FEATURING; Eulogio
"Amang" Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) UNIVERSITY
Break time is second to class dismissal as the most favorite subject of
all the students. Because this is the time when students can freely do
unfinished assignments, chit-chat, retouch, “silay”, practice, and
etc., but the most and foremost thing that a student can ever think when he/she
hears the word “break time” is : “Kainan
na!!!!” .Eating is what we, Filipino’s love the most. For this is the time
when we get the energy we needed to continue the task we have to done in our
everyday living. And as a student, we cannot avoid ourselves to spot any street
food vendors along our way to school or way home. Thus, we cannot also stop ourselves in buying
these “street foods”
According to Wiki, Street foods were described as a ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other
public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not,
having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street foods are also classed
as both finger food and fast food, and are cheaper on average than restaurant meals. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 2.5 billion people eat street food every day. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_food)
No wonder why many Filipino’s love eating street foods despite of the
unguaranteed cleanliness, because it was so cheap and very delicious
indeed.
In connection to this, yesterday, September 12, 2012 the U-BEEZ members
(Buzy-Beez) went to a chartered state college of the Philippines the Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez
Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) on Nagtahan Road in Manila to conduct an interview on the certain
segments of the U-BEEZ blog. And it is assign to me the BOOM-BEEZ or the
bombastic businesses along the U-BELT communities.
There’s a lot of street foods along the way to the main building of
EARIST: bananaque, turon, kwek-kwek, sago’t gulaman, isaw, shake, barbi-que,
etc., and each of them looks so “yummy!” Among all the street food businesses outside
the university, the simple stand with a signage “LUGAW, LUGAW W/ EGG, GOTO and
MAMI” caught our attention. It was located at the face of the EARIST College of
Industrial Technology. We approached the “attendant” of the stand and ask if we
may ask her some questions about her business for the purpose of featuring it
in our blog (U-BELT; BOOM-BEEZ). And we were so thankful for she replied with a
smile in her face accepting our request although she is busy at that time. We
first introduced ourselves as the student from Polytecnic University of the
Philippines-College of Communication. In the same way, she introduced herself
as Anita Lim, the owner of the “Lugawan stand”. We also know what is the name
or the title of their stand she said; “NICKIES SNACKSTORE”. It was only three
months ago when she pursue the business with a one-thousand pesos (Php. 1,000)
as the starting capital of the business. We also know that she pays for the
monthly rent of the land which cost five-thousand pesos (Php. 5,000). Inalam
din nmnin kung sapat ba ang kinikita nya para pang bayad sa lahat nang gastos
at kung bawi ba ang tubo. And she anwered “Sapat lang naman ang kinikita
araw-araw.” We next then ask kung ano naman yung pinaka mabenta sa lahat, at
kung magkano ito. She answered “Ahmm…yung lugaw na plain, sampung piso” we also
ask why. She replied “Kasi mura lang, saka masarap.” After that we next ask
what are the prices of the “lugaw” with add-ons;
Lugaw (plain)-10
Lugaw w/ egg-17
Lugaw w/ laman (baka)-20
Mami-20
Tokwa-10
We lastly ask if she vey though about having a promo such as
“UNLI-LUGAW” like in PUP. She was shocked, because she was not aware that there
is existing promo like that. But she answered no. plainly she reasoned out that
“Ay malulugi ako, pag nag unli. Saka ang imrtante naman eh masarap ang timpla
para sulit sa mga estudyante.” After that, we then bid goodbye and say thanks
of appreciation for giving her little time for us.
By this experience, I can say that eating
street foods belongs in our customs especially among students like me. I myself
was also eating street foods, and we cannot avoid it. Just like the quote said
by Adam Scott
“It's amazing how pervasive food is. Every
second commercial is for food. Every second TV episode takes place around a
meal. In the city, you can't go ten feet without seeing or smelling a
restaurant. There are 20 foot high hamburgers up on billboards. I am acutely
aware of food, and its omnipresence is astounding.”(The Monkey Chow Diaries,
June 2006)
There’s nothing wrong in eating, right? But
despite of this, we should be aware and take notice of the sanity of the
vendors of the street foods for our own safety. Because “we are what we eat,
and once you put it in your mouth, it goes to your hips”, so we must still be
careful in “too much”.
So, enjoy your
food po!!
- Mary Narvi Mupas
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
