jeff and i call it the carenderia, a filo term for hole-in-the-wall eateries (mostly on the side of the streets) wherein food is displayed and you just literally point to whichever one you want served to your table. and by that, i mean an oftentimes rickety DIY piece of wooden furniture with matching rickety DIY benches to sit on where you share elbow space with other customers.

except that the one here is much cleaner and safer, granted that the australian government is keen on food sanitation which i presume they are. otherwise, we haven’t been poisoned yet. either that, or all those years of exposure to the dust and germs while living in the philippines somehow boosted our immune system.

for $10, you can get 3 kinds of dishes plus a plate of rice but i only ever go there for 2 reasons: their

1. squid; and
2. eggplant

nevermind the third one. the mixed vegetables wasn’t really that good. admittedly, the other two might not look like much either but i personally love them. mainly because they remind me of bohol, my dad’s hometown. and those warm summer days when my mom and i would have lunch at random eateries by the pier after a one-hour boat ride which left my hair all tangled and me smelling of sea breeze.

i love the squid & eggplant combo. i don’t know why i even bother ordering a third one. next time, i’m gonna ask them if i could just have 2 servings of squid instead.

so that was how my day went last sunday. and seriously, waking up to this cutie? my day couldn’t get any better.

*raven at 3 months old