Despite the long weekend, I only managed a few pages of reading and all those pages happened yesterday, the last day of the four-day weekend. The three earlier days were spent in Laguna with the family. And oh, yes, I was back in the metro last Sunday because of an event we sponsored (I was there quite very, very early -- 4:30am, in fact, as it was a golf tournament) plus church and a trip to the airport to pick-up my sis-in-law. Then after dropping off some pasalubongs with another sis-in-law in Pasig, we high-tailed it back to Laguna before dark.
And it was a rainy weekend. The kind that was conducive to just staying put, staying in bed, and playing the PSP to pass the time. And yes, there the two kids to mind, of course. Ikai wanted to always play games on the Barbie website while Issa, well, was being Issa -- scampering around the house and kidding with her lolo and lola, getting my attention by calling me by my first name only, and disturbing her ate with what she was doing. Nothing really destructive but a bit chaotic :P Both however wanted to forever watch Barney and it was a good think we packed the DVD player along.
* * * *
The rainy weather put off any urges to spend gas and hike off to Los Baños to buy "The Original" buko pie.
On any other long weekend, preferably with the sun out, we would've jumped into Big Red by morning drive some 50 kilometers away to buy several buko pies, pineapple pies, cassava cakes, and macapuno balls from that favored outlet located out of the way.
So, whatever happened to Colette's? Well, Colette's is ok but through the years, it has become commercialized that for me, it has lost its appeal. The owners of Colette's seemed to have went on a franchising spree so that you can't turn around any corner of Southern Luzon (at least in the Laguna, Tagaytay, and nearby Batangas area) without seeing the Colette's sign.
Enter "The Original" buko pie, a gem my mother seemed to have known of for quite some time (due to numerous excursions they've taken in the Pansol-Los Baños area) but which was introduced to me only a few years back.
The Orig buko pie is made from fresh coconut, is not too sweet but extremely juicy and filling. But that's not my favorite at The Orig. My favorite is their pineapple pie whose filling is made from crushed, fresh pineapple. Extremely delightful that I can finish an entire pan myself if I wasn't watching out for my sugar level.
Their cassava cake is also a blast. Again, something that's quite friendly to diabetic like me as it's made as natural as possible and the indicator that it's fairly safe (in prescribed quantities of course) to sugar-addictus like myself is that it's not really that sweet. Like they say in Filipino, hindi nakakaumay.
Unfortunately, because of the rising popularity of their products, the pies easily run out. One time I was there, a man ordered around 300 buko pies and he was bringing them back to Bulacana. This was before the 2010 election so the man said this was ordered by a barangay captain to be given away to his solid constituents. Freakin -- 300 pies! That depleted The Orig's stock for the morning and many buyers went home empty-handed, myself included.
According to the pie-makers of The Orig, they usually do just two cookings -- one in the early morning and one in the afternoon. Depending on available ingredients, they can only make so-so many pies. Hence, it's guaranteed that coming in at aroud noon to early afternoon, there won't be any buko pies left. Best time to score the buko pies would be early morning as the outlet opens at around 7am, I think.
Maybe the next time we go home and the weather permits, we'll take that 50km drive to LB and score some pies. The Original is always worth it!
* * * *
Just a reminder that the deadline for submission of your stories for the next volume of Philippine Speculative Fiction is just around the corner -- September 30, 2011.
Read the guidelines in this older post if you've got a story in your head that you wish to submit.
* * * *
I've yet to open the packaging of my copy of A Game of Thrones. I'm still working on Violette Malan's Path of the Sun. And you know what, I think I would like to get my hands on the earlier adventures of Parno Lionsmane and Dhulyn Wolfshead if possible. Despite the slow pace of this novel, it has managed to sustain my interest. And if not only for the other priorities and distractions, I would've finished this novel in no time at all.
* * * *
Will be traveling a bit this month and next. Hopefully, I can still stay connected somehow. Good day, folks!
