DRY LAND, DEEP FRIED EGGS, AND SOUTHERN COMFORT

Yes, that's a deep-fried, hard-boiled egg.

After 12 days on a sailboat (much more on that later), we could not be happier to be back on dry land, particularly since that terra firma is the Philippines.

While there are so, so many reasons for our joy, one of the main ones is the food. Before we left home, people told us not to have high expectations about eating here. A well-traveled friend even suggested bringing our own salt, pepper, and Tabasco.

While not every meal's one to blog about, we've had much worse in other spots around the world. And today, we found something neither of us had heard of, despite our extensive time spent at county fairs and the Deep South.

Deep-fried, hard-boiled eggs.

It's like the Easter Bunny got a Fry Daddy and a southern accent for Christmas and went buck wild. There's even a shop selling these delicacies in the main grocery store of the port town Maasin, where we made port late yesterday (yes, we were supposed to land in Cebu, many hours west of here; that's another story). Liz and I had our fill. Then we had some more. 

After binge-ing on fried foods and any drink with an ice cube in it, we hit the supermarket itself. Wow. This place was amazing, at least to two landlubbers at the end of a near two-week odyssey at sea. 

There was electricity, air conditioning, rum, and all the fresh water we could drink. Unadulterated madness. To top it off, we both even found a new favorite brand of chips, each of the pork-flavored variety, naturally.

All these modernities and over eating wore us out. Imagine our elation when, down a side street we saw a beacon of light gleaming with the words "Southern Comfort Pension." Kip knocked over two moto drivers and an aging water buffalo to discover what was a clean, quiet hotel with ocean view and AC for $10. The lady behind the counter even promised the place wouldn't rock in bad weather.

We've booked three nights but may stay a week.