I know that there are a lot of commercialized roasted cashew nuts in the market, a step in the supermarket or grocery will confirm that, but for a person who grew up going to Antipolo once a year to attend mass as a pilgrim to the Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, which is the patron saint of the city's basilica, seeing and eating good 'ol kasuy (kalamay and suman) is such a fine treat.
My pop used to work as a seaman, a chief cook in cargo ships, and most of the time, he only had a week or two of vacation in a year, that's the only time he is with us, and, I don't know if it's mere coincidences, but most of the time, he went back aboard and to work during the month of May, and for a Catholic family, it is but a tradition to go to Antipolo to ask for a kin's safe travel. I remember riding the bus somewhere in Divisoria, the regular ones without aircon, the lines of makeshift stalls of suman, kalamay, kasoy and other goodies, the crowd of people who fought nail and tooth to go inside the basilica, the McDonald's branch at the right and Jollibee at the left side (as you go out of the church), the mile-like walk to and from the bus station, the sweat, the laughter and random pictures, I wonder when our family can do that again?
So anyway, enough with that, the roasted cashew in the photos below cost 200pesos (brown paper bag, bigger than those use in street stalls selling peanuts), I know, I know, it's kinda pricey but it's still cheaper than the ones sold here in the metro. One of the workers in our fishing vessel originally lives in Antipolo so everytime he goes to visit his family, we would ask him to buy us some goodies, we usually give him 500pesos tapos sya na bahala kung ano bibilhin nya pasalubong sa amin.
But, I wish, I can go on a roadtrip soon, I wanna see Hinulugang Taktak again :)
Tayo na sa Antipolo at doo'y maligo tayo sa... sa, sa Hinulugang Tak-taktak...
