We are family

That's life. One day you're just chewing biscuits and nuts and chugging down room-temperature water, next day you're part of a feast for a princess. The princess is our youngest child Ida who, as I write, is already flying back to Singapore after a too-short visit marked by big family meals.

There were reasons for us who were in Baguio to come down to celebrate the multiple occasions: Ida's homecoming, Kimi's 29th birthday, the forthcoming Father's Day. But land trips can be boring after awhile so I played with the old reliable digicam and attempted some selfies. Kimi had always discouraged me from doing selfies because my face almost always was cropped heavily or it looked abnormally wide.

It's to her credit that she hit on the idea of a staycation at the new Tune Hotel along Shaw Blvd., Ortigas Center, just five minutes by cab from Mom's house (look for its red and white signage). She booked us early so we had adjoining rooms at a budget price. Shangri-La Plaza and SM Megamall, where we had two consecutive dinners, were within walking distance.

Old couple in a bus amuse themselves with a selfie.

First reunion dinner at Ketttle at Shang's East Wing. That's Ida in a white top with floral necklace, always well put together like her Tatay. Beside her Kimi and Kai who fell asleep immediately after dinner.

The girls knew what and how to order. Corn muffins paired with buttermilk fried chicken with two kinds of dips: old-fashioned brown gravy and maple syrup. The syrup won us.

The truffle-infused pasta with gorgonzola cheese before the serving plate emptied fast

Ida and Rolly were at Boqueria early, and we caught them enjoying their beers in mason glass jars.

Kai can be a handful during that lull between ordering and waiting for our orders to be served. Good thing my sister Suzy carries this magnifying glass in her purse.

Thumbs up for the calamares (top) and the paella Madrilena.

Our completeness completes me. And we're even color-coordinated without planning it. See you again, Ida.

Edel Garcellano's latest poems

Visit his site at: http://theworksofedelgarcellano.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/tropical-hiatus/

Time goes by...

Rolly on the phone at the Ayala Museum Cafe, November 2012

Kimi and Kai in Davao City, September 2012

Ze blogger and youngest daughter Ida, Singapore, August 2012

A little more inhalation and exhalation and before we know it, the five of us will be reunited during the most wonderful time of the year. This wife/mother/grandma knows who's gonna have the most fun, too, when the season begins on Dec. 2, the first Sunday of Advent. Already this small person is practicing her twirls and whirls, that thoughtful look, that tender smile all of which turns us into her helpless captives.

For my wandering, wondering gardener

He is no Mellors--he'll blush at this reference to the D.H. Lawrence novel. Our garden is a potted one, mostly. The semi-wild growth in the frontyard is more the village gardener's doing.I haven't gotten down to counting how many pots we have on the balcony and veranda (aren't these two spots the same?), but our resident gardener takes pains to water, weed, trim them each morning. When the rare visitor comes and compliments him for the loving tending he has done, said visitor can expect to go home with a pot.

The gardener by avocation applies his real vocation, reading and evaluating the news, at a cafe called Rocky Master.

Months ago, he chose to retire from teaching for among many reasons to have more time for a home life, his garden included. He and work had been inseparable for decades that without his knowing, the children had grown and were making adult choices that hardly required their consulting him anymore. So in August, he and I visited our youngest daughter Ida in Singapore on her birthday weekend. She had chosen an expatriate's life and had matured almost overnight. Gone were traces of our baby.

On our last day, he and I were at Changi International Airport, hours early for the flight home. I was immediately drawn to this moving sculpture that had a hypnotic effect, perhaps enhanced by soothing music that included sounds of swishing, splashing water. This work is called "Kinetic Rain", a creation of an art collective called ART+COM. Awestruck, I spent several minutes watching this bronze-colored raindrops move in different but synchronized directions.

Later, I walked around till I found a huge vase of flowers and took photos of the mini floral paradise in it. All these sights convinced me that terminals ought not to be sterile, boring places. They can and should offer the traveler on her brief stop during her journey some respite, an aesthetic solace that reflects the culture of a place. Haven't we had enough of high-end and lowbrow shops for last-minute pasalubong shopping?

Wet anthurium leaf

Sometimes mistaken for plastic but quite real

Pink orchids, are they?

This may be a yellow cup of gold.

As for these lime green spiky bulbs, the only adjective I can think of to describe them is "inflorescent."

I'm guessing these are lilies.

 

In a day or two, I will be back to our potted garden, to my older daughter Kimi, her own Kai and my shy Mellors who would rather bury his head in a newspaper or in his hobby, one of many, of being God's botanical steward.

Till then, I remain a faithful admirer and amateur "documentator" of things evergreen, ever-rainbow on earth.

Photos by Babeth Lolarga