Flashback: March

March 14 - Trash Day
The office launched again its twice-a-year trash day, in time for spring cleaning. Our floor was divided into three teams and, as always, the production team won. They didn't have as much "trash" as we do, in my observation, but they seemed to have thrown in a lot of old magazine issues and other stuff that aren't pure paper. I believe we have been warned not to dispose of old issues, but well, they got away with it. And even compensated for presentation, arranging their "trash" to look like some misshaped human (or clone, whatever).
The winner was announced during a merienda break, during which Armando, the general manager, also announced that two of our colleagues were leaving and this day was their last day: Marian, VM of Electronic Components, who has been with the company for more than two years, and Evelyn, a senior graphic artist of Electronics Engineering Times Asia, who has spent the past 10 years of her working life in GS.

March 15 - Latin Heat
Marthe and I watched Ballet Philippines' season presentation Latin Heat at the CCP Little Theater. It highlighted modern ballet and the fast beat dances associated with Latin music. We got the set of free tickets from a former officemate, Chie Sales, who is now with Museo Pambata and gets complimentary passes to cultural shows. She couldn't attend this one and asked around through Marco if anyone was interested.
During the intermission, I saw a large man who looked familiar in the lobby of the theater. He was sitting waiting for someone. And apparently the someone arrived, his wife and daughter. Only when they walked back to the theater did I recall that it looked like Fred Blancas, the Marketing Manager of IMI, Ayala Corp's EMS company. Our department, EBU, has visited IMI several times to tour their factory and talk to the executives. My cousin, Michael Hansson, currently heads the design and engineering department of IMI. I emailed Fred the week after to ask if he was there, and he said yes, they were watching the ballet too. His daughter is taking up ballet lessons in CCP.

March 17 - Itchy or not itchy
I met Mama, Lyn and Marthe in Landmark to buy Marthe's graduation dress. When I arrived, they had shortlisted their choices to two really pretty ones. One of the two dresses had a plastic cover over it. Marthe tried both. The one with plastic looked too dressy and sophisticated for a school graduation and she said it was itchy at the armpit part. The one without plastic was perfect. So we asked for a new and clean stock of the second dress, which we chose. It arrived with plastic cover. At home, I hung the dress and asked Marthe if she liked it. She just stared at it and nodded uncertainly. I got worried so I asked again. Finally she blurted out "it's itchy." I freaked out. Why didn't you say so?! She said "I told you it was itchy." But you said it was the other dress that was itchy! She said, "The one in plastic is itchy." But I said this is the other dress, the one without plastic. And she said, "But that one has plastic, it's the one that's itchy." Hahaha! I laughed so hard. Just because the new stock of the dress had plastic on, she thought we chose the previous one with plastic that she fitted and was itchy. Haay, my daughter is still a baby. She still forms an opinion by association.

March 18 - DVD Swapping Day
Today is DVD swapping day. Monch sent an e-mail yesterday that whoever had DVDs to spare can bring them today and tomorrow and swap it for other DVDs. Some people, including me, brought DVDs and VCDs today. A whole plastic bag from me, mostly old stuff, to give way to the new ones Mel brought home. In return, I got a VCD of Mona Lisa Smile, and an assurance from Jamie that she will bring Bee Movie for Marthe, and from Louise that she will reserve the CSI Season 7 set for me.

March 19 - Holy Wednesday, half-day work day
I swapped more DVDs and ended up getting more than I can probably afford to watch during this 4-day break, including the ones Marco and Monch kept passing to me because there were no takers. So today, I brought home THE CHORUS (a French flick), COPYING BEETHOVEN, THE WEATHERMAN, BEFORE SUNRISE, BEE MOVIE, FINAL CUT, FINDING NEVERLAND and part of CSI-VEGAS' SEASON 7, which I think I'm I've partly watched before. Louise has also generously lent her AVI copy of I AM LEGEND and ATONEMENT, which she claims has no cuts. This should more than make up for what Mel and I 'lost' last Saturday. We mysteriously lost the I Am Legend DVD but we couldn't explain how, because everything else was intact.
I didn't join Len's birthday lunch at Joey Pepperoni but took the half day off to do some errand. Anyway, I've given my message to Len for her gift. Mel picked me up at lunch and we went to see Marthe's school director. We already paid Marthe's graduation fee and got her pictures and program. But the director again issued a paper receipt. We should remind them to issue official receipts.
I spent the rest of the day sleeping and reading. What a relaxing afternoon.

March 20-23 - Holy Weekend
We spent the rest of the week doing spiritual activities. The whole family heard mass on Holy Thursday at St Andrew for Washing of the Feet ceremony. I noticed that they used some of the same "apostles" as last year's but they were quite grown up than they were last year. We listened at home on TV to the Seven Last Words on Good Friday. I don't remember what church this was held but it was in cooperation with ABS-CBN, and I liked their style and format of choosing three speakers: one priest, one lay servant (such as a nun or active church leader), and one ordinary or non-religious person. They presented different perspectives of what the Words meant in their life and how it related to their day-to-day tasks. After each Word, a family was chosen to say a prayer, and a singer (professional or not) rendered a song to end the session for that Word.
On Holy Saturday, Mel, Marthe and I went to Sta Ana for Stations of the Cross. The Stations were permanently placed outside. They were a little abstract, with only parts of Jesus' face/head showing but each position indicating what station He was in. The stations were designed to be part of the front yard of the Church so that devotees can do the Stations of the Cross without disturbing a mass or other churchgoers inside. Late Saturday night, I busied myself filling Marthe's Easter egg shells with candies and taping up the shells to maintain the egg shape. We hid the Easter eggs in strategic spots.
On Easter Sunday, we heard mass at noon and had lunch at home, where Marthe excitedly searched the eggs. After finding all of them and realizing they contained candies, she began searching for the rest of the candies that didn't fit into the eggs. Hahaha!

March 24 - Quote from Rech
For whatever reason, Rech embarked on her thinking marathon over the 4-day weekend and came up with this first thing this morning: "Am I a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond?" Quite an Easter enlightenment for my friend. :)

March 25 - More graduation shopping
I met them again in Landmark to buy the rest of Marthe's graduation paraphernalia. We found a pair of dainty white-and-pink sandals to go with her dark fushchia blouse and skirt that we previously bought for her dance presentation. We also bought her socks. However, there weren't many nice black shoes for the white graduation dress. So we proceeded to SM. On the way from Glorietta to SM, we saw a stall that sells hair and head bands and bought a transparent curvy one that looked plain in the hand but was really nice on the head. Good, the attire is almost complete. At SM, we found a good pair of Barbie shoes (how apt!). Not too plain, not too heavy, not very fancy, not expensive but doesn't look like it will last only two uses. Cool! We were done in an hour, the shortest shopping spree I've ever seen for a school necessity. Hehe.

March 29 - Marthe's Graduation
Today is Marthe's graduation and she looks very pretty in her white dress and black shoes. The head band we bought looked surprisingly good on her head. It was transparent with a curving design that stands out against her dark brown hair when worn.
When we arrived in the school, I was shocked to note that almost all the girls were wearing makeup. For a pre-school graduation?! You've got to be kidding me! But after a few minutes, I realized that Marthe would probably end up the palest on camera if she was made to stand with all those colored faces, so I applied a bit of Clean and Clear powder on her face and a light lip color. I didn't bring my eyeshadow compact with me so that's all I could apply. Mel laughed and moved his head from side to side unbelievingly when I pulled Marthe to a corner to apply the powder and lipstick. "Kayo talagang mga babae!" he said, grinning.
With her toga and cap on, and the corsage provided by the school, Marthe blended with all the graduates. Mel accompanied Marthe onstage in getting her diploma and I accompanied her in receiving her medals (my choice, of course, hehe). She got 3 medals for: Most Artistically Inclined, Most Responsible, and Most Well Groomed.
The children were fun and funny to watch. They were formal in their graduation garb and started moving around freely when they changed to their dance costumes for the presentation. Soon, you can already hear some crying and complaining and some parents have started to carry their bored and irritated sons or daughters. One child even refused to go up the stage during the graduation song. Unfortunately, she was the daughter of the PTA president so she just had to go, against her will, because her mother wanted her to. While the rest of the children were singing their graduation song, Yesterday's Dream by 14K, she was crying silently in front. Poor little girl. Oh well, children will be children! Why do we force them to grow up?
We celebrated with Shakey's pizza, Buddy's pancit and Shopwise roasted chicken.

March 30 - Drawing/painting session
Marthe attended the National Bookstore summer session of drawing and painting today at Glorietta. We almost forgot about this and was attending mass when I remembered. We rushed to the place and was in time for the start of the session. The theme was summer and they were made to draw and color scenes of summer. Marthe's pictures were very detailed compared with other children's drawings, which were big but very general. And some even tended to copy each other's ideas. But of course my daughter is unique, hehehe. Even if she didn't win a prize for her drawing, I think (and some other parents think too, based on their comments) her pictures had more insight and expression.

Cebu Diaries: Beach Party, May 4

My mother woke me up very early today. She was trying to send an SMS to my uncle, Tatay Gody, but Smart doesn’t appear to have any signal anywhere in the house. She wanted me to text him. I looked at my mobile phone. It has run out of battery during the night. Struggling to keep my eyes open, I reached into my bag for the phone’s charger.

Unfortunately, the old house had equally old electric sockets and my charger did not work in any of them. We had no choice but to wake Lyn and ask if I could borrow her mobile phone. Lyn’s network was Talk n’ Text but it had no signal inside the house, too. Lyn told me I can use her phone for as long as I want while her SIM was unuseable.

Mama’s message to her brother: She has a budget of P1,000 for the beach lunch, to celebrate my sister Shers’ birthday. Can he facilitate lunch preparations, with a menu that includes, preferably, chicken adobo (Cebu style), lechon, and whatever else is edible for all of us, including Tita Yorn and Tito Arne who are such health buffs?

I sent the message. Tatay Gody answered shortly after: He has already asked some of his “servant” boys to buy 2 kilos of lechon, 2 chickens for adobo, and a kilo of fish for grilling. He also suggested chicken nilaga (stew), but my mother said it might be difficult to bring dishes with soup to the beach, as we would need bowls. So he removed the chicken stew from the menu, but he said he will still kill a chicken and have the blood drip from the neck, as part of a birthday tradition that my grandmother (their mother) used to do.

Each time somebody from the family/clan celebrates his/her birthday, my lola would have a chicken killed and have its blood drip to the ground, and she would whisper a prayer of protection and guidance for the birthday celebrant. The old folks believe that the dying chicken will absorb the illnesses and badluck of the celebrant. Looking back at how my mother’s family has progressed—from a poor family of five children with two school teachers as parents to a now growing brood of journalists, artists, medical practitioners, engineers etc. here and abroad—I guess there is nothing to lose in following this tradition.

Uwak Beach was about 2-3 minutes away from Tito Tony’s house. We decided to go there on this Sunday to celebrate Shers’ birthday, even though she was in Madrid, having her own celebration. But we also went there, of course, to have a decent beach swim. Not your backyard swimming pool type or the manmade “beach” resorts so popular in Mactan island, but a real beach. One that goes through a high tide and low tide, you know.

Uwak Beach is so-called because of the bird that flies over and descends on its shores. It is not at all similar with Boracay’s white sand beach. It has coarse gray sand on the shore and fine sand underwater but it deepens gradually. Many children go to the beach to swim everyday, they say. Enclosed wooden cottages with toilets line the upper part of the shore.

We were lucky that Kuya Tony has his own cottage in Uwak. When we arrived at exactly 12:00 noon, his son, daughter-in-law and grandson were there, just finishing lunch and packing up. We begged them to stay but they had other appointments after lunch. Marthe couldn’t wait to go out into the water. For the entire time I was applying sunblock on her, she kept on egging me to swim, swim, swim. When we did, the sun was in its meanest. But thanks to SPF 50 sunblock lotions, you can never tell that we stayed in the beach during the most taboo period: 12:00 to 1:00. It would have been longer had Tita Yorn not called us for lunch, as Marthe is threatening to go home if I don't let her swim some more. We practically half-dragged half-carried her out of the water , fearing the effect of the sun on her skin.

Lunch was great: lechon, grilled fish, native chicken adobo, fish kinilaw, omelette consisting of small fishes, seaweeds with a nice vinegar dressing, makopa fruit, and many other stuff we don't often see in Manila. Of course, we again had puso rice. I forgot all about my half-rice diet at lunch; this is more nutritious anyway.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting lazily in the cottage. Nobody dared go back to the water, except for the boys and girls that Tatay Gody seems to have "adopted" and given shelter in my Lola's house. If I don't know my uncle, I'd think he was running an orphanage. All these young boys and girls living in the house are supposed to be "helping out" with household chores but Mama said she didn't see a dirtier house than theirs. You would think that the people living there were handicapped instead of 10 able-bodied, energetic individuals (or was it 15?).

Anyway, they had a heyday in the water and in partaking of the lunch. Seeing them dress up and go in the late afternoon made us guilty. This once-in-a-while privilege is rare to these children....and to many children in Balamban who have never set foot outside of their own community. My mother and her siblings were lucky that they had Tatay Gody as the eldest. He was the one who had grand plans for his siblings, who fought that they would study in UP instead of just in schools in Cebu City. He strived to bring them all to Manila and find their destinies, have satisfying careers, and learn life in the capital -- away from the comforts of their little house in Sto. Niño St.

We went back to the house in Nangka for shower and rest. Then we capped the day with a mass at 7pm in the poblacion (the lungsod, as the refer to it), the main business area of Balamban. Tito Arne and Tita Yorn didn't join mass (they were not churchgoers and didn't put much trust on the higher Being for survival). We left them at my Lola's house, where they will meet their lawyer to discuss some things about the lot they purchased in Nangka, and they hiked back to the church in time to meet us after the mass.

We all went back for dinner in Nangka, which was again cruelly interrupted by brownout. We all forgot our flashlights in the room and we fumbled for matches to light the candles. It was raining outside too, and the spectators of a basketball game that was on its peak in a nearby court succumbed to silence. It was a perfect setting for a horror movie. And what do you know? As if on cue, Kuya Tony launched into a series of "horror" stories, that consisted mainly of the kapre as its main character. Hehehe. Tita Yorn and Tito Arne were chuckling and trying to act as devil's advocate (because Kuya Tony clearly believes 100% in his story). I smiled. Although I believe in elementals and other beings outside of our human dimension, the stories began to sound less scary as his narration went on. At the end of the storytellling, everyone was ready for Turkish coffee, which we sipped in the sala with doors open in the patio.

We all retired long before the lights went back. Marthe went into a monologue of Mickey Mouse Show conversations (to lullaby herself to sleep, I realized later), using her fingers as characters, and then she just went silent. When I looked, she was fast asleep.

Cebu Diaries: The Nangka house

A relative of a distant uncle fetched us at the airport. After maneuvering through what they claimed to be a rare traffic jam, we passed by SM Cebu for groceries and supplies. We had planned to pass by Morales St, where my cousin Ate Mafette lives, but we chanced upon her and Kuya Eric in SM's carpark. So then we decided to go straight to Balamban, my mother's hometown. The trip would take about 45 minutes to an hour via the transnational highway, a road going through the mountains, which cut the regular trip by half. We munched on barbecue-on-sticks and puso (steamed rice wrapped in coconut leaves), and Marthe had hotdog sandwich, as our van sped through the curving roads in the chilly mountain air. With Marthe and I singing, and Tita Yorn and Mama chatting, the 45-minute ride was a breeze.

Tita Yorn arranged for us to stay in Tito Tony Mendoza's house in Nangka (a barrio in Balamban). On the way there, we passed by Mama's family home, where her eldest brother, Tatay Gody (as we call him) is now based. I noticed that there were too many children who went out to greet us but I didn't recognize any of them. Tatay said they were neighborhood kids who came to watch TV every night, but I later learned that some of them were nephews and nieces of a woman who stays in the house as well. Who she is and why she "lives" there is a big question.

Tito Tony's house in Nangka is very lovely. Tito Tony is a retired doctor who has lived in the US for a long time and has decided to retire here. He bought several pieces of land and houses in Nangka and in Liloan (his hometown) and refurbished them. He bought this Nangka house from a perennial gambler, a widow who has inherited large properties that were sold one by one to finance her vice.

The Spanish-style house was made of wood and was several feet above the ground, allowing for some kind of activity underneath the floors. The space was open so dogs, chickens and cats can walk through and rest there. The house itself had a large sala, dining room, bedroom, and windows with sliding capiz panels. The sala opens to a porch and balcony, and the bedroom also has sliding doors leading to a veranda/balcony. Antique chandeliers made of mother-of-pearl hang in the dining room and porch. There was a small altar in the sala and in our bedroom. And there was a TV set, with a set-top box, a component and I think, a DVD player, but am not sure and didn't care to ask. After all, I was here to be away from all the electronics.

The property was surrounded by mango trees on all sides, as it used to be part of a mango plantation. Kuya Tony, the husband of Tito Tony's cousin, who is now the main caretaker of the house, planted flowering bushes and orchids in front of the house to give it a more cozy ambience. His garden in front, just underneath the porch and balcony, was a welcome sight to us stressed city sleekers.

We had beef stroganoff, brocolli with dried fish, salad of lettuce, cucumber and wild tomatoes (also known as cocktail tomatoes), and puso for dinner. Halfway through dinner, the lights went off. So, brownouts are not limited to Manila. Kuya Tony, Tito Tony's cousin-in-law who so graciously acted as our tour guide, driver and host, fetched some candles. Candlelight dinner in an old house isn't bad, reminiscent of the days when there really wasn't any electricity yet. But when the brownout goes on for more than an hour, boredom sets in.

Marthe and I had a bath and sponge bath, respectively, before going to sleep. The bathroom and toilet was fairly midsized but very adequate. It has a shower cubicle and lavatory and it flushes well. It is, by the way, a double-door bathroom. One door is located in our bedroom, the other door is the entrance to the same bathroom from the hallway. When we entered the bathroom, we had to lock the hallway door first so others can't enter. And when we're done, we have to make sure we unlock it or others won't be able to enter at all. This setup appears to be ingenious at first, until you realize how complicated it becomes when one is forgetful.

Long after Marthe has dozed off, I lay in the huge four-poster bed (without curtains), marveling at the raw beauty of this house and how blessed we were to have relatives generous enough to lend it. This is beginning to look like a real vacation. It's going to be.

Cebu Diaries: Out of Manila, May 3

We were one of the luckier passengers of Cebu Pacific today who got onto our flight on time. Most of the other flights were delayed--why am I not surprised?--especially those bound for Caticlan, Davao and General Santos. No wonder we hardly found seats when we entered the boarding area at quarter before 12:00 noon. The boarding room was jampacked (with stranded passengers of the GenSan flight, which was scheduled to leave at 11:00 but had to be postponed until 12:45pm).

This was too much for my uncle, Tito Arne, a Swedish national who married my aunt, Tita Yorn (my mother's sister). Let me say a few things about him. He's used to schedules and doing things on time; a little delay isn't little at all for him. As soon as we seated ourselves, he started walking around looking for lunch and checking the flight information screen every 15 minutes, which didn't really change much. After a series of walking-sitting-fidgeting, the screen rewarded Tito Arne with a "Now Boarding" message right beside our flight number. And guess who was the first in line? Hehehehehe.

We boarded our flight at 1:15 and arrived almost 3:00 in Mactan Airport. Marthe was wide awake and active throughout the flight, probably because of the Meclizine tablet (generic of Bonamine) we gave her one hour before the flight. She felt very grown-up, strapped in her own seat. She enjoyed half a breaded chicken sandwich (which cost P100, and they don't even have enough to offer. I hated the pastries I had to buy in place of the sandwich.) and plenty of flavored Mentos.

It was also Lyn's (Marthe's nanny) first plane trip and I half-expected her to get dizzy. But she's not the dizzying type and she survived it. In fact, she was looking eagerly out the window from three seats away as the plane made its ascent. Unfortunately, we were given seats by the plane's wings and there was totally nothing to see, until the plane dipped slightly as it made its final turn towards the Cebu International Airport.