MANILA, Philippines?It was my first time to travel by land to Bicol. Just thinking about it made me tired.

A plane ride would have meant only 40 minutes from Manila to Legaspi. Oh, okay, plus one hour getting to the airport, two hours waiting to ride the plane, 30 minutes at least to claim your baggage. Still, 12 hours? travel time was nothing to be glad about.

What made the trip bearable were the stops we made to eat. But to have excellent choices is to have a guide who knows where.

Historian and writer Sonny Tinio was our guide whose past time when going on his road trips is stopping by carinderias along the way, opening all the caldero (cooking pots) lined up on the ledges and deciding by seeing and smelling if any are worth eating.

Sonny had written on our schedule that we would have breakfast either at Rose and Grace, known for its boiled beef shin or bulalo in Batangas or at a mami place in San Pablo, Laguna.

When we reached what is known as the ?junction? in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, the car just kept on going. More minutes passed then past the railroad crossing in San Pablo, the car stopped in front of a place where huge kettles were boiling something undefined as yet.

We entered a shack with long tables inside. There were customers eating what looked like a full meal for breakfast. Bowls of mami were ordered for us and the lone man in charge took some pork, mostly fat, and strands of egg noodles.

Then he moved on outside to where the kettles were, opened one, then scooped out the broth to place in the bowls.

The way to eat mami is to squeeze calamansi juice in, add ground pepper and sliced chili if a spicier mix is needed.

The more important thing is to eat it with pan de limon either by biting on the bread first and sipping the soup or pinching bits of bread off then placing these in the soup.

The soup was a bit thick and I detected some starch did that. The mami was comfortably hot, a great wake-upper.

Sonny didn?t know the name of the carinderia since the place didn?t have a signage, or so we thought.

When we asked the man in charge he said ?Maricel Mami Haus.? Leaving the place there was, indeed, a small sign outside, too small for a car on normal drive to detect.

The mami made us sleepy which made the ride, especially the bumpy detour in Sariaya, Quezon, bearable. A few winks and then it was time for lunch.

We arrived about an hour before noon at Lita and Irene Seafood House in Gumaca, Quezon. The place was already filled with travelers like us.

Again, the name wasn?t noticeable and I?m only able to know it because of the receipt for the meal.

Sonny said he has been stopping there with his every trip to Albay. The place used to be a small eatery with the earth as its flooring but the restaurant is now bigger, cemented including the floor.

Everyone goes to the turo-turo counter for their orders. We asked for sinigang na ulo ng tanguigue (sour soup of mackerel head); fried fish roe; guinataang bangus (milkfish cooked in coconut milk); and ampalaya slices cooked with egg.

I especially liked the sinigang which used banana heart. The guinataan was made hot with chili making us eat more rice than we intended and reminded us we were nearing Bicol.

We saw what looked like ripe latundan bananas. We all got one but was told we had to buy the whole bunch (piling). We didn?t mind since we had sweet bananas the next days.

The end of our road trip meant no more carinderia along the way. But Sonny will surely continue to find the best places to eat in whatever province he happens to pass through.

It must run in the family because he said a granduncle who headed a drug firm always required his agents to report on where the best food could be had in their assigned routes.

It would be great if someone made an eating guide for all road trippers. That?s how the Guide Michelin started. That is, until it became more a prestigious assessment of a chef rather than just a guide.

Pampanga festival

Salcedo Market hosts the Pampanga festival this Saturday, June 21, 7 a.m.-3 p.m.

Restaurants will be selling their best dishes. There will be cooking demonstrations such as the Lazatin family recipes. There will be art exhibits and a cultural show featuring Arti Sta. Rita.

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