A few hours before we boarded our plane back to Clark in Pampanga, we took a final walk along the streets of Kota Kinabalu and came across the remnant of an old building covered with eye-popping graffiti. To say that it was Andy Warhol-esque is a bit of an understatement. I had always been fascinated by street art, especially graffiti which, if executed with fine taste, always presented a welcome appeasement to the eyes.

I was not much of a food adventurer, I must admit. You would find me most of the time ordering the usual dishes at the office cafeteria, the tortang talong at the nearby Jollijeep, and on rare occasions delighting in KFC, McDonald's, and Jollibee. During my travels, though, I tried to become more driven to sample cuisines that were popular in the places I visited. Sometimes I did get to try, but more than a few times, due to budget constraints, I let the opportunity pass me by. Not so during my recent trip to Kota Kinabalu. I figured the chances of coming back would be more expensive, considering travel taxes and the lack of airfare promos alike. I was already there, so I might as well try to let my taste buds say hello to the dishes that were widely served around the city.

In Norse Mythology, there is a God named Heimdall, who sits at the edge of heaven and guards Asgard, which was among the "Nine Worlds" in Norse cosmology. The Cagsawa Ruins, with its bell tower sticking out from the ground where it once mightily stood—unbreakable, strong, and invisible—is at the edge of an invisible boundary of a world inhabited by the majestic Mayon Volcano.