Merienda Time!

(The latest in our series of posts about our trip last week to Manila and the Philippines.)

Of all the traditions in the Philippines, it's probably no surprise -- given our love of food -- that merienda is the one we like best.

Merienda means "snacks," and in the Philippines you'll find yourself having a merienda sometime in the afternoon. And we're not talking chips.

Meriendas might include breads like ensaymada, chicken buns like siopao (very similar to the bao you find at dumsum restaurants), desserts like halo halo (a mix of ice, ice cream, sweet beans and fruit), or a dish like pancit palabok (a variation on the noodle dish pancit). For drink? Calamansi juice, of course. (Calamansi is a small, citrusy lemon/lime fruit found in the islands.)

In our case, it sometimes meant a trip to Jollibee -- the nation's top fast-food joint-- for their spaghetti. (Spaghetti in the Philippines comes with a sweeter sauce, and usually with hot dogs chopped in it. Yum!)

Maria and I both agree our best merienda came the afternoon of our trip up to Clark and Pampanga. On the way back, Gege, Tuks and Raymund took us into the town of San Fernando, where we visited Razon's. The small eatery's specialties are palabok and halo halo. Both are just around P35 (about 70 cents in U.S. currency) but were gooood. (I also kept asking for more and more calamansi to squeeze on top of the palabok. I love calamansi. I'm sure the folks at Razon's are still talking about the day this strange white guy showed up and took all their calamansi.)

Close runner up was our last day of the trip, when Maria and I finally tried the halo-halo from Chowking (a Chinese-Filipino fast food joint, with locations everywhere, and even some in the L.A. area -- which you know we're gonna have to find this weekend!). It's inexpensive, large and filled to the brim.

Merienda -- see, now you have an excuse to snack at work around 3 p.m.!