James and the Nap in Baritan

We had lugaw for breakfast and afterwards I took a shower. We were supposed to leave at ten o’clock for the 10:30am Mass in Maysilo but my dad was taking too long at arranging all the food he bought from the market earlier. Eventually, it was decided that we’re not going to Mass for the time being so we went ahead on going to Novaliches to pay our respects for our dearly departed buried in Eternal Gardens.

                  There were a lot of people inside the cemetery already. Add to that is the mountains of trash accumulated from yesterday’s All Saints’ Day holiday. The cemetery almost looked as if it was more of a mini-Luneta Park, with families setting up tents (and I mean “camping” tents!), setting up barbecue stands and chairs, with people eating right next to the “puntod” of their departed loved ones.

                  Unlike the hide-and-seek we endured from yesterday’s Cavite trip, this one in Novaliches took us no longer than 30 seconds to find my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents’ grave. We stayed there for about an hour before heading off to Malabon for lunch at the Sibucao-Coquia-Vito-Roque Compound in Barangay Baritan (Most often confused as being a “part” of Concepcion). We had kare-kare, menudo, pancit palabok (or pancit Malabon), Boy-Ching-Woo Fried Chicken, among others. Drinks include Coke and water in a pitcher.

                  I also visited my lovely cousin, Louie. I shared to her my pre-enrollment nightmare with the rest of our batchmates in CSB while she shared her supposedly relaxing sembreak by staying at home and being a bum throughout the rest of the break.

                  I got bored because the 14-year old TV is, well, kinda old. And my pranets had it fixed on C/S 9 where it was airing a live Wizards NBA game against the Pinstons, followed by a boxing show sponsored by White Castle, then later came another set of PBA games for that day. I took this as an opportunity to take a nap at my lola’s old air-conditioned room. I was awaken sometime around 3:30pm because someone texted my cellphone asking me if we have class tomorrow. I didn’t reply because I’m too sleepy plus even if I could, I wouldn’t know because our phone line is still down=our DSL connection is also down.

                  By 4pm, we left Baritan to attend the 5pm Mass in Maysilo. Despite the heat of the afternoon, we really didn’t mind because the choir there was a cooling relief compared to the not-so-synchronizing choir we always hear during the morning Mass.

                  So that’s how I spent the holidays, visiting our dear loved living peacefully beyond the grave and our loved ones living alive and well and still kicking it.