Traveling through Time

Standing in the middle of my house in Manila, I felt my compulsion to go. To Just go. I was hungry. For food. For adventure. For experience. I step out.

I am on a plane ride to the south of Manila, to Bicol, where the coconut trees grow. The towering bodies rising to the sky as if to thank the heavens for a life fulfilled. The sight is heartwarming, green and fresh. I step inside a friend’s manor in Baao, Camarines Sur, where meals are served on banana leaves. Everything is drowning in the delicious, creamy coconut sauce with just a hint of salt for savory, and sweetness for desserts, and hyped-up by the tear-inducing spice that is Bicolano cuisine. The milky texture envelopes the tongue, and gives way to the meat. It’s a simple pleasure, but what a pleasure it is.

I am on another trip to the island of Iloilo where seafood reigns. The fish swim swiftly in the blue waters as if teasing the fishermen and guiling them into another world. The sight is endearing, cool waters under the hot sun. I step inside a street-side hut called Allan’s in Oton, Iloilo, where meals are served on plastic plates. I see the oysters being freshly shucked; I salivate over the nearing experience. Imagining the feeling of the raw, gooey oyster sliding down my throat and bringing me to the middle of the ocean, I smile. I smack my lips at the thought of having that tender, salty freshness of the seafood. An unpretentious sensuality, but sensual, nevertheless.

I am on a boat ride to Cebu, a highly-urbanized city in a different island. Gleaming on their proud concrete jungle, the few skyscrapers tower upon me, as if wanting to remind me where I live. The view is familiar, but with sounds of incomprehensible language. I step inside a big family-run restaurant called CnT in North Reclamation where meals are served cafeteria-style. The grimy walls and floor disappear when the smell of the popular Cebu Lechon wafting in the air hits you, and brings you visions of happiness. A little bite of that roasted pork skin, a deafening crackle from your lips, shatters your dreamy state. The tender meat is flavored generously with lemongrass and salt. Indulgence at its finest, extreme indulgence.

I settle back home, in Manila. But I have been nowhere but home, in the land of my birth, Philippines. I was hungry, and I was sated. A travel to any of 7,107 islands is nothing but a culinary exploration. All of these islands, pleasurable, sensual, and indulgent, and yet all Filipino.