Thanks Arthur B for alerting us on this article on “Balik Baguio”, an account of a family’s holiday exploration of Baguio, appearing in the June 24th issue of Inquirer.
(Have been away from the computer for a week now, just back from a visit to Vientiane, Laos, a 55 minute plane ride away.)
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090623-212063/Balik-Baguio
Thanks for playing the game, this time we had three ‘mates who responded. One is a lad from Canada: a Blue Jays diehard fan, hums Celine Dion's Immortality even in his deep, deep slumber, and brave enough to sputter French like oui's,(sure it is not IOU?), bienvenue's and merci "buko's". Kaya pala umaapos ang Niagara iso iti pagdigdigusan na quen paglidlidlidden na. (David my better half, has figured out that there are more Ilocano words that are longer, than Thai words).
Two, is our long-lost Ludy B-A, (O Ludy Where Have You Been All these Years?) who is too young to remember the song ( I used to hear it every other minute on WPGC, Prince George’s County) , thinks Emil A. is in Canada (No Ludy, he is very much a Bay Area person, still flying with United for a good number of years now, but his sister(s) live in Canada). Did you know that Ludy is a cousin to our dear late classmate Dom F., and also to Philip L. (His sister Lewing gave me his tel. no. so get in touch with me if you wish to call Philip). Ludy mentioned Colas D. He was our classmate from Grade 1 at Lucban, through 4th year at CT High. Anyone who knows Colas, kindly send the message that we wish to get in touch with him. You got the Rev. Franklin right!! Who, by the way, according to Arthur, gives a sermon that is incredibly good to listen to and reaches the depth of your soul.
And Three, a brilliant conclusion: Brewster, Lucas and festive gave it away, as with Joe and Frank.
Left to right: Joe A, Rudy L, Arthur B minus Crown, Rev. Frank, Olive.
In and Out of Baguio, Cecile Afable.
The lights of the day were just behind my house when the dogs announced a guest was arriving. He happened to be the mountain, Amando Doronila, the most read columnist of our top national daily paper, the Inquirer. He came to visit the littlest columnist of the Cordillera. To give him a fitting welcome, I had a beautiful and warm fire glowing in the fireplace. And our course a fine dinner with Gil Bautista, chairman of the CenteCom; Gerry Evangelista; his assistant; and our favorite lady friend Baboo Mondonedo, who showed our guest where I live. Doro was so happy and glowing at age 80.
He will write about our Centennial of course and he stayed half of the week as a guest of the Baguio Country Club, courtesy of Baboo.
Many more people, the great and small, will come and visit us during the Centennial month and so let us all do our big or little bits to impress ourselves about our efforts.
http://www.baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/opinionarchive.asp?mode=archives/2009/june/6-7-2009/in_out.txt
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Amando Doronila’s two-part article on Paradise city of pines battles urban decay
BAGUIO CITY—Designed for 25,000 people in 1903 when the Philippine Commission declared it as the summer capital of the Philippines, Baguio is bursting at the seams, and is struggling to expand beyond its 49-sq km perimeter, sitting on a plateau that rises 1,400 meters, making it the coolest city in the country.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/columnist/
The Four Brothers: name them all! Photo will be supplied upon receipt of entries for this contest.
Clue 1: In the Sixties, there was a hugely popular hit song, Don't pull your love out on me, baby and the rest goes: If you do, then I think that maybe I'll just lay me down, cry for a hundred years… There were four singers in this group, named Hamilton, Joe, Frank and Reynolds. In the Two Thousands, on June 14th, 2009 to be exact, four brothers got together, after an absence of oh so many long uncounted years . They had a superb lunch of steak, chicken, at iba pa, accompanied by several bottles of wine. The clue here is that two of the brothers, their names are within the group who sang the above song. (Ang layo naman!!)
Clue 2: The third brother, joyous and exhilarated in joining the brothers from waaaay back, was on a visit to the wilderness and forest camp called Canada. His deep desire to see these chaps made him trade his beads for a sturdy buneng he christened Excalibur and slush his way in his Marcelo rubber boots through the deep mulch, mud, runo and marapait of the Canadian rain forest, through streams loaded with juju, trout, Rosemarie and bears, climbing rocky and slim trails along precarious cliffs, smiling away at the Gendarmerie Royale at the border, til he finally sighted a town called Brewster, across into New York state. At last, strengthened of limb through his perilous journey, he put his duffel bag and backpack and palayok down, had a manicure (not a haircut) at Koken's to remove the grime from his fingers, put his crown on, and was greeted warmly by his brothers. And big abrazos about as though they were the Knights of the Round Table and greeting their King.
Clue 3: The host of this aforesaid lunch and his bride were fully occupied with making balsig the talaksan, for the wood-fed stove. Their grandson Lucas, chased the cow and chickens and led them to slaughter in preparation for the meal. The lambanog cellar inventory was reduced considerably for these guests. The tomatoes in their Brewster home garden were ripe enough to mix with vinegar and seasonings to ensure that the bottle of ketchup was filled. Alas, all these careful and labor-intensive preparations were almost for naught, since a tin of Ligo sardines bought from Magsaysay Avenue was requested by one of the brothers. However with the cooking aromas this brother was persuaded to partake of the menu du jour. Hint: the host’s name was a popular menswear sartorial name along Session Road. Another hint: the name sounds very close to the alcoholic drink mentioned in this para.
After rounds of swapping stories, including some Obama tales from the host's wife (Clue Number 4!: her name rhymes with "festive"), it was time to call it an afternoon. It was truly worthwhile, to get through the Canadian thickets, to join the brothers for a therapy–for- the- soul session and senses, and to hold in one’s hand a great supply of joy and goodness that can only be had with good friends. Or brothers. Specially if there are four of them.
Send in your responses met a !! Soon!!
The artist, Effren Chavez grew up in Baguio with a background in Architecture and Fine Arts. Baguio scenes are his favorite subject matter and in watercolor. He now lives in Los Angeles. Most of his works reflect realistic and light-bathed scenes.
For those who have not recognized this building, it is the Cabrera Building also known as the Abellera Building, at the corner of Session Road and Malcolm Square. Maci's used to be a newsstand run by a Chinese lady who always dressed in nice Chinese clothes, and that was my youthful idea of how shop owners in Hong Kong would look like. Salvacion G, used to buy here the latest Tagalog Klasiks, Hiwaga,and the rest: these must now be valued in the hundreds on eBay, as rare Pinoy Komiks!
Check out some of the other works at this site. Art, Rudy, there's a nice one of Baguio City Hall from Abanao Street.
