Where in the world can eating at least 4-5 times a day ( outside the essential meals ) a regular past time? Philippines of course, where this art of snacking ( whether healthy or not ) is abbreviated to merienda.
After a light breakfast, I already started feeling the heat of the day. I heard the chime of the ice cream cart; the vendor just started his round, and I didn't know when I'd see him again so I convinced my cousin to get us some ice cream.
She went to work, while her husband, and my other cousin got ready to climb the 3003 steps of Linabo peak ( highest in Dipolog City ). During Holy Week, tons of Catholics would make a pilgrimage here to pray and relive the 14 Stations of the Cross ( dying like Jesus as they climb to the top ). After reaching the 3003rd step, we found a rest area and had bananas and cheese sandwiches to recharge.
Although going down is easier ( gravity on our side ), our knees still shook. Drenched in sweat, all I could think of was eating something sweet and cold, so we got HALO-HALO.
It was mid-day, and the heat was still stifling. On our way home, we got Banana-Q ( caramelized plantains ), and sugared bananas. We'd eat them later after our siesta ( nap ), and while watching telenovelas ( reading was an option also ).
We picked up my cousin and went to the Boulevard to watch the sunset. In the gloaming, we had mango smoothie with evaporated milk and balot ( 16 days old unhatched chick boiled in salt water ).
Balot is like an instant chicken noodle soup sans the vegetables. You crack it open and sip the broth. Any conceivable chicken parts ( head, eyes, beak, neck, etc ) are like limp pasta noodles easy to slurp. The rest is like a regular hard boiled egg except the yellow part is tastier, and the white part is gummier/chewier. It can be disgusting if you think about it too much, so swallow Weird Al Yankovic's words and, "just eat it!"
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| Left: Caribow in rice field, house in Linabo Peak, view from Linabo Peak |
A friend of ours recently had a 'nightmare' that she cracked open two eggs for breakfast and there were about thirty tiny feet suspended in the uncooked yolk and white. This preceded going into the living room and seeing blood dripping from the ceiling.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm sure Freud would have something to say about this, I laughed because of my affinity for chicken feet for breakfast. Sounds like the making of a good meal. One man's nightmare is another's banquet, it seems. I can't wait to tell her about balot!
True like another man's trash can be another man's treasure... I'm not sure if you're aware... here in the Philippines those chicken feet are called addidas ( fun pun referring to the sneakers )... they smell good, but I never got used to eating them...
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