Tag Archives: tatay joe

We Were Like A Rolling “Bulanglang”

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i will never be too old for tantrums...

The benefit of being with your mother is that you are allowed to simply be yourself and say whatever you like to the point of throwing tantrums.  That is what I exhibited when my family was travelling back to Manila after an overnight stay at the hometown of my father in Pangasinan last weekend.

And as usual, just like any rural adventure that my family would carry out from time to time, Nengkoy never fails to stop over and shop at the local palengke (wet and public market) of the rural place we visit.  Our journey would not be complete without Nengkoy buying the local produce of the province or the countryside we visit – bushy-tailed vegetables, freshly caught fishes, newly slaughtered meat, brightly colored fruits as well as local indigenous delicacies.  She wouldn’t just buy a piece or two just to satisfy her shopping passion.  She would buy tons of it!!!

This usually makes me cranky and grouchy.  This is because I and the whole family need to spend considerable amount of time at the border and perimeters of the wet market doing nothing but wait while Nengkoy finish her procurement.  My considerate and selfless brothers and sisters are so used to Nengkoy’s habit they would sometimes join her in penetrating the labyrinthine passageways of the palengke to locate the freshest produce and help her out carry the loads of her purchases. I, at all times refuse to join the pack but instead just wait and wait and wait.  Did I already say that I impatiently wait?

Anyway, while we were in Manaoag, Nengkoy purchased local delicacies of Pangasinan: bags of puto calasiao (local rice cakes of Calasiao, Pangasinan) and tupig (charcoal-grilled glutinous rice and grated coconut wrapped in banana leaves).

While we were in Dagupan, she purchased tubs-full of fresh bangus (milk fish), oysters, large shrimps, a bag full of mangoes and large bottles of the local bagoong (a brown, murky yet tasty sauce made from fermented tiny fishes).

We also made a stopover in  Villasis where she bought heaps and oodles of locally grown vegetables – malunggay (fruits of moringa tree), talong (eggplants), sibuyas-pula (tiny red onions), bawang (garlic), kalabasa (pumpkin), and even bouquets of bulaklak ng kalabasa (squash blossoms).

All throughout these panic purchasing moments, I did nothing but wait and complain. Grrr!  We literally could no longer move inside the car for it was full of the local produce of Pangasinan.  Out of madness, I even cried out loud to everybody inside the vehicle traversing the highways of North Luzon on our way back to Manila that we are already like “Umaandar na Bulanglang!” (a rolling Bulanglang – a stew made of fish and mixed vegetables seasoned with bagoong that originated from northern Luzon).

nengkoy with some of her bulanglang veggies

Pagdating sa bahay ni Nengkoy, ako din naman ang kumain ng mga yon. ‘Yan si Nengkoy walang kupas. At ako, walang pasensya.

Nengkoy & The Camachile

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camachile

Abundantly lined-up are red plastic bags hanging on the branches of massive trees at the edge of a long stretch of highway in Tarlac contains a local fruit.  My family on our way to Manaoag Pangasinan last Saturday noticed and initially wondered what those red plastic bags contains.  Until one of us realized that it contains Camachile being sold by the local folks right under the shade of the trees.

I haven’t tasted Camachile so I told my siblings inside the vehicle that I wanted to buy and savor its taste.  But when I told them this, we already passed Tarlac and no vendor is in sight.  Nengkoy however explained that it is okay since Camachile is actually not a tasty fruit variant.  She added that I will not actually like it.  But on our way back to Manila the following day, I insisted on buying and hopefully enjoy the taste of the fruit for the first time which is considered rare for a city dweller like me.

My brother-in-law considerately stopped the vehicle when we were along the highway stretch of Moncada Tarlac to purchase two full plastic bags.  Each bag cost twenty-five pesos.  I gave Kuya Bogis (my brother seated at the front seat of the car) sixty pesos to hand over to the lady vendor for two bags of Camachile and told him to tell the vendor to keep the change. Nengkoy gave me her usual indescribable stare to express her disgust on why she was not given the chance to practice her price-haggling-skills.  When we continued our journey back to Manila she told everyone inside the vehicle that price haggling is supposed to be done to lower down the price of the item being purchased and not to swell it higher which I, according to her, unacceptably just did.  Nengkoy of course is just being her usual self!  That was the moment that I told everyone that I won’t give them even a little piece in case I liked it.

When I excitedly opened one bag of Camachile, I was surprised to find that all of the fruit’s skin crusts were cracked open.  In full shock I shouted and asked them that this may no longer be edible since the fruit’s edible meat has been exposed!  Everyone laughed because of my stupidity and explained that the crusts are expected to be naturally open to signify that the meat is already ripe and could already be devoured.

With full gentleness, I picked one fruit and took off the seed beneath the white meat.  I chose the one whose skin crust has turned red expecting it to be sweet.  But when I placed it in my mouth and chewed it, the only words that came out of my mouth was, “Ay! Lasang papel!!!” (It tasted like paper!).  Nengkoy and the rest of the pack broke a big laugh.

Nengkoy then told me “I told you so…” and practically started her usual litany by saying that sixty pesos could have purchased a kilo of sweet ripe mangoes in Villasis Pangasinan and that I was such a bull headed monster for not listening to her.  With my insistence I again tried another Camachille expecting a sweeter version but to no avail.  That was the moment I offered everyone inside the car to have Camachile as their snack while we headed back to Manila.  Some took a little piece, tasted it and by no means asked for another one.

Siguro kapag ginawang ays krim pleybor, masarap na!

Snippets about a Diamond Girl’s Professional Life

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When I was still new to my chosen profession, I am often asked by my Tatay Joe and Nengkoy (my insanely beloved parents) on what are the usual questions I ask a job applicant.  They would often ask if I’m a strict or a lenient interviewer.  With full enthusiasm, I would of course answer to a slant that they would be so proud of me.

But my answers never seem to amaze Nengkoy.  She told me that I am just giving a hard time for another person to land a good job.  When I asked her why, she told me that when she applied for a job more than fifty years ago in PEMCO she was never asked a single question.  The Catholic priest who was supposed to be the interviewer simply instructed her to loudly pray the Hail Mary and the Our Father.  And when she did, she was automatically offered the job.

PEMCO, the leading manufacturing company of incandescent and fluorescent lights decades ago, is the only organization that Nengkoy worked with because she did not resigned to transfer to another company and instead rendered more than forty years of loyal service to that organization.  This makes Nengkoy never to have been subjected to any professional job interview yet worked for a company for more than half of her life.

That’s how rare the snippets in Nengkoy’s professional life who is by the way celebrating her 75th birthday today.  Happy Birthday to the Diamond Girl…

happy birthday nanay...

Hapi Bertday Nengkoy!

Tengoku

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nengkoy in her tengoku shirt

A couple of years back my younger sister Joy initiated a family tradition.  Every December 24 the whole Langit clan is distributed with shirts of the same design.  This is the shirt that every member of the family would wear to welcome the birth of Jesus Christ.  Everyone would wear it otherwise you would be considered an outcast.

Each year, the family’s surname is printed on the shirt.  This year was something different, in which collaboration and consensus of everyone was carried out.  As early as October this year suggestions and wild ideas are aired out and would crop out among family members on what shall be this year’s color and shirt design during simple family gatherings at Nengkoy’s house.

This is our 2011 Christmas shirt…

*

A Japanese kanji read as Tengoku meaning Heaven in English or Langit if translated to Filipino.

Nays nays… : )

Happy Birthday Gabriel Pedro!

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Today is a non-working holiday because today is the Holy Feast of Sacrifice of our Muslim brothers.  But according to one of my monster pamangkins (nephew) today is a holiday because it’s his birthday.  This kahanginan and supercilious claim only proves that Gabriel Pedro Langit is an archetypal Langit progeny.

Being bright, sharp and fine-looking teenager, I personally dubbed Gabriel as the future’s kilabot ng mga colegiala (college girls’ infatuation).  The last time I talked at length with Gabriel, I was not surprised to learn that he has become one of the heartthrobs in his high school.  No he was not boasting about it but was merely telling me a factual turn of events. Yet, I actually hate to consider Gabriel to be a heartthrob because heartthrobs are a dime a dozen.

Gabriel has his own unique style and character.  He is the enigmatic spark of the Devine.  So be careful ladies because this young man’s mere smile can turn you swooning over him.

Happy birthday Gabriel… : )

Kuya, paki handa ang pang-piyansa!

The Robot Movie For All Dads

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It is not a feel-good-movie but a feel-GREAT-movie!  This is how I perceive Real Steel the robot boxing movie extravaganza starring Hugh Jackman.  I highly recommend this movie to be seen and enjoyed by all fathers for it will make them feel like a young kid again playing with their most favorite toy.

For all those young single adults, you can actually tag along your old man to catch this movie since it can actually represent the ultimate realization of your old man’s dream who at one time in their life was a young kid with rich imagination fancying about robots and action figures.

What I like most about this movie is that it is a toned-down type of Transformers movie.  It’s not a dark robot movie but instead light, fun and visceral.  In Transformers there are scenes where I can hardly discern the robots apart when they fight, unlike in this movie in which the robots even during the action-packed fights can easily be discernable.

Moreover, what I like most about the robots is that they are mere robots controlled by human pilots.  They don’t talk, not percipient and do not have free flowing emotions.  They are essentially like giant toys in which kids can grow deep attachments with.   All in all Real Steel is a real deal of pure enjoyable rugged story with endearing characters along with action-packed bouts of brawling robots. Watchitwatchitwachit!

If my father is only alive, I would definitely treat him to watch this fun and heartfelt movie.  This could have been a great birthday present for Tatay Joe (my father) whose birthday is today.

Grabe ang walang humpay na bakbakan ng mga bakal.

Quezon, Tagalog & Panggala-talk: A Linggo ng Wika Special

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Today is the birthday of the guy whose face is on the twenty peso bill.  He is the same dude who is responsible why the female populace of this country can exercise their right to suffrage.  But his most popular feat and contribution in this country is his decision and declaration of making Filipino language the official and national language of the Philippines during the time when the two official languages of the country were English and Spanish.  He is Manuel L. Quezon, the father of this country’s national language.

This week, the country commemorates Linggo ng Wika (Filipino Language Week) which ends and culminates on Quezon’s birthday.  My earliest memory of me commemorating Linggo Ng Wika was during my grade school days.  I along with a bunch of classmates was summoned by our teacher to present a poem in an acrostic form during the Linggo Ng Wika program in our school.  If my memory serves me right, I was assigned to flash and state the verse that starts with letter N which was cut out from a red colored art-paper glued on a cardboard.

There are 175 dialects in the Philippines but the official Filipino language is based from the Tagalog language.  I being born and raised in the political and economic center of the country can speak, write and understand Tagalog.  In spite of this, Filipino is the school subject that caused me not to be included in the honor roll during high school because I garnered a grade of 79% during the third grading period in my 3rd year in high school. I must admit, Filipino is such a tricky thorny language.

Yet still, there is one dialect that I regret to have not learned.  It is the native tongue of my father – Panggalatok, the spoken dialect in the beautiful province of Pangasinan.    The only phrase I know in Panggalatok is “mangan tila!” which means “let’s eat!”  This is the common call I usually hear from my Panggalatok aunts and uncles every time they get to spend a day in our house in Pasay.

So today being the of peak of Linggo ng Wika, let me digress from Tagalog but instead give homage to the equally unique and exquisite Panggalatok dialect through this video which features one of the most admired classic songs in Pangasinan (which for sure my late father knows so well)…

http://youtu.be/89yydfGVQmM

Ang Tagalog ng “Noted By” ay “Nota Ni”

Made on Valentine’s Day

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According to US study the average length of pregnancy for primigravidae is 288 days and for multigravidae is 283 days.  Also, based on a robust study undertaken in Sweden, based on over 400,000 births, the average length of pregnancy is 283 days.

However, in mid-19th century according to Naegele’s Rule the gestational length of a woman’s pregnancy would only be 280.  However, with the more modern time and the advent of Utrasound Scanners, it was found out that the more accurate gestational length is by adding 3 days to the Naegele’s formula, thus a sum of 283 days.

I’m not a medical doctor nor a midwife but utilizing my knowledge on the most primitive mathematical technique called ‘counting’, I found out that the days from February 14 until my birthday (November 24) is equal to 283 days.  This only goes to show that the mitotic chromosomal genes of Nengkoy and Joe once again united for me to be conceived on the most romantic day on earth known as Valentine’s Day.

Ikaw kelan ka ginawa?

My Dove Man

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While wasting time and lazing around in my living room, I learned through a TV ad that Dove has an on-going promo which challenges folks to write an essay or testimonial about their Dove Man.  I am still mustering full courage to send this short essay and hoping that this could be a possible entry.  Instead of sending it, I obviously posted it here in this virtual journal.  Here’s how it goes…

He is the man who taught me the second half of the alphabet.  He is the one who made me aware about the existence of pomade.  He always summons me to buy Rubie blade in the nearby neighborhood store when his shaver’s blade is already dull.

He is Joe, my father who worked hard in the Middle East for more than 10 years to financially buttress me and my siblings’ studies. He left for Saudi Arabia to work when I was still a kid.  Yes, my father was one of the first batches of Pinoys who worked as an OFW.  I even used his Pan Am airline bag he received as a giveaway in one of his flights back to Manila as my schoolbag when I was in Grade 3 until Grade 4.

Before the word Balikbayan Box was coined here in the Philippines, we were already receiving imported goods sent by my father via door-to-door delivery service.  Nengkoy never purchase corned beef and bath towels from the local department stores since Joe always made sure that these items are always included in his parcel of goodies.  Our coffee was either Taster’s Choice, Sanka or Maxwell House.  Our shampoo was either Suave or Head & Shoulders.  Our chocolates were Toblerone, Baby Ruth and Kisses.  Nengkoy never misses to receive tubes of Ben Gay for her physical aches and pains and huge containers of Ponds and Oil Of Olay for her beauty regimen.

Joe’s Katas ng Saudi (products of hard work, blood, sweat & tears) package will not be complete without the bath soap.  Dove.  Multiple bundled bars of Dove bath soaps are the ones that complete the entire package.  Honestly, through the years, I may have tried other bar soaps that lather my gorgeous body.  But let me confess that when it comes to bath soaps, Dove is the first brand that enters my mind.  I admit that the foundation of my childhood’s soft silky skin is because of Dove.  Thanks to Tatay Joe my loving father.

Actually, while I was growing up I actually know that Dove is a bar of soap not a bird.  Because for me the English translation of the Filipino word kalapati was pigeon.  This is all because of Joe, my Dove Man.

Siguro malaking tsansang manalo ko sa patimpalak na yan… Hahaha!