Perigargan: It's More Fun In Digman . . .

. . . for halo-halo, that is. While one can have this montage of colors and flavors - pack ‘em into one tall glass and top it with shaved ice and a scoop of ice cream for good measure - from malls, posh hotels, neighborhood street corners and now even Chowking, nothing can be more fun and exciting than having it right there where it all started, Digman. The name actually refers to a barangay in Bacoor, Cavite that is host to a lot of houses/stores selling these little sweet things, the mere sight of which screams that summer’s here.

ready for the orders; once ordered, shaved ice and

a dose of alpine milk will be added (a scoop of ice

cream can be added too to make it special)

The road to Digman, Bacoor is quite easy: look for the Bacoor Church (St. Michael’s, if I am not mistaken), walk/drive along its side street (with the Church to the left) for two or three blocks and try to find Rubio St. which must be to the right. Turn right to Rubio St. and go straight ahead until the corner intersects with another street and more than a couple of houses/stores serving halo-halo are in sight.

As to which one to choose from among the houses/stores can be a bit unwieldy. Ask the tambays which one is most masarap, they will safely say that everything is; ask for the original, they'd say that all are pare-parehong original. Hmn, sounds pretty much like Laguna’s buko pie. Being in such a dilemma, we relied on our instincts. We looked around and observed which store gets to have more people in and that’s where we went.

more people flocked to this place; we just went with

the flow and we didn't regret it; we also looked at the

other stores and we felt like this one is better in terms

of cleanliness, presentation, etc.

This is only my second time in Digman. The first was sometime in 1989 or 1990 probably, when a friend from Bacoor took me there. Revisiting Digman this time around is indeed long overdue.

Others may not find Digman at the top of their list as its ingredients, 12 in all, can be overwhelming. They'd rather much go to Razon’s with its simple combination and finely crushed ice or Kabigting’s with its unique ingredients including carabao's milk and pastillas. But still, no one can deny that Digman has long established its rightful place in the realm of halo-halo. Current store operators are already the 3^rd generation and if the presence of kids helping out in the kitchen indicates something, it could be that Digman is assured of business continuity in the next generation/s to come.