There was a time I could and would eat the same food everyday.
During high school, I ate KFC almost everyday for four years. When I got sick of that, I ate Tom Saywer chicken for two years.
Looking back I wonder how much money I would’ve saved if I didn’t buy all that fast food. I asked Jeroen that question the other day.
“But you ate the food. It’s not a waste,” Jeroen said. And I enjoyed it.
These days I don’t eat as much fast food, but I still enjoy it at least once a week.
Back in the ’80s I bought a long red gingham skirt in Tokyo, which became one of my favourites.
And I wore that while studying at UP Fine Arts. One day after school I stopped by Tom Sawyer in Greenhills for my usual takeaway.
Upon entering the restaurant during lunch time, an unusual silence greeted me. The diners stopped eating. The waiters stopped serving. And the cashier stopped counting.
Everyone was staring at me with their mouth open.
I was wearing my red gingham skirt
which matched the restaurant’s curtains, table cloth, and napkins.
I went in, ordered takeaway, and made a mental note not to do that again.
Tom Sawyer eventually closed and I missed it.
Thirty years later, it’s back and in my neighbourhood! Imagine my excitement when I saw this window at the newly renovated Tiendesitas.
Luckily my friend Rem and I were starving. I dragged her from the car to the store.
Gone are the red gingham country interiors. Instead, a fast food restaurant with just the basics, nothing Pinteresting
Rem is much younger than me so I had to brief her on what Tom Sawyer was all about in the ’80s.
We ordered all wings and Rem loved the mashed potato with gravy.
The taste is still the same but I was disappointed that the chicken had come out of the heating lamp and tray so basically it was a blah experience. I wonder if they could fry it to order, then I would come back. Because piping hot fried chicken is much better than something that’s been sitting there for a while.
I’ll come back next year.
