These were the words that made me burst out laughing as a bunch of sassy, indefatigable, empowered ladies in their post golden years, got together one balmy, breezy night at a lovely Santorini-inspired seaside summer home at the Terrazas de Punta Fuego in Batangas.
It was the gorgeous 2nd home of Mr. and Mrs. Rafael (Babes) Simpao (Babes of Security Bank and Melissa, my first cousin and the intrepid and energetic wife …and creative culinary expert, specializing on vegetarian dishes, being a vegetarian herself).
Lisa Simpao, graciously and generously, hosted us for 3 days and 2 nights. We were 7 ladies and 1 gentleman, invariably reminiscing about the rowdy, carefree days, as many seniors (myself included) are wont to do.
Well, what do you expect? My cousins (Ofelia H. Maloles, Evelyn O. Day, Lisa O. Simpao,and myself (the rest were friends of our cousin Evelyn), had not seen each other for close to 4 years when covid 19 wreaked havoc on our lives, or at least, upended most of our plans – significantly, travel. The lone gentleman was my brother Eddieboy Ochangco of Silang, Cavite.
A bit of nostalgia crept up on me as one of the “barkada” of my cousin Evelyn, Cecil Tan, a delightfully charming and funny lady visiting from Virginia and recently retired from the World Bank, said that she knew me because she happened to have her on-the-job-training (OJT) with me in ABS-CBN.
Don’t ask me what year. Ha ha! The top trending show at that time was the daily noontime show “12 O’Clock High” hosted by Ariel Ureta and Tina Revilla. Do your research…and your math.
As we were catching up on each other and indulging in the flashback memories of our young and restless years, someone blurted out “Now we are the old and sleepless”. That really broke the house down.
So funny. So sad. And yet so on point. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, I guess. Time is relentless. There is no stopping it. But then there is the upside to it.
COMFORT FOOD IS SAFE HAVEN
Where else are we going to draw from but from the treasure trove of our memories? Like in my case – I found both the changes and the familiar places in my former haunts in Manila both reassuring. It reassures you that life goes on and that some things are constant.
As one my favorite Joe Marie Chan songs goes – (albeit bittersweet) Life is a Constant Change. That is exactly the constant….change. No use fighting it. Just do the best that you can and ,oftentimes, you do find eureka moments to revel in.
But before I go to the new things, I cannot but rhapsodize about the familiar comfort foods that I have been enjoying here. I am not a big eater but when I give you a rundown of all the dishes I have been going through here, it would seem so.
This is my personal list. You may want to have a taste of each while visiting here and share the joy (or the cheap thrills) I experience.
Via Mare – Ensaladang Bagnet with mustard leaves, all their merienda goodies.
Almon Marina – chopped salad with feta cheese and their heavenly kitchen-made vinaigrette dressing. I plan to either buy a bottle or wheedle them to give me the recipe.
Café Mediterranean – Their original garlic yogurt sauce which goes with anything. And of course, their hummus, moutabal, falafel, tabbouleh, gyros, etc. I could not miss visiting their original place at the Greenbelt 1 in Makati.
It felt like a safe haven. Sort of like being in a time warp, that is, in a good way. I am glad that they recovered from the pandemic…even expanding and refurbishing the place. Very Moroccan and Mediterranean at the same time.
Café Sweet Inspiration – for those familiar with the university belt (Ateneo U, Miriam/Maryknoll, U.P., Kotska) along Katipunan St. in Loyola Heights, Q.C., you definitely are not from there if you don’t know this place.
For me, they have the best affordable chicken arroz caldo and molo soup. Yum-yum! And their cakes and pastries are beyond heavenly. The place has not changed much but their food (which is what matters) is as I remember them – delicious! Sitting there enjoying my molo soup, I felt reassured — both with the food and the familiar crowd of Loyola Heights residents and students.
Milky Way – Chicken asparagus sandwich. Sounds simple. Yes. It is really is no big deal but they were part of my history. I am sure most people have something like this in their memory banks.
When it comes to Milky Way, this is it for me. So was it, I found out, for my cousin Rita Ramirez Quebral of Los Angeles, happily retired from the Los Angeles Police Department and modestly luxuriating in her post retirement years.
There’s more to say about comfort food and life, but I may have to go on and on. But worse, it will probably be boring. So onwards we go.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FUTURE
One thing though which I never thought I would find pleasure in is enjoying the new additions in our family – Leia, our Japanese Filipino 14 month granddaughter and Raya, our newest Canadian-born 10 month granddaughter.
I had always been a career, workaholic person and was not much of a hands-on mother and housewife.
Not that I am proud of it. I wish I did things differently. But then, we each have our own destiny I guess. But watching them grow up is pure joy and a miracle. In the case of Leia Tanaka Taylor, we have not seen her in person, except virtually, as Japan (they live in Tokyo) has been closed to visitors all through the pandemic.
As we all know, judging from the hordes of Filipinos travelling these days to Japan (according to my travel agent and airline friends) Japan is now open with almost no restrictions.
Yehey! I will finally get to hold Leia in my arms later this week as I travel to Tokyo. People think I am going there for hanami (cherry blossom)-viewing season but this is Leia-viewing time for this excited grandmother. Ha-ha-ha!
Leia and Raya and Rama and all other children are the future…and let us do our part to ensure a better future for them!
Mabuhay!
Tessie Ochangco Taylor
