A Foodaholic's Vignettes Of The Past Part I

I've been trying to recall how my love affair with food started because there are times when daughter asks me about it.

Hmmmm ... having a senior moment now- help!

But I'll try. One of my best memorable food and restaurant experience was at the restaurant of Good Earth Emporium. Ayan, buking na my age! hahaha. Anyways, Good Earth Emporium was a nice department store along Avenida (near Carriedo) in Manila. Aside from being a department store, it also had a sort of arcade with rides and a carousel (hope I'm not mistaken here or maybe I'm thinking about Quad?). Anyways, there's this restaurant inside Good Earth Emporium (not sure if its called the same, too) that serves Chicken-in-a-basket. This was my favorite and one of my most memorable food experience. The fried chicken pieces was served in a basket, hence the name. I love going to the Good Earth Emporium with my father especially on Saturdays because he usually brings me to his office along Avenida. And while he did his work, I was left to play with pens and papers and there's the promise of lunch or dinner at Good Earth or Quan Yin Chay in Soler Street.

Bonding Time With Sweet Kiamoy


I was still working for Sofitel (more than a decade ago!) when I discovered this yummy kiamoy covered in crystal (sugar).

Being a kiamoy lover--- I used to chew them happily whenever I went to my mother's school. There's this old lady, Aling Lourdes who sold all kinds of pasalubong munchers. From kakanin, to cornick, to fish cracker, to kiamoy and champoy (the black hairy cousin).

I used to hoard (yes, hoard) the store's Crystal Ball (that's what they call the crystal kiamoy). My partner-in-crime, Ailyn and I were a regular fixture at that store come lunchbreak and after office ended for the day. The crystal ball was also a favorite whenever we have a Friday Night gimik.

So after a decade and a few years, while hubby and I are prowling the streets of Chinatown for something to eat, I spied crystal ball perched on top of a store's shelf. At P50/pack (it has about 10-12 pieces of the yummy kiamoy candy), I think the price doubled when I was still buying it more than a decade ago, hehehe. But who am I to complain? Prices are going up nowadays!