Food: Squidball+isaw+fruitshakes+sunken garden+many stories

Last Friday, my officemates and I were finally able to go to UP for a food trip. It was also a sort of "tour" for two colleagues. (My other officemate is a UP graduate; I am currently studying in UP). On our way to the Shopping Center, my officemate was sharing some stories about her UP days. It sounded more like an historical account, although she graduated only a few years back. Though I am taking my masters here, I think an undergrad experience of UP is still something different. It wasn't just a school for her; it seems like it was home too, the way I would talk about Ateneo, where I finished my undergrad and have been working for more than 4 years already.

At the shopping center, first stop was the fishball stand right in front of the SC. I'm not a fan of fishball, so I ordered squidball. Hmm, ang sarap ng squidball nila. Malasa at siksik, hindi puro hangin. Yung iba kasi pag sinawsaw mo na sa suka, parang bolang naubusan ng hangin--lumiliit talaga.

Next stop was the fruitshake stand inside SC. My officemates tried different combinations of fruits and vegetables. But ever since my officemate brought the cheese+avocado shake to our office, I remained in love with it. No reason to order anything else.


(Photo courtesy of my officemate, Grace)

Next stop was isaw. Halos lahat ng klase kumuha kami: isaw manok, isaw baboy, balunbalunan, atay, etc. Mula natuto ako sa mga kaibigan ko, laging ang sawsawan ko na ay "halo"--pinagsamang matamis na sawsawan at maanghang. Mas masarap kesa maanghang lang o kaya matamis lang.

To make the food trip more special, we brisk-walked to the Sunken Garden. Well, we were already both hungry and excited. Pasaway nga eh. We were passing by joggers, and my colleagues were like: "Hmm, ang sarap sarap ng isaw." Sorry nalang sa mga nagddiet. Pagbigyan na, masaya lang kami. :)

After what seemed like a long time, we finally reached the Sunken Garden and sat on the grass, under branches of big, old trees which partly covered our view of a star-lit sky, with lovers at the bench at our backs, under the tree on our left, and everywhere in the field in front of us.

We shared stories--of course, two officemates who are in relationships shared sweet stuffs their partners told them or did for them. I and another officemate, also single, listened (haha, and tried not to be bitter) and shared other, non-romantic stories too.

I loved the food. But I think what I loved more about the food trip was the fact that I have people to share simple joys with. I'm grateful for that.