Ruth is a full-time writer. Foodie. Happy camper. Wanders a lot. Used to have the worst taste in men. A reformed swipe-a-holic. Reviving her blog after its death.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Food is the foundation of my relationship with Pat.
During the retreat back in college, he knocked in our room with three other boys to beg for food. Just so the girls in the room would not accuse them of being a bunch of freeloaders, they performed a special number for us. They interpreted Code Red’s “What good is a heart?” through a dance.
At the end of the performance, we were laughing so hard. We gave them all our chips from our personal stock but Pem and I had other plans for him. We chased him all over the place, swearing love for him. He got scared of our advances and hid behind a huge plant. At the end of the night, after we searched all the rooms and checked under the beds, we found him shivering in the dark. I had a two day crush on him after that.
Three years later, we went to Baguio. We shared plenty of great food there, from the Salmon Pizza of Volante to the fresh seafood of the carinderia near Burnham Park. I thought we were doing fine with our food trip until he simply refused to eat anything starting at Cafe by the Ruins. Such blasphemy was unheard of for me! Imagine him resisting the mouth-watering Pinikpikan of Ruins?
He said he had too much fattening food in his system and that water would suffice until we get home. Felice labeled him “manorexic.” It was at that moment when I took him under my wing. I called him my son, and he called me his mom. I don’t want to go into details of that phase because every time I remember, it feels I’ve committed an incestuous act now.
I would ask him every meal time if he ate his food and what did he eat. Once, he had a tummy ache and I dropped by his house to deliver a mushroom quiche from McCafe at his doorstep.
When we were starting to get to know each other better, we would go to Mr. Kabab to eat our favorite Keema with eggplant. I soon got tired of it and tried out their liver dish, I loved it.
We enjoyed eating our hearts out at Sofitel’s (then Hotel Philippine Plaza) Spiral. Though we inspect the Chinese, Indian, Italian sections, we almost always head for the Japanese section. He loves California Maki so much and I love raw fish, period.
There would be days when I would force feed him with sweets that I totally adore. From the chilled Snicker bar at a convenience store, to late-night Buko Pandan at Max’s, to Krispy Kremes (which he swears tastes like Dunkin Donuts), to Sonja’s cupcakes at Serendra to crepes named Fantastique Pinay at Breton .
Sometimes I would do the leading when it comes to places. Like the time we shared Ginaataang tilapia and Sinigang na Corned Beef at my favorite resto Sentro, or trying out the pasta and pizza of Bellini’s.
Other times, he would hold my hand as we enter new places for me. Like the sampler of Chili’s, or huge pieces of steak at Snackaroo, or the drinks at Quattro, or the tasty siopao from Kowloon House.
There are times when we would pick a random place and try out a new resto. Once when he picked me up from UP and we were heading home, Henry’s Grille caught our eyes in Teacher’s Village. We loved their Sinigang na Hipon and Calamares. But the Tofu Sisig, which was smothered with mayonnaise and cream, made us crave for more. The menu of that resto is still in my wallet.
Hygiene is an issue for us, but we don’t mind eating in a carinderia set-up. There would be two options for us when he goes to my office—Binakod that serves one mean tapa and giniling or Organic Haven that serves plenty of veggies.
There are times when we would eat with common friends. With Norman we shared Moussaka at Ziggurat, pork barbeque at Yoohoo! With Shayn, it’s calamares (his favorite), sinigang and tofu (she hates this) at Mann Hann. With Bunny and Benjie, it’s Dementia at Kooky and Luscious, chicken at Serye and steak cuts at Steak House.
Burgers from Brother’s, Kraft Eden hotdog flavor, Lourdes’s cooking, siomai from Hen Lin, barbeque from Ineng’s, party spaghetti , Max’s chicken, seafood rice in Oyster boy, Cheese floss at Bread talk, Cheese Quesadilla at Taco Bell, oooooooooooooohhhhhhhh, our favorites just go on and on.
After indulging with the gastronomic memories, Pat and I recently agreed to fast. We chose to do a lemonade diet. This diet means we would survive with lemonade, water, and tea for 10 days. No solid food!
Aaaarrrrrgghhh... I hope I survive. I know he would.
2 Comments:
ang takaw niyo ni pat! haha. pero sarap talaga kumain. if i have no problems with my weight, i would have eaten every yummy food i could get my hands into. =)
naalala ko pa yung episode na yun during our retreat. hindi kami nag-uusap ni pat sa classroom before pero super bonding talaga after their dance number. ang cute!!!
i remember our patintero game in the rooftop. yung muntik na ako malaglag. parang mga kids tayo. hehe. grabe, dun lang talaga namin nakilala nila abbie and kat ng mabuti ang fox pati yung ibang classmates natin. nakakamiss. =)
Haha! Ang hirap magdiyeta. Ako nga matagal ng obese na ata ako! Harhar!
Pem, sumama ka na ng Baguio!
Kami rin, after the retreat nag-usap usap na nakakatawa pala ang mga classmates natin, nde lang nagkakaroon ng interaction. Bentang benta mga jokes ni Abbie sa min nun!
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