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THE GREAT DIVIDE September 16, 2008 (note from YLB: i dont usually get bitchy when posting emails about memories, just that the content of this one roused quite a few "outrages" from me -- all in good fun) IN THE ONE PLUS DECADES that our St Jude journey spanned, there was a great division that breached the student population, not just batch 82. It was not, as you might think, communism vs democracy, Toyota vs Crispa, Taiwan vs Red China or even Pepsi vs Coke (or Mountain Dew vs Mello Yello). It wasnt any of these great debatables (as in, which one was better for our way of life? which one was cooler... which one was tastier?) It was, as if you didnt know... the hordes of LUNCH BOARDERS versus the armies of BAON BRINGERS. (Note: I dont remember what they were called, so for lack of a better term...) both sides were formidable, each fed by dishes generated by carefully selected menus that were designed to energize hyperactive Judenites for high powered learning the rest of the day. but seriously... you and I both know that our constantly churning digestive systems would have ingested ANYTHING remotely edible, basta kayang tanggapin ng sikmura kakainin. It was as if we were individual black holes into which all types of food and sustenance disappeared, never to be seen again. We absorbed both light and energy, as long as it fit into the mouth.  LUNCH BOARDING: Me Clover Chips pa kaya sa Canteen? Not that I didnt appreciate it, but it was a challenge to be a fan of the daily fare of the "caterer" of St Jude lunch meals the whole time we were there. Very spartan, spare in spices, a definite question mark in the freshness department... was it just me or the meals were such that, when you got home, ANYTHING on the dinner table was yummylicious? Inversely proportional to the tastiness of the viand was their "regularity": the more bland the dish, the more often you could expect it to be served. Example: Sayote sauteed with namumutlang giniling was probably the all-time favorite of the caterer, not that I had anything against it, but sometimes it would be served once a week, or at least every 10 days. Pork barbeque, which im sure our non-Muslim Judenites wouldnt have minded eating twice a week, was probably served once a month or everytime a date that was also a prime number fell on a weekday with a "T" in it (syempre not counted ang Thursdays)... sneaky huh? Sayang, it wasnt bad for a barbeque recipe, as the meat seemed to be marinated in something (hopefully it was not stale), and the fatty parts were spare... So fill in the range of dishes on the scale of desirability and you can imagine how the inverse proportionality rule of LUNCH BOARDER ULAM was determined. within this scale, I remember such gems as breaded pork chop, which frequently stuck on the roofs of our mouths. We would then enjoy the texture of something closely resembling salty gummy bears... and which I sometimes mistook for chicharon if it werent for the fact that there was more lean than fat on chicharon; Toyo chicken, the sauce of which was alright except for the fact that to supplement the taste, our only options were soy sauce, and of course, more toyo (pareho lang yun ah?)... inexplicably, misua soup that we were dared to identify (look for the noodles! look for the noodles!), scalding our tongues (probably to dull our taste buds) was in the lunch room oftener than any other soup, and frequent attempts at sinigang soup (without any sahog) usually ended with a chili aftertaste that burned the mouth... and probably when the caterer was having a particularly bad day, an omelet assembly of ampalaya, tomato and bits of leftover meat from previous days... this was a multi-purpose ulam that utilized unused panggisa, on the one hand, and something that could be presented as Lenten fare for Feb and March. To be fair, it was probably a daily challenge to feed 2000 lunch boarders with tasty and nutritious meals, I just wish we could have had more selections and more thoughtful menus then... BAON BRINGERS : or how the other half lived WHICH WAS WHY it was a shock to my senses to "sample" how the other half lived... the BAON BRINGERS and their universe of aromatic, overwhelmingly sumptuous food. To discourage any restless grumblings from the rest of the natives, the baon bringers were allowed to eat their meals at the fifth floor new building, as far away from the lunch boarders as possible. No chance of a stray whiff of home cooking reaching our flared nostrils in Lunch-Boarder-Land.  By the way, their ultrasleek lunch boxes reminded me of nuclear bomb "detonators" complete with cylindrical compartments into which food containers fit perfectly... what was detonated, of course, was their hunger and desire for any more food; (Photo courtesy of batchmate Raymond & Cherry Ong) Tapos I dont know if I imagined it, but homecooked meals usually meant generous servings of lean pork, plump chicken pieces usually deep-fried , and OYSTER SAUCE liberally used, often with mushrooms.... The veggies were often fresher than fresh, crispy string or baguio beans, curried potatoes, and the afritada and menudo was generous with new gulay... no old talong or sayote for any baon bringer... this freshness was unheard of at the other building. The exasperating thing about baon bringers was that they were USED to this kind of food... yummy, fresh, and interesting. I remember Harvey T, a memorable classmate both in HS and elem, who started on his lunch midmorning, made sure we saw what he was going to lunch on (actually was already having)... and oddly enough, after lunch at midafternoon still had enough food to munch with whenever Mr. Stomach growled anew; adding insult to injury was the RICE that baon bringers would enjoy: sometimes fried, sometimes mixed with egg... being a lunch boarder wasnt punishment enough: u also had to know what the other side was having. Probably the whole exercise was meant for us to appreciate the food we enjoyed at home and wherever good food was served. Thanks for the memories. PS. Does anyone have their own memories about lunch in school? It couldnt have been all that bad, matakaw pa rin ako till now  | COMMENTS From Hedy Soliman September 16, 2008 Ahia...was this the reason why you were a regular merienda boarder in our home? Haha Just kidding, of course. You were always a welcome distraction from the tedium of whatever homework or project I was doing.
I, myself, was a lunch boarder until sometime around grade 2 or 3. Young as I was, I complained to my mom about the quality of food being served. From then on, our lunches were brought to school by the driver/maid in shiny stainless steel stackable containers. All my sister and I had to do was go downstairs and pick them up at the gate at lunchtime. 
Sometime around grades 5 or 6, my lunch was now taken to school in the morning inside those nifty and spiffy insulated Zojirushi "bomb detonators" that came in black, brown, navy blue and even, maroon, I think. What was neat about them was lunch was kept hot and once opened, released those aromas that you smelled from across the building. :-))
The best memories of lunchtime for me would be in high school. We normally have a designated area we all sit in. We would gather around, open our containers and share our ulam like one big happy family. There would be fried pork chops cut into bite-size pieces (because heaven forbid that we pick up the bone and gnaw at it), adobo or chinese stewed pork meat, tocino, longanisa, fried chicken. Best of all was the ulam my BFF Catherine brought quite often, as it was our favorite and often anticipated. They were yummylicious
meatballs shaped into one-bite pieces that fit perfectly into our mouths. Oftentimes, ketchup would be included.
So...I want to give a shout-out to my lunch buddies--BFF Catherine, Doc June, Doc Peggy, Marilyn Ching, Lucy Lee. My apologies to the ones that my memory cannot recall. If you were one of them, please respond and let me know. ;-) The food only played a small part in this wonderful experience and memory. It was the certainly the catching up, the commiserating about school and homework and the gossiping about teachers, classmates and crushes that made it feel like we mattered to each other.
Thanks, Noel. Sometimes our memories just needed to be nudged and tickled for it to come back. You sure brought it back for me. I can still "see" the meatballs in its container--its size, shape and taste. Time to have lunch for me, I guess.
Hedy
P.S. Didn't we have some classmates who ate sandwiches for lunch? It used to baffle me how it could be eaten as lunch food, as normally, sandwiches were breakfast or merienda items. I always used to wonder if they were able to get full on eating one.
From Peggy Yu September 17, 2008 Yipee, what a refreshing change from Obama!!! or McCain!!! OR, as a friend recently posited -- Michelle!!! or Cindy!!!
So, a few comments from yours truly:
1. Sandwich eaters -- I recall Cherry being one (my memory is a little fuzzy)
2. Besides Lunch Boarders vs Baon Bringers, weren't there Eat-at-Home classmates, too? THEY were the ones I envied...a short walk and then a home-cooked meal!
3. Merienda - weren't our parental unit(s) required to pay regardless? Our choices were soft drink, soft drink or soft drink PLUS whatever they decided to give everyone (no choice!) -- I only remember two: 1) sickly sweet with sticky cornstarch pork bun AND 2) white almond jello wrapped in clear cellophane.
4. Like Hedy, I think I was a lunch boarder until early elementary and then switched to the other side because the catered food made me ill (food allergies...I remember once being covered in hives because of undercooked shrimp). Unlike Hedy, there was no food delivery at lunch time. My sisters and I were each equipped with a cute straw basket and our stainless steel (mom did not like the idea of hot food placed in plastic) container was wrapped with home-made insulation (laminated layers of newspaper held around the container with an elastic band -- I kid you not). My brother wanted no part of a straw basket and I think he ended up either switching back to being a lunch boarder or
he was able to use his excellent oratory skills to convince my mom that plastic food containers were safe for boys.
Great topic Noel!
Peggyyu
From Mevelyn Tang September 16, 2008
Anyone remember the "Spaghetti" being the entree? I liked the Spaghetti a lot as it was bit sweet, but serving it with rice?  And how about serving siomai as the entree with rice??  It sounds weird now, but at that time, who knew? All I knew was if I didn't eat my lunch, I would go hungry. My mom was working full time as a teacher, and we didn't have a maid in high school to bring us lunch. I remember always looking forward to the dessert though! Cantaloupe juice; buko juice; kamoteng-kahoy; etc. Proud to say I survived being a lunch boarder of ten years (*1st Grade until high school)!  Cheers, Mev
From Noemi Bolanos September 17, 2008 Hi Mev! I used to eat spaghetti with rice and my siblings will laugh at me and i'll eat siomai with rice anytime...but i was one of the baon-bringers though.
From Stef Victorino September 17, 2008 hi noel, i talked to chat uy 2 days ago and he mentioned that your posts are great! he enjoys them a lot; like all the rest do. salamat again for the wonderful memories your 'great divide' stirred. stef
From Noel Bautista September 18, 2008 SECOND SERVINGS (bawal ang mahinhin kumain) before anything else, please let me serve kumakalembang na kudos to Queen Hedy's magnificent reply, which could have easily served as a counter-narrative to our lunch boarder tales. Let me also give credit to the "blast from the past" pics graciously shared by Young Wang & Cherry, the image gave life to the various delectable "moving targets" my growling tummy was detecting, on the way to the communal baon - bringer eating area... various "merienda" memories, too many to list individually (Young Shi, Young Wang and YLB were I admit held in thrall by the canteen spaghetti, as soo accurately reminded by Mev888), rice with anything.. "creative" juices (no pun intended).. . . as well as the classic and popular "ulams" shared by generous batchmates, yummy meatballs, spam steak, bite size pork chops, mini pata tim... was there anything Baon Bringer warriors DIDNT bring to school to eat? a heart-warming sidelight to The Great Divide as told by QH was the various "Joy (Pot) Luck Clubs" that generated and, in many cases strengthened friendships that improved in value through the years. Honestly, I cant blame the "defectors" for their ideological dilemma (to eat or not to eat whatever was served), but it only serves to highlight the intrepid "lunch boarder commandos" that stayed brave and courageous through the years against whatever biological warfare the Sinister Caterer launched from the Sinister Kitchen . . . basta nga kayang tanggapin ng sikmura accept lang nang accept; I confess , whenever the opportunity presented itself, to being a "double agent" and crossing (after a quick lunch boarder lunch, of course) from West Berlin to East Berlin to be an enthusiastic food reviewer at the (daily) Baon Bringer Food Festival ; and very astute of Peggy Y (Peggy Patches 1) to have mentioned the "international citizens," those who had the extreme fortune of being able to head home for lunch (!), eat to his / her heart's delight, and rejoin the massing armies post meridian. Thanks too Ms JP Morgan (that's where u work right? Not Lehman Bros?) for your reminiscings re the depressing "sponge" roll, "almond" style puto and "suspicious" meat bun that made up our "compulsory" merienda fare . . . Every now and then we sift through the cobwebs of hazy memories and find one memory / topic that everyone relates to. Here's hoping The Great Divide won't be the last... thanks for the memories. PS Thanks Lovely Stef for the "remote" dispatches from sorely missed batchmates like Kuya Chat and Raul S., we were pleasantly surprised by newsbits which, of course, you were responsible for. Everyone, ESPECIALLY those who havent posted for awhile, like Ate Mel, Doc Achi Evelyn, Young Shi Please continue to send your fond memories of lunch, merienda and canteen adventures.Sana magpost din all other batchmates who can relate to these and previous memories... PS 2. Thanks Stephanie Chan Lam, nhoymssB, Cherry Tang Ong, Cathy Vi - Clausen, Irene C and everyone else who was kind enough to send messages via facebook . . . mga alamat kayo !!!
From Kathy Q September 19, 2008 Hi Noel, Thanks for the great posts! You've revived a whole lot of memories and even added so much spark to a trivial topic called LUNCH. And all these talk about the hip music of the 80s as well as the virtual jukebox, that was cool! Right after, I started loading up my iPod with these titles and blasted them out really loud. Who cares if my neighbors think I'm trapped in a time warp? Anyways, I can vaguely recall the food brought in by Anna's Catering but one thing deeply ingrained in my memory is the long lines the poor lunch boarder had to endure to get to the daily ration. This has cut lunch hour by half leaving very little time to eat, socialize or review for the next class. Now that I've read the fun tales from the other side and it's too late to ask my mom to pack me a sandwich, I could just sigh with deep regret and bow to the baon bringers - Hey you, it was worth lugging that extra weight to school along with the typewriter, Chem/Bio/Alge textbooks and the Holy Bible too. What about Thursdays when the baon bringers were unarmed with "bomb detonators" and provisions for the lunch boarders were suspended for the day? What's for lunch when the Great Divide homogenize? Remember this makeshift restaurant who serves the best pork chop on this little side street on Ycaza? There was Ria's as well then later on the 1st Jollibee and McD appeared along the University Belt. By the way, Anilynn was here in "Gotham City" (The Dark Knight) a couple of weeks ago. A week before that, Maribeth flew in to meet Kat Woman. Both are avid readers of your wonderful emails and have high praises for you. Please count us in to your growing fan base. Kathy Q
From Noel Bautista September 19, 2008 Dear Kat Woman (Selina Kyle, Halle Berry or Michelle Pfeiffer?) : Even before I finished the last word of your very COLORFUL post, my eyes were already moist, im not sure out of mirth or sentimiento for the acknowledgments / pagrerelate / supplements you so generously made to our collective memories. Truly it is a trivial topic on the one hand, but on the other, lunch and all other repasts of our Wonder Years are memorable not only for the fact that eating is such an emotional activity (family dinners, fiestas, wedding / birthday / even funeral buffets), but also because eating is the ONE event that bonds us together... we taste, savor, masticate (in extreme cases we spit out) sustenance as a group activity... I shudder to think of the one other event that people like to fantasize doing as a group, but that is probably material for other e-groups, not this one  very very sharp of you too, Kat Q, to remember the long lines that rivalled those in pre Yeltsin Russia that made hungry Judenites (not just us) dizzier, hungrier and therefore more desperate for mess hall food ( see how even little techniques like making us smell the food while waiting an extra 5-10 minutes made complaining less likely?  ) I can just imagine Fr. Yang talking to complaining parents : "how could they not like the food when they just gobble it up?" ...in all, there was a world of difference between the people eating in two buildings: but on the surface, who would have known? Lastly, you humble us with your praises not only from yourself but fondly remembered batchmates like Anilynn Ong Amboy (my co Toyota fanatic) and Maribeth Ang (who was too cute to forget, even if she left us early)... but really, the collective memories of our batchmates are what makes the Wonder Years unforgettable (no pun intended). . . as Queen Hedy sez, we just do our part to nudge every batchmate into remembering. .. Thanks for the shoutback, thanks for making our day... and thanks for the memories... PS. I like your new nickname, by the way. . . i suspect that like me, you are a Batman fan . . . Johnny Depp as Riddler (a perfect cast) promises to be a WILD sequel to Dark Knight... PS2 Again I regret that she preferred to respond outside the e-group, but i marvel at the "extra" memories generated by our LA/Big Apple batchmate, teeveejoy Tan -Rosenbaum (hope I got the spelling right ?) ... salamat po sa papuri. . . PS3 much as I would like to grab credit, the Imeem playlist was a gift (one of many) from Young Shi, who tapped both his awesome IT skills and musical genius to give an extra dimension to Soundtrack of Our Lives . . . kudos everyone 
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