The Extra-Ordinary Bibingka at the Plaza

(Written last Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011)

During one of my “street food hunts”, I came across an old vendor of rice cakes, more commonly known as bibingka, in front of the San Sebastian Cathedral. Our first encounter, I courteously asked if I can take pictures of her improvised oven and the product itself. She was very accommodating and generous that she actually gave me more than what I paid for.

Right then and there, I felt obliged to look for her and buy her kakanin. First I just wanted to see how she’s doing considering that she was old and frail. I would be a bit worried if I pass by the cathedral and I won’t see her stall.

Today, right after office, as I board the jeepney, I remembered her and decided to check if she would be selling. 

When I reached her stall, (thankfully, she was there), she was all smiles! It seemed as if she waited for me to come again and do a little shoptalk, a simple thing that could actually lessen the tiredness that she could be feeling as she carefully prepares her rice cakes.

Since it was a bit early, she felt a little embarrassed and worried at the same time that she doesn’t have anything freshly baked to offer but of course I guaranteed her that it was fine for as long as it was baked on the same afternoon. While she was reheating the kakanin, we had the usual shoptalk and there she told me how she got sick the week before, the reason that she did not sell on that particularly busy Sunday.

I finally learned that her name is Cristita Saraga, and I could not believe that she was only 63 years old. The lines on her face seemed to detail the hardships that she has been through in this lifetime yet she never seems to give up, I guess because she knows she does not have the luxury to retire and enjoy the sunset clearly viewed on her home at the Boulevard.

Her helpers were her two grand-daughters, one 14 and the other 8. She mentioned with a sigh that the two girls were left to her by her children to be raised, fed, clothed and even sent to school. Then she said, “Amo na nga maskin kakapuy na guid, indi ko pwede mag-untat trabaho…” (even if it so tiring already I just can’t stop working.)

It was a 15 minute shop talk that I would never forget because it was a clear reminder that no matter how down I would feel, there is always hope brought about by another day. That no matter how exhausted my body can dictate to me, I should still have a million things to be happy about. That I should see my wallet as half-full not the other way around and be contented because what I have is hard-earned.

As with Nanay Cris, I promise to be a loyal patron of her bibingka because no matter how simple her ingredients are, she prepares it with a heart full of hope and perseverance while serving them with a warm smile that not just any peddler could offer.