Lately I get into one of my foulest moods when it's mealtime or when I'm shopping for food. They're harsh reminders of how limited my choices are. No pork. No wheat.

I can eat pork in the strict sense of the word. I don't have hypertension or allergic reactions to it. But I grew up not eating pork because of religious practice I have grown accustomed to. I will never eat pork unless the situation comes when it's my only chance of survival.

Now wheat is a different story. I can't eat anything that contains wheat. Can't because I have anaphylactic reactions to it. Since my last two horrible, and I mean horrible, allergy attacks last August, I've avoided wheat products like the plague.

That leaves me quite a limited range when I'm buying food. You will understand once you visit Cebu, where everything has pork in it. Sometimes when I'm grocery shopping, I scream profanities in my head.

"Putang ina! Wala bang walang harina?"