An Esoteric Adventure with The Verge

 

For this entry of The Mediocre Wanderer, I present to you a journey that is BEYOND compare. A journey that requires no visas, no passports, just a whole lot of love, positive thoughts and living a good life. I won't be your handy dandy tour guide, because this time, I'll be taking a backseat as my baby brother Verge will be the one welcoming you to that place beyond the sun when your flight becomes available.

Your Guide, Verge:
Born on May 9, 1984 at 12:01 am in Baguio City, to Mila and Lu, Vergel Lucino Palma Santos was a healthy, 7 pounded, grayish- blue eyed boy. He was the latest pride and joy of the family. I would've hated him for stealing my thunder as an only child for 6 years, had he not been the cutest, most huggable person in the universe. And that smile! Man, he knew how to woo the ladies  without trying even back then! He was so cute that even a male cousin of ours called him a "heavenly body". The idea seemed to make sense for Ma  that she nicknamed him "Heaven". To this day, all his Baguio friends know him as that.

Fast forward to the school years: Verge displayed an incredible amount of smarts that he skipped two grade levels  and was consistently an honor student. He was, up until his social life caught on, a University Scholar at UP Diliman. He managed to finish his post grad studies for Computer Science (UP), and Law school at UP Law. While other parents forced and begged their kids to finish their studies, we begged him to take it easy with his.

I remember walking into this old general merchandise store with him and Papa. An old Indian man, the owner, went up to dad and told him, "this boy is very smart, based on the shape of his head and face. Answer all his questions when he asks as his curiosity would only make him smarter". As the previous "smart child", I thought it was all hogwash. Guess I was wrong. Did I also mention that he was MENSA? :P

The "Professional" Verge was someone we rarely got to see. He worked hard and played hard and got what he wanted out of life. He stuck to his guns. His idealistic views on working as a programmer and doing the actual work and not just delegating was something he felt strongly about even during his OJT days in college. He had gotten a slot at P&G, but rather that (his words) he be "a glorified coffee boy" he wanted to push pens and get the keyboard cracking at a small software company that gave him the opportunity to learn. What can I say? He may have been stubborn but hey, the boy had his principles.

Ma wanted to keep him close to home, and had tried to put him in a local semicon company (which I eventually ended up in). But being Verge, he stuck to his guns and worked where he wanted to work. This made me even prouder of him (as if that was even possible).

I respected my brother and never pried into his affairs. They were his, not mine. But when it came to someone making him a hot beverage and have a shoulder to cry on, he knew I was there for him, as I knew that he too had my back.

with nephew MAX (Magnus Akira Xavier)

He never got married, saying I had so much kids (4)  and that someone had to be there as back up (he was a good baby sitter to all my kids, making sure they ate and would even wash them up after going potty). He said this sarcastically. But with him, sarcasm meant he loved you. The worst it got, the more he cared about you.

I remember a time when me, my mom, cousins and him went to eat at Tong Yan. After my 2nd serving, he looked at me, smirked/smiled and said "Aya! Eat to live NOT live to eat!!". That was him. The Verge I loved the most. Honest to a fault, extremely loyal and cared more than he let on.

The last time I saw him was after we had gotten back from Cebu, on our last whale shark interaction. We had this thing where we would always see each other before or after one of our trips. It was this particular time (February 23, 2013) that I noticed how sick he seemed. Thinner than usual, disoriented and just, for lack of a better word, tired looking. He wasn't my handsome, witty and full of life Ven . Something was off. So off that it recently occurred to me that we, as with our norm, did not take pictures of our time together.

He had just gotten blood work done that day because he wasn't feeling well for the past 3 weeks. I asked if he wanted to be brought to the hospital. He said he didn't. Still hate myself for not pushing him out the door and straight to the ER. Instead, I did what older sisters did best.  I coddled him.

I took him out to dinner, sliced his steak for him, got up to get him some water, picked up some fever medication for him at the drugstore as he held on to my arm because he had a hard time walking. His breath would come short if we moved faster than a snail. I worried about him, so worried that I asked him to stay the night with us. I kept on checking up on him, like my presence would ward off some unseen enemy.

The next day, we had to go back to Baguio. He had sweated through his shirt the night before and wanted a clean one. I lent him my fuchsia pink whale shark shirt, and teased him to not cry over that shirt until we see each other again. Sort of what he did when he had chicken pox as a kid and I didn't want to get it, that I went to our father's family house in Malabon rather than stay with him at our maternal uncle's resort in Pansol, Laguna. For two weeks, he would cry himself to sleep (muttering "Aya...Aya") while holding on to a Betty Boop shirt that I had left behind .

"..fields of butterfly" - Shimmer by Fuel, one of his fave 90s alternative tune

I brought him over to the taxi stand and put him in that cab, taking note of the plate number and cab company. I hugged him before he got in. Kissed him on the cheek and told him to get himself checked and that I loved him. He said he would, told me he loved me and closed the door. This would be the last time I would see him alive, hold him in my arms and tell to his face how I felt. Two weeks later (March 7), he passed away in the Makati Med from pneumonia compounded by his severe anemia. He was only 28.

It seems so anti-climactic, and somewhat off topic, but when we were kids, there was this time that we were doing arts and craft in my room. I don't really know if it was accidental or "accidental" on my part when Verge's finger got pinched by the puncher. He was about to cry from the pain that I had to think quick as I was so scared of getting in trouble with mom. I told him to stop crying because there was a giant hairy spider named Hodgekin that ate little kids who cry. He was so freaked out and said that he couldn't help crying. I told him that even if he felt like crying, he should put a big smile on his face and say the magic words to repel Hodgekin: "Cheese Baby Plas". This was his mantra whenever he felt like tearing up when he was much younger.

Christmases were always hard for us...

...but we managed to get through it together

I did apologize for it last Christmas. He told me he developed a fear of spiders because of that :P I never did say I was perfect, but I was sorry :P

"CHEESE BABY PLAS"...now I know how he felt back then. To try to put a smile on your face while the tears are streaming down. To tell people that you're ok, even when you're not. To lie to yourself and say that it will get better in time, when deep down inside, your heart is broken into a million shards that you don't even know how to pick up the pieces or where to begin... (cheese baby plas!) I miss my brother.

The Place Beyond The Sun:
As mentioned at the start, the only requirement in joining this esoteric adventure and be where my brother is at is living life to the fullest, no matter what the duration is. Love and laugh like you've never loved and laughed before. If you hurt others, apologize and take actions to repair damages. Lastly, march to the beat of your own drum. You are MORE than enough. And if others can't accept who you are, then they're not worth your time. At least you tried. These are his lasting legacies to all those who have loved and made him a part of their lives. And trust me when I say that there are a lot of us.

The amenities and perks of the place are: no worries, no sadness, no sickness and no death. No nagging females, losing quiz night teams, and an endless supply of booze and sublime, honest to goodness peace. Life becomes endless as you wait for your loved ones to check in, in God's time.

see you when I see you Ven. Aya loves you forever and a week after that!

If and when you get there before I do, please give my brother a hug. You don't have to tell him that I love him because he has always known that.

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

My Cebu Gastronomic Journey

Aside from beautiful beaches, various historic sites and export quality handicrafts, the Queen of the South, Cebu  is also a great place to indulge in food.

With Spanish and Chinese influences added to the fact that they're blessed with natural resources, they surely know how to make good eats.

When down South, here are the basics of gastronomy in Cebu:

magic is made in this factory

 1. CNT Lechon : Two brands kept on popping up when I asked the locals. One was Rico's and the other one was the more popular CNT. CNT has 6 branches spread around Cebu City. For those looking for it at SM, they've closed shop and reopened it adjacent the end of the street that the mall is on.

add 15 PHP for a travel box to pack your lechon in

I went to 2 of its branches and visited the factory. I swear, the lines at the outlets are craaazy long! For those who want to bring this Cebuano treasure, they can pack it for you in travel ready boxes that will guarantee a no-smell trip.

lechon packed and ready for delivery to CNT outlets

 

at the Guadalupe Hts branch where there were 10 people cued ahead of me and 2 were there to hoard roasted legs and head :P

finally, just 5 people ahead of me on a busy lunch hour at the CNT across SM Cebu. These ladies are mighty strong when it comes to hacking. The odd spots are the oil spatters on the glass divider

there's my 1 kilo for home and soon my 1/2 kg for lunch :D

 It costs around 400/kilo and priced slightly higher for the feet and head. All CNT branches also have other viands in their restaurants. BTW, Cebu lechon is much much tastier, both skin and meat, compared to the way we do em up north.

lechon, puso (rice in a coconut leaf pouch) and sinamak (spiced vinegar) + soy dipping sauce

In fact, lechon sauce (Mang Tomas) is not a basic condiment down south, a soy and sinamak mix is what they throw in when you buy this pork delicacy to balance the flavors. You can do away with the dipping sauce too.   The CNT lechon we sampled was also soooo tender, low in fat and just all around good :)

2. Dried Fruits: for the longest time, I've always associated sweet mango products with Cebu, and with reason. Nowadays, their dried fruits offering has diversified. At 3 for 100 PHP these make excellent treats to bring back home or save for snacking.

3. Pastries: it's probable safe to say that the folks in Cebu love their bread ( with a bakery within reach in every area). They also know how to make pastries:

puff pastry, slightly sweet, light and flaky

thin rolled wafer with a slightly sweet paste of casuy, peanuts and honey filling

Ube piaya- flaky unleavened bread stuffed with sweetened yam

regular piaya - unleavened bread stuffed with raw sugar

the smells of the dried fish tend to cling on to your clothes,  even WITHOUT touching...for real!

4. Dried Seafood: for all your dried sea food needs, check out the Tabo-an Market. You can haggle, buy by grams and have it sealed and packed well so you can bring it in the plane. You can also find other Cebu delicacies and souvenir items in the area instead of going to the Carbon Market.

dried pusit (squid)

danggit (rabbitfish)

5. Sausages - as much as possible, I try to sample the local sausage for the laces we visit in the Philippines. I don't normally like hamonadong longganisa (sweet smoked sausage) but found the sausage in the area to be a good mix of sweet, savory and smoky. You can pick up some at the market and also have it travel ready in no time.

must be refrigerated as soon as you could

Speaking of sausages, try grabbing a pack of Chinese sausage. Great as an appetizer or an added ingredient to you fried rice, stir fry or noodles :)

6. Dried Meat/Seafood snacks : I wasn't able to get my favorite local version of beef jerky, the ready to eat beef tapa this time. What I did pick up was ready to eat spicy calamari and squid flakes.

7. Carcar Chicharon and Ampao -  if you happen to pass by the City of Carcar, which is about 2 hours away south of Cebu City, try their special chicharon and the local rice pop (pop rice in Baguio) aka ampao. Nami jud!!!

ampao at 20 php a pack..cheap yummy treats :)

liempo chicharon: need I say more?

There's so much more to discover and eat in Cebu, but sadly, I did not get the chance to eat the local dishes except for puso. Maybe next time I could try the local sinugba and butong with crabs or attempt to cook it myself :P

so much food..so little time

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

apparently my haul (see above) wasn't enough... :P