Tambay

Sa may eskina Banawa, Cebu - Whenever I get bored hanging out in malls and cafes where everything seems glorified, nothing beats having a walk in my neighborhood. I consider myself lucky to be able to indulge in an all-time favorite Filipino pastime - tambay. Clad in my shorts, t-shirt and tsinelas, I took with me enough ammunition of loose change and headed towards eskina Banawa.

I decided to skip my daily breakfast of probiotics with fresh fruit and vegetable juices and headed over to Jollibee where I had a piece of pancake from Dr. Frasier's set meal while eyeing the pirated DVD's for sale on my right and the display of budbud and puto across the street where the market is. What ever happened to the good old freshly baked pan de sal dunk in kape barako? Or suman, mangga and sikwate? It is just amazing how people would gladly pay for a simple meal in a fast-food joint when they can prepare it themselves at home for half the cost.

Fast forward to lunchtime, I took my umbrella and walked over to this glorified carenderia under the old acacia tree called Lola Eats. Since it is not air-conditioned, I'm impressed by the upgraded clean and cool ambience since I last ate there a couple of years ago. Lola Eats still maintained its Filipino theme inside, offering a variety of budget Filipino home-cooked dishes and grilled meat on the side. There are a lot of single professionals having lunch by themselves on a table for six. This is where family-oriented, budget-conscious, practical guys who drive big cars hang out. (Hint to ladies: may be the marrying type). They open from breakfast till late supper or drinks at the mini-bar.

Come snack time, I was back at the corner of the market hunting for kamote-cue (a relative of barbecue and banana-cue). Never mind the burnt sugar content lacing the sweet potatoes as it was equally peppered by dust from the motorists passing by. I stood by the sidewalk as I ate my kamote-cue and watched passersby entertain me as if it was Soap Opera 101. I slowly inched my way past the pawnshop, a meat shop where they make bulging longganisa right in front of you, a small pharmacy selling mini siopaos on the side (ube, monggo, coconut and asado), a barbershop where you can still get a haircut for P30.00 and unlimited chismis time.

As I stood outside the open-front barbershop, a man carrying his son came out cussing and pointing towards one of the guys in the barbershop. Oh boy! This is where the action starts! The guy came out and walked over to the disgruntled customer, gave him a piece of his mind and disappeared into the alley behind. I was hoping he'd come back with a bolo to hack the disgruntled customer. That would have completed the drama.

I had my second stick of kamote-cue right beside this pungko-pungko food stall mounted on a trisikad. He wasn't even perched on the sidewalk but cutting a space off the "No Stopping" sign, complete with plastic tables and chairs, where guys in campaign shirts stuff themselves with greasy fried chicken, ngohiong and puso. I don't know if I should charge him rent since he was occupying part of my property and I'm the one who has to pay real property tax every year.

As cars pass by in front of me, this pile of yellow-pink bahug-bahug played peek-a-boo at me. Suddenly, I missed my old treats at the local bakeshop where freshly baked Elorde, Everlasting, Ensaymada, Pan de Coco, Atis, Monggo Bread, Hawaiian Bread, Cheese Bread, Raisin Bread, Pig Pie, Half Moons, Choco Crinkle, Patatas, Ube Roll and Cinnamon Buns get together and do the cha-cha with me with an encore of ice cold Royal Tru-Orange. Who knows why sweet breads go well with RTO's.

Then there's this fish lady who seems to be covering part of her face as I passed though the other side of the market fronting the gas station. Ay nako! I remember her. She borrowed money from my mom, promising to pay but never did. My mom had to collect part of her loan in buckets of fish. There's something fishy with people who borrow money from you and forget about it.

Guadalupe is the place to tambay: at Guadalupe Church, Kalunasan Prison, Mayor's house, or when you crave for sweet mangoes, chicharon, tempura, salvaro and Lacto-PAFI. I was really stuffed when mom prepared sushi and tofu for dinner. Tambay nalang ko sa dining table.

Tambay is synonymous for stand-by. If you feel lazy and you need to take a breather or would want to put your life on hold for a few minutes, walk towards any "No Stopping" sign around the corner and pretend to wait for a jeepney with your mouth half-open as you stare at people. Tambay makes you look at life on a street-level sans pretense. After all, this is where the non-stop action is. Happy summer!