Of Burgers and Whoppers

I've always liked eating burgers. It started in college, when fast food joints have become more accessible and my allowance allowed me a decent burger meal every now and then. There were many to choose from but my favorite back then was Wendy's Bacon Mushroom Melt. Yum yum! It was a real treat that I was willing to part with my precious 69 pesos for a burger (and occassional 95 pesos for the whole meal, complete with fries and drink). I don't know how much it costs now but if a Wendy's outlet will open near our place, I'd surely want to try it, for old times' sake.

Next to Wendy's burgers were the charbroiled burgers of Carl's Jr. These were more expensive and I guess that's why they closed shop in my 2nd year in college. When I tried their burger again (upon chancing on a store at Alabang Town Center), it was more expensive than expected but the taste... errr... I guess I forgot about the taste because of the high price? Hehehe...

The Mcdonald's cheeseburger became a staple favorite, especially with its affordable value meal price of only 49 pesos. I love the pickles and mustard, even the onions. Up to now, it's the cheeseburger meal that first comes to mind when ordering at any Mcdonald's branch... even if it now costs 69 pesos.

What about Jollibee? Well, I've always liked the Regular Yum with Cheese. It really depends on my mood whether I prefer Jollibee's sweeter burger over Mcdonald's mustardy & pickly burger. When Jollibee came up with their Amazing Aloha burger, I liked it at first but found it too messy to eat. Then came the Regular Yum with TLC (tomato, lettuce & cheese). It was Jollibee's effort to counter Wendy's Big Classic. I liked the Regular Yum with TLC best among Jollibee's burgers.

But wait, there's more (LOL)! What about Burger King? I used to eat the more affordable burgers at Burger King when I was working in Makati. I really didn't like their burgers back then, but I loved the onion rings and of course, the unlimited drinks! It was just months ago when I got a taste of their Whopper Jr. for the first time. We were on field assignment and our food allowance covered it, so I went for it and ordered one big meal of Whopper Jr. with fries, drinks and choco sundae. I really enjoyed that Whopper Jr. encounter that day.

And I keep coming back to that moment days and weeks after. If only there were a Burger King branch near our place... (sigh!). Then this morning, I was asked what I wanted to have for lunch. I said I wanted a Whopper Jr. from Burger King. It didn't matter to me even if the burger would be brought to the office later than lunch break so our logistics people coordinated my request with our delivery crew in Sta. Rosa (where a Burger King branch is). Perhaps the communication problem prevailed which resulted to no burger for me as of 2pm. I haven't had lunch yet at that time and our admin staff was worried. I used to snap at everyone when I was hungry. But I was different this afternoon. Somehow, I got so depressed that I wanted to cry. They were asking me what else I wanted, but I could not speak... because I was about to choke on tears! Pretty silly, right? I didn't know what came over me. I tried to think of other options... like Jollibee or Mcdonald's... but I only wanted the Whopper Jr.!

Eventually the admin staff got the message and again, coordinated for my request. I ate a stick of banana-Q at around 3pm to ease my hungry stomach while I waited for the Whopper Jr. Finally, it arrived around 4pm... and I got to eat the Whopper Jr. again. And I was not disappointed! :-)

P.S. It was a good thing I am pregnant... which is why the admin staff was really worried about me not getting what I wanted to eat... which is why they really coordinated my request. :-)