A Revisit to Manila

Nice to be back in LA and regain independence! But sad that the tasks/business I needed to do in Manila didn't get finished because of limited time wasted in heavy traffic and red tape. Had even to cancel reunion w/ dear old friends and UST Philet classmates. Thankful to have bonded, though, with my daughter Lia and her family, with my brothers and their families, and met with my beloved nieces, Mel and Maritel I have not seen for some 40 or more years. (Had a happy time reminiscing their wonderful childhood life with their Lolo, my father.) Felt relieved to see my granddaughter Monica acclimatized to the Filipino environment though her mother and I would prefer her living closer by.

Finally got two copies of Gemino H. Abad's UPON OUR OWN GROUND, a collection of short stories, where Wilfrido's "Rice Wine" and "Cadena de Amor" are included. Can't understand, though, why Jimmy had to pay for the copies. Aren't authors entitled to complimentary copies, at least? Afterall, in the Philippines, from what I heard from Alberto Florentino, authors are usually not paid royalties. (Anvil might be an exception.) Can't understand, too, why I was listed in the Acknowledgments as the "daughter of Wilfrido D. Nolledo." How did I become the daughter of my husband? lol. All in all, however, it's a neat collection of our outstanding writers in English who prove to the world the depth of the Filipino writer and his mastery of the English language developed as a literary craft. Kudos to Jimmy for putting together this collection of some of the best of our Philippine literature. Mabuhay!
Another of my regrets: not having been able to shop for pasalubong. But maybe, I'll be able to go to some Filipino Bakery somewhere here and buy some Filipino delicacies that can pass up as coming straight from the homeland. Isn't that what most returnees are doing? Ha, ha.
As is always my wont when I go to Manila, I opt to live as part of the masses crowding the metropolitan, braving the heat, the rain, eating at the Food Court where you don't know what kind of meat you're eating (or maybe, we just had the ill choice of food court. We went to see a piece of lot my husband and I bought eons ago and rode on a passenger jeepney that went around and around, it seemed, before finally reaching our destination. It is amazing that within five years since my last visit, houses of different kinds and sizes have sprung up like mushrooms around the area of our vacant, wild lot. The country is booming with population.