The_Grimwitch_Chronicles

This is a chronicle of a young woman who has chronicled her life in notebooks she had made herself and suddenly discovered the availability of Blogs and how she could share a part of her secret self to the virtual community.

3:50 pm

02. Family On-the-Go

Posted by Leto of Blood

When my family was billeted in a classy Metro hotel by the Baywalk area, my nephew was very excited. It was his first time to go and sleep in a nice hotel, complete with bathtub and a magnificent view of the sea (which I agree, was enough reason to be excited compared to our usual bath and ambiance at home). He was running and jumping all at the same time, eager to use the hotel's amenities to satisfy his thirst for experience. He kept telling my mom (his grandmother) "Lola, its my first time.."

I remembered the time when we were very young (I was seven I guess,) when mom and dad would take us out to a company sponsored outing and get billeted in nice hotel/resorts with amenities that we never see at home. The very first vacation was in Puerto Azul (Cavite area if I'm not mistaken) and we were appreciative of the nice air conditioned lobby and the very soft bed and one has to run out and there was the sea! There was also a pool but we were more excited to get sunburned by the sea with our dad and some children who were of mom's office mates'. Aside from that there was sumptuous feast every meal and that (Thank God!) we get to observe (since we cannot afford to lose our manners when we were with mom and dad) other people's children eat like savages with other foreign resort guests. There was this vacation at a private resort in Caba, La Union. The beach was so tolerably saline that I have been successful in learning how to swim by myself. I guess that was also the first time I ever tasted fresh seafood and vegetable that I never realized that as picky as I was, I could also eat local vegetables and fish! During that vacation I had been able to experience what it feels like to have some sort of luck in seeing money float towards me while underwater diving. It wasn't that much..just 50 pesos. But during that time, I had been able to buy some mangoes for my family's dessert that I realized what it feels like to see how one's family appreciates things that you have given them. Another memorable vacation was at Hidden Valley in Alaminos. I realized how haughty I have been because I almost drowned trying to prove my father that I am an expert swimmer - which I really am not. The food and the natural surroundings are also a big plus. I would have enjoyed going back there but when I realized how much dollars were to the peso ($1 = Php25) during that time, it turned me off big time. It was an exciting learning experience that we always look forward to it every vacation and would utilize our child's curiosity to explore and enjoy every place we visited by keeping memorabilia (sand, a flower, a leaf or whatever small junk that we can keep in our pockets) and by taking pictures.

When the company doesn't feel like going to beaches, they go to the summer capital of the Philippines.. Baguio! That time, it was such a pristine place with the smell of pine cones in the morning and seeing dew on leaves at the break of dawn. That was the time before the great earthquake hit the city, and no..we haven't been near the Hyatt either. We were at the very heart of the bustling city with plenty of half naked tribesmen (in complete costume!) walking and carrying big baskets of vegetables or begging for alms. April in Manila is sweltering hot while in sunny Baguio it was cool and we felt comfortable wearing the winter frocks and leather jackets our father bought for us when he was in Switzerland. My younger brother thought we were in another country since he saw a lot of foreigners strolling about Minesview and Burnham park. We enjoyed eating basketful of strawberries dipped in condensed milk and jars of sweet, crunchy homemade peanut brittle. My mother kept snapping pictures everywhere. I guess she was making up for all the time that she was always away on a mission and that she wanted to preserve the time when we were children and still totally dependent on them. That was the first time I ever fell in love with a place that was so strangely familiar.

Going to excursions, company sponsored or not helps a lot in keeping our family closer because we have no one else to talk with except our family members. Sometimes we do get along with other people's children but we usually prefer to be with siblings since we can get our own way (my own way actually, because I'm the eldest) in doing things. I guess that is the reason why even if we're already grown up, we (my siblings) still love to be with each other's company. We still laugh at our own stupid jokes, lenient at our own hilarious pranks and forgiving at our mistakes. Hopefully it will rub on to our own children in the future.

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5:05 pm

Transient Tenants of San Marcelino

Posted by Leto of Blood



Before we ever inhabited our "ancestral" home (as my mum would fondly call it), we lived in a cramped apartment compound beside the MERALCO office along San Marcelino St. in Ermita, Manila. It was in front of the Technological University of the Philippines. The compound was at the back of a looming student canteen cum dormitory. That building and the compound used to be an old theater that belonged to a "Bumbay." Its long, tiled driveway had a canal for draining flood water from the compound and out in the streets. At the end of the driveway was a red, metal gate made of braided wires that was our only security from trespassers at night.

I can still remember its address (826-F San Marcelino St.)...The flat had one set of stuck windows for ventilation, a cold, glossy (but slippery!) red floor, mint green walls and no room divisions. It also had a small comfort room with a shower that does not work, a leaking sink and open shelves that were painted creamy beige. I don't know how much my mum rented the place but it was probably a little expensive because we would miss some month's rentals.

Despite the cramped flat, there was an open space for a watering hole - there was a big, red, metal water tank that was as high as the flat itself. It stored water for the whole compound just in case of emergency water shortage. Neighbors would wash their clothes there because the comfort room was way too small for washing clothes manually. My mum bought a twin tub washing machine to solve that problem.

My mum hired some people to create wooden dividers for rooms. There was this big cubicle that housed my mum and my dad's bed, the huge cabinets for our clothes, sleeping beds and other important stuff. Since the comfort room is at the very end of the flat, beside the dripping sink, my mum also had a small divider where my grown-up cousins slept and kept their things. In front of their room was the dining table and the sturdy refrigerator. Our living room is near the only window of the flat. Leaning under the window would be the battered TV, our bulky (old school) stereo and a small glass table. There was a small sofa set that leaned on the walls of my parent's divider. Eventually, that window that remained perpetually stuck was carved out and a used, 1 horsepower-air conditioning unit placed to relieve the stuffiness of the flat during summer.

The cousins who lived with us are the eldest daughters of my dad's older brothers. They used to live in the province and are very shy. They attend the university that was just a stone's throw from our flat. To relieve our boredom on Friday nights, we would put on our socks and dance on the slippery floor of the living room with the bulky stereo at full volume. Iolanthe, would teach my brother, Launcelot, crazy dance steps like "The Skeleton Dance" or the "Duckling Twist." My other cousin, Angelique, would watch over our then youngest brother, Michael, as he tries to imitate the choreography that the twosome invented. My sister Josette and I would pretend we're gliding on ice and dance the night away until we're all exhausted. The dancing nights ended when Michael suffered convulsions and was diagnosed with meningitis (to which he eventually recovered, with no ill effects).

My siblings and I slept on sleeping mattresses which we lay on the floor of the living room at night. We cannot sleep as late as we would like, even on vacations because our neighbors will definitely see us once the front door is opened. Delectable meal scents will definitely wake us up because the smell of food cooking in the unventilated kitchen will definitely waft its way up to the living room where we are. Garbage had to be thrown daily because rotting filth can be smelled from the outside. To fart anywhere inside the flat is a capital offense. We usually study in the dining room on exam days because our neighbors can get rowdy at night especially on "bingo" nights that was hosted by my dad.

When the landlords built a bigger flat near the big compound gate, my mum took the opportunity by transferring there. It costs a little more expensive than the old flat where we used to live but it had lots of windows (which relieved my asthma)and had a slightly bigger comfort room with exhaust.

My mum had used the old dividers to create two big rooms - one as the master's bedroom and the other for our bed spacers. Our living room in the new flat initially had a big living room that leads to the dining room. It used to have the sewing machine that my mum's older sister, Aunt Mary, used to repair clothes, create dresses for me and my sister, and sew uniforms for other people. Her youngest daughter, Magdalene, soon lived with us after graduating from the provincial high school. She eventually became a scholar of the T.U.P. and of course, graduated with honors. My parents commissioned my Uncle Jack (my mum's alleged twin brother) to make wooden double-deck beds for the bed spacers with an attached cabinet per bed. My Uncle Will (my mum's older brother, but my Aunt Mary's younger brother)was also hired to make the store at the very end of the driveway (near the streets of San Marcelino) for my dad.

My parents sold their property in Siniloan, Laguna that summer for all the expenses that were incurred during the whole shebang of transferring to another flat, refurbishing the new flat and constructing the sari-sari store at the driveway. By the time we had advertised that we can accept boarders (the room can hold 6 boarders)- it was full in a week's time. Iolanthe and Angelique slept in the same bunk in the boarder's room. Magdalene and Aunt Mary slept with us on the folding mattress in the living room. Soon after, the whole compound started accepting boarders as well.

I remember our old neighbors when we first moved in. There's Ms. Venus from apartment A, who lived with her beautiful but very shy sisters. There's Ms. Artemis from apartment B, a dentist who lived with her brother who's an engineer. She initially installed my dental jacket. Dr Hanzi Burns lives in apartment C with his small family. Elijah Spencer, a handsome homosexual, lives in apartment D with his female cousin that eventually married Mr. Crowley. A pet-lover, Mr Choiseul and his wife, lived in apartment E. He had cute pet dogs which he named "Richard" and "Snooky." Mrs Moll Maundrell and her family lived in apartment F. She's the resident gossip of the compound. There's Mr. Ahab Crowley, an old bachelor who lives in apartment G. He had 6 male boarders - from the universities nearby. Apartment H was always empty because it had undergone repairs. People from apartment I rarely mingle with the neighbors but I heard they're mostly cousins who live in the same house. People come and go in these old apartments and I have forgotten some of the short-lived ones.

Life in the compound is a lively one. Every morning, male neighbors (like my dad) would drink their cup of coffee sitting on a bench outside their houses reading their tabloids with the AM radio of different stations blasting out loud. One can hear the hustle and bustle of students and employees doing their morning routines. The driveway is wiped clean of the dust that settled on it overnight as the residents who are off to work rush to catch the bus or walk to their respective universities. The streets of San Marcelino will be congested with the morning traffic and not even air can move about the students and teachers in their uniforms as they traverse the dusty sidewalks.

Mid-morning is more peaceful. Students rush to and fro photocopying shops, canteens and school supplies stores. Smells of "student meal" mainstays waft to the compound's open grounds: pork menudo, beef caldereta, sinigang, fried fish, breaded pork chop, chicken barbecues, afritada and steaming white rice. Clinking soda bottles welcome each hungry patron as they scan the viand displays. Housemaids from each flat take the opportunity to wash clothes and gossip in their watering hole. Toddlers would run around their kiddie bikes or play with their rubber balls. Calorie-driven tykes would boast their latest trusty "sipa" or "text" cards moves - praying that the gusty winds won't ruin their act. Sometimes, they'd engage in "tumbang preso" or "patintero" if the sun isn't too hot.

When lunchtime arrives, the clinking of soda bottles, trays, plates and silver grow stronger. The compound's communal space is usually deserted since the transients are eating lunch inside their boarding houses. Residents of the compound are all watching game shows on TV while having their meals.

Early afternoon is quieter than on lunch time. It seems that after the canteen's clients have all gone back to their scheduled classes, dust on the streets of San Marcelino settles. Children in the compound are coaxed to sleep for their afternoon siesta - with a promise of their favorite snacks and more time for play. Ceiling fans work at their highest capacity to fend off the sweltering heat from the transient's small quarters. Nearby computer shops are crammed with students - researching, playing, chatting or checking emails. Loiterers read newspapers on display or rent out comics from the variety store.

Late afternoon is another burst of activity as the children awaken from their siesta - more energized than ever - and line up at the variety store to buy snacks of all kinds before they play till the sun sets. If lucky, the ice-cream man selling native sorbets will offer them fruit flavored treats till their throats go sore. Students from their afternoon class grab a bite at the canteen - a cheap buy one take one cheeseburger with ice cold soda will quench hunger pangs immediately. The less fortunate buy melon juice or diluted pineapple juice with the accompanying banana cue or "turon". Indigent students queue at the fishball vendor. They prick the floating (cooked) fish balls/squidballs/orlian/kikiam with their small bamboo sticks and dip them in a variety of sauces - vinegar with onion, garlic and pepper, spicy fishball sauce (thick brown sauce made of cornstarch, brown sugar and spices) and sweet fishball sauce (same ingredients as the former but without spice). The photocopying shops and the variety store are the favorite hang-outs of students - they buy soda and cigarettes/gum/chips while they photocopy an assignment/research/lecture from a studious classmate.

The boarder's early evenings are usually reserved for washing clothes (especially uniforms and underwears!), watching the latest TV drama, and studying for tomorrow's test. If all else is done, they eat their dinner - which is actually a reheated meal from the canteen - and chat till they become sleepy. Very few students roam the streets of San Marcelino as they often walk towards Taft Ave. where they ride a jeepney or catch a bus home. In the compound, people who had already done their washing and studying would often join other neighbors for a round of bingo (at 50 cents per card - that's cheap!) or challenge each other to chess. Sometimes, they would play basketball at our mini-basketball court when no bingo is possible. Young men would play guitars in front of their boarding house - secretly wooing the young women from the other house.

Late evenings are usually a quiet affair since the variety store closes and the driveways lights are turned off. The light outside the compound is also turned off at the stroke of 11 and the red chicken wire gate closed. Dogs roam freely the compound - ready to attack any intruder that happen to enter the gate without the whole neighborhood's knowledge.

As twilight descends upon the transients of San Marcelino - punctuated by the heavy wheeled trucks that traverses its roads - another day awaits for the transients, till they graduate and another set of transients move in.

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