Simply Belle

I got up one morning to a beautiful sunrise in Batalay beach, a rare occurrence during my recent vacation to the province in the month of June. I thought I would go for little walk along the beach as I didn’t feel like walking on the main road. Too many onlookers, too many people to acknowledge, too many loud vehicles releasing hazardous smokes, and I wasn’t in the mood to greet and smile early that morning. All I wanted was to avail of the fresh breeze of the ocean, and to get some exercise.

I had my breakfast of rice and tinapa, with tomatoes drowned in soy sauce for dipping sauce. I put on my shorts and sleeveless blouse and happily skimmed the beach alone.

There were quite a bit of people already on the beach doing all sorts of things - the majority were the netters. I walked along, eyes fixed on what they were doing. One group of fishermen were scurrying with their nets to higher ground to close in on every single little fish. Curious Belle paused and watched every single move they made. I wanted to know what was inside the net or if there was anything worth buying. They probably weren’t thrilled of me snooping on them. It is a free world, you know, and I had every right to be on the beach as I own an itsy bitsy beach property there, too.

I continued with my walk in hopes of reaching Marinawa way over on the other side. Given the terrain, the loose gravel, the walk was somewhat torturous, plus the fact that I was wearing my flip-flop complicated it even more.

On my way over, I saw another set of netters. I made another stop. I didn’t recognize any fishermen. Suddenly, I heard a yell from behind me. I spinned around and saw a big fat bossomed older lady with a Marinawa accent..hehe

Why are you just standing there?!

Get down and help! another guy exclaimed.

Huh, huh? was all I could say.

Before I knew it, I bent over and picked poor little minnows that got stuck in between the holes of the net. Immediately, I accumulated a handful of little fish…maripati in bikol term. One big handful, weighs about half a pound, costs php30.

I didn’t know where to put the fish and I still had a ways to go for my walk. Most people made a little sack out of their blouses and shirts, and kept their shares in there, exposing belly buttons of all sorts. I couldn’t imagine myself doing that as I would be showing not only my navel, but my protruding abdomen.

Horrified at the thought, I quickly dropped the handful of little fish to the next guy’s pile. Though now that I had a chance to gather my thoughts, I could have wrapped them in one of the tree leaves, set them somewhere cooler and safe, and pick them up on the way back.

And then some random guy from out of nowhere was lecturing me about what I was supposed to do when in this situation.

“Don’t just stand up there and stare, we need the help we can get.” Because they were in a hurry to make another cast.

“Whoa, what if I didn’t want to? Such a bossy/demanding bunch of people,” I thought. Luckily, I uttered no self-incriminating words.

I proceeded to where I was heading. I met a prominent guy from town, probably in his late 50’s whose initials are RA. He owns a beach property in Batalay, too, and he was there for a dippin’.

Me: May I pass through!

RA: (Looking unfriendly, and thinking probably that I was going to cut through his property) Where are you passing?

Me: No, I am just passing through, (my way of acknowledging people I met on my walk so I would not be labeled a snub.)

RA: Ohh

Then we got into talking and introduced each other.

RA: You are married to a white?

Me: Yes, tabi (tabi = po in tagalog, to show respect.)

RA: Good thing he is not divorcing you.

Me: (Feeling insulted) Why will he divorce me? It could be the other way around, too, you know.

He said it again.

RA: You are lucky, he isn’t divorcing you.

I could tell that our conversation was going nowhere, so I hastily said goodbye, and continued with my walk, completely baffled. Why would he say that? He was a respected guy, but he acted like a jerk, in fact, he didn’t deserve any of my respect. He ought to go back to grade 1 and re-learn Good Manners and Right Conduct. I actually didn’t feel a need to respond to such a fool and totally uncalled for remarks even if they were meant to be a joke.

Moral lesson: It is a must that we should think first before we speak, sparing us a great deal of hurt to someone and a great deal of embarrassment to ourselves.

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Ahh, my darling Melanie. She is the daughter of my caretaker. I brought her two pink dresses and some bows which she wears every single day. Coincidentally, pink dress is her favorite. In the evening, she would ask her mom to wash the dress that she dirtied so she can wear it the following day.

One day, my husband, Melanie, and I went for a little walk on the beach. My husband was ahead of us and so I asked Melanie who was that guy in front of us. She blurted out, “si kano mo baga” (your amerikano). I thought it was funny.

When I took this picture, she wasn’t too happy because we were leaving and she was not coming. I learned from her mother that she cried hard all day. Poor girl.

She is a hardworking and fun lady. She works every single day. I tried doing her job for a day and it made me so darn tired all for a handful of fish…hehehe. My share was good enough for a meal though, which if translated to pesos, it amounted to php30. But, I developed blisters on my hands and sustained some sunburn. My husband warned me not to ever do it again because he was afraid that it might injure my working arm and shoulder. So, I watched them from the sideline from then on.

The boy holding the little girl doesn’t go to school because he has to take care of his siblings while his mother is working for a living. His mom does all kinds of odd job in order to survive. When I took this picture, these three kids were sitting on the beach watching their mom work. Sadly, their mother barely earns anything- sometimes only php30 a day and a handful of little fish.

I thought this boy is smart. He invented a fishing device that brings in result. It is called “Tora-Tora.” This “Tora-Tora” has plenty of fishing lines with hooks on it. He uses artificial bait made out of cloth. He walks up and down trolling his “Tora-Tora,” which floats in the water like little boat. Very clever invention, I thought. I would watch him intently from the water where I was swimming. When he passed by me, he would pull the lines closer to the shore so it would not tangle with me.

Sometimes, he brought in three medium-sized fish at a time. I was so fascinated at what he was doing that me approach him and ask question. “How many fishing lines do you have in your Tora-Tora,” I asked. He said, he purposely didn’t count them for good luck. It makes sense.

That same day, I asked my nephew if he would be interested in catching fish using Tora-Tora and I would have someone make one for him. He said he would. The first day he went out fishing, he caught about nine little fish. I was so excited that I even volunteered to clean the fish for dinner. We fried those little fish and they were so delicious. Even my husband preferred them over the bigger fish.

So, if they don’t have anything for dinner, all my nephew has to do is go out and troll up and down the beach.

Vinyl was recently crowned the Queen of our town, Bato, during the town fiesta 2008. Her very first project that she joined in was the Tree Planting Expedition. We planted about 100 mahogany trees in the mountains to help retain the water from running off fast. You see, our barrio, neighboring barrios, and sometimes the town of Bato have relied on this spring water for drinking for so many years -even before I was born. This spring water is the best water I have ever tasted-so pure and refreshing. The past years though, people have noticed that our source of water has diminished significantly during hot summer months and we are afraid that it would dry up eventually if we don’t do something. Thus, the Tree Planting was organized for this reason.

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Mayon Volcano hovers above the bustling city of Legaspi in the province of Albay in the bikol region. Catanduanes is one of the provinces that comprises the bikol region. It is separated from the region by the Pacific ocean. To get to Catanduanes, one has to travel by a ferry boat from Albay to Virac and lasts about 3 hours or one can go the easy way–by plane, which takes about 45 minutes from Manila to Virac. (just to kind of give you an idea of the distance between Catanduanes and Albay.)

Anyway, the view you are seeing is a rare site from Batalay beach. Usually, thick clouds loom over the horizon and hide this magnificent view. But, it was quite a bit noticeable on a clear day like when I took these pictures. It was such a beautiful site that I kept staring at it while it lasted. To take these pictures, I had to use the long lens.

Mayon is famous among locals and foreign tourists for its near perfect cone-shaped despite the many eruptions that have happened in the past. It has a base 80 miles in circumference and is about 8,000 feet tall.

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We spent a couple of days in Puraran to get away from Habagat (south monsoon wind) in Batalay brought by typhoon Frank. The wind gave me headache and messy hair all day.

the daughter of our caretaker. i gave that bag to her mother but she immediately claimed it as hers and carried it all over the beach.

my two favorite people

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She was not expected to win. She is the “hampas lupa” as what the parents of the affluent and the highly favored contestant described her. They were right! An hour before the competition, 19 year-old Vinyl wasn’t quite ready. She hadn’t found the accessories that would embellish her outfit. They were searching hard here and there and suddenly they spotted me in the crowd. Good thing, my sister-in-law reminded me to take my jewelry to the event just in case she needed them. Fortunately, the necklace and the bracelet went well with her evening gown, and her costume respectively. I brought those jewelry actually as pasalubong or give aways but I had no particular persons in mind to give them to. God surely does have a way of putting things together at the right time, doesn’t He?

I came just for the fun of it with my camera in tow. Once again, it was yet another blessing for her because there was hardly anyone taking pictures of her. She is the “hampas lupa” or the destitute, you know. Her family can’t afford a camera or anything of that sort. To make up for her deprivation, I took tons of pictures of her from a distance because I only bought the cheapest ticket thinking that I may not like the show and head home early. No problem with the distance because I had the long lens with me.

But, as the night progressed, the pageant became interesting and stimulating. Our own Vinylwalked off the platform and sashayed the night away with ease and confidence. Not only that, she seemed to be the only one who answered every question intelligently in perfect English. She eventually enamored the audience- with increasing applause each time she nailed the question. The “hampas lupa” had what it took to win and she did it! She won!

To add drama to this story, our baranggay captain visited me early in the morning after the pageant in my hut soliciting money for the queen’s gown to be worn at the parade. I said, ” she is now the queen of Bato, the town of Bato should provide for it.” I am sure they made quite a bit of money from the pageant’s paid admission. The entrance fee ranged from 20 pesos to 300 pesos and the house was packed. There should be enough money to rent a gown for the queen of Bato, right? Where else would they allocate the proceeds of the event????

Anyway, after I made my point, I relented and handed the captain php1,000 so, at least, the queen would look decent at the parade. To rent a white gown, they needed to come up with php800, so there was enough money even to cover for the transportation.

This costume made out of abaca paper was sewn together by the queen’s mother including the necklace and earrings. The bracelet was the one I lent her.

Didn’t the necklace fit perfectly with her gown? How did I know she would be wearing navy blue gown?

First runner up went to Jenelyn Bonao of Bato ilawod, on the far left. Second runner up went to Christina Montano of Bato libod, 3rd runner up went to Jenelyn Temena of Sibacungan, and 4th runner up went to Marivic Tubalinal of San Roque.

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Hello everyone, I am back acclimatizing from a trip to the Philippines. Had a great time despite of the typhoon that hit the Philippines while vacationing. Earlier forecast said that it would hit Catanduanes by early morning of June 21st and we were staying in a hut just 15 meters away from the water. For some reasons, even if it was signal #3 already, I wasn’t scared and didn’t even think of leaving the area. People were typhoon proofing their houses already while I didn’t seem to feel the urgency to vacate the area. Fortunately, the typhoon suddenly changed its path and spared our place once again - hallelujah! Thanks Elaine, Pat, and Patty (my SIL) for the thought and concern. I appreciate it so much.

Anyway, the pictures above are of the boat named after me. My husband wanted the other end of the boat squared off so he could utilize his outboard motor that he shipped from the US two years ago so he doesn’t have to inhale the fumes if a regular diesel-in-board motor is used. Big mistake! When he tested the boat for a ride, water started splashing up from the stern and eventually got inside the boat. Which means the boat is not safe to take to the rough water but perfectly fine for a pleasure ride in a steady water around the bay. That is how good Bella is for now- just for rowing in the shallow water of the lagoon. That proves that I am indeed chicken in the water.

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In keeping with our CNA Christmas tradition, Rus, our hardworking secretary, traveled to Catanduanes on December 22nd to take charge of the annual Christmas party for our combined CESP (elementary and high school) and CSP (college) 34 scholars. To each child, she handed out a php400 gift certificate from Century Mall in Virac. Also, we served simple food consisting of spaghetti, fried chicken, cup cakes, and juice. To spice up the festivities, we gave each of the scholars a chance to showcase their hidden talents, that is, for those who came prepared. Indeed, some of the scholars (from Pandan town, to be specific) came geared up displaying their talents to a crowd of about of 60 people. Way to go Pandan!

In a nutshell, the Christmas party was a success due to the efforts and diligence of our secretary who orchestrated the whole proceedings to make all these possible with help and support, of course, from our volunteers and one of them was prof Gerry who, by the way, took the pictures below. Thanks sir Gerry!

Rus handing out allowance to the scholar.

Our college scholars all in their sophomore years.

Our elementary and high school scholars at the dinner table.

Some of these girls left their homes in the wee hours of the morning and traveled several hours to attend this party.They came from the northern part of Catanduanes, a place I have never set foot in.

A scholar from Pandan showcasing her talent - declamation. Wow!

Pandadanon scholars in their coordinated outfit , once again, entertaining the crowd with their dancing prowess.Clap! Clap!

Misc: My husband kept asking me if the girl he is sponsoring made it to the party. I was told by my cousin that my husband’s little girl was the only one who didn’t make it due to a mix up of the venue. You see, we had a last minute change of venue, and I suppose she was the only one who didn’t receive the updates (no cell phone, I presume) or who didn’t seek the right person in Virac. Now, I don’t have the heart to tell my husband about this unless he goes to my blog, but he rarely ever does.

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The winners of the recent baranggay election in our village held a blow-out party in my little beach. It looks like half of the village attended the event. It doesn’t take much to please these people. Simple food such as rice and fish and veggies suit them well. It is because that’s all they can afford. They live on a day to day basis.

But, look at how happy these kids are.

My husband is amazed at how much rice they can eat. I told him that is how people survive in the province by filling up on what they have most and less on other things. Somehow, they pull through. I am a living example. But now, I can only eat a small portion of what is considered a regular serving for them.

It looks like they run out of ulam.

Happy and well-fed.

The boy wearing a blue shirt is my nephew, who lives with his parents in this place to care for the property. He must have been tired of ocean water, reason why he is the only one who is dry.

Even the grow-ups join the craze.

The little girl on the right has quite a resemblance of myself when I was her age.

Despite of the black sand, this place is our favorite because the water is nice and calm and doesn’t have huge rocks to hurt our feet. It doesn’t have the waves crashing against the shore. Also, this place seems to be gaining land as opposed to the other place in the northern part of Catanduanes which is being swallowed by the seawater at the rate of 3 millimeters a year. Quite an alarming phenomenon! In fact, they already lost a street, 12 houses, and now building their seawall as the first two seawalls had been gorged by the ocean already. I hope there is something that can be done to save this town from being wiped out in the map. You can read all about it here.

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my husband said that this shack is so ugly that it is almost pretty. oh by the way, that shack was mine but was recently renovated.

how can the guy sleep on the top and not fall off?

it is just me posing for my husband.

poor but happy and not a trace of fat in their body.

the prolific fishing village in Baras, Catanduanes.

a typical probinsiyana little girl in Catanduanes. i promised to send this picture to her by mail but i thought i would personally hand a framed 4 by 6 picture to her when i take my vacation again. she should be tickled pink.

beautiful rice terraces in San Miguel, Baras, Catanduanes where the little girl above resides.

Dororian falls located in Dororian, Gigmoto, Catanduanes.

my SIL carried me piggy back to the other side to avail of the spring water. i was trying to keep my upper body dry because i had a cold but i fell off anyway and got all wet, geeeessssh!

Virac market.

Mother and son relaxing on the beach ( my SIL and nephew)

wouldn’t it be nice if someone is kind enough to help this smart cute little girl out of poverty by supporting her through school?

if only her eyes are open, this photo would have been worth framing too.

Beautiful Puraran beach.

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I got this amazing picture from the site of Ces, (my one and only inaanak sa kasal)
I thought I would post this picture here for a laugh and a snort. I thought it is a cute and unusual rock formation. And this can only be found in my native land, Catanduanes.

Doesn’t she take good pictures? I am not even at par with her and I don’t think I will even come close. Ces, sorry, I didn’t ask permission but I made sure I gave you credit.

Could the picture above be a whale snorting water?

Is that a plant growing at the tip of the rock?

Equally interesting photo is this one taken by my husband in Chiricahua mountains, Arizona. The balancing rock in the center of the photograph is as big as a house. He ended up framing this picture and now sits in our living room.

Balancing Rock.

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