My Father’s Hometown

After going on a road trip to meet up with relatives from Mom’s side, it was Dad’s turn. After touching down in our home city’s airport, we went home to leave our stuff and I grabbed a couple of hours of shut-eye then we were on the road again. I rode a bus with the ‘rents while my brother preferred to ride his motorcycle with a friend. Where does he get the energy?????

It was a four-hour ride and we arrived late in the afternoon. When I got off the bus, a familiar sight greeted me. We used to come here almost every year for Christmas reunions when my grandmother was still alive. And this, this was my dad’s hometown.

I know this road so well

We stayed a bit in Grandma’s house, which was now occupied by my dad’s youngest brother, before heading to my cousin Ate Jing’s house for dinner. There had prepared a simple yet delicious feast of Filipino food. I was so happy to eat my favorite grilled fish most especially.

My brother washing his motorcycle using deep well water

Second generation – siblings and in-laws

Third generation – siblings and cousins

Fourth generation – nephews and nieces (apo sa tuhod)

Coincidentally, it was my cousin Lolong’s birthday, so we asked him to pose for pics with his “birthday ice cream.” Lolong is as old as me, by the way, and he and my brother are quite close because he lived for a few years with us while we were growing up.

Everyone was amused to see my brother, Ivan, and our nephew, Van Henry, because the two Vans were equally huge! I suppose there is truth to the belief that names define a person! Van Henry, by the way, is the son of my cousin Kuya Henry whom I wrote about here.

The two Vans

It looks like there were few people there but there were actually more. See below.

My cousin Kuya Charlie shot a video of everyone for posting on Facebook for the benefit of other relatives who weren’t there, and then he projected the footage on the wall for everyone to watch.

That’s me on the projector

We eventually had to turn in for the night and Kuya Charlie drove us to my Uncle Toto’s place where we slept in an upstair’s bedroom.

The next morning, I woke up to the sounds of my relatives chatting in the living room downstairs. After I took a bath, Auntie Baby (fun fact: Baby is one of the most common nicknames for girls in the Philippines, which makes it weird if they grow older, like Grandma Baby… what?) insisted that I should have a “pamainit” or a hot breakfast before walking to my grandma’s house. I got confused because I thought breakfast was supposed to be at the other house. So I gulped down some hot coffee and a piece of bread. I thought that was my breakfast already but when I got to the other house, there was a huge breakfast spread waiting for us there again. What??

Second breakfast. It’s more fat in the Philippines!

I didn’t want to eat anymore but Uncle Undo insisted that I should eat goat’s meat. I don’t really like goat’s meat even though it’s a famous delicacy in the province, but I thought I’d give it another try since I hadn’t eaten it in years. There were two dishes – caldereta and papait. The caldereta is made up of the meat while the papait is made up of the goat’s innards and skin and stuff. It’s a bit bitter, actually, but I could deal.

Goat’s meat – papait

Here is a picture of my dad with his only living brothers, Uncle Undo and Uncle Toto. There used to be five of them and they always joked that they formed a basketball team. The night before, when my cousin Ate Chona saw the siblings together, she suddenly burst into tears because they reminded her of her dad, my Uncle Johnny who had passed away just last Christmas. =.(  So grateful that Dad is still alive.

Dad and brothers

One Filipino tradition is called the “mano” or “amen” or “bless” which involves nephews/nieces or grandkids paying respect to their uncles/aunts or grandparents by touching the back of the elder’s hand to their foreheads. Whenever a relative arrived on the scene, there was always a flurry of this activity going on, it’s actually a bit funny to watch, imagine a bunch of kids coming in then suddenly going all around the room to “bless” all the elders. I had to keep an eye out for each newcomer in case I had to go and show my respect. If it wasn’t an aunt/uncle, though, it was probably a nephew/niece who would then come up to me to take my hand.

Since this was grandma’s old house, the old family pictures were there. We took these down from the wall and had fun trying to guess who was who. I thought I had spotted my dad but then I realized a second later that I was wrong and my dad was actually the teenage one in the pic.

My dad’s family

There was also another pic that included all the in-laws and kids and that was a lot harder to guess!

Extended family (this was only the beginning!)

Cousins guessing who the people in the pics are

Mom and I then rode a non-aircon bus back to our city. I wanted aircon, but this was the only one available. I hate riding these because of all the dust that ends up caking your hair and face, but oh well. I could deal. Dad stayed behind while my brother got back on his motorcycle.

Roadside view

Then finally, FINALLY! I got back to my hometown. And how long did I stay there? Just for one full day. How funny is that? To be continued.