Fastfood acquaintances

I've had a chicken fillet meal at Mc Donalds glorietta earlier today and felt nostalgic while eating the small meal. Half of my college life was spent eating Mcdonalds with my friends that it felt lonely eating one without them. I'm not really very fond of eating in this fastfood chain becaues of its repetitive dishes, but for some reason I can't seem to get the habit out of my system.

Eating at a fastfood restaurant has been the ways of college students for an affordabel and clean meal. With just a P49, one can get a rice meal and drink with free wifi for those that need it. Besides the affordability of the restaurrant, what I liked about it most are the memories I've had during college. I can't count how much time I've spent eating that fillet with my friends while enjoying the company with each other. Whether it be because of acads or just to soothe grumbling tummies, Mcdo has become a part of my college life.

Of course, half of my college life is not all Mcdo. Prior to coming to Diliman, my lunch in UP Manila consisted of eating the thirty niners of a Jollibee food chain. I remember every lunch, my friends and I would go to Robinsons Palce in Manila to pick our lunch or dinner choices from the arrays of restaurants in the fourth floor. But for some reason we always ended up eating at Jollibee and ordering the same old thing. It might be because of affordability that led us going back to that restaurant, or it might also be the memories we've shared doing our Philo 11 and Pol Sci 14.

When I'm with my high school friends, we don't go to McDo and Jolibee because they prefer something more special than the ones we usually have. That is justified because we only get to see each other once a month due to our different schools. So instead, we settled for a more fancier restaurant. A..K.A. Burger King.

Yes, a place a bit fancier (and pricier!) than your average burger shop, but still a fast food restaurant. We can spend hours just seating there talking about what was happening with our lives while eating the same old Whopper combo meal or BK chiken burger for a few extra bucks. For the past four years, we would never let it pass without mentioning eating at that restaurant despite our pallates getting tired of it. Right now, despite moving on to a more pricier...ahem... more sophisticated restaurants out there, we often look out for that BK sign at any mall we go to.

It was amusing that my college life can be boxed with the three fastfood restaurants commonly found around the metro. It became a place for having fun chatting with old and new friends. A tambayan for acads or extra curriculars. A meeting place for long lost acquaintances, and a start of a new beginning.

*photo taken from clickthecity.com