Paco's Birthday Trip

Paco twirled around Manila on his 2nd Birthday last November 29, 2010. The night before Paco's big day, Andres and Ponso already decided for Paco that they will have a big Jollibee meal for breakfast. So be it so early morning, we went to the Philippines' number one fastfood chain and ate burgers and pancakes and rice and hot chocolate and eggs and styrofoam cups and plates and plastic utensils. We prayed for our health and the ozone layer before the repast. Then they played and played and even Paco was running inside some big colorful pipes while we waited for him to poop as a signal to go home.





We then left Andres and Ponso at their grandparent's house and went to Trinoma to check on nothing in particular but just to go around with Paco. We just walked and looked at the people while Paco slept missing his chance to look at, well, ah, people. Thelma tried Cinnabon's cinnamon and it was good relative to its fucking expensive price. Paco also tried it when he woke up and ate heartily.



Then we went back to Lolo and Lola's house and had a simple party with a really good cake and vanilla ice cream to cap off Paco's 2nd birthday.

talking heads

Sungka

Andres is one of the official Sungka player of his class for the intramural games. He tediously practice his strategy and tactics with his Tita Hana to hone skills and mettle in facing his opponents. First game was played against a non-threat with his opponent's freaking stage mother on the sides. Andres handily won the first game but the stupid stage mother rearranged the shells for the sungka which should not be the case. There is certain leverage when a player wins the first game that I cannot explain properly. Anyway, that loss of advantage rattled Andres and affected his focus thus losing his first game due to some stupid stage mother. But in the spirit of camaraderie, his Tita Hana did not pursue a protest. He went home feeling good though knowing that there are indeed stupid adults in this world who wants to mess a pure, honest, scientific game of Sungka.


Andres’ second game was a breeze as he even instructed his opponent the basics of the game. He actually instructed his opponent to have a chance of beating him. But he said it is all for fair play. I agreed with him and am waiting for his third game pitting him against a veteran Sungka player who competed in some national competition or shit. I am a bit nervous but excited at the same time.

Andres the Revolutionary

Andres loves to read and discuss history. He always watch History channel and ask questions about Hitler, Stalin, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, WWII, EDSA and the US-MArcos Dictatorship. Everytime he ask questions on these topics, especially during dinner, the table becomes my stage and the stories, my heartfelt lines like what I did during the 1980s discussion groups (dgs)on the fundamental problems plaguing the country with coed students in my best effort straight Filipino makata but consciously pa-cute style trying to sound and look intellectual like the late Lean Alejandro or Nat Santiago of the League of Filipino Students (LFS)(Is Nat still with the LFS?).

One time, Andres started rattling about the injustice why only rich people can enjoy the vista of San Mateo, Rizal when I told him about Timberland Countryclub. His heart fell when he saw the badjao children begging beside the Manila Bay seawall then he angrily pointed at the Manila Yacht Club with its high railings and wave breakers and asked why not everyone can use the space while it occupies some part of the bay. I felt proud hearing him speak that way and at the back of my mind, wonder if he can be someone who can be part of the growing movement of people who wants to change Philippine society for the better. One time, he asked for the symbol of the former USSR and I excitedly explained to him the hammer and the sickle representing the workers and the peasants united to establish a more humane society. Then we focused on why the Philippine society is such that the rich gets richer and the poor getting poorer.

We then discussed the different classes in Philippine society, who the enemies of the people are, and how the proletariat, the peasants, and other progressive classes and sectors can free the country from foreign domination, Landlordism and backward agricultural system and relations, and the systemic graft and corruption in the government. Andres at 9 years old understand that it is US policies that keeps our country abnormal and our people poor and not his American cousins who sends him Hotwheels and toys and most of his branded clothing apparel.

With his wild imagination, it is interesting that he always include the marginalized in his plans, in his dreams, and storylines. He even wrote a comic strip reminding me of class struggle, between the rich and the poor, which, the rich eventually won due to their high powered weapons. I think we should next discuss the idea of Sama-samang pagkilos, mass base building, and the protracted peoples war.

But in the meantime, his favorite song right now is Travis McCoy's "Billionaire" featuring Bruno Mars.

Nanay was a rolling stone

I put my hands down to Thelma for being so level-headed castigating me for over the top reactions whenever Paco and Ponso would do their shit in the evening pogoing on the bed or just plain shouting their lungs out for being so happy at night when they are supposed to be putting themselves to sleep. I already asked for Ponso and Paco's understanding and forgiveness for my freak out reactions and I guess they accepted it wholeheartedly.

"There is a way of proceeding in keeping the bedroom calm," said Thelma in a half smile, sagely, mindful buddhist manner. "Make Paco comfortable by cleaning him up then give him his precious milk bottle, turn off the lights, and lie down beside him." And so it was that the Way seemed to be working for her. When Ponso ran inside the bathroom for his turn to clean-up and produce some racket splashing water all over and playing soap, she calmly called Ponso's attention to keep his noise down paying attention to her calm tone and demeanor in reminding him. Then Ponso ran outside and asked for his milk then ran inside then started jumping on the bed while Paco and Thelma were trying to reach sleepyland through her way of proceeding. Ponso and his "i-do-not-hear-anything-i just-want-to-do-my-thing-before-bedtime" shit went on with his show and got the semi-zombie Paco jump into action and started rolling in bed, shouting, and spraying his half-filled milkbottle.

No amount of Thelma's meditation and the way of calm can challenge the Pogo. She rolled out of the bed freaking out and searched her phone to call the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) and find out if there is an existing law against corporal punishment. I was watching TV with Andres and reminded her that there is no CWC 24 hr. Hotline and that she better try Bantay Bata 168 or 166 whatever for her inquiries. Her rolling reminded me of the groove roll of papa was a rolling stone.

Book Fair Blast

September 19, 2010 was the last day of the Philippine International Books Fair at the SMX and we arrived just in the nick of time just before it closed its doors to the public. Andres, Ponso, and Paco did not lose time losing themselves in the crowd. Their Tita Hana went with Paco while I stuck with Andres and Ponso. Being around books gives that vibrant feeling of being surrounded with knowledge. It was interesting to see people with different interests bumping into each other to get to their preferred bookstalls. I got a five peso children’s book. So cheap, and is written in Tamil. But the pictures will suffice. For five pesos, the price of two sticks of Marlboro cigarettes bought from a takatak boy, you get a full color Tamil script book. Where can you get a five heaping cheap peso book written in Tamil?

(Clockwise from top: Ambeth Ocampo, Andres, Paco, Ponso)

We also got the chance to see Prof. Ambeth Ocampo, the noted historian and newspaper columnist, at Anvil's booth for his book signing. He gladly obliged when I requested him to pose for a picture with Andres and Ponso. Then I saw Paco streaking towards them and so politely asked Ambeth Ocampo again for another photo shoot. I guess the two boys still don’t know the impact of this picture for their posterity as Paco wiggled his way out of the frame while Ponso stared out in the distance.

It’s always a blast (head blast for the migraine, my nuts blasted for running after the boys, voice blasted for calling out their names) going to the annual bookfair with three boys running amuck in the exhibit area.

Knights of the Altar

It has been his lifelong dream to be one of the Knights of the Altar (KoA). Andres tried to be a part of it last year but was turned down due to his grade level and being a non-communicant. After his First Communion, he planned and plotted, prayed day and night, to become one. His dream came into fruition when he was chosen to be a KoA member in Grade 3 and had his investiture last September 5, 2010 at the Big Chapel of Don Bosco Technical College in Mandaluyong City.

Rev. Fr. Dranz Nolasco, SDB, DBTC Grade School Pastoral Affairs Head, said that 97% of Salesian Priests and Brothers in the Philippines started as a KoA in their early years. Uh-oh.

June 30, 2010

June 30, 2010. Inauguration Day of Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III as the 15th President of the Republic of the Philippines. It was a good holiday with all of us going to the wet market to buy good sirloin beef for a beefsteak lunch then to Jollibee for some junk food bingeing in the morning. A couple of hot chocolate splatter, running around the restaurant, some normal stuff for Paco, Andres, and Ponso to dirty up themselves. We even planned to ride the train to Divisoria but the 9:51 am trip was cancelled as it was a holiday. So we just proceeded to a community supermarket to hang out and check out books and the arcade and the grocery and shit.

We were home just in time to watch Kris Aquino’s brother take his oath and it was 11:35 when Ponso decided to take a dump that took him some 10 minutes before calling out for a wash out. It was 11:50 and I was wiping Ponso’s sorry ass as Noynoy Aquino raised his right hand pledging his commitment to serve the Filipino people. The oath was finished in a flash as Ponso’s poop flushed down the toilet.

Was it merely a coincidence or a portent of things to come?

Video Star Andres

Andres with his fellow Junior Museum Guides of the Jorge Vargas Museum in a promotional video for the Junior Museum Guide Workshop.

Fridays are for Climbing

Every Friday, Hana would bring Andres and Ponso to Power-up for their weekly climb. Last time, we drove with Paco and it was plain fun seeing Paco enjoy the place running around with his brothers notwithstanding the oven-like heat inside the gym. Andres did his usual traverse routine while Ponso did his usual routine of consistently bugging the climbers doing bouldering with his questions and antics.

Going home was challenging as the three boys sat in the backseat while I drove. Ponso was like the energizer bunny tumbling inside the car and it was a good thing Andres handled Paco responsibly well. Halfway home, Paco was already asleep sitting down at the back with Andres while Ponso whined not having a milk bottle at hand. The drive home was a success. It can be done after all.

Bowling in the Summertime

Andres and Ponso are becoming bowling addicts. They have played twice in a span of one week and are still raring to throw away hard earned precious pesos for 10 frames of, as Ponso would say it, “Great FUN!” First time, they played five games using a six pound bowling ball in a bumper bowling lane that gives them the joy of not throwing the ball into the gutter. They throw the ball ala Jason Belmonte, a Pro bowler from Australia who we watch on ESPN deliver a two handed mean hook that is indeed impressive, mainly due to his very unorthodox style.

We brought drinks to lessen our expenses but bowling centers now do not allow it. It must be the economic crunch seeping into the bowling business that made them instill that shitty policy. How can one limit a person to bring water inside a sport arena? Sports = drink plenty of water. Them capitalist shits! May they rot in hell! But it did not affect Andres and Ponso’s energy to throw those mean spares and strikes. Andres is already haggling if he can spend his hard earned money from his recent birthday to splurge on his bowling games.

We all went home happy and, well, dehydrated.

Of Jeepney Rides and Golf Fairways

Andres and Ponso always look forward to hang out in their cousin Hallel’s place to play Nintendo Wii (some TV video game) and PSP. It is from these games that they became familiar with Golf and Bowling. They came to learn golf terms like bunker, driver, putter, and other golf shits that I do not even give a damn.

We recently went to a Manila mall by commute to meet up with Thelma who has a bowling tournament herself at Paeng’s Midtown Bowl. On the way, we passed by Intramuros Golf Course and while I haggled with the jeepney driver if he can give us a discount due to our lack of spare coins, Ponso suddenly jumped and shouted “there’s the bunker! How come it has no sand? It is near the green! I want to play Golf! Golf! I have a putter and a driver at home! Let us play Tatay! (They are, by the way, plastic toy golf clubs bought in Divisoria).” It was very ironic as I plead a one peso discount while Ponso was shouting golf terms sounding like a rich brat who wants his cake and eat it too. Andres was covering his face while asking Ponso to shut up while I tried my best to calm him down and ignore his shouts.

Summer 2010 Weekday Schedule

This is the normal routine when we do not have anything planned in the morning.


6:00 - Wake up

6:30 - Try to cook breakfast (that is if Thelma would request it, if not, then nada)

7:00 - Smile back at Paco as he run out from the bedroom smiling after his sleep

7:30 - Play with Paco, change his diaper, feed him milk

8:00 - Greet Andres as he wakes up and ask his breakfast request (normally, there is none, so I cook     hotdog and prepare his milk)

9:00 - Greet Ponso a good morning as he wakes up

9:15 - Prepare Ponso’s milk

10:00 - Prepare Paco’s Bath as Andres and Ponso watches TV or play computer games

10:30 - Do cleaning chores (laundry, wash dishes, milk bottles) as I watch Paco bathe

11:30 - Ponso and Andres takes over the bath place while Paco prepares to sleep

12:00 - Shouts at Andres and Ponso to keep quiet while they play while bathing as Paco sleeps

1:00 - Eats lunch with Andres and Ponso and try to listen attentively and animatedly as they discuss Ben Ten  and Mario Party Game

2:00 - Ignore Andres and Ponso as they demand that we go somewhere in the afternoon while I try to lie down beside the sleeping Paco.

2:15 - Prepare Paco’s milk while Ponso and Andres fight over TV programs.

2:30 - I do not remember anymore and I just go through the motion of chores and shouts and threats and hugs and kisses and laughs with Andres, Ponso and Paco while praying that I survive until Thelma arrives home or we go pick her up at school.

A Pizza Birthday!

Pizza never fails to make Andres’ heart flutter. He can eat it everyday for the rest of his life. So for his 9th birthday last April 24, 2010, it was a pizza party with his cousins at Lola Sylvia’s place. A huge pizza the size of the moon served as the food centerpiece that elicited delight and smile from guests.

Andres stressed that he does not want any sissy party games so there never was, but a “Pabitin” courtesy of Tita Margarita was set-up for the children to enjoy. And enjoy they did as they ran around and played endlessly devouring their pizzas and pasta and chicken and coke.

It was a pizza perfect party for Andres. He said he was very happy!

Andres' 9th Birthday Invitation

Holy Trainspotting

It’s the Holy Week and it sure was holy for Andres, Ponso, and I as a Trinity who crisscrossed the metropolis via the rail tracks.

Holy Tuesday afternoon, we walked along the rail tracks as Andres and Ponso tried to imitate train sound and movements while discussing the possible reasons for the animal carcasses scattered along the tracks. We then hopped on the 3:15 pm Philippine National Railway (PNR) train from Espana Station and took a short trip to Tutuban Divisoria to check what it has to offer after displacing tens of thousands of families for the sake of “development”. We paid 10 pesos each for the ride and saw chopped, literally chopped houses to give way to the 30 meter distance requirement set by the PNR for “train modernization” purposes. It was efficient, cool, and comfortable for the commuters and I guess the comprador big bourgeoisies and their bureaucrat capitalist cohorts are grinning from ear to ear after kicking the urban poor communities along the rail tracks to speed up the uneven trade from the pier to different parts of the country. Anyway, before I start ranting about the export oriented, import dependent nature of the Philippine economy that contributes to the chronic crisis due to its semi-colonial and semi-feudal set-up, I have to admit that we actually enjoyed that short trip and even hanged out at the PNR station while drinking Coke looking at the old train pictures and even checked out the old steam trains on display.

While we were at it, we went around Tutuban to check out China made toys and got Ponso a pair of plastic golf clubs. We moved with the Divisoria crowd and rode a jeep home. It was tiring but we already have plans for our next train trip going south.

Holy Wednesday, we checked out Recto Avenue for some computer game CDs then ate at a burger joint before riding the LRT 1 train along Rizal Avenue up to Balintawak Station. It was a breeze as we speed right through the newly built terminal that would connect LRT 1 to MRT 3 along EDSA. It was crazy as Ponso raved on the big Chinese cemetery mausoleums between R. Papa and Abad Santos stations while a mother beside us was freaking while she held her young son having a seizure. Andres was quiet all the while observing the LRT goings on. While Ponso, well, he rattled on and on with his loud voice about the cemetery and the mausoleums while someone was having a seizure.

We then walked all the way to Balintawak Market and took a “barumbadong bus” all the way to the MRT station, then hopped on the train again to Shaw Station. There we picked up Paco at the Gymboree in Shangri-la Plaza with Tita Hana after bumming around for sometime looking at art works and listened to an art consultant discuss the joy of having a Manny Baldemor painting.

It was crazy commuting with Paco and Ponso as we struggled inside the FX taxi while Ponso slept and Paco fidgeted in the tight taxi space. Good thing Andres went with Hana to the climbing gym. Thelma and I even have to travel to pick up Andres and even got a hard time fixing a fucking flat tire. But it was still definitely a good day.

sport climbing

Ponso trying to do a Chris Sharma move at the Power Up gym climbing wall.

Andres starting his traverse across the climbing wall.

Pictures taken on March 5, 2010

Poetry

Unedited version (including the typos) of Andres' first work of poetry.

Addition
by
Andres Gabriel S. Maraña

Addition is like a book
you can lern about it

Addition is like a Teacher
she can tech you about it

Addition is esay
but for others are not

Addition is like a friend
that you'l never forget

The Rockabilly Three

Picture taken January 16, 2010 in an office somewhere inside the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

At Home

It is only now that I am able to face the computer again and recollect my thoughts after three days of hanging out with the boys as my father lingered in the hospital due to some sickness that somehow turned my ran over daily routine into a life learning experience.

Staying at Home

Two whole days being with Ponso and Paco (Andres is in school) changed my way of appreciating people who give their full time taking care of children. Ponso and Paco are hurricanes as they run around trying to pick on everything anytime anywhere inside the house, except when they were asleep. Paco would have his morning nap at around 10:00 a.m. and Ponso would play Plants vs Zombies from 10:30 to 12:00 nn.

Then we eat whatever is available in the house then watch cartoons on television. They take a warm bath at 2:00 pm then sleep until 5:00 pm. Then they do their staple wrecking ways as I just sit and wonder what is happening outside the world, then realizing and smiling that being with them is actually the world, nothing else, at that precise moment. Ponso was sick for the past four days and had to take antibiotics. There was a time he gave me a hard time that merited Paco to sneak inside the bathroom and stir the toilet bowl water with his left hand impishly smiling as I ran shouting invectives at the world while I grab him for a thorough hand scrubbing, then seeing Ponso barfing in the living room because of too much running in circles after drinking the medicine and milk. Shit. It’s a sid vicious cycle of cleaning, puking, swearing (by me), and actually, laughing at what’s going on, observing myself and the two boys as we go through a day in a life.

Swearing the swear word

Ponso does the pogo whenever he is on top of the bed and I was about to shout to prevent him from doing the pogo when I heard him saying some words repeatedly like a machine gun pop and it sounded so much like the fucking Filipino swear word. I have to stop swearing in front of the children. I have to control myself even if they are spilling shit all over the place, or when Paco is slowly sneaking on Ponso ready to strike with his heavy milk can or small matchbox cars, whatever is available, to cause pain and reaction from his older brother. Fuck it, I quit right this moment.

More than Empathy

Seeing Ponso in a weak moment and not in his usual composure melted my heart. I can safely say that most, if not all fathers and mothers in this world, would rather get sick and carry the burden rather than their sons or daughters. Ponso can sure always give me the piss with his shitty crazy ways but him seeing all weak and vulnerable due to some viral infection made me real sad and helpless even with those antibiotic dosages. Children do not deserve to get sick, they just have to get tired and sleep because of heavy playing, and not sleep due to sickness.

Hugs and Kisses

They may be small crazy boys but they really do need hugs and kisses. They love it. They might punch or kick out of a hug but it is just for show. It was fun telling Ponso to watch Paco as he dance to an MTV and correcting me that his baby brother was actually dodging, and not dancing. It’s a boxing move he learned from Wii while doing it as he punches in the air. That wit surely deserves a hug and a kiss.