Ode to Toronian Food House
Most of my friends know that my province is the beautiful Kalibo, Aklan and as soon as they found out, the inevitable remark followed: "di ba dun yung Boracay, malamang nakapunta ka na doon?" and of course my proud response would be "nandun na ako nung sobrang maganda pa sya at di pa sya commercialized". I was indeed part of the blessed few who were able to go to Boracay when it was still pristine, when we were still able to sleep by the beach with just hammocks in between the trees and our source of light during nighttime was the unpredictable gasera.For the very few who were indeed able to come to Boracay at its early stages would also know that the only way to get there was to go Kalibo and then ride a jeepney to Caticlan where you will be able to ride a pump boat (sans the lifejackets then) to the paradise island. One of the proud facts that our family holds is that the jeepney terminal to Caticlan was right beside our ancestral house and during those years my grandmother ran a small eatery to cater to the multitudes of people around our area. It's name was Toronian Food House, named after the street where we were located, Oyo Torong, and it served the typical eatery fare, rice and a number of viands.
The Toronian Food House catered to anyone, be it the simple tricycle driver or the foreign tourists, looking for something to eat before the two hour trip to Caticlan, or the famous artists who were shying away from the hustle and bustle of Manila life. It would open between 7:30 am to 8:00 am and would close at around 6:30 pm to 7:00pm and in between its operating hours the food house would always be brimming with people, craving for the specialty of my lola, the Bistek (the local version of beef steak) and the famed Kalibo longganisa. I would sometimes help out in the eatery but only in delivering the soft drinks as I was still to small to deliver the trays or the extra rice that the customers would order but that would be enough for me. Just to have a chance to observe the people around me was a pleasure for me already. It was here that I found out that there are places where we are all equals. That a vulcanizing boy can share a table with a six foot tall caucasian and his beautiful wife, that a newspaper boy can ask for the ketchup from Richard Gomez. The eatery was where everyone was the same, just a person filling their stomach as they were to go about their daily tasks or as they were waiting for the next trip to paradise.
I recall a story from my Lola, who by the way was not able to speak any Tagalog but was damned good at speaking in English owing to her "international" clientele. She was so proud of the Toronian because it was a showcase of Filipino hospitality and love for the people around. She was able to meet a lot of people because of it and at the same time, help sustain her children. It was also her way of standing on her own as she was already a widower. But more than all of those, it was something that she was proud of because she was doing something she loved.
The Toronian Food house actually taught me a lot about life. It serves as an inspiration to me as well as a guide on how I should go about life and though the Food House has been closed already (it closed at around mid to late 90s I can't actually recall) owing to health problems of my Lola and the renovation of the ancestral home I still carry with me some of the lessons I have learned from that beautiful place
"The fun people are those who have no second thoughts of where they will eat" - my experience has taught me that the people who are easy to get along with are those who are not too queasy of where they eat. Of course some may say that its a personal choice of hygiene and preference but I have observed that most of the time, those who takes a long time before deciding to come in the Toronian and order food are the people who are always afraid or who are always guarded with people. The ones who are adventurous are the ones who can easily share a story and make a child laugh.
"It always pays to smile at someone" - I've noticed then that the people who order with a smile tends to get better service from all of us than those who order with a frown. Its easier serving someone who you know will offer you a smile.
"Love your work and treat it as an opportunity for something bigger" - My Lola loved what she did - serving food to everyone that she was always smiling. She thought of work as not work but as an everyday adventure and I loved that thought ever since.
The Toronian has been closed for already more than a decade and yet it remains open in my heart. I don't know if it (and we who were part of it) had a big impact as well to our customers on their way to paradise but the thought that were able to satiate their hunger or quench their thirst even for just that moment is comfort enough for all of us.
posted by JaY @ 2/21/2010 12:42:00 PM
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