Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

A balut egg is a nearly-developed duck embryo that is being eaten in certain Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines as a delicacy. It is most commonly sold by street vendors. To find this special egg we ventured out to Carbon market in Cebu city and soon came across the egg. I peeled the shell while my friend took photos of the process. As Westerners we felt slightly appalled by the fact that people in the Philippines eat boiled duck embryos that are still in the eggshell. But from a cultural perspective it was an experience that I would not have wanted to miss. It was just so authentic standing in a Philippine market surrounded by chickens, fish heads and busy locals. However, none of us dared to eat the egg.