Summers in the 1980s were in part spent in my mother’s home province Pakil, Laguna. The last week of our stay was often Holy Week. Good Friday meant visiting the traditional stations of the cross. Except Pakil had its own tradition with the stations of the cross. Towering over Pakil is Mt. Ping-as. Every year, […]
When our children were toddlers, my cousin in the United States and I sometimes compared notes. There was one hilarious instance when at the laundromat, someone heard my cousin tell her daughter, “Dyan ka lang. Magpapapalit lang ako ng barya.” The Filipina approached the little girl, “Good morning, anong pangalan mo?” My cousin, slightly out […]
I’m not sure if it has to do with my cousin and me being boys, but as early as 9 years old, our parents would leave us in the province at our aunt’s house for a few weeks during summer. If they were helicopter parents when we were younger, they eventually threw us off the […]
One friend shared that her daughter is “scared of Tita Meah. She’s mean.” Unfortunately for her, I come with the package when she wants to be with my girls. We then went on and talked about the things that our girls do together and what we do when we’re in charge. My friend admitted she […]
The Raya School successfully restaged last Feb. 10 “Isang Harding Papel: a martial law musical” to two sold-out audiences at the AFP Theater in Quezon City. Since the school opened in 2005, it has been staging a school play every year under the banner, Hinabing Haraya. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of EDSA People Power, The […]
You know you’re Tsinoy when you have a piano in your living room and had piano lessons whether you wanted to or not. We had a high-quality piano when I was growing up. My mom bought it at a hugely discounted price from a friend who was migrating to the US. With the piano came […]