Two days before we flew back to Manila, I rounded up my nieces, nephews, brothers, in-laws, friends, and tourist in my hut for a cook-out, courtesy of my Japanese friend, E. Arigatu, my friend. My heart swelled with love and joy seeing my relatives around, especially those who I rarely see.


My relatives and I bumming around in front of my humble abode.

The kids swarmed into the table like bees. Good way of getting rid of the food.

My nieces and nephews playing scrabble. How nice of them to gather at a corner and be quiet for a change. Often times, I heard shrieking, crying, and lots of laughing.

Now, that explains why I gained some weight. I ate, slept, ate, and slept.

This is my dirty kitchen where most of the cooking preparations were done. It was so much fun and comfortable being out here.

Shown in the picture is my caretaker getting ready with the fire for barbecuing.

My brother and sister-in-law chopping and marinating the meat. They fixed “Humba”, an ethnic filipino recipe and one of my favorite province dishes.