First Thing on GCQ: How About a Squidball Date?

What to do first thing when ECQ becomes GCQ? Go on a date, of course---a stay-at-home date, that is, with huge posters of the countryside in the background for a feel of the province. And our favorite is a Squidball date, me and my wife. It all started one summer in May. [Picture above by 200 Degrees from Pixabay].

I don't know what they put in squidballs but a couple of years back, when we first ate squidballs, they made me and my girlfriend (now my wife) fall more in love with each other. Squidballs were new then and were in strict competition with fishballs which were dwindling in popularity. We first saw squidballs at the grocery area at the basement of the old Ever Gotesco in Monumento before it burned down. So we stopped by one afternoon after alighting from the LRT.

I happened to love squid so much I was intrigued how squidballs tasted. My girlfriend was also curious, and because she was always daring and adventurous with new food, we decided to try it. Moreover, we noticed the long line of folks patiently waiting to buy them. So, this stuff must be really good, we thought. And as I've said, I love squid. Experience taught me that anything of squid was good stuff.

We looked at the menu prices and opted for the 6-piece set at P20 each set. We ordered 2 sets, one for each of us---the squidballs were bigger and meatier than fishballs---and asked for the spicy, sweet-sour sauce with mayonnaise. And it turned out the perfect sauce for squidballs although plain vinegar with fish sauce would also do. We were super impressed with our first bite. We vowed there and then we would always eat squidballs whenever we passed by Ever Gotesco. In fact, we even went out on a date just to eat squidballs there.

So, we were helplessy falling for squidballs like crazy and I noticed we also grew closer and fonder with each other as the squidball dates became frequent. And it was convenient for me because for only P100 I could date my sweetheart enjoying "fine snacking" (in lieu of fine dining) with several rounds of squidballs  plus some plastic cups of ice-cold sago't gulaman. We learned to enjoy each other's company more with simple things and found that you can go on really memorable, romantic and quality dates just eating cheap snacks if you're truly in love with each other. 

No need for expensive fine-dining.

Later, we tried it with rice and found it could well pass for a meal. The more you see how love could grow and develop with simple food, the more you are encouraged to get married because you see how it can all go well even with just a few bucks in your pocket. And that inspiration makes you fall in love with each other more. Squidballs had a lot to do with it.

Are you getting this? I mean, if your dates go well with just eating squidballs, how much more your marriage? That may sound funny but that was how we saw it. Of course, we knew we both had to make a living to workout a marriage and in fact we both worked hard in our jobs. But dates are a harbinger of what your marriage would look like. If you had to spend so much on fine-dining just to have a good date when you were sweethearts, then your marriage may easily rock with the slightest financial problems. Something like that.

So, if you're looking for someone to marry, look for somebody who'd be so happy with you over some handfuls of squidballs. You want somebody to fall for you? Ask him or her for a squidball date.