Bought our lunch at the Sitio Catacutan Food Court before noon: ox tripe kari with traditional fish paste, pork nilaga, and afritada. Had we bought the ingredients for those and cooked them ourselves, it would have taken us forever--to go to market, to prepare, to place in three, separate vessels and set three, separate cooking times, and to clean up afterward.

With the present situation, all I have to do is set the table and wash dishes afterward.

I call this "jukebox dining"--I have three favorite stalls (one offering 15 dishes everyday, another ten, and yet another eight). And then, of course, there is M.'s cafe, which also offers eight.

There is a secondary gain to this: one is always kept abreast with community news, for Sitio Catacutan has its share of male and female Jane Marples.