Bisaya sa SF Nangitag Kan-on

yup, i'm a fish out of the water. Fortunately, months since this fish has been out of the water, i think i'm growing lungs that can actually breath! But the time between growing lungs and just plain surviving was tough.

first off, i had to deal with the language. man, its hard when you think in your native tongue and have to speak english to an impatient waiter. what's sibuyas, again? was it onion or garlic? for some dumb reason i find myself confused.

I get more confused when i feel like eternity is passing by too fast, and this waiter at this "nice" restaurant is growing another wrinkle on his very impatient forehead.

i have to eat food that's sooo totally not the regular filipino fare. "May i have rice, please?", I say.

"Would you like sticky rice or rice pilaf?" this snotty waiter would ask.

How the hell would i know? All I know is that kan-on in english is rice. period.

My husband has to explain it to me. Would the average Bisaya know that our regular kan-on is actually called "sticky rice" in english? For more than two decades, I didn't know. Most of the places here serve short-grained rice. Not bad, but oh, what i wouldn't give for a hot steaming pot of ganador. I wish I could take the motorbike and buy a bag at Miguel's store in Argao.

So i thought ganador should be in the long-grained rice category. I kept on the look out for long-grained rice. Found it on the menu in a Indian restaurant! Yehey!! Indian long-grained rice is long, alright. Thinner, about the same length, but totally different from ganador.

So i gave up on the quest for ganador... Jasmine rice is not bad. Its just different when you think that the best rice variety is ganador and you wonder why it's not popular enough to be sold everywhere. They dont have them in the Filipino stores i've been to here, so far.

And so the impatient waiter returned, looking not too snotty this time. He served my sticky rice, a well-done steak, a knife and a fork. Knife and Fork. That's not too hard, is it? When cutting a piece off a steak, it's not. When you have the knife with your right hand and the fork on the left and try to eat rice, it is, if you're not a leftie. I'm not. I guessed that maybe you're supposed to put the knife down, transfer the fork to your right hand, get rice and eat. Easier, this slow eater just got slower.

And you should see the prices! My mother would have a fit if she heard that I spent a thousand pesos on one steak. I cant help thinking I'm having a piece of meat that's worth an entire meal for at least 10 people back home. But what can I do? I just cut myself a piece, chewed and tried not to think that that single bite i just had was worth about a hundred pesos. I smiled (at my husband kuno aron di ma-ala-an na murag buang) and promised myself that I'm getting some of those really expensive prime meat for my family in argao when I go home. Then I didn't feel so guilty when I got the second bite. Delicious.