"What! McSpaghetti?"

Photo taken on Friday, February 18, 2005, at a McDonald's (where we had our afternoon snack) in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

How I miss McSpaghetti! Yes, you read me correctly: How I miss McSpaghetti, for I can never be served with a McSpaghetti at any McDonald's in Canada, simply because the McDonald's fast-food restaurants here don't carry that particular item.

Order a McSpaghetti at any McDonald's here and, right there and then, you will most likely be served with an incredulous stare; not unless the service crew happened to be someone who had been to a McDonald's in the Philippines or someone who is in touch with the various cultures of the world or conscious about cultural diversity.

Realize that almost any fast-food restaurant would certainly wisely cater its products to the taste and preference of its target market. For instance, in the Philippines, McDonald's products like McSpaghetti, lóngganísa meal, big breakfast with garlic rice, and úbe-macapunô sundae are big hits among Filipinos; but all of these are unavailable in any McDonald's branch in North America, naturally because these food items are not the type that will tickle the tastebuds of North Americans in general.

I can imagine now what food items one can order at a McDonald's in, say, China, Hungary, Argentina, Romania, Lebanon, Oman, Taiwan, Turkey, or Egypt.

Oh, but I'm still craving for a McSpaghetti! And yeah, I miss also Jollibee palábok, Jollibee Champ, Sbarro's baked zitti, Burger Machine's bart burger, Aji Ichiban's preserved plums, Zagu pearl shakes, shawarma, fried one-day-old chicks, fish balls, barbecued chicken intestines, hot pandesal, Kowloon's chicken pao and jumbo pao, tahó..."Tahó...tahó!"

Ang Súki Kong Magtatahó

"Tahó! tahó!" Sigáw niyá'y marírinig ko.
Sa áming kusína'y pahangós na tátakbo
Úpang kúnin ang pinakamatabáng báso.
Hihingî kay Nánay ng bariyáng mamíso;
At kung sakáli namáng siyá ay tulóg pa,
Magháhagiláp ng baryá sa mga bulsá.
Pagbukás ng pintô, hayún ang magtatahó;
At nakangitî pa sa ákin ang súki ko—
Tátakal ng tahóng masustánsya't maputî.
Ang arníbal áking padáragdagáng mulî;
Sa ibábaw namá'y palálagyan ng sagó
Úpang ang linamnám nitó ay makumpletó.
"Tahó! Tahó!" Sigáw na mulî ng súki ko;
At patuloy na s'ya sa kanyáng paglalakô.

– I wrote this poem in 1992; it will be included in my poetry anthology Pag-aálay ng Bulaklák sa mga Lumípas at Lilípas (At Iba Pang Tulâ, 1988–1993).