by: Azul Bustamante

I ADMIT, I am a self-confessed food addict and I have absolutely no intentions of changing. I will devour any dish, from the exotic Adobong Cicada that I’ve ravaged in the deep recess of Cavite to the raw Norwegian Salmon that I tasted in one of the five star hotels in Manila. I am a glutton’s glutton, and I have no shame.

But then, amidst my voracious appetite, I still crave for this one type of food that I last tasted when I was in high school. I was a sophomore back then when my uncle invited me to my home province of Bicol to celebrate the feast of Peñafrancia. By bus, reaching Bicol took a few hours; reaching Naga took another hour or so. The trip back then was grueling and long on account of the bad roads and the occasional checkpoints that were prevalent at the time. When we got to Naga, we immediately went to my lola who was more than willing to take her city slicker apo as a temporary housemate. It was here that I first tasted, please forgive my unoriginality, my version of Soul Food. My lola fed me with everything that she could think of: Murcon, Kinunot, the legendary Bicol Express, Bali Susu, Laing and other Gata based dishes. I saw, in this lifetime, what a gastronomic heaven would look like and I was happy. Then the feast day came, I saw the fluvial parade and I was awed at how my province mates adhered to the Lady of Peñafrancia. In the late afternoon, I roamed the town, and every house that I came to offered me food and drink and when I say every house, I mean every house. By the time I went home, I was holding my stomach, praying to the Lady of Peñafrancia for deliverance from my sins of gluttony and its physical effects. The next day, I went to church, then the cemetery to visit my lolo. As I walked home, I got attracted to a shopao and Maruya vendor. I took out a ten-peso bill, thinking which of the two I would get for a snack. I asked manang how much her Maruya was; she said two pesos. Shocked at how cheap it was, I asked the shopao vendor about the prices of his goodies: four pesos for large Bola Bola and one peso for an empty shopao. Needless to say, I went home satiated with Maruya and shopao, but then, during my three-day visit to Bicol, I always went home with a full stomach, which is also the case every time I would leave lola’s house.

Looking back, I discover why I consider everything I ate in Naga as food fit for the soul. It was because everything I ate was prepared with love and care. From lolas Murcon that I always ate during breakfast to Manang’s Maruya. They were all prepared not with the intent to earn money, not with the intent to feed. They were prepared for the sole purpose of making every meal as memorable as possible. They were in the truest sense: Food for the Soul.

by: nerbie

Can you still remember the time when you got your very first cassette tape? I’m sure you do unless you are not that into music. Maybe today’s Generation didn’t get the chance to own cassette tapes of their favorite singers, bands or even their fave dance groups. Hey, I can’t blame you guys since CDs virtually replaced the cassette tape format that I grew up with.

When I was in my elementary years, the first ever cassette tape that I owned was the album of Kenny Rogers “We got to night”. Please don’t think of the chicken you’ve been eating at Kenny Rogers restaurant because before that place opened, Kenny Rogers was known as a hit maker in music industry. The guy is very talented which made him one of the most admired country singers of his era. He was also known as a very good songwriter. Every time I remember those times I laugh at myself because I played that album over and over. It’s a good thing it didn’t break or warp out after almost 15 years since the first time I got hold of it.

Believe it or not I still have the album with me but sorry Kenny, I don’t play your cassette tape anymore. I’m into mp3 now. I’ve been into this new music format for almost 4 years already. But don’t feel bad Kenny (and the rest of his fans) I still have mp3 versions of some of your good songs. Yep, but this time, I only have those good songs that made it on the music hits chart.