Pinay New Yorker

Cross posted on Pinay Newyorker

With Alan in San Francisco this week, I made sure to text him a shopping list of Goldilocks goodies to bring home.  Plus, I requested he bring home some Bibingka and Puto Bumbong if he could find any.

While we have our share of Filipino eateries and groceries here in New York, it can’t compare to the offerings on the West Coast where the majority of our kababayans are.  In fact, Goldilocks, Red Ribbon, Jollibee, Max’s, Megamelt (to name a few) have franchisees on that side of the US, but none here.  We literally "import" our Goldilocks goodies from the California branches. 

So I asked for ensaymada, mocha vanilla chiffon slice, pinipig pulvoron, and cheese tarts.  I got my ensaymada but Alan said they had run out of the chiffon slice. =(  He got me my Pinipig Pulvoron, but it seems they have stopped producing cheese tarts because although he bought me a bag of assorted tarts, all they had were soft coconut (macapuno), jackfruit (langka), and purple yam (ube).  What happened to the cheese tarts??!!  And he bought me two mini baskets of assorted pastillas, but there were no milk pastillas at all, and for some reason, they were chewey and rubbery and not at all the same as we had gotten used to back home.

I’m not complaining.. my honey was very generous, lugging a friend to drive him to the nearest Goldilocks branch to their hotel and that wasn’t exactly near at all.  But it makes me pine for all these Filipino goodies which folks back home take forgranted.

Oh if you guys just knew how lucky you were!  Forget about the Starbucks goodies, the Krispy Kreme donuts, Junior’s Cheesecake and all that other stuff — give me plain old Goldilocks and Red Ribbon goodies as we know it back in Manila, the yema from Chocfull O’Nuts along with their delectable siopao and cuapao, the Bibingka with Queso de Bola from Via Mare or the more traditional fare from Ferrino’s, the delicious Puto Bumbong of Bon Appetit in Rustan’s!  There’s also the traditional Cream Puff from Dulcinea, the Ginataang Kuhol of Kamayan, the Kare-kare and Crispy Pata of Barrio Fiesta, Pancit Malabon from Pancit ng Taga-Malabon (what else?!), the neighborhood Lechon Manok from Andok’s or even just the plain old sweet spaghetti of Jollibee.. I can go on and on and on.  (I almost forgot the dimsum of Hen Lin with it’s signature chili sauce.) 

So to all you folks back home, savor every bit of these everyday goodies — you don’t know how lucky you are to have it within reach.

Now that I’m a mother myself, I feel even closer to my Mom who is with me again for at least another 5 months before she has to return to Manila.  We have always been close although I am really a Daddy’s Girl.

Seeing her taking care of my son with such love is something I cherish.

My mom is a woman of courage and ambition.  Although she came from humble beginnings, she made sure her children got the best education possible given our means.  She always encouraged us to better ourselves by giving us the chance to enroll in dance and music school, and moderated but not restricted our extra curricular activities.  She was always supportive and applauding us from the sidelines.

I know that she is here because of me and more importantly, Angel.  That is a big sacrifice on her part but one she is doing out of love.  Love that only a mother truly knows.  I am so lucky that she has been a guiding light in my life — even if in my earlier years she had to work hard to give us a good life.  Motherhood now is something that comes second nature to me because I learned firsthand from an expert at it — my own Mom.