Panauhing Pandangal (Guest of Honor)
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Lapu Lapu is a usual centerpiece of banquets and the hosts intend to have that attraction
last until the end of the day. More or less, if you're not the guest of honor you are likely not
welcome to take a piece.
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One of the most abala moments of employees' lives is when they're going to have visitors in the office. I learned about that way back as a child. My mother used to be ngarag on those times. One of the last times she did was when my father told her to prepare a banquet for Ms. Cynthia Villar around the time Sen. Manny Villar was planning to run for President on his first try. They were roaming around the province and my father was supposedly few of the people that the entourage was going to meet.
I remember that we were already at hard times then but had prawn and crabs as prepared meals for them.
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Oftentimes, that is one of the things I imagine to experience once I get to realize my dream to become a successful person - maging panauhing pandangal, as they say. My wife used to be a boss in her office. We get special treatment on fiestas of her subordinates. I sort of figured out that there are dishes served to us which kept from other ordinary visitors.
I am still an ordinary government employee but in some ways there are instance that I do get special treatment. I do fieldwork in some government offices and being offered to have coffee never fails to excite me. Just the offer. I have the conscious effort to decline. I was properly briefed by my mentors. Arriving at your itineraries at lunch time is such an awkward situation. Avoid doing that. I hope people take it positively that I am notorious in turning down offers to have lunch.
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Fast forward to present. I'm amazed how the team in our office works every time we have visitors. In my early years in the office I don't take part in those instances. It was only last month that I got so involved. I must have been their apprentice. For few reasons, I was tasked to arrange for the preparation of food for the visitors from the Central Office. I was in charge not only to transact with the caterer but I also had a say on choosing the dishes. There were few instructions.
1. The guests are from Manila and we are in Bataan, they are likely to expect seafood in the menu.
2. Make sure to have pork, chicken, fish and vegetable so that if some of the guests do not eat one of them, they still have other options.
3. The guests are our bosses. The objective is not only to satisfy them but also (sorry for the term) to impress them. Lapu-lapu is usually a banquet's centerpiece - make sure to have that as part of the objective to impress.
4. Lastly, expense is the last concern because aside from the food, we have to accomplish what would be required of us from their official business.
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| Tortang alimasag. |
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| We ran out of idea for chicken. We settled for the basic - fried chicken. |
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We ran out time for the preparation of a desert. We also fear that the caterer
would if we ordered a salad. Banana is healthy. Last minute request from the
caterer was mixed-fresh fruit which is not in photo.
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| headshot for the torta. |
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Shrimps which is the basic hipong puti. Not prawn. It has white-soft meat
unlike prawns which have thicker texture of meat.
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We did not hear much response about the food from our guests. They must have been used to being treated specially or they were just so focused on the purpose of the visit. What I am definite about was that we enjoyed also the food - even the day after. Sobrang dami kong nainum na sago hanggang kinabukasan.
Going back to my first story, Mrs. Villar did rounds in Bataan that scheduled date but the meeting with my dad never happened. I don't not know where have the prawn and crabs gone.
RECENT FOOD TRIP 2: Buko Sorbetes, Binalot, Fruit shake
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This is the new place in Angeles which I have yet to know what it's called. It's sort
one-stop dining area where you can find almost all restaurants in the city.Middle: It's selfie basically because my wife does not like taking picture. The shot with dramatic light effect was not intentional. Right: the condiments at Binalot Restaurant. The vinegar is authentic cane vinegar. |
Last weekend we were invited to a birthday party which we don't know how to get to the venue. We decided not to push though and my son got so upset. The good thing about it is that we'll have more time to go malling instead of being confined in a party waiting for the games and show to be finished.
The things we imagined to do that day were - eat out, stroll, buy elmo's school uniform, let him play in a pay-playground and have dinner at the new Dainty. She thought that it is an additional dainty restaurant. We found out that the old one has been closed for the new one since they are both in the Nepo area. I have yet to know the name of the place. It is sort of the summary of the restaurants in Angeles - found in one place.
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The queque was intriguing. We dared to find out if the
long line is worth it. We had an order of coco-sorbetero
in a coconut shell.
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| Left and Right:Ang binalot at ang tinalupan. |
We settled for Binalot. There's a back story of how we decided to dine there. There was a binalot stall (not a restaurant) outside Nepo Mall. On one of our visits, my wife was too excited to find such. She was so upset when the waitress told us that everything was out of stock. Months later we are seated on a newly open Binalot restaurant which was last weekend. I like the interior design. The seats and tables are classic. The design is Filipino which is a must for a traditional Filipino binalot. I just find some parts of the place to be high maintenance. The ceiling is adorned with baskets and other weaved articles which are prone to dust. The wash area is an old poso. The pump is real but the function is not. Customers might need assistance from the crew to find out how it works. I like the counter table and its background which is made of pieces of wood put together as collage wall. I don't have pictures. My wife told me not to take pictures. The sound of my camera phone is distracting to other patrons.
I had bagoong rice and pork. My wife had adobo. Both binalot. I love the serving. Lots of rice means there no need to have separate order for my son. The serving comes with salted egg -the oily/greasy type that I like. We even had extra order of itlog na pula. What I really love about the food is that the taste of the dishes are ordinary - no more, no less. If adobo and bagoong pork were done with a twist, it no longer passes as authentic Filipino food. We are on tight budget so we had service water.
Ultimately, I love their vinegar. My mother used to travel a lot for work. Most of these, she brings home vinegar of that place. One of them tastes like what they have in the restaurant.
On our walk towards the parking area, we chanced upon friends who just came from the party. They asked us why we did not attend. We don't know where the venue is.
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Last Sunday, we were in Marquee Mall but agreed to have dinner at home. We're in for a light snack but for a not-so-light priced bread in Breadtalk. We usually have P15 donuts on ordinary days and Breadtalk goodies for special days. Last Sunday was special. We were so busy choosing the best valued-bread when we found out elmo was not seating in the dining table as we expected him to be. We found him in the playground so we settled to have our snack on the fountain area. We are familiar with tea stalls but the fresh fruit shake stall is new to us. I had to probe first if the flavors are powdered or real fruit. We ordered right away from combination of fruits as found in the menu. You could have two kinds of fruits in one shake. Papaya, Orange, Mango, Apple, Banana, Melon and Watermelon. The options had to be trimmed down to few when most of the fruits were not available. They even had this one fruit but the crew does not want to peel it at that time.
I just love fresh fruit shake. The experience compensated for the inefficiencies.
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