Two dudes and a bucket full of memories

No, this is not a bromance so please keep your judgement till the last phrase of this blog. LOL

The time: decades of 1960 & 1970. 

The place: a village high up on the mountains at the heart of the island of Mindanao. 

Imagine two hyperactive boys in a remote place about a day's drive through dirt roads to the nearest city. All they had at their disposal were some horses and cows at a nearby ranch, a dancing creek with small tasty fish and ferns on its banks, a forest behind the village, some empty milk cans and other odd objects to craft into toys and a very rich imagination.

In those ancient days boredom was a given fact and to combat it you had to create your own fun, and these blokes were very good at that. 

Another thing they had to cope up with was their seemingly bottomless stomachs, and again they managed to stay satiated with the vast array of wild and cultivated fruits around the neighborhood. 

This was a time when life was simple and slow-paced. Happiness and fun were not dependent on gadgets or mass media productions. Mischief was also abundant and always useful.

Half a century later these two blokes happen to cross paths in the sunshine state and a couple of hours together was packed with reminiscing and trying out the things they used to do back then.

a torn achiles tendon kept

this ADHD guy hobbled.

a perfect garage is one with

a pingpong table

instant replay

Thanks bro for all the memories - while we still have our minds. Another reunion in the age of dementia could be hilarious.

Fambam - a potpourri of Spanish, American and Filipino genes

Make no mistake. This piece is not about Noah, rather it is about his dear wife's family and why they have the looks of the beautiful people of the western hemisphere, which Noah conspicuously lacks.

<<O>>

"In March 15, 1621 the Philippines was discovered by Magellan" and colonized for Spain. And then in 1898 the Americans wrested this archipelago from the Spaniards and claimed it as their own. This was actually a story of greed, power and dominance.

A similar story emerged in the early 1900s when a handsome, young and adventurous hombre left his homeland Spain and found himself walking the dusty paths of a beautiful southern Philippine island. What struck him most was the hospitality of the people and the gorgeousness of their daughters, and so he decided to get himself some land and seven or so brown-skinned ladies who would eventually give him dozens of children. 

Some decades later two American dudes set foot on the island and had the same realization as the Spaniard. This time the Americans found the daughters of the Spanish guy irresistible and decided to stay for good. Little did they realize that they had in fact followed the trend of the earlier Spanish and American colonizers, but this time it was a saga of infatuation, love and romance.

Fast forward by half a century and we now find Noah encaptivated and entranced by the Spanish guy's granddaughter and his heart is colonized forever. 

A vacation in the Sunshine state just recently gave Noah a chance to bond with the grandchildren of the Spanish dude in this story. Here are some photos to prove that his seed hasn't stopped multiplying.

Medel + Joyce = first degree cousins minus the kid.

Not in the pic are Jerry and Judy who missed

the potluck and Emmeline who recently left

for the Philippines.

Daphne - niece

Harold and Howard - nephews

Hardin - nephew

Tiffany, Meghan and Asset - nieces

Gizela - niece

Svetlana - niece

 nieces all

nephews some

nieces and nephews with about a handful more

 who couldn't make it for this event.

All the personalities in the photos were proudly made in the Philippines and just migrated to the USA in the last 2 decades or so.

The last, but not the least is this dude. However, his birth certificate is still missing hence their genetic lineage is yet to be confirmed.

Eat-all-you-can

Smorgasbord was a term that Noah had to come to grips with while growing up. To him it was a table laden with all the stuff that he could not possibly consume, and being an eat-everything-in-sight kind of freak he just wished that the buffet table didn't have too much on it.

Fast forward by a little over half a century and he finds himself vacationing in the Central Valley of California - a breadbasket of sorts for the states on the west coast and possibly even for the entire nation, where food is grown by the tons, shipped off by the tons and sadly, wasted by the tons. While cycling through post-harvest fields, orchards and vineyards Noah sees acres upon acres of produce considered as "non-marketable" or "reject" rotting under the sun. 

With all the excesses Noah reckons that there is no excuse for hunger. Not a single soul in this vast valley should go to bed hungry and he had to find out if this was the case. True to his expectations Noah discovers that there are civic and religious centers around Bakersfield that give out free meals and food/groceries on a regular basis and if one has the knowledge of the schedules and venues and is able to queue on time, there would be free food for each day of the year.

To get a firsthand experience on this system Noah decides to have some free food for himself. The New Life Center - a Foursquare gospel church, hands out food/groceries twice a month for the entire year on a regular basis. To qualify for the free food one has simply to want it... not even need it, and should be able enough to stand in line to get the food 7:00 - 10:00 in the morning.

That's the warehouse of the NewLife center at White Lane

Noah got there and the parking lot was 60% full

with the owners of the cars already in a neat line

 The "suman cum laude" boys shivering in the

8 degrees Celsius morning.

 each "suman" boy was given a cart of grocery stuff,

which had apples, blue berries, grapes, cauliflower and other 

fresh veggies, canned tomatoes, fruit cocktail, frozen chicken, pasta, bread, peanut butter, etc.

with all this food there is no excuse to be hungry.

A reunion with Toots

There are certain things in life that you absolutely don't have any control over. One of these is who your cousins are. You can't choose them neither can you determine the circumstances into which you were born into. 

Popeye and sweet pea @ the pier

For the petite lady in this story, there were no options, but to accept this writer - Noah, and his sister as her cousins, their mothers being sisters. The circumstances that bound her to them came in a way that there was certainly no means that they could develop animosity or get bored with each other, simply because they only saw each other during yearly summer vacations and these times together were just for about a couple of weeks. So what transpired between them all their lives was just fun, fun and more fun. When your relationship with someone is at this level, you would treasure each chance to reunite and reminisce. This is exactly what this blog is about considering that the cousins are now at the grand stage of their lives... I mean being "grand" parents already and not the roles they previously played as carefree youngsters.

There were about 6 - 10 cousins including Toots' siblings who shared these fun vacations together, and I'm quite certain that they wish that it is still possible to reunite on the island beaches where they used to hangout. Other cousins who were born a decade before or after them where treated with respect and awe, but with none of the elbowing, scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours or sleeping-side-by-side-on-the-floor type of closeness.

Toots and her family lived in the big city while Noah and sis lived in the remote mountainous recesses of the farthest island from the big city - 4 days by boat in those antique years. Noah actually lived each day of the year in anticipation for the summer trip to Manila.

Since this blog is about a reunion and not about the bygone years let's leave the past behind. Toots at this time was spending some months touring the United States... so with Noah. She was based in Las Vegas and Noah in Bakersfield - just 6 hours drive between them. 

To bring Toots to Bakersfield Christian and Jinjin brought

her halfway to Barstow from where Noah and sis would take her

through the second half portion of the trip. There's no doubt

in the photos that the three are cousins by their unique

facial expressions.

 the next day they toured the museum of president

Ronald Reagan at the Simi Valley...

 ...where this horse brought back into remembrance

the years when Toots would visit the mountains

and Ethel and Noah would take her horse-back riding.
Some famous American photobomber with them.

 this time it took quite an effort to get

up on the saddle with less flexibility

of the joints.

The next day was Pismo Beach...

 ...where they got to taste the famous clam

chowder in an consumable bowl.

 waiting for the sun to set in a 

fabulous sun-sea-sky showdown.

The next day was free breakfast at

Ethel's hospital and apparently the 

temperature is very low.

At this point Noah would like to apologize for the succeeding videos

which may be too gross and offensive for some people. Viewers discretion is advised.

The lyrics of the songs have become to scarred and shredded in their
dwindling memory, so to stay on the safe side they only sang the chorus parts - "relax."

Toots is ready to board the plane at LAX for the Philippines and at this point this question begs for an answer: will another reunion be possible?

Suman cum laude

What do you do with the excess material from the thanksgiving feast preparations? One option for the unused banana leaves, which was intended for the boodle fight 2 days ago is to heave them onto the dumpster. The second and better option is to use them to create another feast - of which there shouldn't be anymore leftovers.

Yeah, SUMAN! A Filipino recipe using sticky rice, coconut milk, salt and sugar mixed together and wrapped up in banana leaves.

Another indispensable component of this recipe is a couple of doctors on vacation who want to get their hands messy. The photos will tell the rest of the story.

 The radiologist found it awkward at the start,

but soon got into the rhythm

 the first fifteen pieces were uniformly small

and slender at the onset, but they started to

get bigger at the homestretch. Apparently the fingers

were tiring and the only way to get it done faster

was to make bigger suman.

 WIP - taking a break to stretch those arthritic fingers

 all that's left to do at this point

is to add water and let boil for

over an hour.

...and after all is said and done this

is what you get. Noah just wished there

was some ripe juicy mango somewhere

around the block.

A thanksgiving story

Thanksgiving feast is for America as Noah is for eating... and to some extent - cooking. So as the equation implies: Noah loves Thanksgiving.

At this point the reader should be aware that Noah is not an American citizen and therefore this annual tradition of feasting and family closeness does not ring a chord in his sentiments. But since he chanced upon this occasion in one of his visits, he thought that it would be best to get into the beat of the season and rock it out with the Americans.

Two families gave Noah the chance to experience thanksgiving. Two feasts with contrasting themes and outcomes. The first was on the night of the official thanksgiving day for the year 2016 - November 24. It was hosted by the Reyes family who migrated to the USA about a decade ago.

on the table: ham, pancit palabok, sisig, kare-kare,

lumpia, leche flan, fruits and sparkling wine.
there was none of the traditional American dishes
like turkey, pumpkin pie or mashed potatoes and
 gravy. Noah's role was to "eat-all-you-can." It 
was a decent meal with the proper table manners.

The second feast took place a day later and like all parties under the roof of Noah's present address - he was chef, and the players were the same guys in the Reyes' feast the night before. The second feast was just to give back a favor, but with a twist, coz tonight wouldn't be a feast at all, but rather a "fight." Yeah, a thanksgiving fight. The proper dining manners had no place in this event. There were no plates, silverware and napkins.

The official name in the Philippines for this 

type of dining is "boodle fight." The essential 

components of a boodle fight are grilled 

stuff including chicken, pork belly (liempo), 
fish and the tastiest garlic shrimps in coconut 

milk. Banana leaves in California is imported 

- frozen. Not in the photo are the desserts: durian

ice cream and binignit.

 The players... After a very rich dinner of the 

previous day, they were clamoring for something 

different hence the idea of a fight night.

The teams: Bibay vs Reyes

The venue: Bibay's residence

 The fight is on

 the captain of team Reyes has his heart on 

the fight. note him elbowing his own teammate.

Also check out the rice at the Reyes' court, 

which is slowing disappearing towards the 

Bibay's home goal. 

Time out called by the referee, because the second

batch of rice was still steaming. Team Reyes' captain

takes a deep breath and vows to fight to the end.

at this point the score is: Reyes 4, Bibay 2.

Reyes leads towards the end of the fight.

Another pot of rice arrives and the fight

resumes. This time Dodge kneels, not in surrender

but in dogged determination to bring home the trophy. 
The Reyes team captain manages a half-smile at the

opponents, but apparently feels the intra-abdominal 

pressure against his heart.

as the smoke on the battle field cleared

only one fighter remained - team Bibay. With

her fingers on the last remaining morsels of food

the referee announces the winner.

Bibay!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!

A weekend at the Yosemite National Park (November 2016)

Setting: California high Sierra specifically at Yosemite Nat'l park
Time: Veterans day weekend
Actors: Ben, Ethel and Noah. Yosie has her own story.

The details of this trip were already told in this link: http://sunnimoreno.blogspot.com/2016/11/love-at-first-sight.html, but other photos of the trip have to be saved to keep them on hand for future reminiscing when the knees have become too weak for this type of activity hence this added story.

Accommodations for a tour of the Yosemite can be inside the park - which is always full and would take months ahead to book and are comparatively expensive than lodging facility in the towns that are outside of the access points of the park.

This trip was actually a spur of the moment decision and so it was quite late for more hotel options. Expedia was helpful in this task and the most feasible suggestion that came out was in this town with 115 population...

an old mining town nestled in the hills

between the great central California valley

and the Sierra mountains. It used to have 

Chinese residents - workers in the mines

and highways in the 1800s.

The motel that accommodated us for 2 nights

 we arrived at about 4 pm and we 
were the first among the day's

guests to check in.

 two hagibis grandpas unloading the van

...rice cooker with cooked rice, 4 types of

viands (adobo chicken/pork, corned beef,

pinakbet con alamang, fried bulad), biko, 

mixed nuts, bananas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes,

asparagus, bread and the stickiest coco jam, red 
wine and SMB (we forgot the bottle opener and 
had to resort to the bottle against bottle 

maneuver pinoy style). the bicycle and cycling
gear have become a permanent fixture in this van
for about 2 months now.

the room

'free' breakfast at the motel

that's the motel at the top of a hill

Oh little town of Coulterville how still we 
see thee lie. This photo was taken early the
next morning while most of the residents were
still asleep...

 ...we took a stroll around town and 
chanced upon this timid doe.

The next photos expressively portray a love affair that has sweetened through the years. At this point Noah was silently wishing Jo Ann of ark was present.

 did this spot remind them of their marriage vow -
"till death do us part?"

 a mini locomotive used to transport ore
in the mining fields.

 this abandoned hotel stands as a monument of man's greed
and deceit. it is also a bottomless pit of intrigue 
and mind-boggling tales of mischievous spirits.

Gorgeous scenes in the Yosemite park...

one of the several tunnels we had to go through

of course... the light at the end of the tunnel

one of the many kilig poses... 

 ...and weird poses...

...with unusual results.

the highway home and back to reality. Until next trip...bye!