We had some leftover for lunch today and we decided to have them for dinner. This way, we need not cook another dish. The leftover might not be that enough, so we got some junk food snacks from our store as an additional dish.
That was my plate for dinner. Well, I had to get more rice after that, though. I love eating after all. haha
I don't know if people from other countries do this, but I'm sure some Filipinos, especially those who are quite below the poverty line, do this in order to save more money.
This is a kind of Filipino snack, but some families who are trying to save money or those who don't have enough money for their meals resort to these snacks as their viand.
One pack is usually just Php7 or $0.14... there are also smaller packs which are only around Php2 or $0.04. As I've mentioned in my previous posts, some of our neighbors are underprivileged and resort to buying one pack of this for their whole family or a couple small packs for them to share. It's tough, but people do what they can to survive, right?
Actually, I and my family have experienced this in the past. Let me tell you a short story of a part of my life.
When I was in elementary, our life was quite good. Although my father didn't have enough salary due to previous loans, my mama was active with her side businesses.
I was able to attend a good school. We have our own small house beside my grandma's house. Sure there were problems here and there, but they were tolerable until one unfortunate thing happened.
The land where my grandma's and our house were build belonged to my grandma's cousin. They only had verbal agreement allowing us to stay there for the rest of our lives. However, my grandma's cousin died and her children had vices. They sold the land and forced us to get out. We were able to buy a part of the land and started building both our and grandma's house, but they didn't given us road right of way and it'll take time, effort and money to fight for it. So, we gave up. And all we had left were mountains of debts because they didn't reimburse us of the money we have started using to build our new house.
I was graduating in elementary back then and we were brainstorming on what to do. (My parents always included in decision making) So, I told them that it would be better for us to start anew in the countryside. Living cost is lower and I could try to get a scholarship since I was the valedictorian in elementary.
We did that, but we didn't have enough money. Papa had more loans, mama didn't have any more side businesses. It was tough, but we tried to survive.
During those times, I walk to and from school. I got my scholarship, but I had to pay for the computer lab. It was just Php80 or $1.58 per month, but I was having a hard time to pay it, so my friends gather money to pay for me. (I love you friends!)
When we have enough money back then (especially when my grandpa send us some), we'd buy fish and veggies... but at times when we don't have enough money, we buy small junk food snack like the one I had for dinner. There are times when we also just put soy sauce and used cooking oil on our rice, or maybe put hot water and sugar on our rice. As long as we have rice, we can survive! haha
It's funny how people find it shocking when I try to eat some junk food snack as my viand now. But yes, this thing helped us survive back then. I know it's not healthy, but we didn't have much choice.
This is also the reason why my family is quite empathetic with some of our neighbors. At least once a month, we try to prepare some good food for the kids or if we have some extra food like bread and stuff, we also give it to them. Of course, we're not rich and we still have a lot of the remaining loans to pay, but it's difficult not to help. We were able to experience such hardships in the past, so we know the feeling... and it's not good. We call it isang kahig, isang tuka in our language. It's the same with the idiom from hand to mouth in English.
Well, Filipinos are resilient and positive people, so despite our life's circumstances, we try to look at the brighter side and choose to be happy.
Anyway, I like making some designs using ketchup on my plate. hahaha
First one's for lunch, second one's for dinner. haha We had dry food today (corned beef with potato and cabbage), so I wanted to eat it with ketchup. haha
I just thought of sharing these pictures as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this post. We may encounter a lot of challenges in life... we may fall down multiple times, but let's do our best to bounce back higher!
Thank you for sharing your story. Your optimistic outlook is really touching because you could be salty about your situation, but you choose to look on the bright side and that takes courage. I appreciate you. Sending love!
Thanks a bunch... Nothing comes out from being salty about such situations. Being negative also would just make me feel worse. Of course, I've been depressed in the past, but having experienced that, I realized that there's still more to life... I can still do things for myself and for others. These challenges only made me and my family stronger. Thanks for dropping by! 😍
The whole pandemic made people's lives harder as well and it was a good thing that there community pantries and kitchens that helped a lot of folks.
It is also good that your family helped some of your neighbors
True... it's great to know that there are still a lot of people who are willing to help...
Thank you!
That is a very sad story about your family, I too have experienced some major problems with family disputes over land, money, and business ownership, and it's never pleasant.
Rice and soy sauce, I hate to admit I've eaten that classic dish more times than I care to admit, but hey, we gotta survive right. Luckily we've found Hive, it has truly changed the course of my family's lives.
Yeah... I was able to experience such at a young age, so whatever comes our way now, I can at least manage. I learned from the past and now I'm stronger, of course with my family. They're the source of our strength, right? ^^
You should try adding some used cooking oil in the mix. hahah True... HIVE has been truly a big help for the past years even until now. <3
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
hahahahahha very nostalgic. When I was still in college, I usually eat a spicy canned tuna with Black Chili Corn CHips on the side. so that I can eat more rice and less tuna to save more for the day. hahahah
We really did it at one point in our life... I like that corn chips pud!!! dba naa pd na red version?? haha xDD
Yes naa red, black and green. then katong sweet version an green ug blue
naa pa ba na ron!? Recently, I bough safari and muncher... hahahaha makamingaw... 😂
Naa pa. Bigger packs na.
Same pd sa super crunch... bigger packs na lang ang naa.. hahah xDD
This is such horrible to be in especially at your age that time! But I'm glad you made it through. This kind of experience is the reason why we are even stronger than before! I salute you and your parents for keeping it together and for making it through!
It was quite difficult to take since I have been used to living a good life, but yeah... it only made us better and stronger. Thanks! ^^