buko moments

One nice thing about living on your own is that you finally (finally!) get to really learn how to cook. Or in my case, it would be to find the best place to eat, somewhere cheap, near the office and has food reminiscent of my mom's delicious cooking.

During my first two weeks at Selrahco, I had to be contented with tiangge-like fare at a row of carenderias in Escario. I had no problem with tiangge-like fare at all; but I also preferred something not so commercialized (miniscule pieces of dark porkchop probably fried on recycled cooking oil) or too salty.

Then I had the good idea of cooking my lunch. Egad. I even bought a pack of five tupperware things so I could bring my baon to the office. My baon, you ask? Baked macaroni (I just boiled the macaroni and put in Pinoy-style spaghetti sauce). It was okay at first, until I realized I left my food half-finished in my plate while surfing the net, prolonging the "agony" of finishing my cooking.

I was very fortunate enough to find Manong Robert's carenderia, hereafter named "My favorite carenderia". Not only was the cook TESDA-schooled in cooking, he also does not scrimp on the ingredients, and changes the prices according to the prices of the ingredients. Like vegetable dishes are not only P15 all throughout, it's P10 for kalabasa and P15 for chopsuey or some such thing.

And the place is really clean, with (you better believe it) classical music piped in. There's even a Van Gogh print on the wall!

Still though, the place is really good for me, especially with my junkfood tendencies. I think I lost too much weight here in Cebu already that I even once resorted back to my senior high school weight just before marching for graduation in Silliman this March. My sister rags me on my eating habits. My mom wrinkles her forehead in despair. Now at least I can present My Favorite Carenderia in all its shining glory. Even foreigners eat there now. The food there, in a little carenderia in Gorordo, is that yummy.

I might be gaining back my weight now, but I'm happy. It's all good.

(The post is entitled buko moments because I originally wanted to rant about how, when I was buying fresh buko juice and coconut meat from a sidewalk vendor in Gorordo while coming from My Favorite Carenderia, a humongous smoke-belching truck spewed out black smoke right in front of my open buko plastic. Tralala I know but I was pissed off. I hate smoke belchers. But I leave that for a later post, maybe when I get involved in rallies or something.hehe.)