a waltz at the historic fort
this afternoon, while the rain was threatening to spoil an otherwise perfect day, i had a very strong craving for newly-cooked, steaming banana cue and camote cue, with the sticky caramelized brown sugar still clinging to them like a scorned lover. the craving was too powerful that without batting an eyelash, i hailed a cab and went straight to manila cathedral where there were vendors selling the favourite merienda fare among filipinos at the plaza across the church years ago when i was still covering the government's weekly bond auctions. sadly, the vendors were no longer there. instead of the old woman who used to peel and cook those bananas in boiling oil and sugar, all i saw were old men wearing green checkered shirts asking me if i wanted to tour intramuros by riding their horse-drawn carriages. when i asked them where were the vendors selling banana and camote cues, they pointed me to a narrow street a few meters away from the plaza. i followed their direction a...