Two Poles Apart...Two Peas In A Pod

Two different poles attract. That's how my parents were. They were two people with very different personalities yet they are so alike just like two peas in a pod. She is very meticulous and very precise. Agtimpla iti pinapaitan in exact measurements for the patis.

Papa on the other hand was very palsy walsy. Seldom would I find him serious; he was the "more or less" person. Paramannan na kenni mama itti linuto na ta narigat kano itti agtantiya ti timpla. Mama is the "save it for the rainy day" type while papa was "the rainy day is always here" spender. Two different personalities - yet they complement each other. They both fought for the same principles yet they also fought each other for the same principles. Each mirrored the other that both of them can easily predict how one would react or think as a situation would present itself. We run for solace (to avoid the ba-ot) and comfort (for an increase in allowance) to papa since the three of the children knew it will not be easy to cajole mama. You see, young as we were, we learned how to play our cards right.
Mama will be celebrating her 79th (yes - my mistake) birthday this 5th of November. She carried on a productive life in the absence of Papa. Naimas latta nga agluto itti pinapaitan just like the "other pea in the pod" would have it.

Patupat Making

Patupat is one of the delicacy that was so laborious to cook. When the pul-lot (matamis na bao) was not yet ready made, the manongs from the barrio would have to squeeze the juice from the sugarcane (unas) to produce the sweet syrup . Below is a picture taken at the "bantay". The bayanihan spirit was very alive for everybody was busy contributing their individual labor work to produce the patupat from scratch.



When finally enough sugar cane juice is gathered, this goes to a big "kawa" where a slow boiling process is started. The end product is the "sugar" part of the cane juice which would have a syrupy thick texture.
The manangs, on the other hand, have prepared the woven coconut leaves which will serve as the wrap for the patupat. The uncooked sweet rice (malagkit) is placed inside the made-coconut wrapper.


When The syrup has reached its desired consistency, the prepared sweet rice is dipped into the syrup to cook. End product is the patupat.

BA-OT

I mentioned that my father was a product of the Agno School System. I knew that papa would rather be with his "friendly buddies" idiay tindahan rather than be inside the classroom. Thus, he was constantly reprimanded by his teachers for skipping classes, missing assignments or just being a "sutil".

Heavens to betsys, Mr. Cabantac was one of his teachers. Mabaot no mabaot ni Berty no agluk-luko. Impulong ni papa ni Mr. Cabantac kenni tatay. Well, the strategy to get even with Mr. Cabantac was hatched. No ba-u-ten na ka mannen, agtulid-tulid ka Bertie ta agsangit ka itti -Matay akon- tulungan dak - insuro ni tatay kenni papa. The day did come - & lo and behold- papa did carry out the plan. Mr. Cabantac carried papa home to the laud house after the aborted "ba-ot session". Tatay deviously smiled while nanay was fuming mad: Dayta itti insur-surom ta anak mo.. The last sentence was always a familiar line among the Berto children - Cecil, Erich & I. Papa was our shield or armour to mama's wrath when we, the children were in trouble (more often than not I should say). Unfortunately, naba-ot kami amin once or twice in our lifetime. Uray saludsuden yo ni Mama.