November 16, 2017 Thursday, Pasig City
Ron and his two sisters in law were already seated at a table on the ground floor of Cafe Juanita in Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig when Oyen and I arrived. We came from Makati and swung by the house to rest for a few minutes. There was an unexpected road blockage leading to Kapitolyo kaya hayun we were late by a few minutes lang naman except that Ron arrived half hour early.
I was supposed to bring him to Tagaytay but due to both our busy schedules, we agreed to just have dinner here in Manila.
They were shocked when I ordered chicharong bulaklak and crispy pata.
Crispy pata, I just ate the skin.
Ron’s sister in law Rona, ordered this camaron rebosado.
Ron said it’s the fourth time in two weeks that he’s eating kare-kare.
A slice of blueberry cheesecake was shared by Amy and Rona.
Who else ordered this halo-halo?
Buko pandan for Ron
Canonigo for Oyen
People who don’t know that all this ingredients must be mixed together will miss out on the taste. “Walang lasa”. I’d rather that restaurants serve this mixed, and just put the other ingredients as topping.
Amy, Rona, Dr. Efren “Boy” Vazquez (owner of Cafe Juanita), Ron, Yen and I.
Obgyn-turned-restaurateur Dr. Vazquez, has a good sense of humor. Whenever he’s asked who Juanita is, his ready answer “Ako, pagdating ng hatinggabi” never fails to elicit laughter from his diners. Juanita is the name of his beloved mother.
I asked Boy when he started his collection, he said he grew up in a big house with a lot of things like this so acquiring new pieces is but natural. He has always been surrounded by arts. He said what we see inside Cafe Juanita is only a tip of the ice berg. The rest are stored in a warehouse.
We met the owner of La Estancia Hotel in Busuanga, Tony Garalde.
He is very friendly. First time he met Ron and yet parang dati na silang magkatsokaran.
He and Ron share a common thing — both say they are close to the present dispensation. Ron’s association with Davao was way before pa, when President Duterte was still mayor of the city. Tony Garalde is really close to the president.
During photo-ops with President Duterte in Beijing, the last photo was always that fist sign. I never raised my fist. All of them did, except me.
I just felt awkward because that’s not me as a person. Si Ron okay lang mag fist sign sya kasi feeling Duterte sya.
Every president has his own style. FVR’s thumbs-up sign okay lang sa akin, si GMA is I think peace sign so okay lang din sa akin, si Pnoy tila L,
I don’t remember flashing an L sign during the many photo ops with him. Ang alam ko lang na L ay yung ma-L (sexually charged person).
We were the last to leave the restaurant. I had a few minutes to explore and take a few photos.
The very first time I dined here was with Federal Phoenix Insurance’s president Ramon Dimacali, Susan Dimacali, Jing Vermillon, there was a nice set of plates that were displayed but with a price tag of tila 1,500 or 2,500 for each piece.
I remember being smitten by the pink plate flowers. I now have those same plates, same design, I ordered from an antique dealer in Canada.
Cafe Juanita is consistently rated high by diners and critics.
Ron was leaving for the US the following Tuesday.
As of this writing, Ron is back in the US.
Anak thank you for coming with me to Cafe Juanita and picking up the tab too.
