Concepcion: a Summer Flavor

Maybe I should start by explaining why Concepcion is worth the go for a summer getaway. But because its past the witching hour, i'd conclude, i ran out of words, or really out of words to describe Concepcion's gifts. I thought, its beyond Superlative! 

So, I'd like to post photos of my summer vacacion. The once-upon-my-3years-in-college time where I got no summer class. That means, no shocking midterms and final exams in the next 2 weeks. yeahay! 

This the summary of hot, splendid hometown summah! I never got to appreciate them before, certainly I am now. 

These photos were taken using my tita's SLR which I admit, I had taken a liking on, forming some sort  of emotional attachment because I propel its way to see nature, events, and things very productive and purposely worth. 

Yellow Bells along the streets going to Iyang beach resort

Lola.Tita. Tito. Cousins

Lola Suping, some cousins, my brother and a hybrid curly prototype. 

Mateo-Josefina siblings and their spouses. 

Tita Laar, Nancy and  Gracia

The sea is part of me. We sail through it, heading to Sand Bar Island where shifting sand line is found. Never my first time,but the excitement seem new to me. 

Toto the sailor man, Ramon the chick boy and Inday Ave RN. 

So dare of me to wear sun glasses, mind you, its fashionably cheap. I believe.

The sea is crystalline. Tall man in CON shirt with crafted smile on his face just happy for his singlehood. This is going to be a fun vacacion on your own hometown. 

I'm from Concepcion, and I don't even know what island that is in the background! Just  get your eyes to see that strand of white sand.

LEVITATION. The act of hovering in air most practiced by wizards. 

Friends from Mindoro and Cavite. These Tagalog speaking buddies are very fascinated with  Concepcion, experienced a lot of first times and together shared happy memories of friendship.

My cousin Mahal, who I prefer to call Maharot. You see how her eye glimmers with peacock feather hairband to match.. 

My sister Princess, one of the two ladies in my life. I love her even if she annoys me sometimes. :D

CHOCOLATE CAKE. The brightest thing that ever happened to my family is their ability to make food like this. My titas know how to bake! Mucho Gusto!

Danie and Rejard- My classmates in high school. Me in my huggable shirt, or was it my  the shirt?  I got to give Danie a single flower from our karo and Rejard displays that smile for an SLR shot. 

With Jelle-  the conceited, perfectionist and vainest creature I've ever known but amidst all that, she stays TRUE. And yeah! I got hurt when they mention my imperfections. Never mind!

FALLEN STARS. The earth make home to seeds from the evening skies, and there! The Star Gazers are born, budding and blooming. 

African Daisy or otherwise known as Gerbera. It comes in different attractive colors. We never take for granted the  how sensitive they are, so we cover their stems in straws to keep them sturdy and strong enough to resist the breakage. The church people had tendency of pulling them out from our karo when the blessing is up. I took this picture.

BEAUTY IN BLACK. Not totally black. My cousin Cynara is pretty. Look at those eyes.

Others may complain on the lifeless things I capture whenever I get hold of a camera. But that is photography i think.  To seize the moment and capture the beauty in simple things and find their meaning.  

PRINCESS. A true princess is truly recognisable in whatever she wears.

Athena, Nina, Akina, Allison and Averil. 
Those were Gerbera daisies and other flowers we collect from other  karos. 

Cher, Jane Ann and my sister Guenever.
The smiles are testaments of a happy childhood.

BEAUTIFUL. A Stargazer illuminates with red Carnations. 

BREATH. A flimsy speck of belief to cling on. 

SALVATION.  He who died in the cross for our sins now rests and watches
 us create new ones.

NATURE. An array of beauty and blessing to the people of Concepcion. 

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore. Loads of marine life in Sandbar shore, but please let them alone. 

in a mini kubo. All smiles for an unlimited soda vacation.

EDITED. increasing the gamma effect. Well. Stunning? I don't regret altering it.  The original is below though. 

Its nearly 6 o'clock and we left sandbar with a promise. -That we will surely be back again. 

Halo-Halo at Aling Nida's No Longer the same without YOU!

Not really that of Aling Nilda in one of the stalls at Lapaz Market, Iloilo.
(got this from Google).  all the same, a perfect Filipino delicacy for the Summer Season.

      Last Thursday, or was it? i forgot. No matter. I was walking down Lapaz Market, with second thoughts of going to Booksale for a bit of light reading or JD Restaurant for a hot Lomi snack size, I momentarily paused and stared at the next side of the road, Then I saw Aling Nilda's Halo-Halo stall, and i knew what i wanted.
    My mind swam. 

    I can still remember her smile, her lips inches from her spoon. We had one special order which had barquillos in it, mango tidbits, and macapuno strips. She was smiling. Teasing me because she finds it unusual and a rare occasion for me to spend more than a hundred for a day. She's wrong. If spending meant for food, it goes all the way.  

   I crossed the road, careful not tripping over the swampy sidewalk. The woman, im not sure if she's Aling Nida was crushing a big ice cube and spoon by spoon, her assistant places their colorful ingredients on bowls lining up. The stall was packed today. I can barely ease my way in, and an old aged woman attempted to share the table with me, but maybe the strange angle of my legs suggested an unwelcoming mood, so she went to the other table. I did really want to feel solitary that moment, just so I can think clearly, and well, concentrate on my eating. These days, I have been starving my self, intentionally, yeah, for every student, or at least for me- its normal especially if you wake up past noon and missed breakfast and lunch, and you feel just great because you wont be spending money for two meals, this time, just one. Yet you compensate by buying a special halo-halo. But its worth 35 Php only. That would be enough to satisfy my need to clean my gut. And successfully, I did after going home, that one was explosive.

   This time, i was teasing her. 

  We shared one bowl, since i cannot afford buying two special servings, and she   understands it. That's what I like about her. Very understanding, considerate, gentle and laughter loving. She insisted in having all the mango strips. She took it all away each time i get to scoop them. She really liked seeing me close to annoyance, or when my eye brows meet, and my wrinkles show. But I love her, that's all there ever be even when the last sweetest mango strip melts out of her tongue.

Yeah. i was thinking very deep. My mind was swimming, along with the crushing i did  in the impacted ice of my halo-halo. I ate my leche flan first, and realised how lousily made it is. Never mind. Every spoonful i get was like a memory to me. A memory i can easily reminisce everytime i taste camote, mango, ube, langka, corn kernel and milk.

It has been two months since i broke up with her. I never saw her face again. I summed up all the courage to talk to her, but she drew the words out of my mouth for insisting that i had to tell her this instance, thru a text message. There had been no chance for us to talk, we ended in goodbyes, without personal conversations, without any formality. I begin to wonder if the results i see before my eyes could really justify the courage that i thought i was having in the first place. My fear of confronting my problems didnt make any difference at all, to my assumption-that I'm a coward, that I cannot call myself a man. 

  at the moment when I hear the people beside me chattering and laughing, and i see in their eyes the happiness brought by the sweetness of aling Nida's halo-halo, maybe the crushing i did with my eyes is effective in channeling my emotions down to what i will digest later on, instead of bursting to tears, a sentimental thing that only triggers when no one is watching. And when i get home, i will surely bury myself elsewhere and never move as if I finally met my gravestone. 

Here i am, solitary. Focusing on my studies, staying out of anyone's attention. Covert. Family-oriented. Loveless, but never regretted everyday that I had with dada.

Well, maybe, in the future, I will be stepping in Aling Nida's stall again, no longer alone. Who knows.