the great putobumbong hunt

Music: Knock Out episode via our TV set :p

I get weird cravings sometimes, and they usually last for a month (mostly because it takes me that long to find the food I’m looking for). I remember way back last year (or was it last, last year) that I craved for takoyaki so badly I searched different malls and bazaars just to find a takoyaki stall. I found one at the Megamall A food court. After a few days, I saw takoyaki stands everywhere.

Just a couple of months ago, I had a terrible craving for kwek-kwek (quail eggs fried with orange flour), but the stalls which sell them made me fear a relapse of typhoid fever (yes dinuguan, I blame you for that). It took me about another month to actually find a clean-enough-looking stall to buy kwek-kwek from. A week later, I saw two new stalls that sell fish balls, squid balls, and yes, even kwek-kwek.

Next was the controversial avocado ice cream. This was trickier, because not all groceries sell that flavor. Finally, I had to drag Lorraine to Megamall in search of a cone, which thankfully BTIC has. The events after that will remain unspoken of, mostly because I still like to pretend that none of it happened. Let's just say it involved a stalker and some, uh, stalking?

Then last November I suddenly had a craving for putobumbong. Knowing that it was nearing Christmas, I figured that bibingka stalls would sprout like weed in every corner, and for one month I searched for the perfect putobumbong...all in vain. It took me two weeks to find one measly stall, and it was situated in a place so inconvenient that I would have to go down from the jeepney on my way home from church just so I could buy some. I never did, mostly because I feared that it would not be worth it. Yes, I'm stupid like that.

Finally, about two weeks ago, my sister's boyfriend mentioned a friend's family who sold putobumbong somewhere in San Roque, Marikina. One cold evening, on our way home from theater practice, I asked--commanded--my sister to take a detour to said place so we could finally buy some.

It was worth it.

The sticky, violet malagkit was just the right amount of texture I wanted, and the combination of sugar and coconut shreds added to the light, fluffy flavor I prefer. I was so happy I finished two sets in one night. Which is, of course, bad for my stomach, but I didn't care. The great putobumbong hunt was over.

The following day, my cousin told me the store outside our condominium had set up a bibingka and putobumbong stand just that evening.

Damn it.