Sweet Life With Mary

Mary enjoys calamari.

At 3 pesos (about $.08)  per deep-fried piece of battered squid, Mary had one.

I had eight.

My Ate’s husband is the current Resident Conductor with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO). The PPO is the premier orchestra in the Philippines and my brother-in-law, Agripino “Nonoy” Diestro is a world-class conductor, who very nicely took Mary and I, my sister (his wife) and their son (19-year-old Jopi, who also happens to be a cellist with the Manila Symphony Orchestra) and daughter, Ana (a budding violinist herself) to work with him one day last week at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

What a rare treat to hear these fine musicians during their rehearsal!

Mary’s favorite instrument is the bassoon.

Mary hangs out with the musicians during their break. That’s Tita Revi, she plays the Viola.

Right across from the CCP is Manila Bay.

I’m not the only one getting pampered with a morning supply of fresh coconut.

At my sister’s house in Angono, the coconut vendor comes around.

He chooses a coconut based on what you want. The amount and sweetness of the water and the thickness and texture of the meat depends on the maturity of the coconut. My brother-in-law prefers coconut water that’s slightly sweet with meat that is “mala-uhog” - literally translated “like-snot.”

He cracks it open and collects the water into a plastic bag.

Then, he completely slice it open and shaves off the meat.

The meat goes into the same bag, gets tied off and my brother-in-law takes it back into the house, to be transferred to a container and sugar added to it.

I prefer mine without sugar.

Our stay at my brother’s friends’ house at Sun Valley Estates in Antipolo had me thinking of having a vacation home of our own. Since my family and I are always welcome at my parents’ home, I never seriously thought about Jack and I owning our own place here in the Philippines. Why bother? When it is just Mary and I visiting, it is most convenient for us to stay in Caloocan City, at the house I grew up in. When Jack comes with us, we’d stay at a hotel.

But, this house and the neighborhood it is in, changed my mind.

It is a gated community, with an 18-hole golf course.

This is one of the pools— there will be 3 clubhouses, eventually, once the development is done, as well as a mini-zoo and children’s park and playground.

Mary had a great time playing with our friend’s yaya’s kid.   (yaya = nanny)

Finally got all the kinks ironed out in my computer set-up at my temporary home here in the Philippines. My dad had “built” a computer for me and I had to figure out how to download photos, re-size, transfer them to the blog, etc. etc.

A Weary Traveler

Waiting for the final leg on our plane trip - Tokyo to Manila. Mary had already been on a 1-hour flight from Des Moines, IA to Chicago, IL, a 3-hour stopover at O’Hare International Airport (Chicago) and a 13-hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo. This was 4 pm, Tokyo time— 2 AM, Mary’s time.

Tinola

“Ask and you shall receive…”

I requested this soup from my mom, as one of the first dishes I wanted her to make for me. It’s MUCH, MUCH tastier than it looks. That’s the chicken blood/rice cake(? dumpling? ball? -not really sure how to call it) in the center of the photo.

Cousins!

Mary with her first cousins, Ana, 14, Joshua, 6, Nikka, 16 and Jopi, 19.

This One’s For You, Jack!

Balut

And, honey, I did eat that hairy part.

Oh, and don’t worry— your daughter did not have any…

Not yet.

Thought I had adjusted.

Guess not.

Thought it was already 6 am now as I thought I had seen the small hand pointing to 5 on that wall clock in the family room when I started posting all those previous posts. (Trying to catch up here!)

I was surprised that it has not started getting light out so I took a look at the clock on the wall again-  2 am! 2 am? But, I feel so rested!

I did nod off at 6 in the evening but I thought I was doing so well, getting 10 hours of sleep…

Well, its back to bed for me as we have a whole day planned tomorrow- church, some swimming, some shopping, some seafood grilling.  Mary and I are staying at my brother’s friend’s house at a planned community in Antipolo.  It’s up in the hills, not too many houses yet, lots of trees and green grass all around, fresh air blowing off the hills.  This neighborhood is much unlike my parents’ neighborhood, a much older neighborhood, very urban, noisy with traffic.  I really want to enjoy my day and it will be spoilt if I have to take a nap during the day…

Mary had mentioned, at one time, after seeing one of her TV shows’ characters have one, that she wanted to have a surprise party for her next birthday.  I told her that we cannot plan it that way or else, it would not be a surprise.  She would just have to wait and see and maybe there would be a surprise party for her someday.

Well, since we were moving and leaving her friends a couple of months before her birthday, I thought about having a party for her with her friends so she would not miss out on one this year.

 And I planned it to be a surprise for her.

I started this blog post, a couple of weeks ago and got as far as that last sentence.  What will all the moving and packing for Iowa and getting ready for our Philippine trip, I did not have much time to post.

I checked out Jack’s blog and he has a post about this event. http://jackbergstrom.com/2008/04/24/an-early-farewell-to-colorado/ Thanks, hon!

1. “Ate Ana” - my sister’s 14-year-old daughter.  They have shared their love for dollhouses, dressing up Mary’s Build-A-Bear stuffed animals (we have taken along “Whooshie”  a stuffed leopard and “Heart” a stuffed Cheetah and about 7 outfits), Pokemon and kids’ websites. 
2. Mangoes!
3. Riding in the front passenger seat.
4. Swinging off the bars, while riding inside the cab of my brother’s L300 minivan.
5. Mango TREES! My sister has one in her backyard.  In two weeks, we should be able to pick off ripe ones.  Right now, it is heavy with unripe, green ones.
6. Family and more family - Lolo, Mama Mer, Ninong Kuya, Ninong Diko, Ate Mom, Ate Nikka, Kuya Jopi and Joe. 

1. Fresh coconut juice, hand delivered to my mom, every morning.  My sister-in-law (my brother and his family lives with  my parents) has a coconut vendor deliver the water and meat of 3 not-so-young coconut, every morning, 3 coconuts on weekdays, 4 on the weekend.  While I’m there, my mom added on 2, for me.  Jack, who for some strange reason, is a big of fan of anything coconut, had mentioned to me that coconut water is alkaline and very good for anyone to have everyday.  I certainly find it very refreshing, better than water to quench  my thirst.  And having it fresh every day? With no added sugar or preservatives? What an indulgence! (An inexpensive one- 20 pesos per coconut, so it amounts to less than $1/day.)
2. Chicken Joy from Jollibee.  Jollibee is a hamburger chain here, much like McDonalds.    I love their fried chicken.  Their 2-piece meal comes with rice and gravy— yummy!  Even Mary likes it!
3. Already ate at Goldilocks.  I was missing their dinuguan (soup/stew made with pig’s blood), fresh lumpia (stir-fried vegetable in an egg crepe). Had them plus a Pandan Jelly iced drink.
4. Having my nephew’s yaya (nanny) bathe Mary (and brush her teeth) in the morning and get her ready for bed (wash-up, get into pajamas, brush teeth, comb out her hair…) in the evening.  What bliss for Mommy!
5. Having mangoes like I remember it, tree-ripened ones, thin peel, very little fibers. Sweet!
6. And, of course, the never-ending chats with my mom, my sister and sister-in-law, my brothers, my Dad.  There’s also my mom cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn (since I am up by this time, I get to have this one-on-one time with her) while she gets the house ready for the day (the water gets turned on, floor gets swept and mopped, the main gate outside gets unlocked, the coconut delivery is received), her preparing tinola (savory soup made out of manok na Tagalog (free-range native chicken), chicken blood pudding, green papayas and pepper tree leaves) the very next day after Mary and I arrived, like I asked, my sister-in-law making pancit canton… What a homecoming!

Mary and I, along with my eldest sister and her daughter drove with my eldest brother to a town outside of Manila this morning to spend some time at their homes.  Aside from our luggage and the food (cooked and otherwise) that our mom sent along with us, we had to take my nephew’s cello.  To accommodate this and ensure that the instrument do not get crushed, Mary and I sat on the front passenger seat.  Consequently, Mary got the full view of the streets and everything going on around us while we were driving.

So, she had her first encounter of a street child this morning.  This little boy pressed his face against the driver side’s window, with packages of face towels in his hand, hoping to make a sale.  I noticed him and called Mary’s attention to him.  After we explained to her that this boy (can’t be more than 7 years old) is trying to make money, she got very sad.  We left the boy at the intersection but the memory of him lingered with Mary.

She wanted to go back and buy something from him.

Which we could not and would not do but we assured her that we would “support” the other kids that we encounter.  She can give them a few pesos if she wanted.

Then, she says, “I saw kids walking around without their parents, two kids younger than me and two teenagers.  Can they do that?”

And indeed, there are a lot of kids walking or playing along the road, without any supervision.  How do you explain this?  Though my brothers and sisters and I were not allowed this “freedom” growing up, it was not unusual and was something we never questioned. 

She was asking because she wanted to be allowed to do the same.

And she also want to be out there selling something.