lunchtime and language barriers

OK, so the first tagalog words I'm going to learn will most definitely be FOOD WORDS.  I was originally planning on starting with the courtesy phrases (my current repertoire is kumasta ka/po (how are you), mabuti (fine), and salamat po (thank you)  as you can see, it could do with some expansion).  But plans have changed.  Buying lunch yesterday, from the bevy of food stands in the mall, was a downright harrowing experience.

Pancit - I know what that is, though I had no idea it came in fifty thousand variations that look completely different.  And I can visually distinguish the grilled squid from the pork kebobs, the fried chicken from the whole fish.  And the white rice, that I can spot.  But those recognizable items are drowned out by a mass of balls and clumps and soups and stir-fries and wraps and slices and cubes and bowls and plates of... of what?  white and brown and green and red... what?

and I stand there - the only white woman in the entire mall, as far as I can tell, calling plenty of attention to myself as it is - staring cluelessly at the signs.  Kare-kare... I know what that is, I KNOW i know it, I just can't remember!  lumpia... that sounds familiar... whatever it is.  but pochero?  longganisa?  ginisang monggo? I for sure have never heard these words before in my life.  Pro tip: make flashcards for the airplane of the major dishes of your destination country... even if everybody there speaks English, too.

concluding that a fast food market full of people in a hurry was not the optimal time to ask strangers to explain an entire country's cuisine to me, I rolled all my strength into one ball (of unknown ingredients and dubious sweetness), and ordered... kare-kare, grilled squid, something green and squishy, white rice, and something on a skewer.

there goes six years of vegetarianism... departing with lots of tentacles and peanut sauce.

Seriously, though, I need to learn these names.  Call me unadventurous, but yes, I'd like to avoid tripe and chicken intestines (did i mention six years of vegetarianism?  any kind of meat is about as appetizing as... well... chicken intestines!)  and I would very much like to know what I am eating, at the least.  So, tagalog, here I come... from afritada to wansoy, one way or another, i'm going to learn what I'm eating.

P.S.  Sweet tea in the Philippines is EVEN SWEETER than it is in the South.  I didn't even know that was possible.
P.P.S.  Okay, I could have gotten pizza or spaghetti.  But that would have been SUCH a cop-out.
P.P.P.S.  Fruit.  Delicious, delicious fruit.  Maybe i'll write about the fruit later but if I can't learn my monggo from my morcon, at least I can eat mangos!!