The two girls from Hogwarts (a.k.a. London) are still in town. We had a fun time together during lunch at CPK more than a week ago. I haven’t seen them for more than two years. My niece, Clara, has already grown her hair long. The last time I saw her she was this adorable one-year-old baby who crawled her way around the house. Now, she knows how to play football.
I had a chance to see them again today in Alabang. I wasn’t expecting the entire family would take their lunch in the resto. Apparently, Kuya seemed to have gone addicted to CPK food. He will sure to miss the food when they go back to London next week, together with my other cousin who will soon attend classes in a medical assistant training school. I will miss the girls, but I am happy in knowing that I was able to spend time with them, no matter how short it was. It was something Bianca would remember. She’d probably tell everyone in her class how she spent her summer going to the beach, shopping in SM Mall of Asia and making her own pizza.
At Manila Memorial Park in Liloan, Cebu
The last time I was in this place was in 2004. The road to Manila Memorial Park Cemetery in Liloan, Cebu was long and dusty. I remember the heat, the exhaustion from lack of sleep, relatives I’ve never met before and wanting to go back home. Everyone around me grieved at the loss of someone they regarded so highly that made me blink more than twice. If you know my story, and the kind of life my family went through in the past, you’ll know why.
More than two weeks ago, I was back to the same spot, now more quiet and peaceful. Freshly cut grass covers the ground where withered flowers and candle-holder remain. Wounds have healed and I guess everyone has moved on.
Today marks my Dad’s 4th death anniversary.
We went on an almost 20-kilometer drive from Cainta to Binangonan, Rizal to check on this house my brother found on Ebay. It was early Saturday morning and my eyes were still droopy from lack of sleep.
It never crossed my mind that you could actually sell, and buy, houses on Ebay. My brother saw the all-must-go ad last week and inquired over the phone. Both of my brothers set out immediately to meet with the owners braving the weekday traffic from Pasig to the remote part of Rizal. It turned out that the owners, an old couple, would soon migrate to New Zealand where their children are waiting for them. I have cousins in Maryland who did the same thing, too. (By the way, if you’re planning to relocate somewhere in the East Coast, prepare Boston resumes and land on a job you love the most.)
My brothers were excited about the new find that we all went to see the place and decide whether we all agree on owning it or not. It’s a two-storey house with garage, four rooms and a basement. Plus a four-year-old car. And the best thing about it is we’re inside a village that sits on a quiet hill dotted by trees overlooking Laguna Bay.
I have never felt so relaxed; breathing fresh air and enjoying the sight of rugged green mountains. It so inspires creativity I think I could start writing a book there. I hope this is already it.
