Chicken, rice, and noodles

K. texted S. for lunch advice and S. said, Come on over! The school was having a curriculum meeting which meant ordering in lunch and there was enough for us, especially after a colleague gave us the chicken she didn’t eat with her own meal. We ate at S.’s desk as she brought people by to say hello. There can’t be many friends of S.’s who I haven’t met yet. 

 

Barbecued chicken

We hopped in a car to the SIDCOR Sunday market where I quickly confirmed that the heat and crowds of outdoor fairs are not my scene all over the world. Couldn’t beat the company, though! I grabbed a table and K. got me a chicken skewer and it was so great to be reunited with S., who shares my feelings about the outdoor fair: nope. 

 

Chicken satay and rice

We went up to the very top of the mountain and ate at a cafe and I tried to take photos of the view but there just wasn’t any capturing the cavernous green. I guess I’ll just have to remember all this. 

 

Glass noodles with shrimp

We got booted from the library for the lunch hour so walked over to the cafe and ate and talked and took selfies and S. saw someone she knew. She always sees someone she knows. Does she know everyone in Luzon?

 

Mahi mahi with rice and a San Mig

S. took us to Cafe Vallejo in Baguio for lunch, site of the US colonial summer getaway. Excellent choice. We all ate huge plates and then ate dessert and took a bunch of selfies and met a poet S. knows who was in the restaurant too and I had a beer and it was a fantastic day in the Philippines. 

 

Filet o fish meal

No filet o fish has ever been devoured with more pleasure than the filet o fish I devoured at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. 

 

Rice with chicken and pork skewers

We went to the biggest mall in Iloilo and even though McDonald’s was an option I went with the mass market mall version of Filipino food. Rice and meat, rice and meat. To be honest I am longing a bit for a kale salad. 

 

Pork chop with rice

I can’t say the eatery in Igdapdap was totally comfortable for me. I am not an adventurous eater. But a pork chop with rice is a pork chop with rice, even nine thousand miles from home. 

 

Yum with cheese meal

We took the ferry from Bacolod to Iloilo and then we needed to get a ferry to Guimares. There are two ports in Guimares, two ferry terminals in Iloilo. We asked our cab driver and he told us the port we were leaving, and then he drove us to the other port, where the woman at the ticket window told us to go back to where we had come from. We called uncle and went into the mall and availed ourselves of air conditioning and wifi. I ate at Jollibee, K. got a rice and egg dish from a stall. I would have liked it better if she hadn’t squirted a bunch of mayonnaise over the top. 

 

Hazelnut and banana croissant and apples

Still turned upside down from jet lag lunch was what I ate around the middle of this time zone, anceoissant on the way to Bacolod, some apples from home at the airport.