The Pen

By: Khristine Dizon

This is one of those stories that commonly talked about by friends in school or about schools, created with a bit of imagination and truth. In this story I hope I’ll be able to show another set of culture similarities across countries.

Interlude:

There are always those mornings, those times where I have a serene moments with my cup of coffee. Days had changed, and all I can think of was how to be my old self. My one and only true self. Times when all I have to do is to put my mind on work as a distraction. When everything I need to do is to pick up my notebook and pencil to start to write. Somehow, it became different. Challenging is what I always tell myself when there’s only a blank of paper in front of me. No pressure, no callers not even chat messages asking if I came up with something. It is not like a job that pays the rent. Not even able to support me fully. It’s a hobby that makes me feel welcome and secure.

Start…

The day was bright and she left early with her notebook and pens, we were both struggling to find a job when we met. I noticed her seated on a wooden bench from the rice fields. It was summer that time and I need to help my brother with his farm duties. They go to the same high school but she’s younger than him. I first saw her when he was on his way home while in cadette uniform. Part of their role is to watch over the younger students in school. They were laughing while they walk back home. We are from one of the provinces in Northern Luzon, Philippines, which is knows for the beaches, cliffs and barracuda lake which is enclosed by limestones that reminds you of the a blue-green emerald and was named after the discovered skeleton by the early divers. It’s also near the place where tourists snorkels and scuba dive. There was this summer where we all went to Coron, for exploration and school projects. I draw a lot when I was little, it was my past time while I wait on the rice fields. We were very young back then, not so much drama in our lives. We travelled light, it was just 40 minutes ride back then. There were not much people when we planned it, there were no tourists at all, just locals from other provinces and the manila locals. In this region people believe in Diwata, Maguimba or Ampu and Babaylan or Beljan. The terms is also believed to be from Tau’t Bato group, our indigenous people. There are even specific areas where people considers as sacred and forbidden to outsiders like what our grandparents calls sacred burial sites or homes of high deities. When I remember it now, it reminds me of greek mythology about muses and deities. There were even thanksgiving ceremonies during the full moon. I studied history in one of the universities in Manila, and that part of our beliefs in palawan is familiar with Native American’s stories. She was doing a paper about Palawan’s secret history and this part of the island has so much history, that even those deities are somehow the same as South Korean beliefs. We were about to go to a “manghuhula” house, we saw my uncle and he said that it’s too early for us to visit her. Instead, we walk towards the mine workers who are now old and gray, they told us about the mines and how strict the natives was about certain areas in Coron. There are still some traces of the Japanese invasion here, we were ask to go to a house where they are on display. The gunpowder containers, the old riffle but there was no samurai. As we go from display to display, there’s an empty glass box, with a note about a lost katana. Most of us thinks that we have mix genes, but mine is different. I just came back from South Korea, I suddenly was found by my relatives and my grandfather was born in North Korea. Then it was time for us to go to the fortune teller, someone that we always go to when we were still in grade school. She scold us most of the time for being noisy when it was supposed to be our ‘siesta’ time. We always run around near her house which used to stand near the beach front, but now she had to move to the inner part of the area, where she needs 5 minutes walk towards the beach. That was the time when the tourists discovered our beautiful waters and clear sand. There she was, passing by the trees that acts as trail towards the house. Then she run, I started to run toward it too. There’s our ‘lola’ attending to her garden with here pet. She was lives with here ‘apo’ who’s the same age as me and we all go to the same school till we need to be in college. She’s a scholar who completed English literature, we all went to the same university. Now she’s one of the best female divers of Palawan, our ‘lola’ was one of the oldest divers who lives on. “How are you two?” She asked. We look at each other then smiled at here with a response of “we are ok, and very happy to see you well today.” “What can I for both of you?” She asked again. She started to say that she have a paper to write and to complete it she needs to ask her a few questions as well as a card reading. ‘Lola’ use playing cards, the common cards that bystanders use to play ‘pusoy dos’. We both were asked to enter her house, and we sat on a stool with a small wooden table. ‘Lola’ ask for our left hand for a palm reading, and it’s always for free. When it was my turn, she look at me and said “You look different, son.” “You look like you’re not from here any longer.” When she look at my palm, she smiles and said, you need to embark on another soon. “Will you take her with you?” I look at her and pointed at Ada. “I’m not sure.” I said. We all laugh at the thought. “You are now blocked from where you just visited. You had your fortune read by another.” She smiled and asked me to shuffle the cards, till I picked a few. She lay them out on the table, front down. We were still kids back then and I never really gave much thought about the readings. I do look more different than before, at that time I was only 162cm but now I am, 182cm. I still remember seeing her writing her paper when I came by one afternoon, the same week that we were in Coron. When I peeked at her, it reads “They say that as natives of Palawan, it is our obligation to make time to prepare meals for our ancestors as our offering no matter what the weather condition is.”

I completed my college as an Engineer, as a scholar I had to stay focus on my studies, to be financially supported by one of the fisherman’s of Palawan there are some fun activities of a student that I need to sacrifice. Except for those nights after exams, that my friends and I always go to this barbecue place near our university to have a few bottles of san miguel beer. When I had the chance to be accepted for home school, I stayed in South Korea for almost 2 years, and we only communicated through letters. But there were always those days, where in while in my apartment which I shared with 3 other students the sadness of being away from home. There were nights, after with homework, I wrote letters to my family In Palawan. To ask how they were, what are they up to and to answer their letters. When I completed my studies after 5 years, the only months that I’m home was during summer, Christmas and new year. At first it was not easy to adjust, the people, place and the lonesomeness of knowing that when I awake from my slumber, there’s be no noise that I’ll hear from the kitchen. Instead, I browse my school books, do a few assignments in advance to learn more about computers. After a while, I envied some of my friends, and they noticed that I never talk about my parents. Only once in a while, each time they ask. My parents works abroad, there was not a time that I spent my birthday with them. When I started in grade school, they are unnoticeable from my existence. Kids with their family go to events held by our school with theirs, but as for me I was the one manning the registration table for the attendees. There were Sundays when my house mates asked me to join their family lunch, I tag along most of the times but not during exam weeks. One of my them is related to one of the architects who built the campus and their first project was our building. I only knew about it when they saw me in the dining room, reading a history book authored by him. I was truly appreciative of his help in discussing topics that were not in the book, especially the challenges and difficulties during the time our department’s building construction. I didn’t add his inputs in my homework but during the exam, when there was an essay on the challenges and difficulties, his discussion helped a lot. Most of the solutions in the book are tailored for an engineer-student, those predictable scenarios and easy to resolve issues. It did make sense, it was just common sense, a student really need to study the technicalities, weather and soil to be able to write an answer from the essay part of the exam. I feel embarrassed at first because of my provincial accent but then, their family was built in Palawan, just beside my birth town. I started to take part time jobs from them each day that there’s only 2 subjects on my schedule. The acceptance for me to get a school-from-home set up was because of the project that I did which was related to my part time task from a real estate developer corporation. The memories of those days pass after our graduation, It was a truly fun group. Our experiences in college can never be replaced, those friends are irreplaceable.

The university is a supporter of public speaking, they encourage their students to speak-up through eligible writing materials. One of my elective is to join the school bulletin, where in I discuss history of the buildings, murals inside the campus and the neighborhood that surrounds it where most of the professors lives. It is the biggest branch of the university where we got acceptance from. It was the parents of my house mate who supported my article until I complete my degree in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Engineering. I was able to get almost a full scholarship that I only photocopy reference books to comply with the requirements of the university. There was this article that I was given and it’s about the myth in Palawan, and I need to relate it to the urban legend of the university. It was not like those from Hollywood films, it’s more about the same myths that we have in Palawan and some are ghost stories. During my research for the project, I was on lunch when I came across one of our security guards. He walked towards to me to ask for the next topic in the bulletin, since he’s been my guide for all my articles. “Kuya” is the oldest amongst security guards, so I asked him if he knows about those ghost stories. He mentioned about our university theater, college of education building, library on the 2nd floor, and the law building. It was during his work schedule for night shift where in he also encountered a sudden chill in the wind while he checks the building for trespassers. But he said, the other branch of the university where it once occupied as a US army barracks was investigated thoroughly by media due to unexplainable sightings. “Kuya” is from Capiz, and during his first year as a security, his colleagues stay away from him because of the myths and beliefs of people. I still remember what he said to me, “Treat them as equal, with respect, give some offering and seek defense from the Bible. I saw how some were affected by sickness because of our superstitions. There are even some writers who burn a print copy of their writing as offering.” After the article was published in the bulletin, the university gave me a fountain pen.

Present time…

I am back in Palawan, and with Ada, we are walking the same path as before towards the fortune teller’s house. They said, she’s sick. We bought some fruits for her to enjoy. The flowers that she planted still blooms from her garden. As we enter the small wooden gate, the breeze became cooler than usual which is the normal effect of being near the beach front. We knocked at the door, and it was her granddaughter who welcome us. “She’s been waiting for you two.” She said. Her grand daughter got tan more and more from diving. I hand over some oranges, ripe mangoes, star apple and lansones.”Lola” is seated in her “rattan” rocking chair by the window, we walk towards her to give our respect. She aged a lot and seldom go to her garden. She asked how we were, and what took us so long to visit her. We smiled at her question and explained what went through for the past months of our absence. When I saw the paper she was holding, it was the article that was published during my last year with the university. Then she look at me and ask if I can write stories again about the myths, superstitions and beliefs in Palawan to remind the natives of their responsibilities. Her grand daughter and I had a short history but we remained friends. The relationship lost touch from communication and it was not because were far apart. We went to the same school, and same building. It was so sudden that she decided to end it, now I realize that the reason might be this. Her duty towards her grand mother and a year before that, she received her papers to fly to London. Papers that was processed by her parents, and I accompanied her throughout the required stages for her visa to be approved. The day she flew out of the Philippines, it was all smiles that I saw on her face. But a sudden change happened after a few weeks, and it was all in her letter, there was no trace from her words but the phrases tones became different, it showed how much lonely it was to be in London. Mentioned it to her twice about the noticeable change of emotions from her missives but there no answer. She is not the type that you can force out to pour what’s hidden behind the sentences. The underlinings made me so concern but I need to wait for her to be open about the topic. The time she spent there was short, when she decided to go back to her home country it was the month when I was asked to go to South Korea to meet my relatives. Glitches of life, or was it destined to be that way? Question I asked repeatedly to myself, that I even wrote an article about it, I still send over some of my work to the university. Not all of it get published, only those that is related to the current topic for the university bulletin. I look at “lola” to tell her that Ada and I need to leave since it’s starting to get dark. We use a scooter on our way here. We bid our farewell. What happened to you and Pearl? Ada asked, while we walk back toward my scooter. It’s a long story, but it just didn’t work out. She had her reason that still not clear to me, were still friends and we stayed in contact with each other. There’s no one else to turn to in Manila when we were away during college. It was only my house mates that I was able to talk to that time, all of them told me to wait for her. Maybe she’s not ready to share what’s really her situation there. There was no letter even an explanation till now. 

It’s only 7:00 AM as I check the blueprint for my project that I’ll be spearheading here in Palawan, it’s a new hotel in Atyawan Beach, neighboring to Banul Beach. There’s also an island in between the two where we used to go to, but there’s no electricity and stellar signal back then. I went outside our yard and saw Ada waving at me. I’m going to visit ‘lola’ today and Pearl will help with my summer article. I waved back. Seeing her so happy made me smile, there are still so many things that Pear and I need to talk about. I still remember how we played rock-paper-scissors during block out to stay awake and be able to wait for the power to be switched on. I saw the bench under one of our mango trees where I used to play the guitar every night after school. 

Those memories, kept flashing like a reminder of how simple our lives was back then. Nothing to complicated. As I check my watch, it’s time to be on the road. I prepare my bag and I need to use our Toyota Corolla to travel to and from for today because of the blueprints. It was finalized yesterday morning, and I made some marks on the suggested revision but will still need to check if their plan is feasible since someone started the construction before me. I didn’t know the whole story, why the sudden change of engineer to guide the workers to complete the project. I started to embark and while on the road, I almost forgot how serene the scenery here in our province. How much the air scents so clean and the feel of the wind is mild. It was a long road but took me about 10 minutes to get on the construction site. I saw the workers while I park with their scooters and some are on foot getting ready with their uniforms and hats. I noticed they are all natives, some I actually know, a few are my school mates. When I walk towards them, a man waved. How are you Ezekiel? He said. His name is Pedro, one of my classmates from high school. 

Pedro: Are you the new engineer for this project?
Ezekiel: Yes, what happened here?
Pedro: Great! Someone we know from high school. The previous engineer was good, he was very keen in details and even helped us. He was very hands on, and he made sure that he’s also on site for the material deliveries. It was this one night, when we were left to pack things up. We were about to leave when we heard some noise. After that he was rushed to a hospital for gas pain and he never returned. This project was put on hold for 4 months but us workers still visit this place, clean it up and do whatever we can. We are on payroll while the project was halted.
Ezekiel: What do you think happened. I need to round up the guys, for us to check everything before we start and I need to see if the suggestions from yesterday is suitable for this architecture.
Pedro: You know how much we believe that an offering needs to be given to the deities for them to be aware of any construction and changes that will happen to our Island. People here have this strong belief that it was the spiritual entities that caused his sickness.
Ezekiel: Speaking of that, I prepared simple offering for them.
Pedro: I’ll round them up, we prepared offerings too.
Ezekiel: Let’s combine our offerings then before we start to work.

They gathered to meet me as their new engineer and to begin our prayers for offering. During our childhood, we were taught to do the ceremony without a priest for we were born in this island. The sacred place is the island itself, we placed the flower petals on the white sand, place our offerings, food and water. It was a small token of permission to do changes on the place. We discuss the schedule, process the noises that’ll be heard to complete this project. It was like having a conversation with a friend. The sun shines bright after our prayers. The architect is a Japanese and he joined our ceremony with pieces of paper to burn and a cloth pouch with sakura prints. As we enter the construction site, we let cinnamon bark burn in a ceramic container and sage burning tied in a bunch. A pack of salt is placed at the corner of the entrance. We suddenly felt a a sudden gush of strong wind, but the cinnamon bark and sage stays burning. The smoke from both flew across the area, the scent became noticeable. We all look at each other, and smiled. It’s now blessed by the deities. We burn some incense while we follow the Japanese tradition. I took out the pen that was given to me while I was in Manila by Pearl, she bought it from London. I signed the final paper to be burn as the engineer, a copy of a page with the construction company’s header. Things that I learned when I was in grade school from ‘Lola’ and during college from ‘Kuya guard’. Each time I do this, it still give me goosebumps but I always remember not to disregard the Palawan tradition of paying respects. There are so many stories about our culture but we stayed on what we learned when were still children. They said that the interior designer is from New Orleans, they handed the resume and itinerary. He’ll arrive tomorrow noon, but the design is ZEN. There’ll be open spaces, no glass wall on the entrance except when the guest enters the receiving area, it’ll be all wood. The insertions that was suggested, can’t be done because of some electrical wires that’s been placed, but if they will allow the budget to adjust since we need to replace and re-construct a chunk part of the area then it is possible. There’s also an additional playground and garden where in we need to plant Cassia Nodosa. Peter placed a small plate with cottage cheese by the corner where the circuits are. They said, there have been circuit issues during the test period, that’s why it’s still a jeepney battery that gives them light. We started to clean the area, even when we know that there’ll be so much mess later. The old people here always tell us stories that there’s a part of the indigenous Tagbanua tribe that is inside of us and certain things needs to be kept in mind at all cost and they told stories that it was not about an octopus. We all laugh as children each time they tell us those tales while the electricity was down, they told us how gigantic it was and how the people manage to let it slip back in the waters. Their only food was home grown fruits and vagetables, for it was prohibited to butcher all animals that people got used to prepare as their meal. No tourists were allowed in the waters, that caused of the connotation that Palawan people are biased, discriminatory and unwelcoming. That time even the natives won’t be seen near the beach fronts and yet when they started to build tents within the forest, a 3 minutes walk away from the beach to live for a few days. They said, the deities answered their prayers. The reason why there are still a few natives, who built tents to sleep over the night sky and to pray for guidance and blessings for good harvest. We were told, it was a decade when the waters finally settled, it was the only time that the set of fisherman was able to do their work as well as the divers. The real stories lies within the old tribes of Palawan, untold, unshared and unpublished. The unpredictable words of tales by the ancient people of this Island.

There are these stories that I remember while in school doing my research on a foreign history when Pearl left for London. The Legend of Siete Picados from a Roman Catholic bible, The Sleeping Giant and Giant Octopus from Greek mythology about water giants and Poseidon and The Guardian Spirit of Barracuda Lake from Greek mythology till it became a folklore. While in thought of our history during our lunch break, the Japanese walks towards me and mentioned about the The Seven Lucky Gods – Shichifukujin. As he shared his tale about one of their legends, afterwards I told him that it is how we are as workers for this project. We are one family working to accomplish the construction of this building. He asked about the Sleeping Giant and the giant octopus; the sleeping giant is an island that shapes like a human being sleeping, but the ancestor told this tale to the old natives of Palawan, of a time where in people were visited of certain being with numerous child.His presence was different amongst the people and knows a lot. But his stay was short and he suddenly disappeared, when the ancestors was ashore waiting for him, they saw a new island when it wasn’t there before the day after strong current came. Strong waves from the sea came in as it leads the fish on the shores of Palawan. From Coron, there they saw a gigantic octopus, and the ancient natives said that they abused the waters. Given that this time, no one ever saw a gigantic octopus, the size is similar to those in Japan, China and Korean waters. As children of this island, it is a must to follow the tradition that brought our originality amongst other islands of the Philippines. The similar story is about Maria Makiling that surrounds Laguna and Batangas. I told him, he needs to prepare for we need to be in the waters for the 2nd week respect offering to the deities. When I realized that Ada will swing by with seafood from the market for our dinner tonight, the cases of soft drinks came in today and the bottled gallons of water with two water dispensers. Will test the circuit through that. The storage is built near the inside pool for children, and it’ll be the shower area after the building is half complete. The Japanese thanked me for the scapular I gave them, I bought it from Manila Cathedral church. Since there’s really not much to be bought in Manila as ‘pasalubong’ most of them know that the prices of produce is much higher in the city. At noon, Ada came with with squids, shrimps, crabs, grouper and Spanish mackerel. We have a two male building helpers who took care of the seafood. They even found a note from ‘lola’ in Tagbanua, a prayer she taught us after a day of work. Which is the same prayer that my late grandfather reads after working at the farm and when he reach our house. It always looks to me similar to ‘alibata’, our helpers laugh when I spoke it a loud. When it comes to the fish, they called the Japanese after cleaning both, they prepared the cooler where it’ll be place. The spanish mackerel is the sashimi, and some parts of it will be grilled. “Pearl will bring some sea urchins, sea cucumbers and others that she didn’t mentioned.” Ada said. I saw the flowers that she left on the sand, near the raft that was built by request of our company for the 2nd part of the ceremony. “She never thought how bad it’ll feel when her work be compared to another, to be criticized is something she’s used to in school but now that it was her family, it shattered her and yet she became distant.” My mind kept circling on the memory from Pearl’s last letter. It never felt that it weakened her, I never saw her as a cry baby and she was never the type to give in into something that she does not believe in. I always saw it as envy, they were because of how she become before they finally realized that it was about time to meet. My family in South Korea was different, they taught me a lot, even when it’s not about engineering but my cousins are all technical and fun to be with. I still play online games with them, I even purchased a licensed CD for us to be able to connect with each other even when I am in a another country. There was a time when I helped one of them with a homework, about the Philippines, good thing he was ask to choose one of the provinces that he would like to write a paper on. I phoned my house mates back in college, to send over some pictures and the boy request for the links and references. I smiled when he suggested that, because that’s how we were back then. All research information and references that we found was also in the paper that we submit. It was a very memorable vacation for me, I was really happy to meet them. It did seemed that a year of stay with them isn’t enough. Once this building it complete and functional, I might go there for another visit.

We were in UP Diliman campus, decided to have dinner at Mang Larry’s Isawan, where the famous pinoy street food kinds can be found. When one of my house mate’s parent’s to ask why are we there. I still laugh at that memory but we are grateful truly to his parents. It was the day when we receive the result of our design-built-project as mechanical engineers, it was a medium scale but we were able to show the kinetic relation from the structure through a car battery. The project was placed as 1st, they want to give us a reward through a meal treat. My housemates only use one car since we chip-in for the gasoline. There we were back on the road towards teachers village going to Provenciano Restaurant. They even mentioned that they saw the marinated blue- marlin in the fridge, the chicken and pork adobo in a claypot that I prepared for us and it was just this morning before going to school. As well as the half-filled container of ‘kinilaw na tuna’, my house mates like to eat it with Japanese wasabi, gari and soy sauce but mine is sea grapes seasoned with their soy sauce and vinegar. Most of the poached vegetables are easily gone, since we pack it as snacks. One of them brought a container of uncooked vegetables, ‘bagnet’ and dried fish it was for the ‘pakbet’ dish since he’s from Ilocos region. We reached our destination, and when we all got out of his car her mom was there, hands on her hips but this time she was smiling. It became our habit to have extra shirts in his car for situations like this. There’s another a place that we go to here, that serves shawarma and beer where we saw some pinoy bands dine, it’s open 24 hours and it was after one of their gigs. Which is one of the affordable ‘go to’ place of teens who lives near the campus after their night out. As we enter the restaurant, it’s fascinating how the interiors and furnitures brings out the feel of old Manila, the time of Emilio Aguinaldo. It gave me that memories from the province, and as I walk towards our table, we pass by their ‘saw sawan’ table. As we sat on our seat, they told us that they ordered in advance. They’ll be serving, sugpong bataan, cocidong lapu-lapu, adobong pusit, kilawing puso ng saging sa gata, sinuglaw, ensaladang mangga with seaweeds and plain steamed rice. That night was really memorable, it was the time when a mail from my family came it and it was because of our group site project for one of our elective subjects. In a few months we’ll be graduating, they ask who’ll be coming for the event. My grand father wants to, and I even saved enough to buy him a plane ticket but he said, it is best for him not to leave the island. I planned not to attend but as the summa cum laude I was told it is required to be present on that day. They encourage us to be there for our last day in school, his father told us that when he completed his college degree as the highest achiever, the same with us. No parents was there for him as he received his recognition for his education and it never bothered him till now. As he became professional, he understood what went through, why there was not a time that they were there for him. In college, you’ll meet people from all walks of life but only few you can trust and be your truest friends. Once you enter corporate, it’ll be the same but the competition will more aggressive. Some say if you know the right people, everything will be easy. It is not, your skill, expertise and honestly will make you survive the game in the corporate arena. When he shared his story to us, we decided to stay and attend our own graduation. We returned to our apartment, with to-gos’ bibingka and puto bumbong. His son and I are room mates, and he’s the magna cum laude. It never came to mind that it was difficult for him to be close with other classmate when he was in high school, I was surprised when he shared during dinner that his college life is the most fruitful one. Once we asked about his siblings, he shared about them partly, but never talked them after. He seldom mention them when we are in Mang Larry’s but it did show that he miss his older brother. That night, Joselito knocked at our door, told us that Benjia’s parents took the adobo again there’s even a note on the kitchen table, thanking me for making their favorite dish. He showed us the online message of a South Korean, asking if he can send a letter to us. Enclosed in the envelope is a photograph of my mother with me and South Korean family and a document that states that I was born in Jeollanam-do. I never heard from my mother, all they said was she left and never returned.

It’s only 4:00 AM, I’m wide awake, I remember how it was when my late grandfather was still around. You’ll smell the scent of coffee, and freshly baked pandesal, he never used an oven. The palayoks are now well kept here in the kitchen occupying most of the hanging cabinets. Our pugón is what he used in cooking, everything from bread, meat and cakes. It was during the Spanish invasion that a stone brick oven was introduced, that’s what in books but my late grandfather said it was not, the design was just different it’s the one in our backyard, made of clay with stones and as their wood it’s from the mango tree. They said, that the trees bloomed the most in this island till an epidemic happened. I turn to his old coffee, it still uses a ‘Katsa’ to filter the fine grounded coffee bean. He kept all that I cut and sew for him to use, it reminds me of drip coffee, patience is need while making it and aroma appreciation is inevitable. I checked what we did yesterday, the Main switch board, transformers, distribution panels, subpanels, emergency control, grounding system, Circuits and outlets. It’s the distribution panels and grounding systems that needs adjustment. It was the design that Benjia, Joselito, Miguel and I designed, there’s an underground room for the system just to secure if there’ll be any necessary adjustments to do. Pedro insisted to be the first one to go down, I was behind him, there were only flashlight that can be use, one of the workers brought what I asked from them, the spare car battery. The Japanese connects the battery to the power inverter, when a breeze of wind came in. They all look at me, someone said it can be dangerous because it’s near the water. The wind still comes in. I explained that it is necessary, and the point of the area is at the back part of the building where it leads to the forest. With the cinnamon bark ashes, we walk towards the end and place the porcelain bottle with the ashes beside a column. The Japanese, I noticed they were talismans, and he asked me to write at the back to be burn and a few leave from our mango tree. We have the same thing in our house, it was said, it was built during the war and I always see these two at the end of it. By the other corner, we placed another back of salt. All the specifications were out, enclosure material, hardware, conduit system, breaker protection and internal coating. Then we went back to work, everything went well for our first day.There are still some mysteries about this Island, of all the fruits why still we can’t export Philippines’ mangoes. It’s 10:00 AM in the morning, when Pearl came with a tray of sandwiches and panit bihon. She suddenly asked if we can talk for a bit, there we were by the beach just as we were back in the days. It is unexpected for her to share, that while she was with her family in London, something happened with her materials for school. The stories she authored that is on their college website, was messed up by her family friend. She thought he was being kind, that actually offered to read through her work but he did not, he broken it into pieces and stole the idea to make his. He even accused her of stealing stories online when it was all original, till now she knows he’s playing a fool of himself. Till now she knows he’s been sending messages to the entire member that it was a stolen material, when it was already been read by the professor. It was only saved by their website administrator because of the archives. He is being traced right now by everyone, every movement that he makes in cyberspace. The reason why she left, she doesn’t want to be with a family who trust a thief. The most disappointing part was all her relatives believed and still believes him, so what’s the purpose of staying there. She’s unwanted. He is not British, he’s an American, who bullies writers because of envy. He didn’t even bother to remember not to repeat what he did, another writer’s material from the website was copied and revised in a wrong manner, all the obvious mistakes was seen. He sounds sick to me, sickness of bad habits.He even accused her of there clothes that it was just hand me downs, that the clothes are not hers. Clothes that she brought from Manila, she did wonder, if he’s fashionable as he said he is why didn’t he know of the brands. Everyday, he’s got always something to say, things that are wrong just to make gossip out of nothing. He even thinks that it has an effect on her, the way he told he about the food where in she shoulder the lunch expense with her cousin. When she practically grew up up with her. Hatred is all I felt from her, an emotion that I never seen before. Lastly, he even had the guts to request for him to be written in a story? He is really something else. There’s something underneath that kindness, it’s not a facade but a trait, his nature. Someone even I wouldn’t befriend. One way or another, one of the member of the site did wrote about him, it was a tale of what he did. In language that he’ll never understand. So, the reason behind her profile was him, the reason why her resume was found by a professor under a foreign name was him. I do wonder if that’s the only thing that he steal from people, maybe there’s something else but I never told Pearl,I listened till she stoped. We walk back towards the site and she left with her diving gears. She’s scheduled to dive in the waters at the corner of this island where we are constructing the hotel. She left me with a small ‘Sto. Niño’ figurine, blessed by one of our priest, I placed it on one of the tables by the entrance.

It was after 5 hours that I saw Pearl came out of the waters, all smiles again. There was a time when she told me at first she was really scared to dive without any oxygen, but now she good at it like ‘Lola.’ I still remember how strict she was with her, when it comes to her training, how early she needs to be up just to be swim in cold water. Amelia Florence, the interior designer came today, she’s from Louisiana, New Orleans her skin tone is darker than Pearl and not because of the sun with her is a British tourist, who’s taller than me. The poles and beams were up, we used yakal, narra and almanciga as wood the bamboo are for decorations. She easily blends with the workers and as she explained the plan we tour her around the site. We explained to her that we’ll be doing a ceremony in respect to the deities, she wants to join for they do have beliefs on deities too. We gather all the necessities in the ‘banglay’ for the 2nd ceremony and Pear will stay behind by the shore. Benjia came last night, he went straight to the site to pay his respect to the deities, he flew in with the interior designer and will stay with me in my house. We all got in, the Japanese stayed with Pearl as he start to begin his tradition, we started to paddle our way on the waters, there’s no specific distance that I was used to. All I know is once I see that tree from the middle of the island we need to stop. When I saw the tree, we halted and say prayers to burn a few papers after the offerings has been spread. There were even some ashes of burned mango leaves and cinnamon bark. There is a similarity for the belief about cinnamon bark and burning sage. The scent of the sage burning surrounds us, that’s the time we paddled back and before we touches the sand, Amelia ask for the ‘banglay’ to stop. She stepped out of the boat while guiding her out, she prayed while water still flowing on her feet. We all stepped out, we pulled out the ‘banglay’ off the waters. Amelia ask for Pearl, she do scuba diving too and she have her certificate. They’ll be going to Coron for that, it’s 1st best part of the island to do scuba diving. The last words that Pearl said lingers, ‘My family said, what do I know here, I just arrived and I need to forget whatever I accomplished in the Philippines. ” It was unexpected to know, for years she never see her family and she was always with ‘Lola’ beside her, till the time for college. We don’t have a choice but to relocate to Manila, because it the main campus of the university that we pass the preliminary exam for. It was like, something that was fed to her family, wrong informations that spread throughout friends. At least she was able to make a choice so rapidly to go back home. It was just a thought, what about the details of her writing, what caused him to react that way, haven’t he read any book that he can relate to? Or was it too strong for him to grasp the context, was it too righteous since it’s school work, it’s incomprehensible for him. A part of me wants to talk to that person myself, to know what he’ll say about Pearl, I can assume it’ll be worse than I can anticipate. I know that university blog site is for students, and I am still close to engineering college that also includes computer engineering where all the information technology students are. They are the ones who created that site for the university, for students and professor to collaborate and read through their students daily activities, opinions, thoughts on topics and other stuff. There’s nothing malicious in that site that he’ll be interested in. There are foreign students in our school, how come he’s unaware of the women of the Philippines. As Pearl said, she doesn’t think he’s man enough to be a friend of hers. The reason behind those messages that I know for sure was not from Pearl. I actually have his information, I have it sweep and scrum, there were bits of frauds from his accounts in social media, copied photos and he didn’t even recognize that the links are noticeable. I found him stupid that time, now, there’s not much to think of because my assessment is true. There were some additional materials that came today, the biometrics for employees. The designer drew the floor layout in her iPad as a clear view for everyone to see and check if her designs matches the requirements and needs of the hotel. She even ask where the native figurines for display are kept to check the size and portion to identify if it’ll be necessary place some wooden boxes. It’ll stay as wood as possible and simple, she chose the color brown, touch of tan, and bone color. White linens, curtains table clots, silver wares and Japanese paintings. There were so many other things that she needs to decide on, and she plan to finish it before tomorrow. As the end of the day came, we pack things up, done with the submission of the final lay-out of designs for approval of the investors. All the circuits are now maintained and functional. We bid our good night to each and went our separate ways home. Ever since I started, Pedro and I go to our favorite spot when we were still in high school, I invited Benjia. It’s a rock near the shore just a a minute walk from the construction site. We sat there for a while and talk about how it was when we were kids. It’s one of those things, we always do when we were children, we stayed out late at night by the waters till our elders scold us to go home. People in this island known us for being those kids who stays up late and even when we hear howls during the cold wind from December we still stay to talk and laugh. Even as we laugh, I remember what my house mates asked me back then, to stop her from leaving the Philippines without him. They’ve traveled a lot, unlike me, and Joselito said, you’ll never know if her family are still the same as before. Most families here in the Philippines, doesn’t know that people who moved out grew out of the culture and becomes different. They do eat the same food, cook the same dishes but their characteristics became different. Most people went through a lot, ‘we went through a lot too here inside this university’ but do we tell our parents? We don’t. There was just something about the letter that was shared to me by Pearl, and there’s a certain sentence and phrase that doesn’t seem right. Through our studies in the university, we learned a lot in reading law books for mechanical engineer, projects, agreements and other countries requirements. Through those we were able to decipher some wrong sentences but not grammatically incorrect. But what I can do, I want her to spend with her family and I don’t have much to spend yet for a ticket and visa to be with here. My friends offered their help, but it was too much, they’ve been there when I needed to fly back to Palawan for an emergency because my late grandfather was rushed in the hospital when I asked him not to work that much anymore. That day, I never saw my father again, they said the last time that they saw him was in his boat paddling through the waters at twilight, with just a lamp, water and food. Then he never returned. When my late grand father got out of the hospital, I invested the money on a food franchise to maintain the finances and for him not to work on the rice field anymore. Did it work, no it did not, he loved what he do. He likes being in that field of rice to farm.

It was a day full of surprises, anger and fulfillment. There was a point were in, situations in life that I never really thought is happening in this world.

Part II – The Lamp (Used to be Ang Lampara)

Out in the dark, as we walk in silence and urgency there we saw a ray of light by the forbidden shore of Coron, Palawan.

The time is running slow, I flew back to Palawan for my grandfather. He was rushed in a hospital for a heartburn, we asked him to stay home and always be under the mango tree since it’s the windiest part of the house. I always saw him seated on a bench, during the hottest time of the day every summer. When I got there, I saw my father by the cashier as he paid for the hospital bill, the nurse asked, ‘You’re paying in advance, sir?” Yes, he said. Then he gave me an envelope, I put in inside my bag. I knew it was from the caught of the day and those were sold was paid in cash, if it’s in an envelope, he’s also done with the taxes that he pays every time he sells what he caught. It was always my task to deposit the cash to our bank when I was in high school, and it was through the same that we pay for the taxes. Benjia, Joselito and Miguel was with me, they booked a flight for us on the same day. All they have was a back pack of clothes and their laptops. “I need to go to the waters, I missed the markings this morning, I need to appease the deities.” He said. We tried to stop him, “No, it was not about that ‘Tay; it’s due to heat wave.” Benjo said. “I still need to pray to them for his health, son.” My father said. While Pedro’s father followed him with disapproval on his face. We let go and went straight where my grand father was. He’s in his ‘90s and still strong, with his vegetarian diet. It’s just there’s something about summer that he can’t tolerate the temperature unlike years ago, sometimes I wonder that maybe he needs to be near the water. When he awakens, he asked for my father, I told him that I need to check on him.The doctor came and he said, he’s clear from the heart burn. The doctor allowed us to leave, will come back early morning. When a nurse came and said that she’ll stay with my grandfather. “I know Miguel.” The doctor said. It’s past 3:00 am, the four of us rode a tricycle towards the fishing area. The tricycle driver said, that the fishermen starts their preparations around the same time. As we got off the tricycle, hired two. We walk towards the shore and there it was his other lamp 5 meters away from the water, and Pedro’s father patiently waits for him while he sat on the sand. He look behind then he saw us a few steps away from him. He stood up and said, one of the fishermen returned and there’s no sign of your father, except this lamp that he left here by the shore. When I was about to ask, Felipe’s father just came back from the waters. I saw your father’s scapular afloat, but he’s no where to be found. I was shocked, in dismay I sat on the sand and Miguel started to ask if there’s someone with a telephone. Pedro’s father hand over to me the lamp, it’ was my grand father’s, it was lit through a piece of thick candle with the spare candles and another envelope. We didn’t know that the doctor called the police station to report the situation. He should had paddled back by now. Most of fishermen started their way in the water for their morning catch, the first batch started at 2:00 AM because it’s a Friday. The 2nd batch starts around 4:00 AM. I ripped a piece of paper from my notebook, and wrote a prayer of request. Miguel, Joselito and Benjo ask if they can write a note on it too. I gave it to them they turn it around then started to pen their prayers. We sealed the letter with the candle wax, I walk to towards the waters and when it touches my feet, I burned the paper under a full moon with a hope of his return. Behind me are my friends and the other fishermen with lighted candles. When I look back and saw that they still bowed their head facing the waters so did I. We walked back and rode the same tricycles on our way home to take a quick shower. There’s a nearby showroom but Pedro’s father said, not this hour. We need to wash from our house, the four of us went home to my grand father’s house. They’ll be staying there for a while, to rest I know they need to be in school by Tuesday. Monday is our research day, it’s the subject that we can bring home. Till we reach home, once we are all prepared to sleep, we prayed the living rosary. I tried to sleep but I could not, I waited for the sun rises, then it was time to pack clothes for my late grand father as he needs me in the hospital.

It was time to find a job, as a half Filipino – Vietnamese to understand the culture I decided to stay in one of the island in Palawan. The last photograph of my grandmother that my father have was on this market with the sellers. I do hope I get to find her soon. On my way to buy my groceries, I came across a lady with notebook in her bike basket. She’s a native I suppose, all the sellers keeps asking her questions about who’s back in town. As I pick a bunch of Chinese parsley, I heard her say asking for sea grapes. When she glanced at me, she smiled. Her eyes are a bit of brown, then she left and the people in the market said that she’s on her way to a construction site where a new hotel is being build. I took out the photo to politely ask them if they know the person…

By the end of the day, I went to ‘Lola’s’ place to check on her. The young man is still there, he’s 4 years younger than me and I saw how happy they were. His name is Han, I knew that Lola had a son but need to leave the island for his family. For years we help her each time she receives boxes from Vietnam, now we finally met his son. As I entered the room, I aroma of cinnamon bark, star anise, Chinese parsley and sesame oil in a beef broth surrounds the entrance door. It smells Pho soup. I made my way to their kitchen, and saw Pearl sweeping the floor. She look at me and ask if I want a serving, Ada just left she needs to check the result of her final home work as a summer graduate. We sat on a bench, outside their kitchen. They have this door that will lead you to their ‘dirty kitchen’ it’s the native stove that even my house have it. There are so many things I want to ask her, she sat in silence till she ask, ‘Is there anything on your mind?” Same question she ask when there are a few more clarification that I need.
Ezekiel: What happened afterwards?
Pearl: I ignored him completely, I don’t have much patience with towards that type of person. If you want to know if I was able to get my informations. Yes, I did. There’s even this conversation, where we argue because of his false accusations on voice record. The thing is it’s the people that he send it to, a few gave a word to me that he edited the recording. He made me look stupid, but those people are someone we know from school, also students. They knew how I talk and never believed him. That’s why I never answered your email, asking who I was speaking to on that recorded video, they need to expose that video as awareness to other traveler-students and a few notes was posted online.
Ezekiel: I read a few, and it was just some thoughts that most of us feel when we have troubles at home.
Pearl: True, it’s a harmless piece of writing. There’s a part of me that wants him to be put in jail. He thought I was not the author of the material, because of the email address and user name that I created. His arrogance triggered my patience to do an investigation on him. A number of things I found out from his past. He’s using someone from his family to get away from his wrong doings. He tends to be-little Filipinas based on the sentences he delivered. My assessment was all true, after that conversation.
Ezekiel: You sound calm during that conversation, and it worried me because I know you were very angry. Did you ask him to write and what else did he say that you can recall?
Pearl: I don’t he can ever will. His arrogance on getting things done easily without fuss made him look like a fool. Oh yeah, he made me laugh when he said that I was only there because of my family’s money, I am not blood related, my paper works are fraud. He said, a relative told him of that. I am not close to any of them anyway. We all know that the family I consider is from Vietnam, I am not in good terms with my parents. The real reason why I went there was because my cousin told me that my mother needs blood transfusion and they can’t find an organ donor that matches hers. After the medical tests I went through, she suddenly recovered from the operation and medicines she’s taking. One of her doctors said that it can really be an emotional dilemma and that something doctors can’t heal.
Ezekiel: Did he try to apologize?
Pearl: Sure he did! Apology that I need to help with a paper. I did not accept. I’m not stupid, why would I help someone like him. Did he think my agitation can easily be gone in a snap of a finger? How can I accept an apology, he even brag that people will be on his side for his petition about his assessment about my paper for UP Diliman as my final material because he’s American, after all those online post that he did just to cover himself. The funny is thing is, he’s too confident about his ‘kutob’. It was so irritating when all that he just said were false.
Ezekiel: Do you have the documents of your investigation?
Pearl: It came in today. I’ll hand it to you.
Ezekiel: I find him annoying, all stupid accusations. Did you feel that he was pushing you to be like him? Don’t tell there’s even a possibility while re-constructing your post, he made a bet with those people that he sent messages to.
Pearl: Somehow, but how can someone manipulate me that way. He just made me think that’s he treats immigrants. Given the news, immigrants are not welcome at all. There’s something wrong with the way he thinks, his reasonings are justified by history of what happened during the world war. Like his knowledge was just through conversation without realizing the reality. That there’s nothing that he can use against me. I never did anything wrong, it was him, his act that triggered my question to him. I was really surprised with how he is, I even have an American classmate in Literature.
When Han peeked from the door, ‘Lola’ is looking for us. We entered the living room, passing through the kitchen where I place my empty bowl in the sink. She let us sat together by her usual table, she draw the cards. These cards show yours, it’s finally complete, Ada is an ace of spades. Soon the time for our own ceremony will begin. I’m not getting any younger and I need to teach all of you the things that my grandparents taught me. I need to see Miguel and Joselito again Ezekiel. Yes, ’Lola’ they’ll be here this week because of the project. Did Benjo came by? I asked. Yes he did and is still the Eight of Diamonds. It’s almost complete for the set of what Lola needs. It wasn’t the first time that an elder prepares for something inevitable. One of those sad times of our lives in this island where in we need to accept the preceding future in a few years.

One late morning, while on a bike I saw the construction site that the sellers point me to. As I placed my bike beside a tree, I heard someone calls Ezekiel. That’s him, that I need to ask. I look the way where the voice sound was strong, I saw him. There’s anxiousness that came through as I started to walk towards them. A few more steps, I’m now facing him. “Good morning! I am hoping you can help me find a relative.” I said, as I took out the photo and hand it to him. Ezekiel look at me with a surprise, ‘We call her Lola, she lives near this area.’ He said. Then she came with her bike, ‘Here’s the lunch to grill.’ She said. “Ada can guide you to Lola’s place.” I was finally introduced. It’s been a month but now, I can finally meet a relative of mine from here. There’s even a sign that says, ‘Hiring Auto CAD Engineer.’

Han started to work with us on the project, we needed someone who can do the CAD graph to document the final stages, adjustments of the construction. Were done with the beams, it’s time for the cabinets and the material for the roof came in from Japan. There are some days at work where in Pedro looks at me and I know that we need to move the bottle with the cinnamon be. Good thing Amelia mentioned to us that there are some hours where in she started to feel something unexplained, Han asked her to chew some native fruits to shoo it away. When she started to design the altar, it stopped. It’s a small chapel behind the building where in guest can do their prayers that can occupy by 12 people. The lamps finally came, there are Japanese lanterns and a made to order old filipino lampara. At noon, the internet provider came to do the installation, he checked the radio frequency that Benjo and I prepared for a week. The team is finally organized, with their designated accountabilities that fits their skills and expertise. We need to test the biometrics but I need to wait for Miguel, the 3 types of access cards. When I saw Pedro, sweeping the floor, I got used to seeing him that way when he tries to find a tiny tool. He built us an outdoor kitchen from broken bricks and spare cement. I saw that there’s something in a steamer, must be siopao, suman and sapin-sapin. The guest and bed rooms are half-way done, but the office room, locker rooms, sleeping quarters, storage, laundry area, lunch area and kitchen are on schedule. We accomplished the kitchen area first, the stoves are placed, ventilators, wall mounted hood since we need a few days to test the ranges. There is also an outdoor kitchen with the same wall-mounted hood there’s also a hand made pugod that is now fully functional. Old lamps designs was requested 12 was placed under the outdoor kitchen table. They are starting on the resto-coffee shop and bar; the bar is the easiest to do. Amelia, suddenly walk in, telling me that some of the furnitures will be late on delivery. It seems so, it’ll be coming from Bicol, I told her. It’ll be place on hold from the customs, I just need to call Benjo for it. He’ll be here by tomorrow, he’s running errands for the permits and other certifications needed for this building. I smiled and told her, don’t worry, we’ll be on time. The date I plot on the schedule is much early than the anticipated opening date since we need to stay on budget. The underground distribution system that safe keep the critical electrical connections and transformers have an exit door, with stairs going up, there rest an old well that we kept clean all these years and made a house for it. Like a small traditional Japanese garden house within the walls of the back yard, from those walls another set of exits can be found. They started to mark the place of the fire extinguisher. Walking back to the entrance I saw Benjo laughing with Pedro in a conversation. “Hey Ezekiel, do you know which was born first, a chicken or an egg?” Pedro kept on laughing. It’s one of those filipino question jokes but some people do have a serious answer. “Even I don’t know.” I said and laugh. Till Benjo ask, “How many chicken were there, and are those from Noah’s arc?” He got one answer. We all laugh at each other while he took a bite from his bola-bola siopao. Miguel and Joselito came mid afterternoon their wives are left in the house beside mine with two bedrooms and two toilet and baths. They said, the two went for a bike ride to stroll around and buy a few things from the nearest market. The ladies love the Island since they were in college, we saw them a few times in Coron. They basically know their way around here, at 4:00 PM their wives came with their bike, and Pearl just got out of the water from a dive. Amelia, Pearl, Ada and the wives got along well. They even started the fire for the grill, it became a Friday routine for us to dine together after a week of work and yet we still work on weekends. A few of have things to do, especially Han who’s documenting the development of the project, the day by day progress that we do before the final blue print, there’s also the draft that needs to be signed prior to the print out. It is a meticulous role to do, he’s through for the separate draft of the underground vault, outdoor kitchen, restaurant kitchen, and indoor pool area. Once the building is complete the full dimensions, specifications and functions for the blueprint be in draft then to print. He’s very friendly and ask a lot of clarifications. Pedro guided him through the original lay out of the area, before there was a construction site. Benjo sat with him when he started to do the draft especially for the generators, Michael and Joselito helped with the RF diagnostics box and the radius capacity for a wide internet service. He was surprised that there was even a helipad, 5 miles away from the hotel. At first we were against it, because of the area will be too far but it’s been asked and requested so we found a place where it can be roughly built since there’ll be still grass and the airfield lighting are now placed. It’ll also be use for emergency, well we all hope there’ll be none. We noticed how he looks at Ada, I don’t mind at all and he did ask about her a lot. Those days that Ada was here, we let them talk, I even made sure that she comes here during breaks so that they will have more time to talk. Since it’s seldom for Ada to stay late for the past days.

It’s been a month since I started on this project and it’s almost done, as I look at the building, there are now wooden sliding doors inspired from shoji with another, they’ve attached the card key lock from the entrance door of each room. One two room is set, with 7 inches tantami bed, 3 inches hikibuton, duvet, pillows and shoji screen with rosewood finish. There’s a tantami sofa, the traditional short-legged table, a television is placed inside a hanging wooden cabinet with sliding doors, a dressing table in rattan and bamboo, closet space enough for four, personal fridge, and a small bar where they can make their own tea. The bathroom has a regular size of Hinoki wood tub, robes are hanged behind it, bucket of stones placed on the side, across by the window is a plant, with wooden floor, towel’s stand are placed beside the graphite vanity table and there’s a special lighting dominated by natural resources, it’s perfect. I placed a porcelain with cinnamon bark on the corner of the bar table. It’s a 3 story building with a full built of 8 sides in a 5 hectares of land. We redesigned the staff house behind the building, still a Japanese inspired home with a sari-sari store by the corner. The build almost match the architecture of the hotel, so that it won’t look a separated from it. Benjo worked on that project for weeks, and ensure the safety passages for people. It’s a small space similar to our apartment way back in college but there are three kitchens, bathrooms are inside each rooms, a dining area built for a family, two living rooms and an alfresco side where there are woven garden set from a wooden-plastic material. He even prepared the festival decorations in the storage for the Kasadyan, Panagat, Purogitan, Baragatan, Balayong, Kulamo, Palay and Christmas. We were able to pick most that can be combined for each festivities, and how can we forget the parol. All placed in the storage. The towels was sent to the laundry for their wash and steam, there was a few sets of curtains with hand paint of Cassia Nodosa for the receiving area. I walked out of the entrance it’s almost 3:00 pm, I watch the small waves, check the surroundings and from afar the small island in between shows around this time and around this month. Pedro, walk beside me, “it does itself always around this month, just like when we were kids.” He said. I smiled at him and nod. For that few seconds, we found ourselves in awe of the beauty of the scenery in front of us. The day is still long and Miguel and Joselito just got back from visiting Lola with their wives. There are moments where in as I stare at the waters, a hope from me is still waiting for my father to set foot on this island. Some people say that there’s a possibility that she was washed ashore somewhere in China, they had it check twice but they told us to wait for their call if they found one of our natives in their border. We need to let them know immediately for it not to cause any wrong assumptions. We called the boarder office the morning when he did’t return from the waters, there were also a few pictures that was sent over for him to be recognize. For months we kept following up if there’s any news of appearance on a Filipino fisherman in from the waters of China but there was none. We never lost hope, we kept praying every first Friday of the month same time by the shore. My grandfather past away at the age of 95, it was a good thing that he finally accepted that he need to stay home and only went to the ‘palayan’ when there someone who can accompany him to stay on his favorite bench for a few hours. During his funeral, there were some fishes who came ashore, it was even raining back then. The current cause a couple of waves from the waters, me and my friends swing by the shore to watch it from afar. I was told by the fisherman not to go in the waters for a few days after his death. Many people came during the funeral, especially the crew from the food chain franchise that we have, they offered the regular dishes that my late grandfather brought for them. He always ask the crew to take home their free meal, they need to share it with their families. One of our scholars from the crew came back after his graduation and decided to be the manager of one of our branches. Petals of flowers were washed away by the water with the fish that came to shore, they were the small tuna and other small sea creatures. The people from the Island never took home any of them, they returned them to their home.

Seeing my grandmother was very emotional, she even forced herself to get up. As she said, she needed to move, so I helped her with Pearl my cousin. They were waiting for me, a letter from my father came two weeks ago that I’m in Palawan looking for her. While I have my groceries with me, I made her my signature Pho soup. I knew that she was sick, but I didn’t expect that she became a little weak but her spirit is very strong.

I saw Han from the outdoor kitchen of Lola on the day of our ceremony, we now finally are twelve, even the painter from UP who is very close to her is back here in the island I walk towards him and he smile, “I’m making her fish pho soup.” He said. There was cinnamon bark, star anise, ginger, coriander and fennel seeds, and deboned grouper. The bones and head of the fish are in the broth.I asked, how young did he start to make dishes. “I started way back, when I was 15, I need to help my family with a small restaurant in our area to support us financially.” After school, I go directly home to help with serving, dish washer and cooker’s tasks. He was a working student though out his school years and the small nooks of Pho are everywhere in Hanoi, Vietnam. In history, there were settlers from Vietnam that washed ashore of Palawan, and where one of our famous dishes was influenced from. The Chao Long, a noodle soup that instead of a rice porridge. After a few questions, I told him that I need to check in with lola again after paying my respect earlier. I helped Han with his famous pho soup while I wait for the others to be here. I did wonder that something is missing and Han kept pacing back and forth when I peek through a window, I saw Lola laughing at him. When all of a sudden, I saw Peal came walking with thai basil and Chinese parsley. Our British guest came too with Benjo, they tied their own apron to their waist to make other dishes. ‘Lola’ will do the last blessing before the hotel opens with our church priest. The British explored a lot, he from scuba diving, kayaking, parasailing and basketball. There were some days that he stays by the shore, to appreciate the beach. He’s actually a good friend of Benjo’s family and plans to stay in Palawan for a few years, he found a house to stay near the hotel. Back in London, he owns a bakery with his siblings. He tested our pugon to make breads and pizza, finally got it right after a couple of tries. We laughed when he said that he kept making mistake with the temperature, because of the wood. It’s something new to him, but given his experience we know that he’ll be able to get along with the ‘pugon’. We taught him the tricks in making perfect pandesal from the pugon, but how his bread raised needs a different temperature. Then on, we saw this paper with a poem, always being hold by a stone for it not to be blown away by the wind.

It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
By: Robert Frost

A few days after, another paper is place with a poem… He said, the deities kept taking his inspiring poem.. We all laughed at his joke.

Maître Corbeau, sur un arbre perché,
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
Maître Renard, par l’odeur alléché,
Lui tint à peu près ce langage…
By: Jean de La Fontaine

The old lamps are being placed on the entrance and outdoor kitchen as well as the back area of their house, to bring light to each of us. After the rites Lola invited all the workers from the hotel construction to attend, it’s a celebration feast for us and the deities. It’s actually her birthday and Pearl requested if it’s ok for them to be invited after the rights. It was one of the oldest tale of lola when she did the rites, a strong wind was felt, with the sound of it’s swoosh that echoes through the corner of her house but not lighted candle died, it stayed the same for the rest of the hours, while it’s wax flows down the small plate where it stands on it’s own.

There’s a plan on hanging ‘banderitas’ from the trees to make it more festive on the opening day, we decided to find colorful old clothes to hang on each branch from a tree, especially those that stands where the well is. While we clean the area, a family of cats started to settle inside. Pedro made them a meal, from the grilled fish left overs that we had for lunch. It was unexpected and we were unprepared. It’s the same thing that happened for our first project after college in Sorsorgon, Camarines Sur, a few days before the house be completed a family of cats settled in one the areas in the garden. A small project to build a house with office areas that fits around 20 people. It always a wonder for me why cat as animal os not included in the Chinese zodiac. The small bottles of home made body oil came in, made by Pearl with Lola’s guidance, it’s a 10 boxes with a thousand small bottles each. It’ll be one of the freebies from the gift boxes for the first 50 guests. It’s one of those things that Pearl put on her skin before diving without the professional diver’s suit. It’s one of the trainings and maintenance that was required of her from Lola, once a week at the earliest possible morning, while the waters are cold. There was one time that Lola allowed me, Benjo, Miguel and Joselito, I was only able to stay under water for 2 hours, Benjo for 2.5 hours while Miguel and Joselito only stayed for half an hour, which was years ago, back in college. Recently we tried and all of us was able to dive in and stay for 3 hours under water. When we dive in, all we saw are corals, and never followed Pearl since she always go deeper in the waters and she’ll bring some sea urchins. She’s part of the University’s swim team, for butterfly stroke. She said, that it’s a prerequisite to maintain her endurance in water. The water was relaxing, it can even make you see how vast a part of the world is. I let them see the place underwater where a Sto. Niño is placed, it’s amazing what you see there. When I was young, I’ve been fascinated of stories about cities deep in the water like Atlantis, greek mythology especially about Poseidon there’s also an underwater site in Japan. It’s just this one summer, in search of my father’s things that might have fallen in the waters, I went in with diver’s gear and all the safety measures, it was this strong pull from a stone wall behind me that caused the crack from the scuba tank, I removed everything while under water, and all was left was the suit. I swam back up till almost out of breath and Pedro found me by the shore unconscious. I got so tired to swam up the surface that I collapsed on the sand. From then on, each time that I come back from the university, my late grandfather ask me to train with the fishermen and divers of the island. It was always at early morning, before they boat-out of the land. There was a few early morning that I trained with Pearl, but how can I compete with her. She’s been trained since she was 5 years old. From then on, I never dive in without a friend if I want to go deeper to explore what’s underneath the surface of the water. I was almost at 800 ft. back then, when that strong current came in, the first and last, to never again, or else I’ll hear scolding from the fishermen once more. They became a closer family to mine after that night and since then they all watch over my late grandfather while I’m away from school. From day to day, they accompanied him when he wants to visit the rice fields, they were the ones aside from myself who truly understood the emotions that runs through him, each time he yearns to see the fields. No matter how much I tried to convince him that I need to stay with him, he disagreed. It was the time that he allowed to stay home and be in some branches of the food chain franchise of ours. Most of the things that he made from ‘palay’ are still framed and up in the employee’s office, the employees said they can’t let go of it. Pictures of him with the crew are now placed on the wall with his art works. One of those things that was posted online by the American, who misconstrued, with a note that it is not an art work; it was too obvious that he know nothing about the Philippines. I still remember how happy my late grandfather was in pictures with his employees, he really enjoyed spending time with them. He never missed the chance to remind them of the old traditions, beliefs and superstitions being followed by natives of this island.

Part III – Lighted Candle

The night was cold during the the last few weeks of construction, there was a moment when Peter started to remind some to leave before 5:00 PM, it’s the superstitions of the natives for those people who works in a construction of a new building here in the island they are not supposed to stay beyond that time. There were afternoons where in the workers had the same strange feeling as we are, like our eyes are playing tricks on us. Some wind that felt by our feet and it goes back and forth, my late grandfather said before, there are some unexplainable things in this world where in earthlings tend to re-settle when there’s a new construction going on. If your feet didn’t feel anything painful, they are harmless and yet it does not mean they don’t know how to be upset. That day, Pedro prepared a number of small plates with tiny portion of food. We all think that each time the paper with poetry of the British be flown away by the wind, it was them playing with him as my late grandfather said, since they are not people when they take away something, it’ll be returned to that person in a different image. That’s why we always remind him to eat our native fruits especially the mangosteen. Pedro and I always love the green and ripe mangoes, we just choose the right one to slice into 3 pieces, to check if it’s safe to eat. Han can sense them too, but he always chew in the durian candy that he bought from the market and makes some fresh fruits juices for all of us. There were even times when we see him releasing his prayer beads, and dip it in the waters. During his first week, it was always during breaks and he never miss his schedule of his tradition. We never had the chance to ask, but he always smiles at us when he caught us looking at him. The Japanese tap him from his shoulder then he bowed to him. The two became very close and always there when he checks for the tools to draw for her draft. The boy is very meticulous when it comes to details and he see to it that there is even an inventory of materials used. He mentioned one time that he had his internship from an energy company in Hanoi that helped him a lot in practicing AutoCAD for the intricate parts within the construction and he’s very helpful with other things, even when Pedro asked him to leave before 5:00 PM. “I’ll be alright.” He said. The Japanese always smile when he stays till 7:00 PM. Each morning, we test the generator if it’s function suffice all electrical, and it efficient. Now it’s 5:00 PM, we turn on the power to light the whole building, the air conditioners and all the appliances that needs electricity. Miguel was focused on the Biometrics key lock for employees, that will require their finger print and face recognition, if all our access is functional. Everything went well, we really need to hire an additional IT person. We suggested that it needs to be a team of 5, 3 are multitasker which are someone who can do a bit of electrical or someone who can help with the guests. The master key lock is with Benjo and Joselito but the access right are for four for each card, with a back-up of finger print, face recognition and a typical key. It will also support the attendance of the employees, as we check the system. It auto populates the time-in, scheduled break, adjustment if necessary, it’s a bit of work in administration. “I’m crossing my fingers that no one will make unexceptional adjustments.” Joselito said. “Why don’t we add some command where in the manager or IT head can adjust the time, if there’s an emergency.” Benjo said. They system is connected to a HR CRM with accounting windows. Han was facing the computer for the final touches. “Han, do you have the documentation for the Biometrics?” I asked. Yes, I do and it’s up to the other settings that the IT person asked me to add in the graphs.” Han said. He hand over his draft pages and there are a few commands that needs to be use. We realized we need two computers, and it was installed to mine and Benjo’s. The third computer that they require is for the ID number generation and with the settings for the internet and other technology related requirements for the building. There’s even a reminder that nothing else should be installed in that computer. All the reservation and restaurants windows and tablets are full functional and the POS, order and scheduling CRM for guests. From Benjo’s settings, all windows are viewable.

Ezekiel: Everything is set, we need all the security and janitors tomorrow for their identification cards.
Pedro: They will be here, I told them earlier when they came. Pedro said.
Benjo: Great! The Accountant, HR person, Kitchen and Housekeeping staff will be here tomorrow too. Our accountant and HR Manager are from Coron. Some of the housekeeping staff are from Puerto Princesa. They need to sign the bank form for their payroll account same day, tomorrow.

Everything is in place, we left the site around 9:00 PM and there were 3 security guards that was left to stay. The lights are turn on overnight so they can check for spark from plugs. Our opening is 5 days from now, there are just a few finishing touches to do. The towels and robes was brought again to the laundry service to steam wash. Han now stays with me, it’s a cheaper rent compared to a place he initially stayed. There’s only two bedrooms in Lola’s house, but Pearl plans to build a place where Han can stay, since there’s still an area where another house can be construct. When we reach home, I reach for my computer to check my emails. There’s a number of messages and one is from a friend. Pearl’s writing material is up and was published by the university. Someone saw online another post about the paper, it was the man from London. It’s all false accusations, as I read through I can’t help but be in awe of the way this man thinks. He accused Pearl that she was trying to steal his cousin’s job when Pearl was hired for a work from home set-up, and if compared to his cousin’s stories, Pearl is not a match. Unfortunately, the paper has all the writings of Pearl because we have a copy from the archives under Pearl’s name which was before she flew out of the Philippines to London. He’s tripping, and as the same assessment of other engineers his sentences shows the tone of someone who likes to bully people. There’s even a note, that he thinks that he’ll come back or find Pearl sooner or later just for kicks, the fun of torture to a woman. He’s just letting the time pass, till everyone who knows forgets, strange when he posted it all online. He sound sick, very sick that he needs to be admitted to a psychiatric detention. He even made a comment about how it was written, his words and analysis are all wrong, it showed that never read the words and sentences. The outline and draft of Pearl was submitted and signed by our professor, she just added a few more sentences about history and a few pictures for the site. There was even a proof that he messed with a child’s blog, nowadays it’s part of the school curriculum in order to be at par with other countries when it comes to technical know-how. People are still observing everything about him, he just made us doubt his kind. When in school we are very helpful to foreign and exchange students for them to do well in the universities. We make them feel at home so that they won’t get home sick for being away from their families and home. I started to write an email to Pearl, because she needs to be aware of what’s happening, the things he’s been doing. He’s crazy as most students say from the thread that he created. No one serious actually respond to him, how can we believe those things he said. His proof was just stolen journals of Pearl and it doesn’t even say anything about the universities. It all about what she’d been through, there’s not even a sentence about our relationship. What was he looking for from her journal, one asked from the thread. Another said, that he’s way is very familiar. She shared an information to us, messages he posted online with another that he’s just being protective of “her”. Because Pearl will try to steal her family from her. Those stupid accusations and I never thought that this is the return of a favor for helping a family. The funniest thing is, it seems he doesn’t even know who he speaks to online, the way the conversation from the recording, he asked if Pearl got the idea of placing chapters from him. Why, don’t we have paper backs here in the Philippines. What kind of people does this person think we are? The thing is Ezekiel, Pear is not the only one he accused, there are a few members that he sent messages to. He just stopped when he realized that he messaged a UP professor, but because of that we saw another threads of his blabbering from a foreign site. Topics about new ideas that can be found from the members blog, there was one time that he was ask of a solution for a situation, he wasn’t able to reply afterwards, he said he needs to paid for his ideas, he stopped when he was swamped with questions why did he post his idea online in the first place.

Peal and I grew up together in this island, our family have close ties with each other that when something happens to one of each family member, where always there to support in any way that we can. She do freelance tourist guide for our hotel especially for those who are interested in snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving and other water sports. There’s just one sport that Palawan isn’t famous for, that is surfing, but there are those waves that comes somewhere here in Palawan that we don’t tell tourists till they encounter it, because of the policies from the natives. They said, the deities haven’t approve the idea of people doing that sport around this island. When I washed ashore during that time when I tried to look for clues, Pedro told me that there was a dolphin who was on the surface int the waters. We strongly believes that there are water creatures that help the natives of this island, back to shore. It was never told in a way for their privacy be kept for as long as we can. That’s; why if there’s a camera from above, and a boat of tourist goes around, children onboard, you’ll see from the waters, a group of dolphin watching over them, but they do show off a few times but not always. Creatures of the sea that we are so fond of, there was even a time when we saw a pink dolphin playing around the waters, it was those times when there was no tourists who came to the island because of the news about our mango tree. Somehow we natives interpret that incident still a blessing for letting us see uncommon creatures from the waters of Palawan. Most old people say, that during their time when there’s no chaos in the island, you’ll always see them by the surface, playing around with their family. It took years before they were witnessed by the native fishermen, it was after the war when they were spotted again in Coron. Some divers said that they went too deep during those times and no one can saw them even when they dove in the waters, people are truly grateful each time they see a couple and a family of dolphins. Pearl was even washed ashore by them during her first few years of training in the waters. Natives think that all divers have their own dolphin pets whom they take care of, each time they go into the waters, beliefs that was never confirmed by any divers even Lola. There were even stories about Sirena and Dugong, but during the early times, they said they are vengeful spirits when come across with wrong intentions, that’s why we are always scolded late at night when our family friends fishermen see us children on the stones by the shore, for it was believed that it was during those time of the day that they show and scare children for them not to be disturbed. A lighted candle is the only guide that we had back then, and Pedro and I really want to see that creature when we were young to add in our school project since as we did our search online, it seemed that they were all made-up stories. The books from one of the old houses here in palawan, tells different from what is known to the public. Some say it was a warning sign so that people be appreciative of the placed rules and regulations aside from the native beliefs that we have. It was the time that the Philippines, became a stand alone governing a number of islands to support the freedom that was finally handed over by the foreign land. A number of communities start to build for camaraderie be embraced by people with mix cultures across islands.

Two days went by, and the Human Resource Person-Consultant and CPA accountant worked together in the staff house to accommodate the hiring process for employees. They both are on consultancy agreement since they don’t need to be in the hotel regularly unlike the other staff. They have a number of years of work related experience on the same field, which makes it easier for us to understand the process flow and procedure required from the hotel. It is now the schedule for the Hotel Manager to be train for the attendance maker and approval settings that comes along with the tip breakdown. With that another page will be shown for the Accountant to check before it gets approved for pay-out release, and the tax window for the monthly government mandated deductions and the bonus. Then she saw that investors are also in payroll, that their pay-out will start on the 5th year of the hotel. The pay-out dates for employees had been set in the system, in a fix authorization right from the four of us. The British is the executive chef along with a Japanese chef. It is also the day that our HR Person and accountant will be handing over the staffs employee debit cards from one of our local banks. The POS is linked to the bank system for security reasons and scheduling since all computations needs to have this certain balance sheet for bookkeeping. Legal documents are now complete, license, permit and clearance are in small frame and hanged on a wall. The investor even chose a charity that we need to attend to once a year to support, which is not much of an expense because it’ll be one of the island’s project as gift-giving each month before the schools starts. Another day went by, and it’s for Lola’s blessings on the building. It is not the typical business blessing that most people know about, we don’t have any festive meals prepared, just snacks and fruits. It’s more solemn than others, investors was invited online, we’ve been expanding the radius of the hotel internet that are subdivided to different departments, guests access are only accessible by IT team with their non-disclosure agreement placed but since it’s the new age, most guest will have their own personal data to use for browsing and other online tools that they for their daily routine. There were sage scent that fills the air, the weather was a bit windy but some said, at least it’s not humid compared to other days. Our prayers was answered for a cooler weather during this event. Lola looked so proud of our accomplishments, Ada and Han became close as we saw them together handing the gift boxes to our guests. Amelia flew back to her home country two days after, and said that she’ll come to visit us soon. The start of reservation for the first few is this afternoon, and the hotel will be fully operational later at twilight.

I stayed in Palawan for years as the Manager for Engineering and became one of the Executives for a number of Hotels across island nearby aside from being the fisherman’s chief which was handed by birth right and married Pearl. A couple of years before Lola passed away Han and Ada married and now with two children. We light candles each night of our relatives death anniversary by the shore. There was a regular clean up of the waters and bay area with the support of the government each school across the Philippines set their own representative to spearhead the environmental project.

-The End-