Yes, it is absolutely more 'pan' (bread) in the Philippines, so to speak!
Most Filipinos have sweet tooth. And I am one of them. Like everyone else, I grew up enjoying different kinds of breads, cakes, and other sweet pastries and delicacies.
(As usual, my domestic in-flight snacks of
'salab' and mamon from El Ideal)
That's why when I fly home, I make sure I get to enjoy all of them, plus a few other favorites. I really don't mind gaining more weight. After all, it's only my luggage that gets weighed in at the airline's check-in counter, and not me. Ha-ha-ha!
(Brunch at Bizu in Greenbelt 3! Thanks, Tina!)
(Macaroons from Bizu!)
And while I usually enjoyed chocolate cakes, brazo de mercedes, ensaimadas, fruit cakes and other sugary recipes on land, I also bring my own snacks on my flights back to Manila and then to Seoul, to make sure my enjoyment continues...up there at 30,000 feet, or higher!
(Puto kutsinta and
ready-to-fly-to-Korea ube halaya!)
(Dolor's sapin-sapin and
Cafe Mary Grace's chorizo and green olive pasta!)
My check-in luggage would always be full with sweets, aside from my clothes and toiletries. Perhaps, if the Customs would x-ray my suitcase, they'd always find that half of it is garments, and the other half is...diabetes. Ha-ha-ha! But I can only bring so much, which would only last for a couple of weeks.
(Checking in my luggage with all my brazo de mercedes and sweets; my weight allowance was 30 kilos.)
(A sunny afternoon flying out from Manila to Seoul)
(The best in-flight snacks ever: turon, sapin-sapin and Jamaican beef patty. And soda with ice, of course!)
But thanks to thoughtful friends, I am able to enjoy these goodies in Seoul a few times in a year. And just last week, I enjoyed the best cheese rolls in the Philippines again! Thanks to Cielo and Mary Grace for bringing me some Mary Grace cheese rolls, suman and banana chips. A shout-out also to Marlu for the Salazar hopia, which I'm digesting as I upload this blog. Ha-ha-ha!
(And maybe Salazar hopia and
Bizu macaroons before landing.)
(And I won this pouch during CebuPac's in-flight game!)
Just like the cool spring weather in Korea, these delights are always welcome any day...and night! I sometimes microwave a piece of the ube-pinipig suman for midnight snacks! The cheese rolls were reserved for breakfast and a pack of the Salazar hopia was for afternoon snacks.
(Mary Grace cheese rolls arriving in Seoul!)
(Mary Grace cheese rolls as breakfast in Korea)
Although there are also a lot of sweet delicacies and fancy pastries here in Seoul, having these goodies I enjoyed growing up is an entirely different thing on its own. The local desserts and snacks here just can't compare.
From ensaimadas to otap to piaya to panara; let's throw in bibingka, barquillos and empanada, puto manapla and hopia...I could go on and on, but I'm salivating now! I have to stop! Ha-ha-ha!
With all that variety of baked, steamed or fried goodies, it's indeed more pan in the Philippines!
(Mary Grace goodies arrive in Seoul!)
My college friends, Rayri, Margot and Jane, and I always gather here whenever we have our Christmas reunion. It's our favorite cakeshop in Bacolod City.
(As Marie Antoinette notoriously exclaimed,
"Let them eat cake!")
What we love about Calea is that they have a lot of different cakes. From cheese cakes, to yummy chocolate cakes, and even sans rival in butter and mocha flavors! They also have pies and sandwiches.
It seems that, because Negros has a lot of sugar to spare, everyone here knows how to make desserts, and everyone here loves to enjoy these desserts; my favorite of which is brazo de mercedes, Spanish for 'arm of Mercedes'. She must have a delicious arm!
On my next visits, I am going to try those other cakes on the display for a change. But the problem is, if I could not just get a slice, I may have to buy the whole cake!
And that means, I will have to share it. Ha-ha-ha!
Last January, I was able to bring to Seoul Mary Grace's truffle cake which I put inside plastic container. I wonder if this time, I can bring back to Seoul a Calea cake, or a slice of it?
(They make sandwiches, too!)
(Our take-home chocolate cake!)
(A trio of happy Calea customers)
