Looking into the future and learning to rely on ourselves The challenge of self-reliance is the challenge to examine and nurse a fresh the meaning of independence as the guide towards the future. —PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS SR. I bit the bullet and tried the viral Diwata’s Pares Overload.
True, the lines are not as long as featured in the reels a few weeks ago but the food and manner in which food is doled out is the same based on the videos. I get why it became viral, and I get why people think it is value for money. A few weeks ago, I enrolled myself at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines Makati (FIPMakati) for the basic pattern making class.
Twice I had to eat lunch out with my classmates under a “work” budget. Since jumpstarting an empty nester career with some semblance of a regular income, I was reminded of just how much eating out can eat up one’s salary. Quickly calculating how much I would spend in the course of finishing my classes, it really added up.
I grew curious of the frenzy surrounding Diwata’s Pares Overload and wanted to see for myself what the fuss was all about. I ordered the Pares set meal which cost ₱100, consisting of a bowl of lechon kawali mixed with chicharon bulaklak pares, a generous amount of rice, and a small bottle of soda. Portions were Filipino-style generous versus American portions.
It was flavorful, the lechon kawali and chicharon bulaklak crunchy, and rice more than enough to accompany the set. The size of the soda was .
