Argao Lunch: Carmen’s Carenderia ‘Entertainment’

Out of the Riverstone Castle, we headed back to center of town for lunch. But, goodbye lechon-manok grilled from the street-side open-air stalls! We could not buy because all stalls don’t have anywhere for us to sit and eat. We were almost tempted to eat a whole lechon-manok while standing on the highway, but sanity prevailed hehe! We opted to look instead for a real restaurant, which delivered us to this “Carmen’s Carenderia”! I spelled that right, see the picture for proof!

[Note: One vendor told us that we might not be allowed to eat his manok at a restaurant for those places sell their their own lechon-manok too!]

How did we find Carmen’s Carenderia? I remembered I bought bottled water from this place last time I was in this town, before I veered off from the highway going towards their ‘Argao Nature Park’. So I thought that might be an option. AND, when we asked a trike driver where would be a good place to have lunch at, you guessed it, he said “Carmen’s Carenderia”. And the fun began!

What was funny? We had an amusing spectacle during this lunch – the owner hehehe! Yes, she, the owner was the live amusement herself! Well, am not sure if she was/is the owner. She looked and acted like she is! But this old woman really gave us a good laugh - albeit silently and secretly.

She was just so awfully rude to customers and her crew it caught almost every diner’s attention. We were consciously observing her every move, every word as she threw her weight around hahaha! Unbelievably, it made everyone smile! Yes, including me, though I couldn’t dare take any shots with my digicam, lest she vent her ire on me hehe heheee!

Her loud grumpy discourse, her seemingly exasperated, frustrated, irritated hand movements and her quick turns and head movements probably reminded us all of our respective grandmothers when they would wake up on the wrong side of their beds whahehehe. And I assure you, if you yourself would encounter her (am not sure if it’s her daily personality) you will altogether forget about getting offended by this loudly blabbering lola due to the daring openness of her actuations as if all of you in front of her are her children or grandchildren!

Well good she was not yet that ‘crazily irritable’ when we ordered our food as this was our first time to encounter her and we could have taken offense hehe!

Just what were this lola seething about? I think everything about life hahaha! Like when someone attempted to pay her 70-peso worth of food with a P500 bill, she had so many things to sarcastically say, and loudly! And, she was not cashier at that time ha?! Then there was the case of a man who asked if there was pork chops. Her reply was to the effect of ‘do you see any?’ or something like that! I think the best that would trigger her yabba-dabba-doo would when people asked her for an order of this or that when she was still attending to another.

Honestly, I even forgot to take note about the food choices and how they tasted because I got busy (like others) listening to her tantrums whaahehehe! Anyway, I do remember having tasted their ‘torta’ which Argao (and this store) is supposed to be known for, though I think it was rather too dry with a lot of the sprinkled sugar. Oops, I hope she’s not reading this lest she starts her dadadadada on me!

Well, if at all, her style was quite a unique way of being unforgettable. I probably won’t easily forget Carmen’s Carenderia (and the lola) for a long time in my life.

Oh my lola!

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