On a night out with fellow Ilocanos, we sifted the streets of Cagayan de Oro on a tricycad with a non-Tagalog speaking driver. Imagine a charades game inside the jeepney-like trike, several meters away from our trying-to-be-a-translator translator and tour guide Kulas. He found us on hyper Corrales St. and ushered us to the Lifestyle District, one of the trendier places to hit by sundown in Cagayan de Oro.
I sneaked into the first bar, a mango-centric dessert place named Mango Mania. Hembee and Ena followed and we bumped into the Cebu reps with their mango smoothies. After getting stuffed with humba, bam-i, sinuglaw and corn tamales, it was impossible to try all the provocative mango creations in the menu. I settled on mango smoothie and mango ice with pomelo.
I actually prefer green mango to ripe mango smoothie. I’m not a mango ice cream lover either. I’ve only liked ripe mangoes, plain and with salt sprinkles or homemade bagoong. It’s complicated. Be that as it may, Mango Mania’s mango ice gave me newfound respect for ripe mango sweets. With some thick sauce and mango cubes, the frozen dessert was imaginably sweet. Oh, in a good way! Imagine mango-flavored yema, with tarty pomelo giving some nice balance and additional texture. The best mango ever, scoop after scoop! I had a tough time rejecting the mango float and tres leches mango cup cake. I tried the mango smoothie for the boys back home. They would have loved it.
Photographed by Carlo and Blauearth
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