedom from steel found in the depths of manila's largest slump hopefully we end up with a little bit of Philipino Heritage to take back [Music] home how long have you been making swords for 15 to 17 years like that it's a pretty impressive operation you have [Music] here and man do these guys make something beautiful and iconic or what my quest for a sword or a bolo starts out on the streets of Happy Land here at one of the many junk shops specialized in steel I'm buying a variety of cuts with the goal of having it reborn I'm setting off to meet up with a team of Master swordsmiths deep in the kangan countryside here pal and his sister Daisy have been keeping the tradition of Filipino sword making alive they run a small blacksmith's workshop and employ a team of Highly skilled swordsmiths and as soon as I arrive things kick into action the steel is cut to size hammered into red hot in a cal Forge and hammered flat but these guys are a pretty serious operation the quality of the Weaponry that they're turning out is pretty incredible there are Master blacks here that have been doing this their entire lives this team of Bol makers transforms scrap steel from junkyards all across the Philippines into everything from everyday tools to iconic blades and today I've asked them to make me something similar to Andress bonifacio's iconic bolo he I wonder how this thought is going to turn out well before colonization the indigenous communities of the Philippines were already proficient in the art of crafting weapons and tools essential for their survival and combat the diverse tribal needs and distinct cultures across the archipelago led to the development of a vast array of unique Regional Styles later the introduction of advanced Chinese metalogy and Spanish blade designs bought new techniques and materials to the Forefront Filipino artisans in their skill and Ingenuity seamlessly integrated these new elements with their ageold traditional methods this Fusion has resulted in one of the richest and most diverse sword making heritages on the planet from the Cris with its distinctive wavy blade deeply embedded with Morrow culture to the bong a leaf-shaped sword favored by the tusang yakan and samal warriors to the kapan a wide tipped Long Blade to the Genting integral to Filipino Mar Arts the Philippines has a rich diversity of sworts however the bolo holds a special place due to its historical significance this versatile tool was used both in agriculture and in combat it became a symbol of national resistance during the Filipino Revolution under Andres basio the bolo was a practical choice for combat accessible to the common people who formed the backbone of the Katipunan movement the bolo's transformation from a humble agricultur tool to a symbol of national resilience and Liberation is precisely the type of cheesy symbolism that resonates with me therefore today we're crafting a bolo the crafting of our bolo begins with the steel being roughly cut the shape an initial step that forms the foundation of the sword this rough shape is then brought to life in the Forge where intense heat and hammering flatten and refine the F I'm told that part of this process is to remove some of the bend that was in the metal they just have this motorized blower and that thing is hot next the grindstone plays a critical role meticulously honing the blade to a distinctive form this is followed by a methodical sanding process slowly transitioning from course to finer and finer grits there are four or five sanding stations here in the workshop that's it basically from what I understand how it is cut all the way down toze they're going to file a little bit all and then they're going to keep shaving in with the Sandpaper that's all you can hear in the background if you can even hear me at all sanding sanding and more sanding layer after layer after layer until we get something that almost exactly resembles the template or the desired output of the S this Smooths and perfects the blade surface while all this is going on the crafting of the handle begins with the careful selection of buffalo horn the big advantage of buffalo horn over wood is that no matter what you're going to do to it it's not going to rot it's going to stand up to time a little bit better apparently so we're going with a buffalo horn handle today the horn is precisely cut and gradually shaped tailored to ensure a comfortable and secure fit with the blade the final steps in the Blade's creation include sharpening it to a fine fine Edge and extensive polishing this showcases the Blade's quality and [Applause] craftsmanship this Det process refined over Generations reflects the Deep expertise of Filipino artisans in bringing to life a tool that is both practical and symbolic also in progress is the sheath which has been rendered down from wood two pieces of separate wood which has had the template stenciled into it and that they are then shaving away at very similar process with just a sanding disc and just slowly working that into shape so the blade is really starting to take shape now we just have a couple more final steps that is invol in putting some pins through the handle so that it doesn't slip out polishing it up and getting that final level of sharpness we really need that final level of [Music] sharpness and after hours and hours in the making the bolo is finally ready for some [Music] action [Music] hey pal how you doing man dude I appreciate you showing me your sword Workshop it's a pretty impressive operation you have here I appreciate it how many people do you have in your team now five and how many swords do you guys make every week it depends on the order 15 to 20 long sword for one week wow with the overtime but for the mid sword like a bolo Cilan like that they can make at least 10 to 15 and what's the most popular what are most customers ordering at this time for now it's very popular samurai samurai swords are really popular how long have you been making swords for 15 to 17 years like that my father is some issues so you inherited this business from your father Heritage I see and so how long did your father make swords for did he do it his whole life no he's doing it I think since he's 14 years old like 13 years old 13 14 years old yeah and then you took over the business and you're making swords now and was it always swords or was he making other things as well different different like a dger like a rumo like that it's always some kind of weapon mostly mostly the Philippines has a pretty rich history of sword what is a typical Filipino like poan talog like that why is it that the Philippines has such a long history of making and being interested in different kinds of sorts quality durability like that where are the are the majority of your customers some Philippines and international mostly International what type of metal do you use to make the sorts most we're using a lifa spring leaf spring from old cars just like you buy it from a junk shop yeah junk shop like that but sometimes they we have a customer they like 304 stainless steel like that very hard metal takes a long time to make from stainless what kind of sword do you like the most for me those uh B easy to carry like that easy to carry useful mostly for every everyday use in the jungle in the farm jungle Farm like that all right thanks man okay thank you appreciate it I get to know a little bit more about one of the blacksmiths who turned this Happy Land scrap into an iconic bolo Tony hello dude is this my sword can I have a look wow dude I've been waiting for this for quite some time jeez wow man you've really outdone yourself this is really cool how long have you been making swords for years and so what what kind of Swords did your father make Lord of the Rings Claymore man so it's sort of like all kinds of different crazy swords what's your favorite type of Sword to make samai why really are you proud of the swords that you make what do you think about the quality do you think the quality of the swords you guys make is high have you ever made other things as a blacksmith other than blades What's the thought process once you see the Des thank you very much I absolutely love this sword it's a cool piece of Filipino history I'm happy to take home with me thank Youk getting to visit these workshops has been an enlightening experience for me showcasing the enduring art of Filipino bolo making I really believe that the Philippines with its vast cultural diversity and historical International influences offers one of the broadest Rangers of traditional sword designs globally and unlike most sword making Traditions that have become Static or purely symbolic Filipino sword making is vibrant and evolving it's deeply integrated into martial arts like arnes escrima and CI and this ongoing evolution is both fascinating and a vital part of Filipino Heritage while in panga I decided to visit towns facing the challenge of sinking land towns across the Philippines are Vanishing below the waves drowning in salt water Lush rice fields are being turned into aquatic wastelands but why are so many locals happy about it you see they've turned to an unusual savior mud crabs but how the hell can crabs be saving these sinking communities why are there so many of them and do they taste any good these things might not all be monsters but there are some monsters here big ass mud crabs man Giants I'm starting out in mentol in the pungan countryside where millions of dollars worth of crab are being processed every week this has to be one of the largest producers of crabs in all over the Philippines this area let's check it out here in the small Riverside markets is where it all begins markets here are dominated by crab they are the star of the show The Main Event even the fish that are being bought and sold at these markets offer crab food and there are thousands and thousands and thousands of crabs instead of Roads local Farmers arrive by river on Long motorized canoes gracefully navigating the narrow canals that serve as a Lifeline for these communities they connect the Farms to the market long boats pull up with a load full of crabs sort of packaged up bought by wholesale buyers that are selling them maybe in Manila or elsewhere around the country and one by one they are carefully inspected and sold to wholesale buyers this is not really a retail Market there's only wholesale buyers here unlike the bustling energy of a typical Market this one exudes a more serious business-like atmosphere the sheer abundance of crabs that is being processed here though is mind-boggling how can such a small and sinking Village produce Millions upon millions of dollars worth of crab to find out I'm meeting up with Gideon a young crab farmer who has agreed to show me around his family crab farm and explain exactly how things work but things were not always this way gan's family were once rice Farmers as was everybody in this area when your parents grew up here they used to be rice Farmers yes uh before they are rice Farmers but when I was a child I was in this kind of industry which is a fish part getting the Drone up in the air just blew my mind an intricate web of canals connecting what were once clearly rice fields now flooded with ocean water as far as the eye can see the Waters of Manila Bay are slowly engulfing the coastal regions of bulhan and Pampanga over the past two decades these lands have been descending at 4 to 6 cm per year into the Embrace of the sea a sinking phenomenon that is believed to be fueled by the Relentless extraction of groundwater and the compaction of the earth beneath but that's just the beginning of the story sea levels surge here at a rate four times faster than the global average adding to the threat against the coastline and if that's not enough the once sprawling Mangrove forests here spanning over 130,000 Acres have dwindled to near nothing leaving this region incredibly exposed to the unpredictable forces of nature flooding and the annual onslaught of fierce typhoons it makes living conditions harsh to say the least things had to change there's no Liv Hood we need to convert it into fish fan in order to earn money and survive here in our area that's where Gideon's Farm comes into play navigating through the narrow waterway canals lined with houses along the banks we finally arrive at Gideon's Farm a large rectangular Pond amidst a sea of similar ponds you have a giant Pond here how the hell do you take take care of them and how do you check on them we use our hands really yes so you just get out there and you find the crabs with your hands that correct don't they bite you uh sometimes I see without hesitation Gideon plunges his bare hands into the water revealing a jaw-dropping sight this place is literally teeming with monster mud crabs King is actually heading back with the crab I cannot believe he pulled that off Madness farming these crabs is a relatively simple but fascinating World multiple times per year the ponds are heavily stocked with fingerlings and these voracious eaters now number in the tens of thousands and they need a whole lot of food to survive we Pat them every day destroy fish out yes that's true as it turns out the food is farmed along with the crabs in the same Pond and so I head out with Gideon to capture a bountiful catch from this Pond the water is alive with an array of coastal fish an assortment of prawns and a huge amount of tilapia Gideon uses two types of net that are permanently set up to catch feed for the crabs as well as food for his dinner table there's a standard Gil net that runs along the top of the water and a box trap or dragon trap as they call it that sits along the bottom we check them both [Music] the shrimp and the more tasty varieties of fish are kept for food crabs are monitored for health or they're kept for sale if they're big enough and tilapia are cut up for crab feed but it is wild to me that tilapia can live in everything from 100% fresh water to this straight up Sal water that has mullet and shrimp swimming around in it and the tilapia can just propagate wild whilst getting netted every single day for crab food and they Thrive oh wow that's a bigger crab oh go oh dude that's a monster [Applause] crab so there you go in the dragon trap as it is called here in the Philippines we have pulled up one quite small crab and one to me that looks like an absolute monster it is pretty crazy to me the size these guys let these things get to or they're able to get them to oh dude that was so quick three times so if you want to check the crab if it's fatty you can press it here if this hard it means it's fatty like this one it's hard to press and also with the weight of the crab you can check that in your own hands after checking the Nets Giddy and I prepare some of these tilapia for food after cutting up the tilapia we head back out to feed the [Music] [Music] crabs and what's interesting here is the lack of care about whose crabs are whose or what happens when these crabs inevitably climb from one Pond into the other what if your crabs Escape over there into the public Waterway it's free free crab yes doesn't matter doesn't matter lucky crab right yes all right oh you can only eat the meal man that's super interesting in Australia it's illegal to keep female crabs you have to release all females so that they like keep propagating in the wild I have eaten my fair share of mud crabs in my time but these pangan farmed crabs are monsters if I'm honest I'm doubtful that farmed crabs can taste as good as the wild stuff so we're taking a boat ride back to Gideon's house where his aunt has been kind enough to cook some up for us the lives of the CRA crab Farmers here is now so disconnected from The Wider Philippines and world that each of these families is essentially self-sufficient they subside largely of fish and various poultry that they can Farm on their narrow strips of land so we've come back to giddy's house which is one of these beautiful little houses in these sort of mud crab canals that stretch for miles and miles and he has a pretty basic setup here essentially it's just a few buckets with which they rotate the water out and they're going to place the larger mud crabs in there that are not yet filled with meat and essentially just over the course of a couple of weeks fatten them up feed them a little bit of fish every single day seems like a pretty damn good idea I do not know why we don't fatten up crabs in Australia genius an essential part of the process for these crab Farmers as only fat crabs full with meat can be sold for profit oh so you're going to keep it we can but it's small that's small yeah so we should throw it back right he can throw it back bye-bye all right today Gideon's aunt is preparing chili garlic crab for us like this one she starts by dicing up some small local chili next Ginger is crushed and cut into thin slices and meanwhile Gillian quickly dispatches the [Music] crab morning you will see oh super Ste the crab is then thoroughly clean a walk is bought up temp and a large amount of butter is added to the pan and melted down the onions Ginger and chilies are all added to the sizzling butter and slowly caramelized various parts of the crab are then added to this mix with special care taken to add the large Parts first and ensure an even [Music] cook everything is stirred well a touch of salt is added and then everything is left to simmer [Music] finally once everything is cooked through the larger crab cores are cracked open and read addded to the walk to soak up some of that glorious buttery garlic [Music] goodness once done we sit down to eat get in yes yes dude this looks amazing definitely how big was this crab it looks like a monster 1 kg 1 kilo here in the Philippines it's 1,100 but if you go in Manila it's a 1,500 how often do you eat mud crab like this once a month once a month yes I mean it's still fairly frequently but you catch mudcrab every day twice a week twice a week yes look your Auntie has prepared this in some incredible looking Source man this is my kind of meal I could do this every day dude I can't wait any longer why don't we grab a SP and we can get going I wanted to try one of these giant ass crab claws let's do it cheers man let's do this and [Music] to oh my god wow dude that is incredible the the garlic flavor really strong Rich garlicky you get a little bit of bite from that chili wow you know I'm used to sort of just the plain steam crab but I'm going to start doing it like this this coholic steam crab wow yes it's very yummy m a little bit of ginger in it right yes oh my God it's not really as dry as most crabs I think when we're steaming it I've been cooking it for too long or something this is really really tender and a super unique way to cook crab I I really haven't seen mud crab prepared like this before Oh the body yes the body wow that is a good idea dude oh my God there is just a ton of garlic on the top of this thing oh I'm going to scrape off a little bit of this garlic ginger chili mix because otherwise it's just going to be a little bit too powerful and you can really see the fattening up process like this you know I've seen a lot of crabs you catch wild and there's really not all that much meat in them and where the meat is is in the claw but this is just chunky that is thick thick thick with meat that is crazy oh my God this is the good F that's the best bit all like the swimmer yes okay I'll grab one of those all right here we [Music] go M oh my God you can just it's so juicy I can't get over that bit it's not dry at all you can just suck it out and wow exceptional exceptional meat that is so so good dude that's incredible so you eat this once a month yes once a month only because it's unhealthy if you eat a lot oh I wouldn't care I would eat a lot of it this is the fat of the crab all right wow the fat of the crab yes you can try to use this what get everything and then eat I've never even heard of people eating this really yes wow oh one of the yummiest part really one of the more desirable Parts I have eaten a ton of mud crab in my day and I've always just thrown away the top shell without touching any of it so do I scrape that bit off yes I've got to admit it doesn't look the most appetizing okay here we go the fat you say yes it looks like some kind of membrane to me see wow that is a totally different voice flavor huh yes God it has kind of like a I think I've got some of the ginger in there it's giving it almost like a a weird crunch to it it obviously has a really really different texture from the flesh the flesh is that sort of flake apart in your mouth this had far more of a chewy consistency and then just melted away wow really really incredible milk man is this a big mud crab for you guys do they get much bigger than this oh yes the most biggest scrub that I C is 2 and 1/2 kilos 2 and 1/2 kilos holy crap how many crab do you think you have in your f when the time that we put the fingerlings in the pan we usually put 5 to 10,000 pieces 5 to 10,000 fingerlings yes and you do that how often three times in a year three times a year yes oh my God so basically once we put the 10 to 5,000 we Harvest that within 4 to 5 months and then after that we process reprocess again you harvest 5 to 10,000 mud crabs per month yes wow you're selling an absolute ton of this crab at the market that's right after our rice farming we transform to fish pan for uh the Water here is not salty water that's why we can able to plant a rice so it used to be fresh water yes and then what happened and then eventually uh the Water became a salty and so what's happening here is the sea level rising or is the town sinking it's the same so basically the sea level is higher and then and also the L so the land has become level with the ocean level that's correct is that why the town near here seems to be sinking like everything when I drove past was underwater underwater basketball courts underwater churches yes but it wasn't always like that when your parents grew up here they used to be rice Farmers yes uh before they are rice Farmers but when I was a child I was in this kind of industry which is um fish farm so I guess everybody has to learn to change and adapt yes we need to change and adapt to the situation that we have well dude I tell you what you guys have adapted in maybe the best way possible because that is absolutely exceptional it's a high value product tastes amazing the lifestyle out here is is really really beautiful and very nice so I think you've got a good man thanks for showing me around your fish farm today for letting me try some of this amazing crab I'm never going to look at crab the same again and next time I catch one I might just take it home and fatten it up a little bit good method right mhm thanks thank you very much you're welcome so Manila is rising and these rice fields are turning into crab ponds right but here's the twist the locals are winning they've gone all in on these massive mud crabs we're talking big business millions in crabs every week the entire economy is now all about crabs these families who were once all about rice have made the perfect pivot families like Gideons are far better off now than they ever were in the past crbs and shrimp is very expensive especially nowadays so it's almost like a Better Business than rice farming that's correct and the abundance of crabs here has spawned an entire industry they're found in such abundance that they're now not just part of fancy restaurants in the region they're everywhere even fast food places have popped up like crabs and crack they're all over the region what you are paying top dollar for back home is Common Table fair in these parts I think it's a game changer and something that's going to have to continue because whatever the reason may be seawater in these regions are rising and they're continuing to devour much of the Farmland in many areas of the Philippines but if I've learned anything during my time here it's that you just don't count these guys out they will find a way to adapt whatever conditions they face thank you very much for watching guys if you have somehow made it through this giant long edit I really appreciate it and I would appreciate a subscription even more that is pretty much it for this Tripper here in the Philippines but we do have one more video coming out out an extra long video on ho to the Sama the tuang and the badou people if you enjoyed this stick around for that that is coming next week goodbye
