When I was a kid we used to live in this neighborhood
This was our house
This was our gate
We used to spend afternoons playing patintero and go down this slide—well, not me, because I had vertigo. I used to love the swing, which isn’t there anymore.
It was the ’70s. We had a simple life and we were happy. Well, we still are, but I can’t help but think of those days.
There was no such thing as food delivery or fast food. Even french fries were unheard of.
What we did have was the Magnolia ice cream cart that passed everyday, whose arrival was made known by a bell.
And there was the guy who sold bread on a bicycle that had two large tin drums attached on either side. We would run out as soon as we heard his horn or “potpot”.
So we called the bread he sold “potpot.” It was a soft yellow bread with margarine slathered on top, and a sprinkle of white sugar. It used to cost five centavos a pop. I remember my cousin Ricky loved food and would buy one peso worth—for 20 pieces of bread. They were delish.
And this is where we stood and bought potpot.
When our family moved the Greenhills in 1974, there was no more potpot.
But I never forgot the taste. It would haunt me sometimes. I tried to look for it in bakeries everywhere—including the Baguio market—to no success.
The most remarkable thing—Jay and I met up at Trinoma earlier to attend a media launch and were on our way to Megamall to buy balloons. Traffic was so bad. We ended up crawling somewhere in Kamuning.
I saw an interesting sign
Jay mentioned he had seen this bakery featured on TV as one of the country’s oldest existing bakeries.
Established in 1939—it made me think what if they still had their old recipes? Would they have potpot inside?
We got down from the car and walked over to this charming little store
I actually saw something that looks like it could be potpot and costs five pesos each! I asked Jay to buy two.
There was a girl behind the counter manually assembling these paper bags and stamping them in green ink. So nostalgic!
Just like the cold bottles of Coke in the chiller
There’s the bread
Which I took this in the car and bit into with my eyes closed. I was once again in the ’70s.
And I loved it. Jay is too young to know, but he said the bread was remarkably soft. We are so coming back.
Kamuning Bakery is at 43-A Judge Jimenez St. corner K-1st Kamuning, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Tel. 929-2216
You can read about it here.
Originally published at Chuvaness.com. You can comment here or there.