Notre Dame of Jolo High School Homecoming Reunion. More Gimmick of Class79 Day 06 – Wednesday, 30 September 2009
How I came to know Albert Wu, Madel J Serrato, Nida Manuel & Arnie Perera? Well right after finishing college from Ateneo, I accepted the invitation from Fr. Nuel Sison, OMI to help organize the Dean of Student Affairs of Notre Dame of Jolo College. At that time they were already in their junior years taking up Commerce/Business course. After gaining their respect & trust, teacher-student relationship matured into friends then ‘barkada’ relationship where we shared same frustration & anger, laughter & tears. Until I left NDJC, I still keep in touch with Albert Wu & Jimmy Ting which spans almost 20yrs. Moreover, I felt more comfortable in their company than in my own batch, had it not for Imelda Conculad-Salasa who rallied behind all of us.
The tres Marias—Marydel, Mary Arnie & Maria Irene dragged me out to have breakfast at Jimmy’s for ‘sati’ again. Like the previous days, people still crowded at that place even it was almost 7.30am. As usual I had that teeny-weeny meat skewered over hot charcoal and flooded my ‘tamu/puso’ with thick hot sauce. On the other hand, Madel & Arnie opted for the bigger chunks with double portion of ‘tamu’. Irene particularly asked for additional serving of the gravy and slurped it just like ordinary soup! We couldn’t linger on our table for so long as the queue of late comers spilled to the next shop (so now you have an idea how popular the place is). Coming out from the shop, we realized that the sky was cloudy with no indication of opening the floodgates and so, we decided to hop into a tricycle and headed towards Paseo del Mar for a short morning walk. There were a lot of senior citizens walking around the park with few isolated group fishing towards the farthest end.
Fascinated by the young Badjao boys lingering down the water, Irene started throwing coins into the sea. The boys, who were patiently waiting at their small ‘banca’ (a two-rigged canoe) dived immediately into the water to retrieve the coins in lightning speed and natural agility. Depending on how far the coins were thrown from them, they could stay like few minutes underwater. I don’t know whether the other boys were malnourished or just too small for their age but they were well equally adept in the water. Story has it that right after a Badjao baby is born, he will be thrown into the sea; if he’d survive he’s a true Badjao. Perhaps that what inspired the wicked nursery rhyme that goes: “Minnie, Minnie, myni, Moe, take the baby by the toe, if he cries, let it go!”
Then we strolled our way towards Fort del Pillar, a shrine devoted to Virgin Mary. There was a huge marble table in the middle for saying the mass with permanent stone-benches designed as pews. The whole area was paved with well-manicured low-lying shrubs which ran from both ends of the entrance. You could also see so many devotees lighting candles for whatever petition or favour they asked. Outside the shrine, there were rows of small stalls selling all types of religious objects ranging from crucifix to prayer book & from rosary to talisman & charms. Madel was hooked to some wrist beads while Irene was more interested in trinkets & charms and I was just wondering for whom the charm was intended for. Of course with Arnie around, the haggling could continue for hours and would not leave the cigarette-puffing lady vendor until they got what they bargained for.
As the rays of morning sun started filtering from the big trees around us, I asked to be excused as I had some important thing to do late in the morning. I had a long bath in my sis Beth’s house and no more 2nd breakfast, eventho’ the sweet aroma of durian jam permeated the whole house. In between chatting with my sis Beth, I was also checking the things that I’d bring back home and hopefully I wouldn’t over-pack my luggage beyond the weight allowance given by Cebu Pacific Air.
After getting all my personal things sorted, I decided to see Albert & update my work at his place as well. I could have dropped by Joey Chiong at Garden Orchid where he was putting up for the duration of his stay in Zambo City and take advantage of the WiFi band there. However in Albert’s house, I would have free coffee of my choice and some ‘chichron’ & other tidbits too. Moreover if he is in the best mood, I could even have ice-cream & cakes too plus other fruits of the season which their freezers always have all sorts of food piling up to the brim.
I remember back in Jolo, his late mom Aunty Hajji Churian (may her soul rest in peace) whose durian would never be out of season, as she would freeze tons of it during peak harvest, had a lot of best thing s to offer. Not only prized durian, you can also find hoards of marine treasures like ‘curacha’, ‘kamun’ (sea-mantis), prawn, lobster, giant sea crabs, sea-cucumber & shark-fins stashed in rows after rows of freezers. If she sensed that we were tired of eating seafood, there were always variety of Chinese or Western food to eat like ham, bacon, pork leg, chorizo/sausages (few types including embotido sent by a niece all the way from Cavite). Her stock of food could feed thousand at any one time! Now Albert had learned this for his own family, in fact, he’s well-stocked both in Jolo & Zamboanga.
By the time, I reached Albert’s place at Tumaga, the whole family had already left, so I proceeded to Arnie’s place which was just a walking distance away. When Arnie’s mom ushered me in, I found the tres Marias already sitting in the kitchen together with Desabel, who sneaked out from her office for another carbo-loading & info-sharing session. The spread included freshly grilled fish, ‘kinilaw’ fish in vinegar & lime tossed with crunchy raw mango, ‘bagoong’, grounded fried dried fish and garnished with tomatoes, chillies, onions, shallots & ginger. We also had ‘adobong calamares’ cooked together with its ink (In Spain squid & its ink are sold separately) and some fried chicken for a change. Later Annabelle arrived together with Jennifer and despite her litany of complaints, it could never out-weight the goodness of food in front of us. I didn’t touch the rice & the ‘piutu’ but went for more grilled fish with the ‘kinilaw’.
Later we adjourned to the living room where I immediately looked for a nice spot to work on my laptop. I had a few long over-due reports to finish and it was already the end of the month. While having my great coffee (Arnie kept on reminding me, had I failed her in my Finance class, I couldn’t have this coffee; let alone this session), Des was crooning on the video-K with love songs (mostly ‘bigo’ broken-hearted tunes). Perhaps it reminded all of them of their own situations or the long-lost boyfriends that never come to pass. Once in a while Fheng would just scream from somewhere belting her own interpretation of the song that could culminate in wailing crescendo. In the midst of the ‘entertainment’, Belle could just lie down in any position she felt comfortable and for all we knew she was already asleep.
I left the girls alone & proceeded to Albert’s place to surf the net. Likel I said I could still have a choice of coffee, this time I chose Malaysia. To be continued..
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