The other day, a cab driver recalled his days living on Amber Road before the ECP (a major highway) existed, where the sea greeted him right in front of his doorstep. We also talked about his life as a rugby player in school, his grandfather and fishing. And how the tug at the end of the reel would tell him what kind of fish he’s caught. The other time, it was a man whose family lives simply but believes in investing in gold.
Today, it was a very stern but well-versed, articulate cab driver, a citizen of the world with a booming voice who’s in between logistics assignment. When I mentioned the recent earthquake, he said he knows earthquakes well. “I was under the rubble for 16 hours, not knowing if I was going to live or die. I lost many of my friends that day in Christchurch. Before that, I was the kind of man who thinks only in black or white. That day, I learned to relax, and changed my attitude about things.”
Cab ride: $13. Life story: absolutely priceless.
Cherie Altea Bitanga finds herself constantly making food, talking about food and around people who know food. Her daily adventures go beyond her own kitchen in Singapore, spanning from the nondescript holes-in-the-wall to sumptuous dining adventures. She believes in the art of slow food and scours places in hopes of bringing home unique spices, salts and oils. She is also the occasional artist and food writer who learned how to cook early in life by inheriting culinary family traditions from her motherland: the Philippines.
For over a decade, this blogger’s career as an ESL instructor provided a multicultural atmosphere working with diplomats, celebrities, nuns, priests, politicians as well as high school and college students from all over the world. When she grows up, she hopes to cook for a living to celebrate her family’s culinary legacy.
