Caps Ahoy !

Rain was raging as we drove last Sunday to Bulacan to visit a sick relative. The U.S. East Coast and Canada were having bad weather that day, too. So Mina and Irene unleashed their ire and destroyed both lives and property in disparate parts of the world.

Speaking of weather, I always have my baseball cap on whenever I brave the hot, humid or rainy weather of Manila. I have a hat rack at home which constantly draws visitors' attention for it carries a wide assortment of state logos and sporting events.

My bro in law Carl from Ohio has a bigger hat collection; it's kept in the bedroom where I sleep whenever I visit them. When I call his attention to a new hat in his rack, he admonishes me and like a Western cowboy would say, "don't touch a man's hat," or to that effect. So, he'd buy me a new baseball cap. He also gave me one of his company's rare industrial caps and every time he sees me would accuse me of getting it behind his back, in jest.

I look different when I wear a hat. In Toronto, even some co-workers would not recognize me when I'm donning one of the hats. I even have a hat which makes me look like Indiana Jones. In my dreams.

Confirming Flight, Etc in a Day.

Yesterday, I confirmed my flight for a trip this coming Fall. The clerk at the airline was rude, an "I don't care attitude," which I felt even through the airwaves. I screamed at him, and that made him more amenable.

I hate waiting or being told by a recording that "all representatives are busy and attending to other customers." So that guy got my peppery mood because his company made me wait for fifteen minutes.

Am I flying with them, again? Maybe not. There are many options available; I might travel back to P.I. with my sister and bro in law who already booked with Eva Air from Washington.

After that morning fiasco, we headed to the mahjong table and in the afternoon, had a karaoke session over beer and Ding Dong. As we were deserting the microphone in favor of the early evening news edition, I suggested going to a dance, a plot that got postponed for a million times already.

It was six thirty, and the first set at Conway's starts at eight, so we cleaned and dressed up in a hurry. Luckily, C5 was not as congested as I thought. But the traffic at the ramp and on to Paseo was heavy.

We arrived at Conway's at 8:30 pm, and found a good table fronting the bandstand. The band for the night was Behind Closed Doors, with a female vocalist.

It was a night of retro music, and the band's play list was curved for ballroom dancing. As I'd hung my dancing shoes for quite a while now, and without my regular dance partner, we spent most of the night listening to the band and drinking beer and iced tea.

Conway's menu has changed a bit. The food we ordered was breaded calamari blended in a spicy and creamy concoction of vinegar and mayonnaise with enough spinach and the second plate was bruschetta.

As the night progressed, we saw gorgeous female Brazilian? models on the dance floor.

Danceable music could not contain our lack of practise, so in the middle and last sets, we made contact with the dance floor, although we didn't "ballroom," but danced anyway.

Two of our friends who were supposed to join us were tending to their ailing mother, and promised to show up next time.

Better than Sudoku.

Toyz was not doing crosswords although the booklets were blended with the glossy magazines. So I finished them all.

Then when I ran out of crossword puzzles and sudokus to solve, I hied to National Bookstore to purchase more. I promised myself to buy thicker booklets on my next trip to Canada.

This weekend past, we drove to Bulacan to visit an ailing relative and played mahjong with some "hustlers." I was posing as a "miron," because I've forgotten how to play the game; in the first place, I never really played mahjong as an ace, but only as a tyro.

I first sat at a mahjong table in the 80's, and as I was learning the basics of the game, it was time to work in the U.S. I was able to play some mahjong there because the family I lived with in Jersey City, them young fellows, were all mahjong babies. There was even a time when I played mahjong in Queens, New York when a cousin from Manila visited. This cousin and the hubby of another cousin were all pros and I lost big time.

Then last April when we vacationed in Baguio, mahjong became a part of killing time, this time with my sisters and her pals. Pros as they were and "toddlers" as we were, they taught us some strategies of winning.

Back in Bulacan, I decided to play on my own. The stakes were low, so I took time to polish my sword. Little by little, I went for some "ambisyon," and won some.

Now back in Manila, we started to further hone our games. Toyz set up the table yesterday morning and we played till early afternoon. Today, we're back at the table.

I'm not abandoning my puzzles and sudoku, though. These are my brain teasers, plus this mahjong.

Condo craze.

A day in a mall would not be complete without being handed a flyer or brochure of a condo, townhouse or house and lot being developed and sold.

Sometimes, I accept them, most of the time I ignore them,

other times, I simply veer away from the representative.

But there would be days when upon reaching home, I'd discover the brochures tucked in my pant pockets, in shopping bags, or inside my security bag.

ABOVE RIGHT, Ace Water Spa.

Yesterday, cousins Kell and Louie treated a group of us to a day at a spa called ACE Water Spa. There, we got pampered and "cured" by hydro therapy massage - a variety of water system concoctions, where customers choose from a variety of "water massage," and steam and herbal pools. It was a relaxing and fun way to spend a rainy day.

"Hydrotherapy massage - is a kind of therapeutic massage that utilizes “Ultrasonic Jet System” that massages specific areas of the body with its aquatic jets strategically located to relax and soothe tired and aching muscles. This treatment is best done in heated water.

These one push-of-a-button equipments are categorized as soft, moderate and hard massages. Because of these, the customers are assured of the same consistent experience, unlike manual hand massages wherein every visit may be a different experience due to different factors. For example, a masseuse that offers hard massages may not be as strong as before because he is already tired.

Moreover, the massage systems, being “do-it-yourself” type, gives the customer the freedom to decide which water equipment to use and which part of his body needs more attention."

After partaking of complimentary hot corn soup at the Spa, we headed to Kell and Louie's condo and had dinner but ended issuing a rain check on a plan to go dancing later that evening.

After partaking of complimentary hot corn soup at the Spa, we headed to Kell and Louie's condo and issued a rain check on an earlier plan to go dancing.

Instead, we spent the rest of the evening discussing local and domestic issues, and talking about condominiums.

Kell and Louie own several condominium units which they maintain as investment eggs. They visit and sleep in any of them whenever they find time out from their super busy schedule.

After a scrumptious dinner of brown rice, "daing na bangus," fresh, red tomatoes, and egg omelet, the generous duo brought us to do some condo shopping.

Apparently, one nephew was selling his Unit in the same building.

We hied to the highest floor overlooking QC where the giant pool was located, and enjoyed a crisp, cool night talking about nothing.

Then we met up with the Manager who showed us more units for sale. One good Unit, a 31- sq.m floor plan, had several windows and a good view of the frontage, but upon closer look, didn't appeal to me because it had several low beams and an obtrusive post which makes the room smaller and crowded.

I asked to see a Loft and was quite comfortable with its size, a 50+ Unit, with two bathrooms and a view of the pool, but got floored by the price - 4+ million Philippine pesos. There was a good looking furnished Model, about 31 sq. m. but it was an interior unit, meaning no outside view; directly across is another unit.

There were other units presented to us, in the range of 30's square metres and priced at 2.4 plus million pesos.

After digesting rates of interest, down payments, and schemes of payments, we headed to Starbucks for a late night caffeine session, calling overseas relatives, and googling on the plant called "Ashitaba."

Cousin Bek who's in a Japanese marriage, regaled us with facts of the "curing

miracles" of Ashitaba. Apparently, it can cure diabetes, hypertension, and a host of other ailments. And alas, cousin Bek has a doctor for a neighbour who's given her the plant.

At almost twelve in the evening, we were crossing the stretch of Congressional Ave. Extension to get the plant Ashitaba.

It was almost one in the morning when we reached home. The neighbourhood was quiet. Except for us who were pounding on the iron gate. The gate was locked, our key became useless. The dogs were howling. The maid was not waking up.

Finally, we drove to the Main gate and asked the guards for help. We were led to the main security house where a patrol trailed us back home and after we assured him that the dogs were leashed, he climbed over the fence and opened the gate for us.

After a soothing day at the herbal pool and a cosy evening of healthy food and talk, our night ended like some scene direct from a juvenile film - like teens out for a wild time, well beyond their curfew hours, sneaking back into the house, climbing over the fence.

Then I asked myself: when someone pays 2 million or 4 million pesos for a smallish condo unit, what are they really paying for? My quick answer: the concept of condo living. Which in the Philippines means, upscale living.

I have both been a private house resident in Manila and a condo dweller in Toronto for the last twenty years, so I don't mind scaling back, but the thought of getting cooped up in 30+ sq. m. quarters makes me even more claustrophobic than usual.

A Place of Prayer.

RIGHT, exterior of Nana Ake's house.

BELOW RIGHT, Interior of the chapel part of Nana Ake's house.

RIGHT, Exterior of the house.

BELOW RIGHT, The Holy Sepulcher inside the chapel-part of Nana Ake's house.

About a month or so ago

when we were having a property fenced in Bulacan, we decided to visit the house of Nana Ake in Bustos.

Nana Ake was a "faith healer," who was known for having healed

many people of varying ailments and diseases. She passed away in the 70's.

Her house is like a mini-chapel which houses life -sized relics and icons, some of which her

family owns and others "entrusted' to them for safekeeping by the townspeople.

ABOVE, Another interior portion of Nana Ake's house,

One of the statues which had been safeguarded lately by Nana Ake's heirs is that Mary Magdalene, owned by Toyz' family

for many years, and which had been a regular part of the town's annual Holy Week processions.



RIGHT, Mary Magdalene in Metro Manila now.











Mary Magdalene, according to Toyz, was the centerpiece of their family's annual Lenten "pabasa ng pasyon." When the last of the family elders passed away, this Lenten tradition died with her, too.

Toyz, a regular devotee of the Black Nazarene and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, wanted to bring back the family tradition to life, and thus, worked on reclaiming the Mary Magdalene Statue.

ABOVE, Sto. Nino de Cebu, Maria Ina ng Dukha (of Montemaria fame) and another Sto. Nino from Pakil, Laguna.

When we fetched Mary Magdalene, we were advised that she lost her hair, and part of her ear had been damaged. In place of hair was a purple veil that covered her head.

Days after ensconcing her in the living room, we rushed to Sta. Cruz to buy Mary Magdalene a hair piece; we were lucky to get a bargain from an old shop specializing in sewing dresses for Catholic statues and relics, beside the Catholic Trade Centre. It cost 3,000 pesos.

Back at home, I decided to build a spot for Mary Magdalene, and for the other religious relics - a spot which would welcome household members and guests as they enter the house. A place of prayer.

RIGHT, The place of prayer I built in the living room. Mary Magdalene at left, an image of Sto. Nino de Cebu, Mary of Montemaria, and Sto. Nino of Pakil.

I have dreamed...

Picking Pickels.

I love munching on crunchy pickles; I love the big dill pickles.

In Canada, the refrigerator or cupboard always has jars of pickles, Miracle Whip, Old Fort Cheese, cans of tuna, beans, whole tomatoes, spaghetti, pancit bijon and canton, Kikkoman soy sauce, Extra Virgin Oil, Knorr mixing powder, fish fillets, boxes of frozen shrimp, frozen squid, red peppers, broccoli, bok choi, carrots, fruits, tins of coffee for brewing and herbs and more herbs.

Then I have my low -sugar biscuits, my chocolates and candies with no sugar added, my boxes of pancake mix, and my peanut butter and grape jelly. So when I cook and when I want to eat -
I have what I want.

Yesterday, after an exhaustive search for a filing cabinet at Edsa Central, we headed to Shangri La Mandaluyong to shop at Rustan's but there was no parking spot available. So, instead of going back to Mega Mall where we were earlier, we headed to Mariwasa to pick up a replacement faucet. Beside the warehouse was a small mart.

I only needed one item: coffee. But alas, the shelves didn't have a single tin of coffee for brewing. All that there was: lots and lots of instant coffee - decaf, granulated, the fine ones, and the coffee of the moment - those with sugar and cream already added in the coffee.

I've discovered that I can only buy Folger's or Maxwell at SM Megamall. I haven't tried Cash and Carry, though. That's why whenever I go home to Canada, I always make it a point to bring to Manila, tins of coffee, Splenda, Miracle Whip, lotion and men's toiletries, vitamins and calcium, and my medicines.

Not having the right ingredients and vegetables that I want has dissipated my interest in cooking. The few times that I cook, I make do with what the household has. At least there's Extra Virgin Oil (the only oil I would use), Kikkoman, and broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

Of course the household refrigerator holds the staple food of Manila: chicken, pork and beef, and bangus. But I want squid and shrimp, my staple food in Canada.