Colt Combat Commander

 

The torch has been passed!  Cousin Cliff's 9mm Colt Combat Commander has been with Anita ever since Cliff left for the United States many years ago.  After Anita's spring cleaning exercise (pun intended), cousin Ed takes the mantle of ownership for the piece, which comes complete with several magazines, side holster, Peltor earmuffs, complete cleaning paraphernalia and double cases (as you can see, it has its own Doskocil case; we refer to the Echolac attache case as the James Bond kit).  While it's a bit on the heavy side, it's a trustworthy back-up piece that strikes a good balance between stopping power and reasonable recoil.  As long as it's cleaned well, the pistol has a reputation for reliability and smooth operation.  The James Bond kit included some rounds, and was so heavy that I think Ed was charged extra baggage fees by PAL just for the trip to its new home.  It's a sad thing to let it go, but we are sure that it will be in the good loving care of cousin Ed.

Robinson's Magnolia

The soft opening of the Robinson's Magnolia mall along Aurora Boulevard in New Manila easily attracted the school gang of Monique, and they went there on the first Friday night that it was open.  Not to be outdone, I just had to schedule a trip to visit the place with Kong Kong and Gwammy on Sunday after their visit.  One new element, however--this was the first time we used Kong's wheelchair!  He has been having a hard time traveling around the malls, and this seems like the logical solution--he uses the wheelchair to cover long distances, and walks on his own the minute we step into a store or restaurant that he likes to visit.

The mall is pretty spacious, and has a wide variety of attractions--movie houses, hardware store, fast food stalls and popular priced restaurants, a few tech shops and a lot of fashion apparel.  Although around 40% of the shops were still undergoing fit-out works, I would think that the soft opening was a success since it took us some 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot.  I was particularly impressed with the wide lobby (shown above) and the spacious corridors (perfect for the wheelchair ride).  We brought the wheelchair inside the men's room for the disabled, and it was quite easy to maneuver.  The back portion of the mall faces a courtyard and fittingly enough, a Magnolia ice-cream kiosk is located right at the garden area.  The mall will probably be in full steam in a few months, and I bet it will be hard to get parking spaces!

Gwammy

My mom was a young girl at the onset of World War II, and she experienced the harsh hard life first-hand, having been caught in the stampede at the Ateneo de Manila Campus in Padre Faura, while running around the Ermita and PGH area during the Battle for the Liberation of Manila.  After the war, she worked for the Philippine Art Gallery and thereafter worked with the Chevrolet division of Yutivo, where she met Kong Kong.  She is the original twinkletoe in the family, and it is because of this genetic trait that we find ourselves hard to stay put in one place.  While we traveled on short trips as a family around Asia, she twice found herself traipsing around the United States for several months all by herself (in the seventies and in the nineties), and that was really her thing as she got to visit friends and family on her own itinerary (we simply cannot rush her to follow our schedules).  She can take the extreme positions in any discussion, either right of left wing, and this really depends on how things were brought to her attention--she is hard as steel on the outside, and soft as mushy marshmallow on this inside.  She is sucker for sale items--any bargain is her happiness!  I love her cooking and learned a lot from culinary expertise, which is sometimes defined by my sisters as the "throw-it-in" style.  Her witty sense of shallow humor propels her creativeness in inventing new concepts, like the all-purpose words "liray" and "liray-lay" which, frankly, I don't understand myself.  Sometimes I can still hear her parting words of advice dispensed daily (as I would bid my morning farewell to school)--"Stop, Look and Listen!" or "Look before you leap!" or the more direct-to-the-point "Huwag Kang Tatanga-tanga!"

Hahaha.... That's Gwammy for you!

Ely Ramos

As a consequence of opening the Roca butter crunch candies at Gwammy's place, the conversation inevitably segued to the oft-repeated story of the Ely Ramos chocolates.  Together with Fernando Poe, Sr., Ely Ramos was a matinee idol and LVN contract star in the late thirties.  He happened to gift my grandmother with a box of Whitman chocolate samplers sometime in late 1938.  My lola put the box atop a dining room shelf, waiting for an opportune moment to open it, like when the whole family was together for some celebration.

Ever the chocolate lover, Gwammy would look at the box daily, dreaming of the time that the box would be opened.  Gwammy would pester her mother to open the box, to which lola would reply (in Spanish) something like, "Not today, but perhaps during a special occasion."  Now this went on weekly for several months, and sometime in the middle of 1939, lola finally decided to open the box.

To their dismay, the chocolates were half-consumed by weevils and/or ants!  And despite how lola tried to locate and carve out edible portions, Gwammy and her siblings just lost their desire to eat the Whitman chocolates!  And since then, my grandfather decreed that the family should, "Eat while the eating is good!"  To this day, whenever we decide to open some chocolate goodies, we are reminded of this particular incident, and the wisdom that Ely Ramos brought upon the family.  To the chocolate lovers out there, note that Whitman's still sells the sampler in the same packaging today as in 1939!  I find the brand a bit too sweet for my taste though, but all in all, it's the memory that counts.

Giliw Ko (1939) with Fernando Poe, Sr.

Maynila (1946) with Tita Duran

Sumpaan (1948) with Norma Blancaflor

Kong's Post War Story

Was riding with Kong and Gwammy on our way to the Ayala Triangle (that was the lunch in Pho 24), when our conversation floated to the Nielsen Tower and the runways of the airport in pre-war Makati.  I knew that he learned how to drive at the airport runway and asked him if he learned to drive around the Nielsen Tower.  "No," he replied.  Apparently, he learned how to drive around the runways in Clark Field, then known as Fort Stotsenberg, right after WWII.  He was assigned as a valet to General Bebee who was camp commander at that time.  During his stint there, he learned how to drive Jeeps, and had his first taste of plane flights from Clark Field to Manila.  When classes started at the University of the Philippines, Kong was part of the group that transferred the university from Padre Faura to the Diliman campus, and in 1949 graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  His first job was to manage a nail-making factory in Imbyernes, Sta. Ana, and thereafter, went to the Visayas to work in Cebu as the manager of the Ford branch there.  He subsequently worked in Mindanao, as the manager of the Chevrolet branch in Davao.  Cars, cars and more cars--the automobile industry defined his work till his retirement in the late nineties.

Family Tragedy

My second cousin Archie, a Dumaguete-based lawyer, died yesterday afternoon of three gunshot wounds to the chest.  He was shot in cold blood at his office by an unknown gunman; we still unclear and unaware of the circumstances surrounding the matter.  Mikaela brought his Manila-based daughter to the airport this morning and we all pray that the family has enough strength to weather this crisis.  I first met Archie in college, when he walked up to me during ROTC class to introduce himself.  We were together in the Honor Guard and for two training years, spent a lot of time together marching around campus with our Garand rifles and gala uniforms.  I understand that he later joined the Scout Rangers and thereafter passed the bar exam.  Our prayers reach out to his family at this very difficult time.

Tita Sol, RIP

We just received word that Tita Sol passed away in Los Angeles a few days ago at the age of 79, and we pray that the Good Lord receives her soul.  Early this year she had transferred to a nursing home, and after complaining of chills, was brought to a hospital where she passed away.  She's been away from the Phlippines since 1971, returning only once for a 2-month visit in 1982.  An accountant by profession, her favourite haunts were located in Las Vegas, and she was a regular player there throughout her stay in the US.  In the seventies she was fond of dogs (Snowball, her Japanese spitz in Manila, went through a 3-month quarantine period before being allowed to step on American soil), but I learned from Michaela, that in the nineties, her interest had shifted to the felines, and she had at least 20 cats coming in and out of her South Mariposa apartment.  That had earned her the moniker "Cat Lady," which was bestowed upon her by her neighbors.  With the bi-polar personality that she had, she was either laughing out loud (LOL) or throwing all the @$*%# at you!  I've been on the receiving end of that, and I used to find myself scratching my head in disbelief... Well, I must reiterate, we pray that the Good Lord receives her soul.... Rest In Peace...

Lolie

I just remembered that it's my Lola Gunding's 115th birthday anniversary today!  Lolie, as my sisters would fondly call her, was the youngest child, and she was raised by Basque nuns (she could speak Filipino, English, Spanish and Basque).   An accomplished concert pianist, my mom remembers that she would practice for hours every day.  She was also a psychic; I remember my mother telling the story of the family's desperation during the Liberation of Manila in WWII, when my grandmother described the exact mulatto features of the GI soldier that would rescue them at the Philippine General Hospital, a few days before the actual rescue.  In my mind I can still picture my grandmother, with a cigarette on hand, watching boxing fights on television (she was an avid boxing fan).  I can remember that my sister Erica would love to cling to her arms.  She had this uncanny ability to create long ash trails on lit cigarettes--I can't imagine why the ash would not fall off!  My grandmother was the loving consentidor; she let my try my first puff on cigarettes when I was around 8, and I had my first taste of San Miguel cerveza negra in her house.  On her deathbed, I remember rushing to Sampaloc from my office in Malate; I was there when she passed away.  I continuously remember her--cheers Lolie, I'm glad you're there with the angels now...

The Land Down Under

We are proud to announce that Patrick will be headed to  Oz to complete his engineering degree at the University of New South Wales, one of Australia's premiere universities.  Patrick will call the Sydney-based institution his home for the next few years; we're all behind him, cheering him on!  Way to go!  Can't wait to see him come Christmas time, to catch up on all his campus experiences...

Kong at 88!

Kong Kong celebrated his 88th birthday yesterday.  He was born in Dumaguete City, the youngest of 12 siblings.  He grew up in Xiamen, China, came back to the Philippines in the 1930s and subsequently completed his mechanical engineering studies at the premier state university.  He endured two weeks of hell during the battle for the liberation of Manila in World War II.  He's been involved in manufacturing since after the war, primarily automobiles and is considered a worldwide expert on low-volume automobile assembly.  He still drives (albeit a slower pace) and exercises a hour every day to keep in shape.  Yup, that's my dad; he's taught me a lot and still continues to do so, up to this very day.  Two thumbs up!  Yeah!

Mobility Achieved!

Our younger daughter Pipay has Down Syndrome, and her development has been an uphill climb because of two other factors--a very weak thyroid gland (daily dose of thyroid hormones is necessary), and hearing impairment (functioning with only 10% hearing in the left ear, and 50% hearing in the right ear).  Now 9, Pipay still undergoes her weekly rituals--physical, occupational and speech therapy, and we're now seeing this hard work pay off.  With a monobloc chair as her andador, I am amazed at how she is now able to navigate herself around Lola's house.  It sure appears that she is now mobile...!  That's fantastic, dear daughter...!  Now if I can only get her to stop her thumb-sucking and her eye-poking... one battle at a time.... ;-)