Posts Tagged ‘pandora’
THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURES OF BOKTOR AND PANDORA IN LEGAZPI, ALBAY (continued)
Alam mo…
The phrase alam mo literally means “you know” in the Filipino language and is used as an informal introduction to stories (usually gossip) told verbally to friends. Often times, the phrase is said when the person telling the story is excited to tell it. So, I start this story by saying alam mo…
When Boktor and I arrived in Legazpi, Mr. Ketel told us that he made reservations at a popular restaurant for lunch. According to Mr. Ketel, this restaurant is usually full and we cannot get seats without reservations. So, I turned around and excitedly told Boktor that we were going to a restaurant that not everyone gets to go to. Then, I asked Mr. Ketel the name of the restaurant but he could not remember what it was called. I was intrigued.
On our way there, Mr. Ketel told us that the restaurant was actually an eatery in a house. Boktor later told me that when he heard that the restaurant was in a house, he assumed that the place we were going to was like a Sonia’s garden or that house in Urdaneta where Chef Laudico serves gourmet food.
As we got closer to the restaurant, Mr. Ketel informed us that the owners of the house were the cooks and waiters. When I asked him what kind of food was served, Mr. Ketel said that the food is lutong bahay (home cooked food). After hearing this, I had a strange feeling that this restaurant was not at all what Boktor expected it to be.
After a few minutes of driving through narrow one-way lanes, our driver stopped at a non-descript area full of small houses built side-by-side like jigsaw puzzles. Mr. Ketel then led us through a narrow alleyway, and before the dead-end, he pointed to a door to the right that had a sign that read “Alamo’s Eatery Please Come In”.
THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURES OF BOKTOR AND PANDORA IN LEGAZPI, ALBAY
Boktor (not his real name) and I went to Legazpi, Albay.
It was Boktor’s first time in Legazpi and he was excited about the trip. It was my second time in Legazpi. I was not excited. We were to stay in Legazpi only over night and I did not expect to see much of the place.
Also, my memories of my first Legazpi trip were not so good. At that time, I was forced to take a ten-hour land trip from Manila to Legazpi as my flight was canceled due to bad weather. After that long trip, I only stayed in Legazpi for less than an hour.
This time, I was really not exited about the trip.
The flight to Legazpi
On my way to the airport, I got a text message from Boktor telling me that the client representative, Mr. Ketel (not his real name), advised us to bring jackets because it was raining in Legazpi. Oh, no!!! Thoughts like “Will the flight be canceled?” and ” Will I be forced to take a ten-hour land trip again?” immediately came to mind. I was really really not excited about the trip.
When I got to the airport, the ground attendant told me that our flight would not be canceled. Phew.
Meanwhile, I learned that before the plane lands at the Legazpi Airport, it flies along side Mt. Mayon, a perfect cone-shaped active volcano and the main attraction of Albay. I was assigned a window seat on the left-side of the plane and discovered that this is the best place to get a view of the volcano. Unfortunately, clouds shrouded Mt. Mayon and I was only able to see its tip.
PANDORA’S VALENTINE SPECIAL
As part of my Valentine’s Special, I am sharing with you one of my favorite poems called Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines by Pablo Neruda. The first time, I read it (eons ago), I wished someone felt this way about me. So, here it is -
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, ‘The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.
What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.
The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.
Another’s. She will be another’s. Like my kisses before.
Her voice. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.
THE PANDORAS CAMBODIAN FOOD TRIP (continued)
The Soup Dragon
On the day we went to the Silk Farm, we asked Tony out for lunch and he recommended that we eat at the Soup Dragon. The Soup Dragon is a casual dining restaurant that serves Khmer, Thai and Vietnamese food. It is located beside the Old Market in that part of town that tourists usually visit. The waitresses were friendly and accommodating. I felt very relaxed at the Soup Dragon.
We were given a table at the second floor veranda that overlooked the street. As we were starving when we got there, we over-ordered. Of the six or seven dishes we ordered, I was only able to sample the Beef Loklak, Vietnamese spring rolls and a Khmer dish of chicken in sour pandan broth. Of course, I ate all those dishes with steaming moist white rice. My favorite dish was the beef Loklak, which surprised me. There was nothing unusual about the stir fried tender strips of beef but eating it with the dip made of lime juice salt and ground black pepper made the dish extraordinary. The tangy taste of lime and the spicy pepper gives the beef a refreshingly usual flavor and it opened my taste buds. There is no taste quite like it. If you are looking for a cozy place to eat a hearty meal, I suggest you eat at the Soup Dragon.
TWO PANDORAS IN CAMBODIA
If Cambodia is a jar, what would it contain? This was the question that my friend, Padma, and I asked ourselves before embarking on our journey to Cambodia.
Padma, of course, is also a Pandora and even more inquisitive than me.
Padma and I grew up in Baguio and were friends since we were six. We went to the same grade school, joined the same clubs and shared our secrets and angst. As adolescents, we survived our parents’ wrath and an earthquake together. Until our journey to Cambodia, we never traveled together. For years, Padma and I discussed traveling together but that was all talk. It was not until a dear friend of ours died that we realized we should stop talking and just go.
Other than deciding where to go and booking our flights and accommodations, I was unprepared for the trip. I started packing on the day we were leaving and it never occurred to me to bring a camera. Thus, unless otherwise stated, all the pictures of Cambodia on this blog were taken by Padma who allowed me to post them. Click on this, if you want to know more about Padma.