--- type: Video title: "$1000 USD Street Food in a Philippines Hood 🇵🇭" description: Harry buys out a 7-Eleven's donut stock for a Manila settlement, then eats his way through Tondo's street stalls leaving 5,000 pesos at every one. tags: [philippines, manila, tondo, street-food, giving-back, entrepreneurship] timestamp: 2026-08-04T12:00:00Z resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKlOQfpmOY video_id: AxKlOQfpmOY upload_date: 2023-07-12 duration: 2412 --- # $1000 USD Street Food in a Philippines Hood 🇵🇭 Two giveaways in one day around [Manila](/places/manila.md), filmed with [Walid](/people/walid.md). Harry starts by buying every donut in a 7-Eleven and handing them out around a settlement — including as prizes on the basketball court — then crosses town to [Tondo](/places/tondo.md) to eat his way along the street stalls, leaving 5,000 pesos at each one. He works through sidewalk cheeseburgers, a banana hazelnut waffle, lemonade cut with Yakult, an ice cream built from every flavour in the cabinet, an ube milkshake, a 35-peso burger from a shop trading since 1993, a mango shake and a beef shawarma. What he keeps coming back to is that these are businesses people built themselves rather than taking a job, and that the food beats the chains at a twentieth of the price. By the end word has spread and he's being followed, so he cuts the day short. ## Key moments - [00:00] The plan: giveaways around the poorer areas of Manila, with Walid filming. Harry predicts he'll get swarmed the moment people hear "donuts". - [00:30] He asks the 7-Eleven staff to sell him every donut they have; the running total comes to 12.50 (from video – unverified) for around 40. - [01:36] He notes the giveaways keep escalating because viewers keep asking for them, to the point of causing a supply problem for the shop. - [03:16] The first three offers are refused — not the reception he expected. - [03:48] A group pauses the giveaway to share drinks with him instead. - [05:54] At the settlement, the kids take them, and word spreads fast: one person finds out and the rest come running. - [08:12] At the basketball court he offers a donut as the prize for scoring. - [10:25] Walid gave away cookies alongside him. - [10:52] Later, across town in Tondo, for the street food half of the day. - [11:07] Sidewalk cheeseburgers on a busy main road — cheap, and better than McDonald's by his reckoning. - [12:52] He asks to eat first and pay after, and is waved through. - [13:22] Verdict: it doesn't look like much, but a good burger is a good burger. He leaves 5,000 pesos. - [14:03] A waffle stand, where he orders banana hazelnut. - [15:15] Grace gives him free iced tea unprompted. - [15:49] Into the kitchen — the waffle maker is effectively a double frying pan, about five minutes a side. The woman making them has worked there five years, six days a week, starting at 11am. - [17:58] The finished waffle: soft banana, hazelnut and chocolate, which he rates the best he's had. - [19:03] He gives the three women 5,000 pesos to share, explicitly for working six days a week. - [19:41] A lemonade stand, where the seller adds Yakult to it. - [20:54] He buys lemonades for labourers working nearby. - [22:00] He addresses commenters who claim vendors are scamming him — pointing out these people aren't wearing shoes — before leaving another 5,000. - [22:37] An ice cream shop, House of DG. He asks for one with every single flavour and it arrives with a Magnum on top; a Magnum alone is 140. - [26:41] Another 5,000 left there. - [27:11] An ube ice cream stall making milkshakes. - [27:46] What he admires about Tondo: people set up their own shops rather than take a normal job, and the stalls are dotted everywhere. - [28:47] The vendor's ice cream machine cost 90k — Harry notes they're investing in the business, and leaves 5,000 for that reason. - [29:19] He tries, badly, to tout chicken wings for the next stall along. - [30:25] A cheeseburger from a sari-sari store at 35 pesos, made by an owner whose shop has traded since 1993 and who works from early morning to 10pm. - [31:29] Near Rizal Park he expects prices to be higher, but 35 pesos is under half a dollar. - [32:39] His verdict: as good as any burger, so why spend ten dollars at Shake Shack. Another 5,000 follows. - [33:16] A mango shake at 60 pesos with boba at the bottom, from a stall with its own branding and social accounts. - [34:56] Another 5,000, split between two staff. - [35:29] Word has spread that he's giving money away and people start following him, so he decides to move on. - [36:34] A beef shawarma for 100, built like the Turkish version. - [37:36] The stall holders laugh at their colleague's English; Harry tells them off for it, repeatedly, and defends him. - [39:30] A final 5,000 to the two who work there. ## Extracted pages - Places: [Tondo](/places/tondo.md), [Manila](/places/manila.md) - Country: [Philippines](/countries/philippines.md) - Person: [Walid](/people/walid.md) - Tips: [Reward honesty and hard work](/tips/reward-honesty-and-hard-work.md), [Try the street version of everyday services](/tips/try-street-services.md)