SHORT TAKES

wow. i myself am amazed at the intervals of my entries now. when was my last post? i mean, i'm glad i didn't get hooked. mahal pa naman internet. mas mahal nga lang sa manila and elsewhere, but in this really decent one, really fast one in davao, i have an hour na for 20 bucks. cool eh?

since lotsa been happening, i'm gonna chop the whole thing into bite-size entries. just so u don't get sick of my loong entries just yet. ;)

KIDAPAWAN DURIAN

my tita texted me morning of may 11, saying that my lola wanted me to go there because her durian tree was heavy with fruit. so, in an impromptu decision, my mom sent me by my lonesome to kidapawan city, and there i stayed overnight with my lola who's been having bouts of rheumatism.

she has new this timid househelp by the way, who's so shy that she spends all her energy cleaning the whole house. my lola reprimands her na nga sometimes, kasi sobrang linis na, and she doesn't come to lunch on time. wala lang. pero really, i admire the young lady. mukhang mabait, pero i sure hope she opens up more.

my tita invited me and lola to their place for dinner. my cousin, who's a vet med student and a passionate animal lover (the reason why their place is SWARMING with animals of all sorts) was quite worried that night, because his monkey was sick. its stomach was bloated, and the nearby vet (i tagged along in the "operation" of sorts) couldn't save it. my cousin was disheartened. it was his oldest pet, see. 10 years na rin. he was irked that no proper facilities were available in kidapawan.

ANYWAY, the durian was HEAVENLY.
the seed to meat ratio was 1:4. i don't even know now if the seeds were too small, or the meat too much.

i rode the passenger van home, with a backpack of two large whole durians. they were wrapped in newspaper many times, and a plastic bag each. i was hoping that the rest of the passengers of the aircon van wouldnt notice that i had durian, but it seemed i was caught the first few seconds i entered. i admitted immediately, and i simply had to go out, get another large plastic bag, seal the durians airtight (the previous wrappings weren't too tight), and get back in the van. i'm fully aware of the "smells like hell, tastes like heaven" phrase they always say about durians, but for the life of me, i cannot distinguish the difference between the smell and taste.

to my surprise, my seatmates in the van seemes to like the van smelling of durian. the lady on my right told me, "humut man ang durian" (durian smells good), while the man on my right said "mas maayo pa tong ganina" (the previous set-up [where the bags weren't too tightly shut] was better). i just smiled and tucked the bug durian-loaded backpack on my shoes just the same, away from the aircon vents as much as possible, to avoid any violent reactions from the other passengers at the back. there weren't any.

i had cramps on my feet though, for the entire duration of the two-hour ride. the taste of durian for lunch at my other lola's house in davao made up for it.

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WHOOPS. i thought i'd just make short takes. sorry. haha.