A day in the lives of one-time communist rebels

Part III

LUNCH was much too sumptuous. The guests feasted on a wide variety of pork and chicken mixes done native adobo, mechado, and fried styles that filled the entire length of the long table occupying almost the whole of the balcony of the house. Much allergic to chicken, I had to dispense with much of the servings. Anyway, I have never grown used to multi-viand meals, and there, too, was my good old favorite fried tilapia with steamed talong and ampalaya to boot. In lieu of bagoong, which normally goes with those vegetables, what was served was a popular specialty of Pampanga, burong isda. I’d gobble much of it anytime, with sips of the soup in-between chews and bites. My favorite soup is halaan, but the one in the soup pot didn’t look it.