Everything Random

I’ve been living in Bangkok for more than three years now, and while the city is a wonderland of street food and late-night noodles, there are days when my heart misses Filipino food. Not just the place, but the food—the kind you grew up with, the kind you didn’t even realize you’d miss until you’re sitting in your Bangkok apartment wondering why nobody here sells puso or siomai with that unmistakable Harbour City sauce.

So I went home for a month’s vacation in the Philippines in early July, and one of the plans is to visit Cebu. So it finally happened on the second week and with my family and my wife’s sisters, we visited some old spots that I never get tired of.

First Stop: CnT Lechon.

I have been craving for lechon. The whole lechon – not that pork belly lechon. So we went to CnT – the more traditional one compared with Zubuchun. CnT Lechon does not disappoint. The kind where you just have to have crispy skin, fatty bits, and that vinegary dinuguan ladled beside your puso (hanging rice wrapped in palm leaves). It’s the kind of place where you eat with your hands, wipe your mouth with the back of your palm, and don’t care who’s watching. Because lechon is life, and in Cebu (and in most places in the Philippines, it’s practically religion.

Second Stop: Harbour City

While there are a lot of dimsum joints in Bangkok, some fancy and others just on the side of the street, I was craving for the familiar. So we went to harbour City. You come here for the siomai, but you stay for the iconic steamed rice—topped with that meaty, sweet-savory sauce you wish they bottled and sold by the liter. It’s noisy, it’s busy, and you’re probably seated too close to strangers. But who cares?

Third Stop: Bo’s Coffee

On my final stop, I wanted to savour again my favourite coffee jelly chocolate cake at Bo’s Coffee, when coffee shops were not yet the craze in my island. But this time, I was disappointed. The cake was too dry, and the coffee too bitter to my liking.

These places aren’t fancy. They don’t make it to glossy travel magazines or curated foodie lists. But they live rent-free in my memory. They’re the kind of things that ground you, that remind you where you’re from, and why home will always taste a little better.