#karinderya

You are the owner of the last karinderya in the world, a quiet little restaurant lit by tungsten lights and filled with cheap monoblock chairs and plastic tables. Once, your corner was filled to the brim with noise and life, with butchers hacking away at pig jowls and vegetable salesmen elbowing each other to show off their greenest ampalaya. Tricycles ambled their way down the street as the tell-tale slapping of tsinelas hit the street, while the children played basketball in jerry-rigged hoops. Now? Now you live in a future of neon colors and pill intakes.

Turo-Turo is a game made in the Philippines about an increasingly digitized, gentrified world. It's a little journaling game about what it means to see the world change and still stay the same. It's about food and how it brings people together, even if society would see them fall apart. It's my love letter to the karinderya across the street where I've spent lunch after lunch with my coworkers.

roromusic2009  

(photo credit goes to  roromusic2009 from Photobucket) Okay, this blog post is the result of my late-night craving for fried chicken that made me go out and look for something to eat at this ungodly hour.

Ah the Pinoy karinderya. It has been one of the lasting staples of our culture. For me, I would consider this as the local version of the American diner. You gotta admit, it has great similarities.

Home-cooked meals, fair prices, a homey ambiance and of course, accessible to anyone. However, unlike diners where meals are mostly cooked on the spot, food on a karinderya are already cooked. Only left for you to do is to point out which viand (ulam) you want to go with your rice. Hence its popular nickname “turo-turo”.

Eating in a karinderya can be quite enjoyable. Especially if:

A.) It’s the closest source for a hot meal B.) You’re a foodie-hipster C.) You appreciate and love home-cooked food D.) You’re broke and this is the only one you can afford

Karinderyas and Tapsihans tend to overlap but let me present it to you this way. All Tapsihans are karinderyas but not all Karinderyas are Tapsihans (clear enough? okay).

Great thing about this Philippine version of eatery is it allows a wide selection of food for you to eat. From the always mentioned “Adobo” to more local specialties like “Sisig”, “Sinigang” and other pinoy food you can think of. What’s more, it usually comes with free  unlimited “sabaw”! Or soup if you want to sound more posh.

Aba! akala mo kung sino naman 'tong gagong 'to! Maka-react kala mo affected masyado. Nawawalan tuloy ako ng ganang magluto. Kasi hindi naman sya kasama sa problema namen, tapos sya pa ang wagas kung mag-react! Baket ganun 'yung ibang tao? Ano ba 'to, connected yung buhay nung isa sa buhay nila ? Huwow! hiyang hiya naman yung mga siamese twins sainyo! Eh sila nga pinipilit na paghiwalayin tapos kayo pinipilit nyong idinidikdik ang sarili nyo sa buhay ng iba.

Anong tawag dun? Tinapang kailangan lagi ng suka para umasim? Ang baboy mo! Dapat sayo tuhugin at ihawin para naman mahiwalay lahat ng langis sa katawan mo. Yung spaghetti nga, yung sause nakahiwalay pa kasi alam nilang mapapanis agad pagnakahalo na! Panis ka ba? Tapos ikaw, singdikit ng dikya kung kumapit. Aba! aba! aba! baka gusto mong gawin kitang sapal ng niyog para naman matapon ka na kaagad kapag wala ka nang katas.

Labas ka na nga sa usapan di ka pa maging sabaw, at least yun libre at nakadagdag pa sa lasa. Ang bantot mo para kang bagoong, buhusan kita ng maraming sili jan eh. Try ko lang kung kaya mong tiisin pag ginisa kita sa kumukulong mantika. Ang asim mo na nga, may toyo ka pa sa utak.

Gago ka ba? Batuhin kaya kita ng manggang hilaw? Sana naman iupgrade mo yung sarili mo di yung para kang NFA na bigas,

........dapat yung dinorado hindi yung inidoro,......

........dapat yung blue eagle hindi yung basang sisiw o yung bugok na itlog ang amoy.........

Tapos magsasalita ka parang wala namang relasyon sa pinag uusapan namen, ang babaw mo! Mag gulay ka nga paminsan minsan at para naman mag kalaman yang kukute mo. Sing-itim na nga ng pwet ng kaldero yang balat mo, tapos sing-babaw pa ng platito yang pag iisip mo. Para kang sebo, kahit ilang beses na kitang tinatanggal di ka parin makaalis alis. Ang tibay mo.............