Road Food
by Donna Amis Davis
I’m republishing this post from a year ago for my new readers. A huge thank you for you who have liked and commented and followed this blog. You are the best!
As far as Donna is concerned, the best part of any road trip is the snacks. Munching makes miles move. Especially on Palawan buses, if my taste buds and tummy are happy, my twisted spine doesn’t complain so much from sitting crammed sideways on too-close-together seats. Discovery is 
the fun part. What can I get to eat here, at this stop? Well, if you were traveling with us on the road heading down the eastern coast of our island, one of our stops would be the tiny town of Abo-Abo. This is where the bus turns from the main north-south highway, and starts heading across the island to the other coast. And the people are waiting for you. This guy has a whole tub of goodies. We like the garlic peanuts. They contain all the best ingredients – peanuts (that’s protein, right?), garlic (lots), salt (lots) and grease (again lots). Yum. He also has some boiled peanuts, cashews, banana chips and hard-boiled eggs.
And what road trip wouldn’t be complete without fresh crabs? Pick some up here, and carry them the rest of the way home. Just caught this morning, and still wiggling. Your seatmate on the bus won’t mind. Go ahead, get a few.
I passed up the crabs.
When it was time for our return trip, the bus was scheduled to leave at 5 am, so the afternoon before, I headed out to scout for some kind of bread product to pack for our breakfast. I went from little store to little store in the little town of Sikud. I have to tell you, Sikud is not the Consumer Capital of the World. In other words, they ain’t got much there. But then I finally found it. Can you see what the wrapper says? How could I pass it up? This bread was machine sliced.
But I think my favorite spot on this particular road trip was the gas station in the town of Narra. And I didn’t even buy food there. I just made a run to their CR, or Comfort Room, the nice Philippine euphemism for bathroom. And I saw a cat or two. Then I saw another one. When I stopped to pet them, the proprietors of the gas station saw me enjoying their cats, so they gave a call, and a whole bunch more cats came running. They told me they had thirteen cats! By the food and water dishes in evidence, they were obviously loved and cared for. And the cats were tame and friendly, which is unusual in this country where a lot of people have cats for their utility (catching mice and rats) but don’t really like them, or treat them as pets, the way Westerners do. This gas station wins the Cat Lovers Award for Palawan.
Mmm, what could be better travel snacks than garlic peanuts (YUM!!!!), boiled peanuts (such a Southern dish), and crabs!! Nothing is better than snacks on the road!
I totally agree. That’s all the fun. Well, a lot of the fun, anyway!
Road trip snacks. Good choices. I’m so use to packing my own wherever I go that I often overlook what I could be trying. Hope you take us on some more road trips soon.:)
Also, the cats brought smiles to my face. Good to know they are looked after.
Hi Lynne. Yeah, I’m kinda of cat-crazy, so I really liked seeing this well-kept bunch. Food on the road is so hit and miss, isn’t it? This little town, though, way off the beaten path, has Real Food, not processed junk. I just found a recipe for granola bars I’m going to rename Travelers’ Bars and post about on my other blog, as they contain almost a meal in a bar. All they need is a some milk along with them to make a satisfying little meal. What do you pack?
Gluten free granola bars, crackers, bananas, nuts mainly.
Sounds good.
Makes me want to travel with you, Donna!
Anita, we really have to do that sometime. . .
Nice blog. I’m from Manila and hope to visit Palawan again soon.
Thanks for stopping by!