I Scream! (Part One)

Day 107 Outtake

Without question one of my favorite Operation 365 pictures!

Growing up as a kid in foreign land, I looked forward to the ice cream man every Sunday. More often than not, I would get a popsicle but what I really wanted was ice cream and jelly, a rarity in his freezer. It wasn’t hard to catch the ice cream van because you could hear the jingle from a block away. I would run to my mum or dad to ask for a dollar so I could help myself to a cold treat. Of course there were days when I would pass up on ice cream but the van never failed to linger in front of our house, waiting for that chinky Asian boy to run up to his window.

I still love ice cream — whether it be of the humble variety peddled by Mamang Sorbetero (as in the picture) or the more special fare in fancy freezers. Whenever the family gets the chance to travel, we sample as much ice cream as we can get. My dad and sister love chocolate and mint (blech) while my mum leans more toward rum and raisin and fruity flavors. Most of the time, I get two scoops — one chocolate and one berry.

Yes, there’s a difference between gelato and ice cream. I think it has something to do with the amount of cream used because gelato appears to be more packed than ice cream. I’d passed by this Gelato Bar once or twice at the mall and I wasn’t going to leave without sampling its “dessert with style.” The gelato display was fcuking gorgeous I couldn’t decide on which flavorS to get. Most likely I got a chocolate-strawberry combination because, like I mentioned, that’s what I always get.

At our time of visit (2008), there were only two Fruits and Ice Cream Summer Cafés — one in Tagaytay and one in Boracay. Now they have one in BF Homes and Alabang Town Center. The reasonably priced ice cream was certainly a treat for all of us but it was Cla who appeared to derive the most FIC pleasure. Would love to post pictures of her, enraptured by her ice cream cone but she’d kill me.

Ah, Baskin-Robbins! I always did hear about you on American movies when I was a kid. So I was delighted to be able to taste you for the first time in 2007. The ice cream was all right but I absolutely loved the sherbet flavors, especially Sunset Sherbet (a tangy treat of mixed-berry, orange and lemon sherbets in vivid sunset colors). The one in the picture, if I’m not mistaken, is Rainbow Sherbet. I also kind of loved Love Potion #31 (cupid’s white chocolate and raspberry ice cream swirled with raspberry ribbon and loaded with raspberry-filled chocolate cups and chocolate chips) but probably more for the name than the taste.

I just love ice cream packaged in a paperboard tub with a plastic cap. This wasn’t how ice cream pints looked like in the country in the ’90s. Ben & Jerry’s is another brand I always see at the movies. What I love about this line is the creative set of flavors and each flavor’s unique name. My favorite one is Everything but the… Simply decadent.

Unfortunately, I haven’t tried New Zealand Natural’s frozen yogurt yet. But the ice cream is superb, if a little expensive. I love: Boysenberry Dream, Forest Berry, and Chocolate Ecstasy.

Ah such a shame, Go Nuts Donuts. You had the best donuts in town until Krispy Kreme came along. And it never was the same after that. Now you’re selling your prized ice cream and of course I needed to try it. I got the New York New York because your (not particularly courteous) staff told me there was no more Strawberry. It was okay. I wouldn’t have minded the taste but the problem was, you implied in your poster that this was THE ice cream of all ice creams.

I was excited to find out last year that Gelatissimo was taking shape at Greenbelt 5. Now open, the place is almost always packed when I pass by. This is another gelato bar with impeccable product display. And you can ask for flavor samples to help you decide which one/s you want to get. My favorite flavors are: Veronese Chocolate (tastes like Ferrero Rocher) and Forest Berries. For a thrill you might want to try their Chili Chocolate which is… hot.

To be continued…