two sundays

easter sunday | april 8, 2007
cagayan de oro city

two old friends, meet again... wearing older faces...
two old sweethearts fell apart...

the last time they saw each other was about 33 years ago. she was 19. he was around 29. now, she's 52 and he's 62. who would have thought they'd meet again?

my mama recognized her ex-boyfriend the moment she saw him walk into the shop where we were. he was with his family. my mama came up to him and said hi. they talked like good friends. he introduced her to his wife and their 22-year old daughter. my mama and his wife talked as if they're old time pals but it was actually the first time that they saw each other.

33 years! that's quite a long, long time.

again, who would have thought they'd meet again?

i really found it amusing. them introducing their respective families. this is my wife. this is my husband. this is my daughter. these are my daughters. we have two kids, she has an elder brother. we have four kids, they have an elder brother.

so serendipity can really work that way. whew! i wonder if i'd ever get to have that kind of experience in the future.

-¤-
one fine sunday | april 15, 2007
rupagan, bacolod, lanao del norte


the family -- and with family i mean my immediate family plus cousins, uncles, aunties, and family friends -- went to the sea yesterday. it was low tide and it was relatively easy to see the creatures on the seabed. so nanginhas mi. meaning, we looked for clams, seashells, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, lukot, lato, guso/ambalang, etc.

pagpanginhas sa hunasan is one the things that i really missed doing with my family. there was no way i could do it when i was still staying in manila. having been back from my "exile", i told my mama we should do it again and she obliged. the sunday before easter sunday, we already went and, as usual, we enjoyed the experience.

wading through seawater, looking for seafood with your own eyes and hands -- and making your back ache in the process -- is really something. it's not the same as buying seafoods from the market.

it's not easy. the clams hide under the sand and the only clue you'll have that there is a clam hiding down there are tiny twin slits (for binsala and litob) and twin circles (for bug-atan). those with untrained eyes would definitely miss seeing them. the sand and the seaweeds and the sea rocks hide the seashells, the sea urchins, the sea cucumbers, etc. and if you're not careful, you'll hurt yourself. worse, you might just encounter a seasnake!!!

but it's fun. it's definitely fun. especially when you're doing it with your family. plus, nothing beats the taste of seafood kinilaw when prepared and eaten right there sa hunasan -- exposed seabed.

having been born into a close-knit family where pagpanginhas is part of our way of life is one of the things that i'm really thankful for. i know that not a lot of people my age get to experience something like it. i feel that my cousins and i are very privileged.

pagpanginhas sa hunasan. one of my treasured pastimes. yesterday, the family did it again! and we're doing it again on the 28th!!! oh yeah.

the experience yesterday was fun quadrupled because while we were still out there sa hunasan, the rain began to pour. at first, it was just raining in trickles. then, it eventually poured so heavily. we all got so wet!! normally, we'd only be wet up to our knees but because of the rain, we got wet all over. by the time we returned from the sea, there was no way we could just get into the family vehicles and make the 45-minute travel that would take us back to iligan. we had to go 1km uphill first, back to where my grandparents' house is, to LOOK for dry clothes...

uphill, we hiked as the rain continued to pour oh so heavily. through muddy terrain we made our way back to my grandparents' house. my mamang. my papang. my sisters. my cousins. my uncles. my aunties. our family friends. we were wet, shivering from the cold, and happy. it was the first time that ALL of us got so drenched with rain. what a very, very fun family experience!!!

we didn't foresee getting drenched. it was unplanned. but we had so much fun!

weeeeeeeeeeeee... i got to play in the rain again.


about the image: no, we don't harvest starfish! the picture which accompanies this post was taken in samal island on october 28, 2006.