a bite of old memories

"isaw" (ee-saw) - a popular streetfood in the philippines; grilled chicken or pork intestines served in bamboo skewers. good source of uric acid and cholesterol, but at least you die happy and satisfied. be conscious, though, of sanitation and remember to eat only in stalls that serve the sauces in separate, disposable cups; beware of those who still practice "centralized sauce dipping" or something like that -- hepatitis and other diseases are not fun to share. finally, love the environment -- dispose of your sticks and cups properly.



i believe education is the "great equalizer" -- one that can bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. there's one other thing that comes close to this function: isaw at up campus-diliman.



i can think of two landmarks in that campus that hold the record of having the great-tasting isaw in town -- mang larry's near kalayaan residence hall, and the one at ilang-ilang.



the former has been around for a longer time. i remember doing an undergrad term paper on mang larry himself, his family, and his isaw livelihood when i was a freshman (it's that long ago, i tell you). his relatively high standards for quality ingredients and cleanliness instantly made me his fan. throughout my college years, his humble pedicab stall was my refuge when kalayaan hall -- and later molave hall -- serve terrible grub. it's where i bring my off-campus friends everytime they visit ("you haven't been to up campus if you haven't tasted mang larry's isaw!"). in the brief time that i had a girlfriend, back then, the isawan was one of our favorite dating places: romantic evenings under the stars, munching on lip-smackin' good isaw while watching people, traffic, and the show on mang larry's portable tv (tipid pa!).



yesterday, tekpipol had a rare opportunity to use a van for free (thanks ar!), so off to up campus we went. we tried the one at ilang-ilang first, but at 7pm, they were already sold out. no surprise there -- this one boasts of sauce soooo good you can drink it.



and so we ended up at mang larry's. it's been years since my last isaw pig-out session, but i held back on the urge and settled for only ten sticks (i average 40 sticks back in my college days).



except for the bigger mobile stall and more staffs systematically taking orders and cooking, mang larry's isawan hasn't changed at all. the typical human mix is still there: young and old *uboubo*, students from different schools (easily spotted by their uniforms), work drones fresh out of the offices, people and families from nearby communities as well as those arriving in cars and vans.



rodic's was our next stop for some tapsilog *yum!*. we could've proceeded to sara's to complete the nostalgic food trip with booze, but work awaits the next day.



our inuman at sara's can wait. i'm sure these landmarks will be around for a long, long time. ^_^