one is enough

As the mother of one, I get a lot of unsolicited "friendly" advice to have more
kids. "Kahit isa na lang", I am told followed by a 1. pitying smile  2. an added comment like, "sayang naman", and,  3. ang tipid 'nyo naman.


       My usual reaction is to smile back.
       My practical reaction is to answer, "mahal masyado ang bilihin para magpalaki pa ng isa...." 
       My most violent reaction is, "ayoko na, no!"

       Of course, the violent reaction is only when I get an overdose of my
smart alecky son. Why do I need another child when I have four rolled
into one? See, there's  a little of Calvin, Dennis, Garfield and Jughead
in Naki. No, my son's not Sybil but the way he devours his comic
books, it's like he's been possessed by all four.

       Naki/Dennis (the Menace by Hank Ketcham) likes to play outside with his wagon and scooter and gets into  fun-loving scrapes. Though he has no Mr. Wilson to challenge, he
does get plenty of hollers his way because of his profound love for clutter and disarray, in short "makalat siya". He's also had his share of time standing in the corner.

       Naki/Garfield (by Jim Davis)  is the lasagna-loving, milk-drinking, always hungry
individual. He's the one who informed me quite matter-of-factly that he is "all about food". When a lightning storm hit Quezon City the other day, all of us scrambled to turn the electric appliances off and pull the plugs out of their sockets. My son? He ran screaming with his plate, shouting, "Protect the food!"

       Naki/Jughead (of Archie) is the slouch who loves hamburgers and will have nothing
to do with girls. The other day, I asked my son over a hot burger who his partner in their special number  in school was. He didn't answer. I had to spend precious time convincing him that I was in no way going to tease him, that I merely wanted to know because I didn't know who she was. "Patricia", he  finally said under his breath,  after I   threatened to cut off his TV viewing time. "Eh sinong girlfriend mo??!!" I quickly followed up.
( Hey, I couldn't help myself. It just came out naturally. Sayang naman kasi ang opportunity.) Of course, he clamped up and threw me a very violent, "I hate girls!" (including my mother) look.

       Now, Naki/Calvin (and Hobbes by Bill Watterson). I am quite convinced that Naki is Calvin. He may not drag a Hobbes all over the place but he has a whole cabinet of
stuffed toys to choose from. He loves dinosaurs, he loves to experiment, he's afraid of the dark, he sees monsters in shadows and he's a smart aleck. You'll never win an argument 'coz he has an answer for everything.  

       Example: After an hour in the bathroom, we discovered that he still
had not wet his hair. "Ba't di ka pa nag-shampoo," I screamed. "Tuyong-tuyo pa 
ang buhok mo!"  Without blinking, he looked up at the light bulb and remarked, "Hmmm..the light must have dried it." 
        Grrrrrr.

       Oh yeah, Naki/Calvin has great vocabulary. While  cleaning his ear,
Naki protested sleepily, saying that his Tatay was pulverizing his ear.
       "Pulverizing??!!" I bet you don't even know what that means," I teased.
       About to close his eyes, Naki opened them wide and mouthed, "Powdered, 'Nay."

        Now, you tell me -- do I really need another child?   


- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -
Update: 
Written when Naki was still in grade school, things haven't really changed. My son
is still a melange of four of his favorite cartoon characters and yes, I would rather borrow than have another one. One is surely enough :)

of weddings and baby-sitting cousins

"HE'S just a baby," I muttered to my husband, Ned,  as we zoomed in on my

cousin Pocholo who was  standing in front of the church altar waiting

for his bride, Suzette.

Well, that "baby" is in his early twenties and certainly old enough

to get married. But you know how Ates (older cousins) can get about

their younger cousins, specially the ones they looked after as babies.

 "Remember how bloated Pocholo's tummy was when we kept giving him his

bottle?" my cousin Ann and I giggled to each other during the

ceremony.

 Flashback:

Pocholo's parents -- Uncle Rhollie and Auntie Baby had gone out to a party that

night and we were tasked to look after their chubby baby boy. Now,

Pocholo was a very sweet baby -- super quiet, certainly not one to

cry his lungs out -- but something must have upset him that night and

triggered a crying bout. Cool as a cucumber, Ann and I gave him his

bottle of milk. He drank and finished it all up. Great! For the next

twenty minutes or so he was content and closed his eyes. Tiptoeing out of the room, Ann

and I screeched to a halt when Pocholo let out a wail.

  "What do we do?" we looked at each other anxiously.

 "How about another bottle?" I suggested. "Water naman." We did exactly that and

our baby cousin stopped crying. That was the scenario for the next

number of hours: cry, bottle, sleep, cry, bottle, sleep, cry........until our aunt and uncle came home to find their little bundle of joy

sleeping soundly. Ann and I heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly

prepared to go to bed. 

We'd just reached the door when we heard our Auntie Baby shout, 

"Bat ang laki

ng tyan ni Pocholo!"

       

You can be sure we never gave him another bottle of water that night, or any other night of his baby years.

I wonder though if he'll let us take care of his baby this time

around.....

       

Weddings are a great way to reminisce and I think I'll be doing a lot

of that as my younger cousins (I'm old! I'm old! I'm really old!)

start trekking down the aisle one by one.

* * * * * * 

Pocholo is now in his 30s and has two beautiful not-so-baby-anymore boys. And though we haven't stayed long enough to baby-sit, he lets us have unlimited access to them. May takot pa rin sa mga Ate.

And, oh, it's not my cousins who are getting married this time around but our pamangkins (Lara & Jon; Benin & Cha). No wonder my white hair won't stay hidden anymore.

up, up and away (the soaring prices of everything)

It's getting boring to whine about the rising cost of anything and everything but it seems that looking back at what I wrote during the remaining days of Erap's presidency that the situation was the same....


What's my money worth these days?

Judging from the way the price of gasoline is rising daily, may I say, nothing?

 It just hit me, while dining at the  food court of Rustan's Cubao, that I can't indulge in my favorite pica-picas and meriendas as much as I did before. Why? Well, because they cost double than before!  I can't eat as much as I want 'coz it costs too much. That's aside from the fact that I really need to lose weight. Now, that's another problem....

 To get back to the subject -- when I joined the work force, my officemates and I loved to go to SM and eat dimsum at Hen Lin. Siomai cost a mere P11 for four pieces. The siomais were big and eaten with toyo, calamansi and hot chili and we'd be able to demolish at least three orders each. After a couple of years, the siomai went up to P14, then 16. Now, it costs P22 for four smaller siomais! Needless to say that I now limit myself to one order at a time. (Hen Lin siomais are now near P40 per order)

The same thing goes for Kowloon siopao. I simply love those pork and chicken paos which my husband says only cost P7 when he was nagbibinata. That wasn't so far back -- it was in the late '70s. Well, it's now Year 2000 and the paos at Kowloon now go for P24. (Again, it's 2011 and siopao from Kowloon costs much more than that).

 A conversation during lunch with my stuffed staff proved to be a trip down memory lane as we all compared the prices of candy and other foods when we were young and small. Three of us are of roughly the same age -- early and mid-30s -- and we remembered when Tarzan bubblegum was still big and went for 5 centavos a piece. Texas -- those cute pink square bubblegum wrapped in pink and blue paper -- was dalawa singko.  Sarsi, Santa and RC Cola cost 15 centavos each while  pan de sal was 10 centavos each  -- big, soft and piping hot pa. Other bread favorites -- pan de coco, pan de monggo, pan de lemon and those oval shaped bread with  sweet red stuff in the middle would go for 15 centavos each. Lugao with egg or isaw was 50 centavos a balot -- di pa uso ang hepa at gastritis noon.

Chichiria -- Clover Chips, Cheez Curls, Chippy and Pretzel ranged from 30 to 50 centavos. Sampaloc balls -- the big ones coated with sugar were singko isa while bubblegum balls were lima singko. No wonder I felt rich whenever my lola would give me 50 centavos. Now, my son complains if his lola limits his spending to P50. I mean, that can't even buy him a Kiddie Meal, right?

 Now, with the way the prices are zooming up and the peso is shrinking, I figure I should eat as much as I can because I'm pretty sure that there will come a time when, like the singko, the P100 bill will only be able to buy a piece of candy...

how do you solve a problem like soaring gas prices?

Don't blink! Don't you even dare shut your eyes for one millisecond 'coz if you do, oil and gas prices may just start zooming up again.

I don't drive, so I shouldn't exactly care, right? But, I do, 'coz it only means that the price of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) is sure to go up, too. And as the one in charge of scheduling and paying the household bills, you can bet that I spend endless moments thinking of how I can stretch the (un)mighty peso.

Monitoring the price of the LPG was a former office-mate's and my way of torturing ourselves. The last time we exchanged notes, I'd informed her that LPG   cost P250 a tank, she laughed and thought I was joking. I wasn't. It cost even more at P265.- We both wanted to cry but realized how futile it would be.  Fast forward to now, ordering a tank of LPG begins at P650 up depending on the mood of the market. Aaargh! So what to do in times like these? Think up of other ways to cook without using gas!

Uling? Too messy and the smoke is not too environment and person friendly (meaning, watery eyes and smelly clothes). Sunlight? Just not possible if you intend to eat three meals a day.Kahoy? Not too many trees in Metro Manila to chop down and there's the environment factor again. Electricity? No way, beats the whole "pagtitipid" issue -- note how electric bills can skyrocket!

Maybe I should just change the way we cook food. Hmmm. Let's see...

Eat raw -- It could work but I can only take too much sushi and unfortunately, and while I may love salad, not all vegetables can be eaten raw.

Think vinegar! - Drown evertyhing with vinegar as in kilaw - The problem? I'm acidic.

Canned and Processed Food - While I may love canned tuna, sardines, sausages and corned beef once in a while I do not want to eat them everyday for the rest of my life. Then there's the high salt content and hypertension factors.

Fastfood/Take-out/Delivery - Yes! This I definitely will propose.  Pixie's, San Pedro, Mang Inasal Andok's, Ninang's, Max, Barrio Fiesta....Except it'll probably mean that we'll only eat seven days out of 31, one week out of four sa sobrang mahal.

Gosh so many solutions.......

Maybe we should just  start fasting and eat once a day -- that way I can get thin really fast. 

That is.....if we live another day.
---------------------------
Update: We ran out of LPG yesterday. We were in for another shock, it's now a whopping P710.- :( 

have gas, will travel

"Di ba kayo napapagod sa kakaalis!" an obviously exasperated Margie, a good friend of mine once interrupted me in mid-story about our trip from Morong, Rizal to Los Baños, Laguna.

Actually, nothing makes my husband and I happier than jumping into our trusted Chug-a-Bug on weekends and heading off to somewhere.Yes despite the hot summer heat and the fact that we don't have airconditioning. It's my husband's way of unwinding after a whole week of being stuck behind a desk. And I wasn't born with a nunal on my left foot for nothing.

Travel broadens the mind, I've always believed. It is also a good way to test your relationship. If you're still talking to each other after you've traveled together then you're made for life. That is until you find too late that your partner forgot to put your bag of underwear and toiletries in the car. (Solution? Share a toothbrush and borrow his or your son's briefs).

As someone who has travelled with family, friends, colleagues, husband and child, I think myself sufficiently endowed with enough wisdom to offer advice for those who want to set out on a holiday and survive to tell the tale (and show off the photos). Check them out ....

- Explore your surroundings and eat local food. Don't do like the Americans and look for the nearest Mc Donald's (or in our case, Jollibee). Ask around what the local specialty is and try it. If possible, head to the palengke and the most crowded pwesto to find out what all the fuss is about.

- Get off the beaten path. Why take the highway when you can take the side roads and enjoy the scenery. Sure there'll be the usual traffic, the exasperating tricyles zooming in and out, the jeepneys stopping at the most opportune moments but it's worth it to catch the local flavor.

- Don’t buy everything in sight. Staying in budget is the operative word. (Yeah, right)

- Lacking in budget? Don't let it stop you. Take day trips or look for a friend or family to stay with. Don't let the lack of a car stop you. Public transportation is a good and cheaper way to travel, too. Bring baon so you won't have to spend on every meal.

- Go to market. It's the best way to find the freshest food and discover the heart of a barrio or town.

- Go walking and interact with the locals. Not everybody can afford to go on tours so do the next best thing: check out the churches and old houses and explore them on your own. Talk to the locals to get 1. tips on the places to explore 2. get an overview of their town 3. suggestions about what to take home as pasalubong or where to eat. 4. Be courageous and get the history straight from the locals.

See it's not that hard to get the best out of travel..

of photos and wedding receptions...

Since Britain's Prince William and his long-time sweetheart, Kate Middleton did not invite me to their wedding, I'll reminisce instead on why I love attending wedding and baptismal receptions..


You know those pesky photographers in restaurants who sneak in during receptions?  They walk in,  start snapping away at the guests and then line up the photos outside and charge you an obscene amount to get a copy.  Well, most people don't like being put in a position of having to pay for something they didn't order.




I'm guilty of the opposite for a very vain reason. You see, I'm not at all photogenic. Most of my photos show me at my unflattering best (which doesn't mean I'm a beauty in real life but photos do seem to make me look my very worst) and the ones that present me in a different light, I treasure.


The thing is, whenever I feel a camera trained on me, I freeze. Oh I try to smile my very best or appear nonchalant but the effect? Like a cat being run over by a truck.


Recently, I've been extra delighted at the number of "nice" photos I've had. Three occasions produced rather nice results. The first one, during a wedding reception at the Jade Valley was cute. And even though my son nearly died laughing at the picture of my face inside a wine glass with fruits all over, I still bought it for P50. (Remember this was years ago and that was expensive at that time).


Next stop, the wedding of a cousin at the Aberdeen Court. I kept my eyes trained on the food while looking out for the photographer. "Wala yata," I mumbled to my husband as I attacked another chicken wing. Luckily for me, by the time the photographer happened by I had already emptied my plate. Then came the moment of truth -- another cute photo in a wine glass, without the fruits, this time. "Wag mo na kunin," my husband said, "pareho din yan nung isa." I nodded in agreement but paid the man anyway. Hey, I'm not one to let a good photo out of my sight.


Finally, a baptism at Max's in Makati.Again, a photographer trained his camera on the guests. Again, I tried to look my nonchalant best while struggling to smile. Lunch over, Ned and I prepared to leave with nary a camera-bug coming to show us our photos. Trying not to look too dejected, I went to the ladies room to freshen up. When I came out, I strained my neck looking out for the last time for the photographer. No such luck. When we got to the car, I couldn't help myself and told Ned, "Di tayo inalok ng photos natin 'no?"


Smiling, he handed over a brown envelope. Bingo! Another wine-glass smiling me. 

Si William at Kate ba may ganyan?

Bagoong at apple -- the perfect combination

BAGOONG  with apples.

People look at me kind of weird when I say that I love to dip apple in
bagoong.  A big yuck, followed by the sticking out of the tongue  is the
usual reaction I get.    I dare you to try it, it's simply  perfect! 
Delicious ika nga. 


 Actually, I wasn't the one who discovered the goodness of bagoong matched
with apples. Cobbie, an American friend who grew up here, urged my
sister and I to  try it after we discovered a bottle of bagoong at the
apartment of a Filipino couple we were staying in in Paris. He told us that
whenever he and his ate felt  homesick for the Philippines, they would
sneak out to eat apples with bagoong. Parang mangga at bagoong lang, he said.
 I was converted.

 Living abroad can really stretch your  tongue's imagination. Until
now, i prefer my kare-kare with Baguio beans (instead of sitaw) and
repolyo (to replace puso ng saging). I also learned to tolerate
sinigang  with the same two ingredients,  though I can't say I liked
that combination as much as I did my kare-kare. Over all, it was our way of adjusting to the environment we were in and enjoy homegrown fare at the same time. You learn
to live with it and learn to love it.


And the bagoong phase? Did I ever outgrow it? Naaah, I extended it to
eating bagoong (alamang or isda) with peaches, pineapples and bananas. 


How about you? What unholy combinations have you tried with your
favorite fruit?