Back to My Hometown

Finally after two weeks of flying and driving all over Hong Kong and the Philippines, I arrived in my hometown and stayed for just one whole day. Cray-cray, I know. So I had to use my time there wisely and this is what I did.

I woke up to breakfast on our table. Dad had brought out some grilled fish he had bought from the market and asked if I wanted apple mangoes with that. Of course yes, did he even have to ask? LOL. So he peeled one and we sat down to dine on rice and fish and mangoes with soy sauce and calamansi (lime), eating with our hands in companionable silence. I think my brother was still asleep at this point while my mom didn’t want to eat yet. Of all the food that I had eaten during my two-week vacation, I don’t know why this was my favorite meal. Maybe because its simplicity reminded me of the simple childhood meals I enjoyed with my family.

After that I had to go get my OEC stuff sorted out, and after that was all done, I dropped by the only decent mall that we had in the city while I was growing up – Mindpro Citimall. I grabbed a quick late lunch at Greenwich, which was my favorite pizza place.

When I was in high school, my then bestfriends Imee, Lyn, and I would share one double hawaiian pizza once in a while. This time around, I ordered a solo ultimate special overload with a chocolate pearl cooler. Boy, did that hit the spot!

I went around the mall for a bit for some good old reminiscing and was delighted to find that most of my favorite old shops were still at their usual places – Chris & Lyke, Palace, Wearhouse, Klong-Klong, Bloomingdales, Chinitos. I noticed something new at the second floor food court, though – there were rows of kiosks that sold food up there now. I bought a buko shake (coconut smoothie) at this one:

Then I dropped by the grocery store to buy some treats for my friends back in Singapore.

I then left Mindpro to head for Myrna’s Bakeshop, the most popular pastries place in the city. When I was a student we used to head for their original shop, the one in downtown, during “activity hour” (4:30 – 5:30 pm every MWF, kept free so that clubs can hold meetings or students can rest) to buy beehives. This time around I headed to their newer and more spacious branch in Pasonanca where I met up with Singapore-based friends Elma and Marie Ann.

Elma was on maternity leave then while Ann was back in our hometown for good. They were the ones we had thrown a joint celebration party for last time. Elma gave birth to a healthy baby boy (her first) the week after this meet-up.

I was confused as to what to order because they have lots of cakes which all looked delicious, but in the end, I chose my old fave, which never disappoints. The mocha was yummy too.

Myrna’s Bake House beehive and mocha

Ann drove me to my next stop – Hai San, where I was having dinner with college classmates. Hai San used to be the most expensive restaurant in the city. I don’t know if that was at all true, and if it still is. The reason it’s expensive is because they keep the seafood live in giant aquariums, and you pick which one you want them to cook for you and what way you want it cooked. This was what we ordered. I let them pick the food, my only choice was green mango, which is my favorite fruit.

Seaweed with century egg salad

Green mangoes with bagoong

Chopsuey or stir-fried vegetables

Steamed fish

Lobster salad

We all chose different colored fresh fruit shakes, which was terribly amusing to me. Guess which one’s mine? 😀

The restaurant looks incredibly simple, no? Not at all like something that is supposed to be the most expensive restaurant in the city. I enjoyed all the delicious fresh food as well as the engaging conversation.

The next morning, my entire family had breakfast together. Dad cooked the meal, just like old times. He even made my favorite dish – kilawing tanguigue! It’s raw fish mixed with vinegar and spices and the meat kind of gets cooked by the vinegar’s acidity.

After that, the parents brought me to the airport in a tricycle. We don’t have taxis there, see. The tricycles are crazy-expensive like taxis, too, though, and the worst part is, they don’t have meters, so the charging is so arbitrary.

And that’s it. This finally concludes my blogs for my 2-week vacation from last month! About time, too, since it’s about to be August. :-/