Re-upholstery

I'm taking a shot at a new hobby, upholstering. 'got the fabric and all, now watch this chair get a facelift.

It's getting to be a big production. I hopped on the bus this morning to get to Corona to buy the high density foam for the chair padding. Fabric City on Northern Blvd. is an upholsterer's heaven, I went crazy. The store owner referred me also to an upholsterer a few blocks away in case I want to have it done by them, but I said I'll do it myself. I walked about eight blocks to see what this place had to offer, checked out their work and the prices. For my next project, the rocking chair of Inang, I think they are too pricey, labor only.

A section of Queens I have not really explored, I found Corona and East Elmhurst very diverse. Many Hispanics, lots of little stores, nice, clean multi-family homes and friendly people.A toothless little old lady crossing the street greeted me with with a lively "Buenas dias, Senorita" and I found that so sweet and refreshing. How did she know I'm a senorita? Asking for directions, I wrestled with my lousy Spanish but managed to get understood.

Heading back I had no clue what bus to take. I spotted the elevated train from a distance, walked towards that area and took the #7 towards Elmhurst to get my hair cut. I tell you, it was like travelling the two continents. By the time I got there, my tummy was grumbling, I had to get something to eat at the Chinese smorgasbord place. Yummy for $3.00, pansit and a can of coke!

My feet were killing me when I got to my front door. Who said walking is good for your health? Why walk then? Parking space is in short supply in that neck of the woods. Tonight I'll tackle this project, not exactly my trade but I'm eager to take the challenge. Looks easy to do, but wait till I get to the stretching of the fabric part and tucking in and all.

Wish me luck. Lots of it.

Boeing- Boeing

Greetings from yellow and red M&Ms of Broadway.
I just saw the play Boeing-Boeing.
Go see it; it's hilarious, pure comedy!

Rorschach and the old man

10:00 a.m. and there was no line at the bank today. What kept me was an interesting conversation I struck up with an elderly couple.

An old man in his 80's walked in and announced with arms outstretched, "Who wants me?", There were four tellers all waiting for a customer and we all giggled. The wife cheerfully marched along with him to the counter. The man was wearing a black shirt with a colorful logo of bright yellows, black, orange and neon green streaks, and a pair of khaki bermuda shorts, trendy I thought!

I couldn't figure out the unstructured design so I asked,

"What's the logo? ".
He had a big smile for me and asked,

"What do you see in it?".
"A frog's head with huge eyes, and the body of a bear", I responded innocently.

"Aha!", he exclaimed.

"There you go. There are no bad or good answers.

It's Rorschach. Do you know what that is?"

I humbly said,

"Yes, I do. But sir, that's not an inkblot. It's more like an abstract artwork."

And the wife smiled, they sat me down and I listened to his whole dissertation about the controversial Rorschach test. The witty old man was kidding, of course, about the logo. It was really a piece of artwork. The lesson is that, life abounds in the young and old. Growing old to the 80's doesn't have to be boring or the beginning of an end. The wife said they are also conservationists, active members of The Nature Conservancy and she proudly wears the shirt too. What an interesting couple - upbeat, full of life and ready to share their experience in life.

We all walked out together and he just couldn't help it and said," It's Nike. Just do it. That slogan may work for someone else but me". He was sharp, very funny and must have been a psychologist in his younger times. The chance encounter with this couple was a powerful antidote to my earlier experience at the dentist. It's so uplifting to be around people like them, wipes out the fear of aging in a way.

The old man and his wife. What do you see? I saw a couple growing old gracefully.

Inang 101 part 2

( Click on picture to enlarge image)

We are blessed to have Fr. Andriusz with us in a quiet celebration of Inang's 101st birthday. Inang was so happy, she hardly took a nap before our friends came. Noris had to force her to take a quick one while I picked up Rose. The blessing and communion given by Fr. Andriusz was the highlight of Inang's celebration. He even provided some entertainment by playing some classical pieces - what beautiful sounds! He was brought to our home by Noris' sister, Esperanza who is his Spanish language mentor.

We were also joined by my dear friend Rose, Tita Lumen, Chong and later on Nana (Ya) and Kuwaku who brought a beautiful rose flower arrangement. Inang took care of Nana when she was three months old and now she's 25 and almost finished with nursing school. They are great kids and Inang loves them dearly. I couldn't ask for a better neighbor than Doris, their mom.

Greetings from family and friends including my good friend Winnie kept the phone busy. More flowers came. Except for the crabs and the meatballs Rose cooked and Noris' flan everything else was store bought, but Inang didn't mind. She was busy being happy. She loves having friends and family around.

We served the family favorites, ube and makapuno ice cream, with Noris' leche flan and you should've seen us all with purple lips and tongue. Fr. Andriusz got a kick out of that. He is from Poland and I guess they don't have purple desserts over there. He loved the flavors.

On Saturday, family and close friends will join us in a small celebration. Who could ask for anything more? We love you Inang. Happy 101!

Inang 101

She's 101! Happy birthday Inang. At 5:00 a.m. I greeted her a happy birthday; by then she's been up for at least half an hour already reading her prayers. First thing she says, "We don't have milk for your coffee". I had to walk to Seven Eleven at the crack of dawn to buy it.

She's gotten a few calls already and for lunch we're expecting Rose, Esperanza and her priest friend to give Inang blessing.

Family and friends will join her for lunch on Saturday at the old Fortuna.

More later.

Family tidbits

Hi Family,
Your cousin June (aka Burabog) called from Vancouver - says hello to everyone. We had a very long talk; he's inviting us to visit, house almost finished. I must've twisted his arm - I asked him what's he gonna do with seven bedrooms. Julius has his own place with his girlfriend, Alan lives at home. Imagine that - June building his own house? What a big leap from when you guys were kids! Proud of 'ya June. How about we take a trip, all of us with Lola to Vancouver? And I suggest go Dutch!!

From LA, Genny writes,"The one hour drive to school is worth every drop of gas! I didn't realize how much I miss school atmosphere."

Genn, it's good to know you're reading Marian Williamson's A Return To Love. I like your quote "Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. ......And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Good choice Genn.

It's 69 degrees in New York! See you later
Auntie

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival

Dog day in August. Or at least that's how the day started.
Dragon boats are racing today for the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival.

Just before noon, Chong and I walked to Meadow Lake to watch the races. We barely got there when dark rain clouds filled the skies and what was a hot, humid morning swiftly turned into a cold and clammy afternoon. A reminder of the Colorado mountains weather, where in a matter of 5 minutes sun could change to rain, sleet and snow. Tents which serve as the shelters or stations for the teams could be seen from a distance as we walked to the park.

Catchy team names such as "Dragonflies" and slogans such as "Either Oar" , "Raw, Raw" and colorful uniforms caught my attention. We blended in well with the crowd; I guess we could pass for Chinese women from Hong Kong. Soon we'll find out that we got there in time for their lunch break and that the next race won't be until 1:00 pm. Rats!

While we were browsing around the other side of the park for other activities, it started to drizzle, so we headed back and took shelter under a tree, sharing it with few other people. It seemed like forever trying to wait it out in the cold rain, me in my white shirt and white shorts, and open toes sandals... brrr! Hungry, I was tempted to snatch the dumpling and sticky rice a boy was trying to unwrap. So much food but not for free and not a penny in our pockets. How sad.

Came 1:00 pm, thunder and flashes of lightning threatened the scheduled race. We figured there'll be a rain delay because of the lightning so we headed back home. Boy, were we in big trouble! We were caught in torrential downpour, and I mean heavy like the ones we used to experience back home in the Philippines. Thunder and lightning in the middle of the park made the walk home even hairier. Two thirds down the way we stopped under a huge tree, our umbrellas didn't serve the purpose in the heavy rain. After twenty minutes under the tree we decided to make a run for it. Drenched, cold, hungry and scared, we ran to the next tree, and the next and moved on until we got close to home. Chong noticed lots of mosquitoes were clinging on to my wet shirt. Those thirsty blood suckers! There was some flash flooding as we approached the hill. She would calm me down by counting the seconds between the lightning strike and the rumbling thunder and say, "Don't worry that's 3 miles away". I must've called all the Saints in heaven.

Nature really did play a sick joke on us. We got to the house and the rain suddenly stopped. Soon after, the sun shone! But at least we got home not charred by any lightning strike, as I was afraid it might happen. I've always been so scared of the lightning since I was a kid. I used to hide inside the rolled mat (banig) in my room during those monsoon months with heavy thunderstorms in the province.

Lunch or is it dinner already, was waiting. My mother, towel in one hand and Mel watching his poor aunt, with clothes dripping and stuck to her skin, lips, fingers and toes turned blue and looking hungry as a dog. Anyway, the day ended great with the boys, Mel and Ped visiting their Lola before her birthday. Inang prepared ginisang mongo, Ped brought some steaks which Mel cooked, Chong prepared frappucino, mashed potatoes and roasted peppers and we all sat and talked and dined. Swell! That made up for all that mess Chong and I got ourselves into.

As if to tease me, as soon as the boys left and I've cleared the dishes and straightened the kitchen, I heard the Dragon Boat drums going; it was still light and we missed it. I'm not going back there tomorrow. No pictures taken, except that of a mother and baby turtle in the murky lake waters and I didn't even get to the arts & crafts tents where they were giving away origami paper boats. Maybe I'll have better luck next year.