The Sorry Loss Of A Binatog Vendor

I don’t know how will you react to what I am about to tell you. I am saddened by the disappearance of a certain vendor in town. Yes, I am serious. This vendor, I call him “Manong” (which is what we Filipinos often use to refer to an older man we don’t know, or “Sir”, if in a suit), sells the best binatog in town the whole world. I found out just now that his full name is Joel Angibat (from commenter Jimili here). For those who do not know what binatog is, it is a  warm concoction of boiled corn, coconut, sugar and milk. I don’t have a picture of it, unfortunately, so if you’re curious enough you can Google it for an image of how it looks like.

So as I was saying, I haven’t seen Manong Joel in his binatog stand in the last two trips I made to town, which was a week apart, so it must be a while since he last sold his delicious binatog. Sure, there are other binatog vendors in Baguio (in fact, immediately beside his old stand is another seller of binatog), but nothing compares to Manong Joel’s concoction. For a mere ten pesos a cup, you get a warm snack to comfort you on a typical cold day here in Baguio. Come to think of it, corn is my comfort food, so that must be the reason why I love binatog so much.

Now that he’s gone, I don’t know if I’ll ever look forward to going to town anymore. See, it’s been a habit to drop by his stand whenever I need to be in town for anything, so now that I don’t know where he is anymore, I don’t think I’ll enjoy eating binatog anymore. I’ve tasted almost all other binatog but nothing comes close to Manong Joel’s. I guess this post is kind of a silent (okay, not so) cry to anyone who happens to know where Manong Joel is now selling his binatog, because I sure as hell would go there to buy one if only I knew where.