My Milo Obsession

This is the article I wrote many months ago but kept in the file till today, March 19, the birth anniversary of my mother. She is pictured here with her "classmates" in a mothers' class (she is 4th from right, seated on the second row).

One vivid memory I have while studying in Bulan, Sorsogon was the sight of a huge Milo can at the top shelf of Sy Bing Co’s bakery.  Yes, the choco powder brand that every Filipino knows.  There it is, the green can, seemingly telling me one thing: get me, get me! 

Every day as I go and buy pan de sal from Sy Bing Co’s bakery, I always look at that shelf and tell myself that someday I will be able to afford buying that big can of Milo. Never mind if the shelf was dusty and dirty and the Milo itself may have already been close to expiring.  To me, it meant the apex of what I considered being rich.  I would go back to Ma Feling’s house (where I lived while finishing high school) with a smile on my face thinking of that single goal in my life.

I know it’s funny how a 13 year old kid would obsess on a powdered choco drink.  Looking back, it is indeed funny tying wealth with that can.  But I think I picked up a few realizations here and there with what I can call my Milo obsession.

After college and having a job now, I was of course able to buy the things I wanted.  Well almost. 

Also, I realized that in all those years I was looking at that big can of Milo, I had actually been blessed.  


My mother, Maria Ginete, was one formidable desserts-and-sweets woman.  She could make unique desserts like dulce na silot, dulce na pina, inarnibal na pili, and of course, tablea. 

Dulce na silot is one of a kind.  Haven’t seen anything close to it here in Manila or elsewhere.  It is young coconut dripping in syrup.   My mother carefully grates young coconut meat so that only the pure white strips are included and those that have slightest shard of the coconut shell are discarded.  Then she cooks these in a syrup made of white sugar (refinado, she used to say).  Predictably as someone from Bicol, she adds bits of boiled pili nuts.  To add more zest and a little tart, she sprinkles the silot with rinds of lemoncito, the tiny fruit of a lemon tree that used to grow in our backyard.  These red and green rinds make the dessert more attractive. She then serves up this super dessert:  glassy strips of young coconut so tender and sweet dripping in syrup and made a bit tart by the lemoncito.

If there is a dulce na silot, there is a dulce na pinya.  My mother was known for these staple desserts during  fiestas.  Every May my aunts would order these from her.  Dulce na pinya is, you guessed it right, sweetened pineapple.  This is not the Del Monte variety but this is pineapple harvested from the farm in Matanac.  Each April, Mamay, Papay and the rest of their young brood would troop to Matanac to harvest pineapple that is not ripe but mature enough to be fleshy. 

Mamay would then core the pineapples is and slice them, now according to the Del Monte way: almost perfect circle with a hole in the middle resembling a donut.  Then she cooks these in a thick syrup until the sugar seeps into the core of the fibrous fruit.  The taste that comes out is sweet and slightly sour, just absolutely the perfect way to end a meal.

Inarnibal na pili is unique to Bicol. If you’re not familiar with the fruit, pili tastes like an almond but not quite.  Its tree grows on loamy soil and the pili is actually a nut.  The fruit part is the fleshy portion, almost like aubergine in color, which we usually boil and mash with sugar when tender.  What comes out is a sweet paste.  Another way to eat this boiled fruit is to dip the mashed flesh in soy sauce and it sort of becomes like a salad. The pili nut is cooked in a very thick syrup till it dries.  What you’ll get is a sugar coated pili nut.

Now the tablea.  We have several cacao trees and when they bear fruit, my mother would make these tablea, balled cacao seeds.  First the cacao’s seeds are harvested, dried and roasted.  The cacao’s fruit tastes like mangosteen  when ripe and so we kids have a good time chewing on the fleshy part of the fruit making sure to leave the cacao seeds for the tablea. 

After careful roasting, the cacao seeds are ground.  We used to have this gilingan, a manual grinder really that churns out the ground cacao beans. Because of its oil, the ground cacao is shiny. 

My mother then mixes the ground cacao with brown sugar and starts to form them into small balls by the sheer movement of her hands.  In time, she can make  a number of tablea balls and these are then spun around in a woven basket, or nigo, to smoothen the tablea balls. 

Since she makes all these tablea balls by hand, she would inevitably have her palm full of the leftover cacao mix.  When she’s done, she would ask all her kids to eat the rest of the choco mix from her hand.  We had a good time doing this.

Tablea  makes a very thick hot chocolate.  There is a distinct way of making it, according to my mother.  The water and tablea proportion should be just right so that the chocolate drink remains thick.  And beware if you think you can drink it right away.  Might burn your throat.  The right way is to sip it.  Best way to savor the flavour.

As I have grown these years, I realized that the big Milo tin can sitting on top of Sy Bing Co’s bakery comes nowhere close to the tablea made by our mother.  How she’s made the tablea and the experience of having to partake of leftover cacao mix right on her palm, they were priceless.  And I realize this is the wealth that’s been there all along.

Photo from Way Back

Found this picture from one of those Nadja was scanning.  This is vintage 1960's I guess.

My parents, Manuel Ginete (left) and Maria Futalan (center), pictured here obviously in a party or gathering at some place in Bicol.  My father, Manuel, was a very active social leader - he was a campaign manager, member of farmers' associations, adviser in the barangay in Gate and caretaker of the pieces of land bequeathed by his parents, Tiburcio Ginete and Tomasa Gueta, to their seven offspring.  Being the eldest son, he was a natural leader.  People in Gate would always consult him on many matters and he would always have time for sessions like this.  Despite his reaching only 3rd year high school, my father was wise in many ways.

My other, Maria, on the hand, was the supportive wife.  She was the home organizer.  When we were younger, she would normally be the one who would cook for all of us.  As soon as we grew old enough for some tasks, she would delegate.  But there is one thing she did not give up until the time she couldn't physically do it:  do the laundry.  She was so  keen on how white shirts and dresses should be:  spotless white.  She would normally soak these clothes twice (kula, in Tagalog) so that they would be very white.  Even colored clothes were not spared of this penchant for kula.  Mamay was also the dessert whiz:  every special occasion she would cook desserts like dulce na silot, arnibal na pili, dulce na pina, molido, etc.  Even her coconut jam is legendary:  bits of pili floating in right mixture of panocha and coco milk.  The viscosity is perfect that it does not turn sugary nor stiff when put in the ref.

I recall hearing Papay tell their story as husband and wife in the 1939 - 1940 period just when WWII was about to break out.  Papay was a tailor, something he also taught Mamay to do.  Together in our old house, they would accept tailoring jobs (I still recall their brand name:  Manly's).  And while Papay was busy tailoring, Mamay was making some native goodies (suman sa ibos, sinapot, etc.) just to help make ends meet.  When war broke out, all the brood of Tiburcio Ginete went as one family into Loyo, the piece of land my grandfather owned.  This was just across the river in our place in Gate yet it provided sanctuary during the war.

In 1972, both my parents faced one of their toughest times.  One of my brothers, Pancho, was in the militant organizations and when martial law was declared, he was imprisoned.  Papay looked for him in the different detention centers in Sorsogon and finally he found Pancho in Camp Vicente Lim in Laguna.  All throughout those months, we were witness on how our parents used all means to be able to find a missing son.  Not a week passed that we did visit Pancho in Laguna and later on in Bicutan.  It was always something that both my parents had to do for their son.

While we were young, my parents would also make sure we go to Sunday Masses in Bulan.  There was no Sunday Mass in Gate except I think on the 3rd Sunday so for the other Sundays we would normally go to Bulan.  We would wake up very early and make sure we dress our Sunday best.  After Mass is a real treat:  we would have our breakfast in May Celing's canteen.  May Celing is the wife of my mother's elder brother.  Her small cafeteria would have goodies such as binot-ong, suman, ibos, etc.  In case you're not familiar with binot-ong, this is malagkit rice cooked in coco milked and wrapped in banana leaves.

In their more than 60 years of married life, my parents tried their best to raise all nine children in the way they see fit:  having fear of God, being kind to people, valuing education, and most of all taking care of the family's reputation.  We may falter in some at one point or the other, but I guess these stay with us all our lives.

Taguktok: the essential Ginete Meal

What’s a Ginete meal like?  Growing up in Bulan, Sorsogon, our meal meant the simplest of food:  cocido with fried fish and lots of rice.  Cocido I later found out was markedly different from those in other regions:  it is simply fish soup soured with kalamansi (Philippine lemon) and with lots of sweet potato tops.  The soup is a bit reddish courtesy of the sweet potato tops and the slightly sour taste complements the fried fish.

With a big brood of nine kids, my father had to really make sure there was enough food for everyone.  Meal meant eating together in a large dining table (this one is still in our house in Gate), no second batches otherwise you’ll get hungry. Two regular viands and lots of rice will do.

Mondays to Saturdays we subsist on ordinary and simple meals.   Paksiw is one.  This is the ubiquitous Filipino dish of fish cooked in vinegar, spiced with onions, garlic and tomatoes and crushed black pepper and made aromatic with a piece of chili pepper added just before serving. 

My mother used to say that my father cannot survive a week without beef.  So on Sundays, it is a must that we have beef on the table, whether with vegetables or stand alone as beef steak.  The steak is distinctly Filipino:  marinated in soy sauce, kalamansi, lots of garlic, onions and a good deal of black pepper, fried and sautéed to tender perfection.  (This makes me hungry).

Bulan is blessed with bountiful seas.  And this meant enjoying special seafood dishes.  One of which is the taguktok that spicy concoction of diced tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, green pepper stuffed into the belly of a fish called alumahan or buraw in Bicol.   The fish is then cooked in vinegar and again lots of black pepper.

And if one really wanted to turn it into a Bicol dish, then just cook it with coco milk and garnish with fresh pepper leaves.

 If you think that laing is the ultimate Bicol dish, think again.  For us in the family, it is the taguktok.  We smother platefuls of rice with the hot coco milk sauce of this dish and lo and behold, we forget everything!  The flavor is tangy and spicy with a slight twist of sourness.  The chili peppers make you eat more rice while the fresh fish cooked in coco milk makes up for the perfect dish.

Yummy!

Hopes for the Future

"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present".  This is what Hobbes (of the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon team) said in the strip I read today while munching on a peanut butter lunch.

Wise words, indeed.  Plans will stay perfect if left alone.  Intentions are noble when they don't hit the ground.  Reality, our good intentions and well crafted plans, well, they sometimes do not go hand in hand. 

Cynical? Practical?  But consider this:  how many New Year's resolutions have really come true?  As soon as the last firecracker was lit, there goes whatever we promised ourselves to do.  So I guess, Hobbes' comment was more apropos that anything else - let the future stand still.

I'm writing this while 2011 is still new and I'm not swamped yet with a lot of things.  But also as a way to reckon when end of 2011 comes  - if I was really able to do something, or at least, write something this year.

What do I hope for in 2011?  Let's see.  In a general sense, I hope that whatever the future holds for me, I could be up to it.  And in more ways than one, enjoying it. 

For the Ginete family, I hope that we are finally able to see a leader who can marshal all our resources and abilities into a single flame that shines for all and burns no one.  I guess we all need this in our family.  While we go on with our lives, we get inspired by the thought of a leader brave enough to overcome our limitations as a group and wise enough to let everyone realize his/her potentials.

For each one of us in the family, I hope we live true to our desires, never losing track of what brings us together and what positively sets us apart from the rest.  While comparing brings out one's vanity, it is always good to have something to bank on - a brand proposition in marketing parlance.

While it is technically just another day, the beginning of the year always forces us to reflect on what we've done and what else do we need to do.  2010 has shown that many of our elders have passed on; that a new generation of Ginete's is now in-charge.  So I hope that in this "passing of the torch", as they say, we don't forget to look back as we move forward.

As a Filipino, I hope that do things I could be proud of, not just because it touches my ego but proud because of the concrete value I add to the things I do.  Be better at doing my job, for instance.  Be better at understanding people and helping bridge gaps between people.  Be more responsible for my own welfare and happiness. 

So I think that while Hobbes may be complaining of the future always turning into the present, there's also that hope and optimism that this future is always better, moving forward and mindful of the past.

What's your hope for 2011?

What We Learn from the Departed

This is the first time in almost a year since I last blogged.  Again, work and personal commitments prevented me plus the fact that I really was looking for the inspiration to write.  A protracted case of writer's block if one may say.

Today, Nov.1, is All Saints' Day in the Philippines and in most Catholic countries.  While technically, the day of the dead is Nov. 2 (All Souls' Day), we Filipinos have come to regard Nov. 1 as the real day of visiting our dear departed.

Growing up in Bulan, Sorsogon and witnessing a decade at least of Todos Los Santos, I can't help but look at the holiday in another light.  Before, we had a lot of fun going around the cemeteries in Bulan visiting tombs of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and even two elder sisters who died when they were young.  As a child, my preoccupation was to collect used candles and make them into a ball.  For what, I was not sure.  Just the simple joy of having to collect all these droppings and make something out of them.

I think this analogy hews close to what the dead are telling us - collect all the droppings of life and make something out of them.

As I age and since a lot of people I knew while growing up have died, I look for the lessons that I may get from having known them.  Of course, I cannot make a generalization of how they must have lived their lives but I speak from the strength of my interaction with them and how they have helped mold my perspective in life.

The lessons from my parents, Manuel Ginete and Maria Futalan, come right up the list.  They were very simple persons, my father having reached 3rd year high school only and my mother, grade 4.  Yet despite the lack of education they were very insistent on everyone of us, a large brood of 9, finishing college or whatever course or degree we wanted to take.  It did not matter then that they were struggling to send us to college.  What I always heard from them, specially my father, is that while he does not have the material things to bequeath us, we would always have our education to fall back on and be our wealth for as long as we can apply them. 

So imagine him and my mother sending four children simultaneously to college.  While he was being assisted by my eldest brother, Abelardo, and my aunt, Ma Feling Lopez, my father had to be resourceful to be able to fulfill his vision of us getting our college diplomas.  This is a lesson I am clear about and which I try to send across to my nephews, nieces and anyone else who would care to listen:  get an education because this is your chance to improve your life.

I mentioned Ma Feling Ginete - Lopez.  In my previous blogs, I wrote about her.  She passed away this January but the lessons I learned from living with her and her family will always be a source of strength.  She was a strict person when I was living with her during my high school days.  All of us in the household (she had relatives from Pa Etong Lopez's side living with her as well then) had our chores to do.  I am usually the gas station cashier and on most sunny Sundays, be the one to call all the mahjongg players via the bike. That would mean that in most weekends I would not be in Gate with my family and friends and instead be working in Bulan.  To a child at that age, that was really a sacrifice.  But later in life I am thankful that I was entrusted with responsibilities at a young age and this has helped me view life differently.

We come across people who have now passed on and yet  inexorably touched our lives.  We mirror our lives with theirs hoping that in the process we could establish our own image.

I appreciate the thriftiness of Pa Etong Lopez which together with Ma Feling ensured that his family was well provided for.  I look in awe and admiration the fortitude of Manay Linda Ginete Uycoque-Villanueva, my cousin, who held on to her family despite all the trials it went through.  I respect the simple life that Pay Uyan (Julian) Ginete led despite being mayor of Bulan for many times.  I also admire the pioneering spirit of Pay Jose Ginete who chose to start a family in La Union, in an unfamiliar place, yet never forgot his roots. 

So today, as I mark this holiday of the dead, I 'd like to thank them for the lessons I am able to draw and for letting me gain insight into what I did as child's play:  collect the droppings of life and make something out of them.

Peace be to all your souls!

One True Trait

Maybe at this time, with September coming, I need to pause on the "politics" issue that I posted in August. I guess, I need to lighten up a bit.

I was talking to our Auntie Feling Ginete-Lopez many weeks back and since she is practically the only one left among the brood of Tiburcio Ginete and Tomasa Gueta, the talk went the way of what differentiates us, Ginete's, from the rest. Part of it I think is believing that there is one thing that should make any Ginete stand out from the others. Or is it more like looking at that unique trait to anchor you in a sea of "commonness"?

What is it really that distinguishes us from the other families? Rightly or wrongly. Are we known for our being attuned to the needs of the community? Are we a group that drops everything to help out others specially those in need? Or are we just the same group of people that both have the good traits and not-so-good ones?

Auntie Feling would like to think that we are "kind". Maboot is the Bicol (Bulan) word. She thinks we are a peaceful, kind and gentle group. No rowdy parties there that upset the neighbors. No arrogant displays of power or riches, if a few of us have, nor egoistic bouts that would blow anyone away.

What's our one true trait anyway?

If you have any idea (whether you're a Ginete or happened to have met one), drop me a line, comment here or holler :-).

Politics in the Family 2

As I said, politics run deep in the Ginete family. As a rule, we are a typical provincial family where local politics are better appreciated than national and abstract ones. It seems that like most Filipinos we tend to get affected and therefore act on our politics only when we feel them in our gut.

So if you have been to a Ginete gathering, one of the most discussed topics is politics - local politics that is. The loyalty lines also tend to get blurred as time passes. Once, when we were growing up, the rivalry between the Ginete's and the de Castro's for the mayorship of Bulan was very palpable. Now, most of our relatives are on the side of the de Castro's. Practicality I think dictates these shifts.

But we also have fissures within the family. So as it is there is no single vote for the Ginete family. We are as independent as anyone and that may prove to be a liability especially if hardball politics were the name of the game. I think our capacity to tolerate other viewpoints and beliefs result in a less than cohesive group and thus, not a very attractive option for ay politician. Thus you will find that other cousins are in the opposite side of the political fence fiercely guarding their independence. We have not been able to leverage as much as we can from the fact that we are really one big group of family.

One may also argue that the same fissures are the reasons why there is so much poverty in our group - mirroring a national condition if you will. The lack of cohesion does not bring us much benefits as a group. The lack of a credible leader exacerbates this.

On the other hand, we ask ourselves, should we depend on politics to improve our lot? Should we not take avantage of our being large, as a group, and pool our resources so we can grow them for everyone's benefit? Are our leaders' visions just tied with their own ambitions of advancing their political careers? You see that by and large, those who wanted to lead us do so because of an ultimate, if not discreetly avowed, agenda: getting a political office.

I think politics cannot be avoided. I also think that as a group, the Ginete family needs to leverage its size to its benefit. We will be able to do that only when a credible leader arises who has he vision that will be embraced by all. Without this leader, we are like leaves scattered on a wide ground.