I nodded, smiling sheepishly. “I was just sightseeing…” Psh, what can I say? I’m so ignorant!
He nodded in acknowledgment at the worker, “Mario.”
“Sir Eion! Kamusta kana na?” (Sir Eion, how are you?)
“Ayos lang, Mario. Musta na ang resort?” (I’m okay, Mario. How’s the resort?)
“Ayos na ayos naman sir. Miss na miss kana nga eh. Lalo pa ng mga chicks dito.” (Still okay sir. It misses you. Especially the girls here) I looked at them left and right. They are friends…
Eion looked irritated, sighing heavily while his eyebrows furrowing. “Diba sabi ko? Wag mo na kong tawagin sir? Kaibigan naman tayo simula nung bata pa ah.” (Did I already told you? Don’t call me sir. We are friends since childhood after all.)
Mario grinned sheepishly, “Aba, Sir Eion, gusto ko eh. Pampainis. Parang matanda ka pakinggan. Haha!” He chuckled. (Sir Eion, I want it.! Just for annoying you. It’s like your an old man. Haha!)
“Bahala ka na. Sige, kunin ko lang tong kaibigan ko. Baka naabala kapa nito.” (Nevermind you. I’ll just get my friend. Maybe she disturbed you)
“No sir! Chicks yan eh! Kala ko una girlfriend mo kaya kinausap ko. Sige alis nako!” (No sir! That’s a lovely lady! I thought she’s your girlfriend so I talked to her. Okay, I’ll leave now!”
The guy turns to me. “Just call me when you need something, ma’am, bye!”
Eion waited to talk to me until the guy was out of sight. “Did he say something to you?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“Nevermind. I just came here to get you. We’ll be having our lunch.”
I looked at him curiously, “What were you talking about? Did you curse me? Said bad things?”
He looked at me weirdly, “What makes you think that?”
“Well, nothing.” I shook my head. “Just a feeling. Now I’m hungry.”
*****
And so we did eat our lunch. Eion led the way and directed us towards the lobby area beside it, located a resto-bar or something as wooden tables and chairs, coconut trees placed on the corners as the display, and a lot of flowers surrounding the area, covering the whole resto.
There was a band playing on the stage in front of the platform. Some family members, couples, groups of friends were hanging out, some ate, and cheered for the band. We took a seat in the center part that’s enough for a table of seven.
Luke came in and leaned on me, putting his hands on my shoulders, before smiling at me. “Hey there, babe.”
“Hey there, handsome,” I replied. “It’s so beautiful here… and lively… have you been here before?”
Luke shrugged, “Our family reunions were sometimes held here held by Eion’s dad. But that was a long time ago when I was still a kid.” He replied, before adding, “I kind of forgot the place. And now that I’m back here again, it always never fails to amaze me.”
I nodded, smiling at him. I can’t blame him though.
“Good afternoon, everyone! And welcome back, Sir Eion!”
I looked around as all of the staff came to greet Eion in unison. Others came personally, some managers and old friends, welcoming the future heir of the resort. The rest of us received polite nods in acknowledgment.
I glanced at Eion seated across from me. He had this slight smile on his face that seemed fake, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he received a lot of greetings since the moment we came here.
A waiter came to get our orders. We took a while to decide and he didn’t seem to mind as the other waiters and waitresses gave each of us a refreshment, placed inside a coconut.
The coconut was still fresh as it was sliced elegantly like those in the movies, there was a straw to easily sip the juice. Taking a hesitant sip, my eyes widened in anticipation. It’s so good! It’s so refreshing! I continued sipping until there was nothing left.
“You want another one ma’am?” The waiter asked and I shook my head no. “Thanks. But I’m fine.”
“Careful, it’s only a juice and you want to devour all of it. Save the space in your stomach for the main dishes. I promise it’s gonna be good!” Luke said from beside me.
After a minute or so, after a lot of arguing and debating what to have for lunch, we finally decided and told the waiter.
Our orders instantly arrived after just a few minutes, which surprised all of us. For me, it didn’t even last ten minutes and with our number, seven of us meant a lot of dishes, it will take more time than that. I guess that’s how it feels like being a VIP in this resort.
We dug in. There were a lot of dishes to choose from. And everything is still hot and sizzling. There was this dish called adobong manok, Kare-kare, Kaldereta, Afritada, kinilaw, and there was also grilled tuna, fishes, octopus.
There was also pansit guisado, bihon, a tuna’s jaw, or what they call panga, adobong kangkong which is just a vegetable, basically a leaf cooked with soy sauce, and this vegetable pinakbet.
But I have this one favorite thing. The sinigang na lapu-lapu. It is a fish soup which has a rich taste, sour like vinegar and also sweet.
And as for the fruits, we have this unripe mango, sliced in little, mixed in a sauce that’s something called, ‘bagoong’. At first, it looked disgusting for me but as I tried it with the mango, it was awesome! The whole time I was tasting each dish, I couldn’t choose where to start.
Everyone was chattering excitedly and having this awe expression on their faces testing each dish like me. I glanced at Eion from across me.
I was too busy drooling at each dish that I only now noticed he was eating using his bare hand, the utensils they gave us were left untouched by Eion. He did it so perfectly.
My eyebrows furrowed. What is he doing?
I was about to ask him why but the waiter noticed my curiosity and said some trivia facts about Filipino culture and other stuff. “Filipinos usually eat using their hands. I don’t know why but in a strange way, the food tastes much more delicious when we eat that way.”
I nodded my head. Oh. So that’s why.
Placing aside my spoon and fork, I tried it. I placed an ample amount of rice in my hands, formed it in my hand like Eion did, and plopped it in my mouth. A few crumbs of rice fell to the ground and I scowled. Great.
There was someone chuckling and I looked up, it was Eion. He was staring at me as he stopped eating. I huffed at him, sticking out my tongue, and continued practicing eating using my bare hand.
As we finished, it was not the end of all the wonders. There was a dessert coming to our table. It was placed inside a coconut, cut half-open, enough for the contents not to spill. I stirred it with a spoon.
“It’s called halo-halo. This is good to eat especially in the afternoon to cool our heads off. Please enjoy, ma’am and sir.” The waiter informed us. We nodded our heads politely. I checked my stomach.
Gosh, my stomach’s full already! But never mind that this kind of thing will not last for a lifetime. I have to savor this moment, even if I eat a dozen foods, I have to swallow.
The halo-halo has different contents inside. With a lot of was some sliced banana, beans, a small ball that they call sago, a small slice of jackfruit, splashed with condensed milk, and on top of it has ice cream, ube flavored they said.
We were supposed to stir it first before trying so I did it until the ice was solid and enough for my teeth to handle.
When finished, I went to the comfort room to do my thing. As I have noticed since earlier, the workers kept on staring at Eion. I mean, the female workers, especially ladies that I think are in their twenties or so. And when they talk to him, they avert their gaze shyly and look to the floor.
Their faces were so bright and blushing after that, a large grin and eyes widened as they went to their other girl workers that I am sure to gossip about the encounter.
As I finished doing my business, I was about to go back to our table but stopped when I was right. Sure enough, there were hushed voices from inside the staffs’ room, their ‘hushed voices’ seem to reach even one mile from here.
It was lively and from my guess again, there were some realistic actions with it. I stayed put and casually eavesdropped, acting as though I was washing my hands to the sink located beside, which is true.
“Oh my gosh, Sir Eion! Pogi nya pa rin!” (Oh my gosh, Sir Eion! He’s still handsome!)
“Kaya nga! Di ko sya matingnan ng diretso!” (So true. I can’t even look him straight in the eyes!)