AS HE CAREFULLY GNAWED THE tender, succulent meat that's almost falling off the pieces of oxtail bone, he'd occasionally dip his dinner spoon in a tiny dish of shrimp paste so he could have it as a condiment. Tonight was a special night because Rogelio decided to break one of the rules he had set for himself for almost two years now; all he knew was that a spoonful of perfectly steamed long-grain, white rice was far more enjoyable than his own directive of eating a cup of steamed brown rice!
The food he was eating- taken using a traditional pair of Filipino cutlery- spoon and fork (and fingers), the waitress' vernacular, the framed old photographs hanging on the restaurant's wall featuring the classical columns, ornamentation and sculptures of the historic buildings of the city of Manila and the aroma of the dishes wafting from the kitchen had instantly taken him 'home'.
He took a gulp from a glass of cool tap water. Well, the waitress asked him earlier if he'd like a bottle of ice-cold San Miguel or Red Horse beer but he opted for something that's free. He didn't want to take advantage of the perks that come with his job.
Tonight's dining experience had been gradually easing his exhaustion from the two-day Professional Selling Skills training and workshop.
Exactly this time last year, I was intensively preparing to pass the final year examinations to become a vet in this country, and now I am busy working on building my selling skills.
That's fine, he thought. I need this for my job, the job that once seemed to be impossible to get! The job that, I know, is envied by many. If they only knew...
It was only yesterday when he found himself on a stream of an elite crowd flowing through the streets of Sydney's elegant shopping precinct. And today during the morning tea break, he slipped out of the training room, took the lift to get to the ground floor and in a second he was somewhere around the Sydney CBD trying to find a packet of panadol to relieve his tension headache.
For three days now, he'd been feeling like he was completely lost! He was in a place where no one knows him- nobody calls him by name... In the elevator, the man wearing a suit didn't even bother to nod at him, the cashier at the chemist where he bought some pain reliever didn't smile at him, nobody among the people crossing the streets ever looked at him. Everybody was busy doing their own transactions, and he felt he was completely ignored. In a place like this, I am nobody!
BUT IN LaMesa- a Filipino Restaurant in Haymarket, New South Wales, he found himself. He realised he was still the ordinary lad who loves the village where was born and raised- a beautiful place where everybody knows every one. He was still the same kid who's longing for some touches of concern when he's sick. In the place where he grew up, nobody wears a coat and tie but they could sincerely handle their relationship-driven businesses so well!
Sometimes we need to get lost to find ourselves, indeed!
The food he was eating- taken using a traditional pair of Filipino cutlery- spoon and fork (and fingers), the waitress' vernacular, the framed old photographs hanging on the restaurant's wall featuring the classical columns, ornamentation and sculptures of the historic buildings of the city of Manila and the aroma of the dishes wafting from the kitchen had instantly taken him 'home'.
He took a gulp from a glass of cool tap water. Well, the waitress asked him earlier if he'd like a bottle of ice-cold San Miguel or Red Horse beer but he opted for something that's free. He didn't want to take advantage of the perks that come with his job.
Tonight's dining experience had been gradually easing his exhaustion from the two-day Professional Selling Skills training and workshop.
Exactly this time last year, I was intensively preparing to pass the final year examinations to become a vet in this country, and now I am busy working on building my selling skills.
That's fine, he thought. I need this for my job, the job that once seemed to be impossible to get! The job that, I know, is envied by many. If they only knew...
It was only yesterday when he found himself on a stream of an elite crowd flowing through the streets of Sydney's elegant shopping precinct. And today during the morning tea break, he slipped out of the training room, took the lift to get to the ground floor and in a second he was somewhere around the Sydney CBD trying to find a packet of panadol to relieve his tension headache.
For three days now, he'd been feeling like he was completely lost! He was in a place where no one knows him- nobody calls him by name... In the elevator, the man wearing a suit didn't even bother to nod at him, the cashier at the chemist where he bought some pain reliever didn't smile at him, nobody among the people crossing the streets ever looked at him. Everybody was busy doing their own transactions, and he felt he was completely ignored. In a place like this, I am nobody!
BUT IN LaMesa- a Filipino Restaurant in Haymarket, New South Wales, he found himself. He realised he was still the ordinary lad who loves the village where was born and raised- a beautiful place where everybody knows every one. He was still the same kid who's longing for some touches of concern when he's sick. In the place where he grew up, nobody wears a coat and tie but they could sincerely handle their relationship-driven businesses so well!
Sometimes we need to get lost to find ourselves, indeed!
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| A clay pot of Kare-kare served at LaMesa, Goulbourn St., Haymarket, NSW |
