National City

I know that National City is close to Bonita. Bonita is a town close to the U.S.-Mexican border where I just finished a hike with the San Diego Day Hikers. 

I am always hungry after a hike and I think of all the Filipino restaurants at National City. I think of National City as the Filipino ethnic village in San Diego. 

I pick Karihan from the list of Filipino restaurants that Google lists.  I think of kare kare, the ox tail dish with vegetables  in peanut gravy eaten with shrimp paste. Comfort food that must have originated in Pampanga, a province in the Central Luzon region. I opted for the fish dish cooked in sour medium. It's not sinigang. It's called pangat. It could be a cross between sinigang and paksiw. Filipino cooking is distinct with the use of a sour medium such as tomatoes, lemon and vinegar. 

Heads or tails? The server asks me in Tagalog.  She was not about to toss a coin. I said ulo without second thoughts. The brain and the eyes are highlights of my fish dish order. The heaping order of jackfruit cooked with string beans, squash and coconut milk is crying out for attention while Martin Nievera croons "Be    My Lady" to a younger woman on the Filipino Channel. 

I had a very strong urge to take a picture of the counter but I noticed that a party of four with bowed heads are saying grace before meals. I stood up to get a closer shot of the sign that reminds me of 101 Dalmatians. We Filipinos always try our best to be convincing to the point of exaggeration. Of course, if you know your biochemistry,        you have no problems with MSG which your body produces. The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome has never been proven. MSG which comes naturally from  protein rich food groups such as beef, fish and chicken and even vegetables has always been classified by the FDA as a food ingredient that's generally recognized as safe. 

The business establishment looked like a salon for men from afar. Even in their adult years, some Filipino men are nicknamed Boy. An adult Filipino man who has a lot of girlfriends or who flirts to a lot of women is also called a "chick boy". 

Chic boy and Elegant's nails are within the same stretch. 

Chic-Boy is not really a chauvinistic pig. Chic-Boy is a chicken at baboy restaurant! Cooking ina!