Thursday, May 28, 2009

Going Back Home (Part 1)

To some OFWs, vacation means being with loved ones and bonding with long lost friends. To others, a chance to relax and go sightseeing places they'd dreamed to visit. But one thing is for sure, vacationing means an ample sum of our savings is spent. For me, it’s a mixture of what I mentioned.

I promised my Dad I’ll repair the fence surrounding our family compound destroyed by flood when “Frank” visited our town last year. So that’s what I did. While my “mag-ina” was visiting relatives around town, I was supervising the construction of a portion of our back fence; a 6 foot high, 15 meter long concrete wall.

Actually I’m not really needed since my Dad was doing the supervision. It‘s just a pretext not to accompany my wife on her rounds. The “playoffs” is more important than meeting some balik-bayan uncles and aunties-in-law whose conversation revolves around comparing the situation in the Philippines and the US of A. Like that ad commercial "walang ganyan sa states..." ba.

I’m glad my loss wasn’t as bad as I expected from that recent deluge. Nobody lives in my house and only on some occasion does someone check it out. When “Frank” struck and everything went under water, it took two months before somebody entered and cleaned it up. But to my delight, except for my mid-range speakers and sub-woofer, all our appliances are okay. Of course there’s the issue of our clothes and linens smelling like rags. It took several washing and lots of Downy to removed the stench.

One thing nice about vacationing is your no longer obliges to do what you usually do when you’re abroad. Eat, sleep and watched TV is my daily agenda. My sister-in-law was even kind to lend us her cook so I can taste my favorite dishes (any thing with “gata”) and of course pork. Not a single day that we don’t have pork on the table, from adobo to lechon-kawali. She (the cook) was even perplexed when we asked her to boil “kamote” for meryenda (kamote is expensive in the Middle East). We spread it with margarine and down it up with kalamansi juice… ahhh sarap. It’s a respite from my wife’s cooking whose menu consists of only 6 dishes; one for each day of the week. And just like God, we rest our palate and eat out on the 7th day.

We always timed our vacation to coincide with summer but I never anticipated that it will be this hot. Sweats are dripping down my elbow even when I’m doing nothing but standing outside the veranda to catch some breeze. I have to shower thrice a day to minimize my discomfort. Luckily, the AC in our bedroom works fine or my daughter would have a hard time sleeping at night. Using an electric fan isn’t sufficient to cool a hot summer evening.

Enough of my grumbling, next time I’ll tell about our “lamyerda” with matching pictures.

25 comments:

  1. Ayun, bumalik na rin sa Buhanginan si Mr. Blogusvox. Welcome back!

    Parang nakalimutan niyo po yatang sabihin kung naging successful ba ang pagpapaayos ng fence. U

    Huhmn, for the first time ay makikita na rin ang mukha niyo rito sa blog niyo sa susunod niyong mga posts. May mga pictures, 'ika niyo, di po ba?

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  2. Welcome back Kuya Vox...

    sana ako rin... makapagbakasyon.

    i missed the kamote... thank God we have pork outta here...

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  3. welcome back parekoy. enjoy your vacation here. ingat.

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  4. Purihin ang iyong pagbabalik G. Blogusvox, matagal ka naming inabangan.

    Na miss ko bigla ang paborito kong lechon kawali.

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  5. welcome back sir, and hopefully kitakits tayo dyan! hehehe

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  6. Welcome back! I'm sure may hang over ka pa ng bakasyon. =)

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  7. RJ, ayos na. Bakod lang naman yun eh.

    AZEL, nasaan ka ba based?

    Lawstude, salamat.

    Pope, konting pasensya matitikman mo rin yang peborit mo. : )

    Theo, mangingibang bansa ka nanaman ba? Saan ang destino mo? Kung sa Riyadh, malamang kitakits tayo.

    Ms.Jo, salamat. Oo, hanggang ngayon nasa vacation mode pa rin ako. : )

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  8. Welcome back, Ed. Glad you had a grand time in Pinas. Matagal din ang bakasyon mo ha.

    Ako naman! Paalis ako mid June! Like you, I'd be spending my time (and savings!) para sa pamilya. Aalipinin na naman ako ng tatay ko sa pagrerepair ng mga sira (na sa opinyon ko naman ay dapat ng itapon) at ng nanay ko sa pagtulong sa kusina at ng kapatid ko sa paggastos. Buhay OFW. Hehehe.

    Looking forward to your vacation stories.

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  9. Masarap nga magbakasyon. Kaso lahat ng bagay may katapusan. Tulad ngayon, magpapasukan na kami. ANtayin ko ang post mo tungkol sa naging bakasyon mo. :)

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  10. Very glad to see you back and glad to know that you and the family had a great time back home in spite of the sweltering heat. I look forward to the pictures you'll post from your vacation. :)

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  11. robnuguid, salamat sa dalaw.

    Panaderos, thank you pards. I'll try to post it tomorrow.

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  12. haller kuya Ed!
    hehehehe
    i wish may picture ng bakod...
    when will you post photos ng vacation nyo?
    mawawala lang pansamantala.. may kabusyhan eh hehehe
    pero silip-silip pa rin..
    natawa ako sa comment mo kuya..
    hindi bagay hahaha
    thanks for editing my link...

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  13. Kuyà, àko àt si Lolo pàg umuuwi ng Pinàs, wàlàng relàtives nà nàkàkààlàm, ksi istorbohin kmi to dine with them, out with them, pàkilàlà si tiyo, tiyà, si ànhing tuding, si Lolo menok etc etc.
    Nàwàwàlà kàmi sà àgendà nàmin thàt is " me time"

    wàlà rin pàgàwà, wàlà kàmi property sà Pinàs, poor eh, àhihihih

    then nàg pàpààlàm làng kmi nà dumàting, the làst dày of stày nàmin sà Pinàs, invite them to resto, ànd thàts it, less time, less gàstos, lol

    ànywày tiyàk enjoy àng bàkàsyun, kàhit màgàstos,
    ipon nà làng ulit sà sunod nà uwi.
    Welcome "home" sà blogging!

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  14. Welcome back Pare! Bumalik ako to check yung reply mo sa comment ko eh hindi pala naka post.
    Kaya heto welcome uli... Marhaba. ahlen wasalan!
    Glad to hear that you and your family had a great time and are all safely back at the sandbox.

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  15. Yanah, anong meron sa bakod at gusto mong makita? I hope everything works fine, ano man yang lakad mo.

    Francesca, okay yan ah. You go home "incognito" to maximize your own time. Nasa culture kasi ng pinoy ang close family relationship (kahit extended). Pag nalaman nilang dumating ka at hindi mo pinasyalan, magtatampo.

    NJ, thank you panyero!

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  16. This gives me an idea what to do when we come home this December, and hopefully thats why we are going home that month because its not that hot anymore...minus the expenses of the season. hehehe.

    I am sorry about what happen to your house because of "Frank" but an OFW house built upon the rock naman yun, hehe, kaya seguro kung tatawagin ko ang house ni Blogusvox, ang name niya "BULLDOG" kasi segurado mansiyon yun...

    19 years, what an endurance, so admirable.

    Looking forward to part 2.

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  17. seems that you've enjoyed naman. looking forward to the lamyerda pics.

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  18. Kenjie, hehehe, simpleng tao lang ako and my house reflects my way of living. It's just a 3br bunggalow with a floor area of 250sq.m. Matibay lang ang pagkagawa dahil it was designed by my father using his knowledge in structural engineering.

    bing, salamat, hamot ipo-post ko na bukas.

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  19. Uy, salamat at bumaik na siya, namiss ka namin! hehehe...Ummm, your wife has only 6 dishes? Ayokong maniwala...

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  20. sheng, pagluluto ang isang katangiang hindi nakahiligan ng mrs ko. Napilitang matuto lang sya ng mag-asawa na kami. : )

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  21. welcome back bro ! Glad you enjoyed your vacation, a much needed boost before you return to the sandbox :) I'm sure your folks back home were eager to see you and your family. I always loosen a few holes in my belt upon my return hehe ;)

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  22. Hi Blogusvox! :)

    Wow! Umuwi ka pala! That's good! One thing talaga na I like pag nasa Pilipinas is pagkain. Nakaka-miss talaga ang pagkain natin. It's nice na nakapagbakasyon and relax kayo! :)

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  23. pareho tayo pards, tuwing umuuwi hindi pinapatawad ang baboy. hangga't may baboy sa pagpipilian eh baboy ang pipiliin. hehehe.

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  24. welcome back! i learned it from theonoski that you're back. you might him there as he transfers to the middle east this june.

    nice to know you're posting again.

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  25. bw, oo, I always gain a few extra kilos every time I come home. Masarap naman kasing kumain eh. : )

    Dee, thank you. Yes, masarap talagang kumain ng mga pagkaing kinalakihan mo.

    ardyey, saturated nga ako ng baboy. Kung minsan ina-alala ko kasi uso sa pamilya namin ang high-blood pressure.

    donG, thank you. Saan ba si Theo naka-base?

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