First Shipment

The first mini-Balikbayan box bound for Riom, France is leaving Rolla tomorrow.
In it are goodies consisting of pancit canton, pancit guisado and pancit malabon (all ramen style). Packets of nuts of different kinds, beef jerky,and his favorite candies. The SOS came in today via Skype. Please send MARAMING pancit canton - that was the request.
Nauma siguro itti bread, cheese and vegetable pies. He has not had his fill of rice and ulam for so long. If only the longganiza, tocino and tapa can be sent via priority mail together with the rice cooker.
On the other hand, he is starting to make friends. He rides a bike to go to church every Sunday. He takes the train to go to school every morning. He is starting to adapt.
James is definitely growing up. Shown below is a picture of him with Kuya tinkering with their bikes.

The Sisons From Ontario, California

Iwrote a lot about Uncle Tony. He is the only living sibling of my father. He saw all of us grow up and he is still overseeing us as we grow old. He is Cecil's ninong.
She and Jim went to California to visit the Sison(s) from Ontario. A long awaited overdue reunion occurred. Zhivago was able to take some time off.


They all had dinner at a restaurant - unfortunately it is not Max's (my opinion only since Max's is my favorite hands down).The cousins got re-acquainted and it just seemed that there was just so much to update. There was no balking (bain-bain) or uneasiness. The cousins just hit it out right there and then - the Sison in them I am sure. Very BFF - Best Friends Forever.

The newest addition to the family blended in real well - Partana, wife of Apollo.



Here are the two sons of Uncle Tony & Auntie Flor - Zhivago and Apollo.



Another shot of the BFFs...

The Chinese Sison

He is for real - He is IT. The Real Chinese Sison.
He is Angel Abraham Y. Sison - An or Mokong. He is my brother Erich & Becky's only son. He just won 2nd place in a writing contest among all schools in Quezon City. That is a feat - not even his father can beat. We are all proud of him.
He indeed has a knack for writing. He is also a pianist ( mana sa tiya ). He inherited the piano at Project 8.
Some good genes just get passed along the inheritance line.
He celebrates his birthday on 9/11.

Au Revoir Rolla - Bonjour Riom

It has almost been two weeks now that James has left for France. We received one phone call from him informing us that he arrived safely and the new country he is in is just BEAUTIFUL.



I also got a Skype call from his host mother. James ia a fine young man - according to her. I should know better.
So far, everything is going well. The less phonecalls and emails we receive, the safer to assume he is in for a fun ride. I've probably sent eight emails and six of these were unanswered.
The laptop stays right beside me at night turned on with Skype running the whole time. He might call - I muttered under my breath. He might need something very urgent - I rationalize my action.
He left with our prayers and thoughts and all of the wishes of " have a good time and be safe". Our social butterfly has flown the coop.