It’s the 29th. A workday. I am here at home though.
Last month, I had planned to take a one-day leave for July the 29th to see Daughtry live in concert at Eastwood City. They are here for a one-night show for their Filipino fans.
And I missed/am missing it.
Alfred wasn’t interested in seeing the band. He wasn’t really into American Idol so he isn’t a fan of AI graduates. He did see Daughtry several times when he was on the show. He referred to the rocker as Vin Diesel’s brother even then. I didn’t go about asking other friends if anyone was interested in seeing the concert. So here I am, trying not to think about it anymore. Nice try, huh?
So why am I home on a work night then? I’m sick.
Seriously, how much icky mucus can there be? Bleh.
Sunday night turned out to be kids’ night. No, the kids weren’t around here. Rather, we spent almost the entire evening watching kids on TV.
First up: Pinoy Dream Academy’s Little Dreamers.
By golly, those kids have got oodles of talent. Really. I love watching them and I truly believe there is more talent in them than their teen/adult scholar counterparts.
Cristina was named this week’s Outstanding Little Dreamer, and she deserves the award. She’s always very energetic in her performances. You could check out a video of her performance here. Hers was the last number in the video in that post. Check out the Archives for performances of the other little dreamers. You will be WOWed by their talents.
Later in the evening, ABS-CBN had a feature story on the two faces of malnutrition in the Philippines. On the one hand, there’s the more common scene of skin and bones children who, because of poverty, and/or neglect, do not eat enough. On the other, obese children who give off a false front of being healthy but are actually are at high risk for heart disease and diabetes.
The Health and Social Welfare bureaus have programs to address the growing problem, but I know they are barely scratching the surface. Development groups and NGOs are also there with their own feeding programs and health programs for moms and their children. But how can we really save more children from dying of hunger or obesity?
With the food crisis hanging over the air, many of this kids are even more compromised than ever. But really, it’s not just the poor who can’t afford the enough healthy food for the entire family who’s in danger. In fact, I have a nephew who the doctor said was malnourished. It is sad. He has an enormous appetite and I’ve never really seen him be picky with his food. But I guess he’s not eating healthy.
And the overweight/over-indulged kids featured in the story have become too big for their age because their diets weren’t carefully planned by the adults caring for them. So it’s not just money needed to ensure that kids are healthy and grow up to become adults themselves.
It wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the feature, but this got me to thinking about how the pending law on Reproductive Health is being vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church here. I mean really, I am all for educating parents-to-be before they bring more children in the world, that’s a long term solution. But we’ve come to a desperate point already and government has the responsibility to at least make available various options to allow couples to choose the best family planning method for themselves. I just don’t see what’s so wrong about that. I don’t think the law endorses abortion, does it? I mean, c’mon!
When I left the office 20 minutes ago, I was not feeling well. Logic dictates that I go straight to bed upon getting home. Here I am, clicking away instead.
I just can’t stay away from my computer. I am drawn to it. And maybe it’s all mental, but I feel better already. No joke.
Anyhoo. My dad’s job takes him to Mindanao several times a month. He came home today from a three-day trip. He brought home yummy cheese bread sticks. Hmm, I can still smell them in my mind. They’re very similar to the cheese pies that the old SATS Women’s Cooperative Canteen served when I was a young girl. I can’t ever find those pies anywhere else in the Metro, but I did find them in Bohol when we were there last. These ‘stick’ version came from Cagayan de Oro.
This cheese pie isn’t a pie that has crust and filling. It’s more like a cheese pizza pie. Haha. It’s all cheese bread. I am not good at describing food in English. Basta, paper-plate sized sya, and you divide it like you do any other pizza. The smell is heavenly. Okay, the taste probably won’t take you to cloud nine and it’s not super special, but it’s one that I love. I’m not sure if it’s really the cheese pie, or the memories it brings back.
The thing is, anything that reminds me of the old Canteen automatically triggers memories of my Aunt Leesah too. She worked there as a cashier. In the rare times that she would let me go out at night when I was a kid, that’s where we’d usually head to just for an evening snack. I still miss her. Hey Auntie, if you have Internet in Heaven, send me an e-card! I turned a year older again!
Back to the Canteen. Each Coop member had a tab in the canteen and since all of the adult women in our family (along with most, if not all, adult females in the community) were members of the Coop, we could get anything with just a signature. Of course the cashiers knew all the kids’ parents too, so no one could really overcharge or eat on someone else’s tab. We called it, palista. Signalling the cashier to just add it to our mothers’ tab. There were even forms printed for that and we’d have to sign every time we got anything from the Canteen.
Aside from Cheese Pie, I always loved eating Guinataang Halo-halo. In fact, if it was available, they’d reserve one serving of the merienda dish just for me after I complained one time when they sold out everything before I arrived one afternoon. Hay, how can I describe ginataang bilo-bilo?
The Canteen closed down, reopened under new management, and closed again. Now, a cousin of mine rents the space and runs her own canteen. But it doesn’t give me quite the same homey feeling that it used to. It hasn’t been the Canteen I grew up in, not for a long time.
I don’t think that it was the change in management, or the change in cooks and other faces, that made the difference. Rather it’s the community itself that has changed in my eyes, and in my heart too. To be honest, nothing there really feels like home anymore. And I am sad to acknowledge that I feel this way.
Every person has to belong somewhere. Aside from my family, I thought the SATS community was where I belonged, where we all belonged. I consider it my hometown. But I just haven’t felt that way lately.
> I want a new phone. My old one is falling apart. (I did get a new one! Read about it here.) > We should have sold my iPaq PDA when we had the chance to break even. > Brendan Frasier has the body of a hottie! > Science can be fun! > My nephews and nieces make life sweeter. > What is the deal with the Reproductive Health Bill? Let’s give the people at least a chance to make their own informed choices! > I just have to use my PDA again, so at least it wouldn’t have been money wasted (refer to second thought). > I should scrap about my phone(s). > I really prefer Red Velvet Cake today 🙁
There were other things, for sure, but these are what I can still remember.
Oh well, tomorrow’s another workday (actually, it’s later).
