MILLIE: I learned a few months ago from Fr. Dennis Paez that to have a meaningful life, one should have: one, something to do; two, something to look forward to; and three, someone to love.
I was so deeply touched by his homily that I have not stopped sharing it with my friends. There’s no argument about number one as I have my work, which I still enjoy. As for number two, I look forward to knowing that clearly as I feel God’s hand leading me to do something to help bring joy to others. As for number three, although my “someone to love” is not a special someone in the Valentine sense, I love my dearest daughter Karla Marina, who means the whole world to me. There’s also my immediate family, of course, but there are also my special friends who pamper me and allow me to pamper them.
One crazy weekend last year, we all drove to Tagaytay to laugh and to eat. Karla and I had just arrived from a trip to the USA and were both still jet-lagging, but we did not want to miss it for the world. We squeezed seven warm bodies into Ditas Intengan’s Previa and spent the night at Theodore, a local boutique hotel with thematic bedrooms.
KARLA: The group had decided to go to Bawai’s for lunch even before we arrived in Tagaytay. We realized it was in Silang, Cavite, so we drove further down. There we met the owners, Virgilio and Bawai Tatlonghari. Virgilio is a Filipino and Bawai, a Vietnamese with French blood. Very much intrigued, I asked the couple how they first met. Virgilio was a mechanical engineer who came to Vietnam to work after graduation in 1967 with an American company. He had then left his girlfriend in Manila, who was eight years older than he was. He recalls that it was love at first sight when he met Bawai. They worked in the same base in Quinhon, got married, came back to Manila after the fall of Vietnam in 1975 and raised a family with five kids. Virgilio quips that they were always entertaining guests and their kids’ friends, so they decided to convert their home into a restaurant. Bawai and two of their sons have studied at the Ho Chi Minh culinary school in Vietnam.
MILLIE: We had heard of Bawai’s from friends so we were really looking forward to a great lunch. Dr. Larry Mallari did most of the ordering, reading from notes in his cellphone. For starters, we ordered Cha Gio, which is fried Vietnamese spring rolls with buttered chicken, pork and herbs and Goi Cuon, my favorite Vietnamese appetizer with glazed pork and shrimp with vegetables in a fresh rice roll.
We also had Bawai’s house salad consisting of fresh coconut sprouts with herbs, glazed pork and shrimp, which was quite refreshing. We also ordered the very traditional Chao Tom consisting of pounded shrimp on sugarcane skewers.
Our hungry bunch devoured two orders of Nem Nuong, grilled pork sausage with pickled vegetables. Still not satisfied, we stuffed ourselves with Tom Rang Me, which were spicy prawns flavored with tamarind and Ca Nuong Xa Ot, which was grilled lemongrass-glazed Dory fish fillet with julienne-cut mangoes.
Despite all the eating and laughter, there was room for more, so came the Ga Quay baked honey lemon chicken with rice and steamed vegetables and Larry’s must-have, Com Suon Cha, which is grilled pork liempo (belly) and mushroom egg pie.
While most of us had the pandan iced tea, Len Enrile and Ramon Tan could not help but try the Ca Phe Sua Nong, which is hot drip Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, while I had the Ca Phe Sua Da, which is the fabulous iced Vietnamese coffee.
KARLA: In 2002, mom, and I went to Vietnam with lolo Joe, tito Gerry and tita Leni Reyes and we first tried the famous Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. lolo pretty much appreciates anything with condensed milk. He puts it on broas biscuits, avocadoes and even on crepes. Because of this, Lolo brought home almost two dozen filters and boxes of Trung Nyuen coffee. He wanted us to start serving it at the Cocktail Lounge at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, which used to be operated by The Plaza.
I remember that on that Saigon trip, all we did was search for food. Lolo remembered Saigon to have really good baguette-like bread, and so we searched for the best that we could find. I remember going to several small bakeries just to try out their breads to find the one lolo was looking for. There was also this noodle place called Pho 2000 near the Ben Thanh Market, which is the best place to try real local dishes.
We had a local guide who told us about the noodle place where President Clinton ate when he visited Vietnam. So my memories of that trip to Saigon were really all about food! And every time I think of food I remember my lolo Joe, whom I sorely miss and who would have turned 90 years old today.
MILLIE: We had a repeat of that fabulously divine lunch at Bawai’s a few weeks later when Lizette Licaros organized another overnight trip to Tagaytay. I was at a retreat that weekend but came out just in time to join the hungry bunch for a repeat lunch at Bawai’s, where more friends came to join us.
I’m not sure now what gave us the most satisfaction, whether it was the food or the laughter. But definitely, the special camaraderie brought memorable moments we will forever cherish in our hearts, making life so meaningful.
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Bawai’s Vietnamese Kitchen is located at J. Hernandez Street, Purok 5, Brgy. Bucal, Silang, Cavite. For inquiries or reservations, call 0920-972-2024 or 0917-804-1245.
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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.