The other day my father’s eldest brother and his wife went back to Manila after attending our aunt’s wake and burial. We invited them for dinner the night before their departure it almost didn’t happened since my older aunt also scheduled a dinner to their house but since it was figured a bit earlier they prepared lunch instead.

[Laszaji grilled chicken in an ice cream plastic container]

My father offered them a viand for their dinner in the ferry since there’s a piece of chicken in our fridge so my sister fried the piece of chicken the next day and let it cool down in our table, I put food cover in them but without my knowing the stray cat I adopted took one piece of chicken, which mean there is only three pieces left for two persons which doesn’t look good at all and since there is still one hour and half left before my uncle and his wife go to the port I have asked my mother and sister to just buy some cooked chicken at Laszaji grill their grilled chicken thighs was the best in town.  I have thought they would take long but they arrived home earlier than expected, the chickens were still on stick and wrap in banana leaves but since they will be brought as packed dinner we moved them in a plastic container were two of them will fit, a sole chicken without rice and drinks cost ₱60 per piece.

It is a tradition/custom in the Philippines to eat lunch in someone else house during fiesta, it was only the time that someone else house is open for visitors without needing an invitation. After watching the ground demonstration in school ground instead of going to my father’s contractor we went to Laszaji grill.

Laszaji was a newly opened grill house in town and since it opened they already catered many “chicken inasal” lovers in Romblon. When we arrived inside we sit in the table a bit but there was no food server coming to our table so we concluded we have to order at the counter so we did. They have a variety of menu to order from chicken to fried pork, vegetable dishes. desserts and etc but since Laszaji is well know for their mouth watering “chicken inasal” we ordered four orders of chicken inasal with bottomless ice tea and unlimited rice for ₱89 each and a plate of chopsuey.

It is a customary in any restaurant to a serve drink first before the main dish but that was not the case when we had our order, the chicken arrived first in our table, it was served late actually since we’ve waited for more than 15 minutes before it was served in our table maybe because there was plenty of people at that moment since it was town fiesta and it’s lunch time. What’s disappointing was I have already finished my food but there was no drinks coming yet and it turns out there was no clean glass to use. Since it was unlimited rice we asked for another servings, the chopsuey wasn’t served yet at that time but the drinks finally arrived in glasses, chopsuey was only served the second time we have asked for another servings of rice and since we almost choked from thirst the drinks didn’t last so we have to asked for refill since we’ve seen that they personally refill the glasses of our neighbor table instead of giving a pitcher of drinks for tables with bottomless drinks.

Travelling and eating at different places I have learned to leave something in the table for the server, according to J’s standard if the service is slow it doesn’t deserve any but since it’s town fiesta and the food servers are probably dead tired from walking in and out the kitchen I did. Actually, my parent’s at first doesn’t agreed with it since they both work in a restaurant on their younger years and they knew when a food server deserve something. The food server who was busy cleaning the table behind us was very apologetic of the poor service when my mother handed something to him, it was my mother’s idea to hand it over to him if I do insists on leaving something in the table since he was the one who frequently served in our table, she thought if we just leave it on the table somebody else would take it. LOL

Laszaji grill won’t disappoint you when it comes to their food, they’re one of the best in town and their food are in very affordable prices too. Maybe if you went on a different day without a town affair where almost everybody are out of their comfort zone, the service will be different since it won’t be so freaking busy. The grill was made of bamboo and pretty ventilated with wall fans so eating during warmer days won’t be a problem. Laszaji grill also offered catering service on birthdays and any other occasions for affordable rate just contact them at –

LASZAJI GRILL
Gen. Luna St. Cor. Rosales St. Odiongan, Romblon
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/laszajigrill
Mobile No. – 0929 853 2973

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. Above written post was my own personal experience and might be different from yours.

Yesterday was the last Sunday of the month and my morning doesn’t started right, I had a small fight with my sister because I didn’t like the way she speak towards me after I insists of fetching water so I could watered the plants early so I could prepare for church.

Anyway, despite my early misunderstanding with my younger sister I still went to church to asked for enlightenment and forgiveness, to asked God to remove the anger in my heart. Honestly, lately I have noticed that I tend to collect anger in my heart and I wasn’t the same person anymore who can’t be angry, well I guess I have changed a lot for the past few months I became strong emotionally.

There were three speakers in the pulpit yesterday, two of them are young people who went to Kasapulanan and then Pastor E, the scriptural topic was based on the topic in the Kasapulanan which is “Our Legacy Getting Right in a Culture that Has Gone Wrong” derived from scriptural verses of 1 Timothy 1: 1-6 and Daniel 3: 16-18.  The first young speaker talks about the end time (Revelation 5:5 and Revelation 1:3) as well as the wrong culture of many Christians today by going to church wearing improper clothes.

[Photo courtesy of  Lynn Babcock/pinterest.com]

The second young speaker who is a lot better than the first speaker talked about the Gospel and what Gospel shows, she firstly shared that Gospel is word of God (2 Timothy 3:16), it was a strong force against bad and even questioned how other people go to church but doesn’t changed their attitude.

Anyway, second Gospel is the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:12 and 1 Timothy 4:16) and lastly the culture, it was said as time passes culture changes, during biblical time church officers were appointed and not elected (Acts 1: 12-26 and Genesis 14:20). Pastor E then elaborate and speak a little about the topic that was spoken by the first two young speakers, and says that in Daniel 3: 16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the three people that were mentioned in these verses have three beautiful things in their life they have a strong answer, strong faith and principle.

Nothing much happening over here after my aunt’s burial, the water supply is becoming more scarce and the water pumps are drying. The nearby water station can’t supply enough water anymore to their customers so some people are running towards us to buy drinking water, my mother didn’t stop getting purified water in town because we use it for drinking too.

The printer I have bought last year for my family was broken, the paper suddenly jammed and it stopped printing after it prints more than one hundred pieces of program for clan reunion. My family brought it to the repair shop but was told that the printer has 50% chance to be repaired, the repair man could open it and try to fix but we have to pay ₱500 either it is fix or not for his labor so my mother brought home the printer unfix. The repairman suspected that the sensor was broken and if a sensor was need to changed he advised  my family just to buy a new printer because the broken part will cost a brand new printer, he also added that Brother printers are good but they sucks in some aspects, most of the Brother printer brought in his shop has the same issue.

We accept program making and printing and the program for the grand reunion was the first one this year, it wasn’t that profitable but a little something is better than nothing.  We earned ₱1,000 for this transaction but I didn’t get hold any of it since we have bills to pay, it was summer time and the fields are dry so my father can’t plant rice grains in the small field he is minding.

So today, our one source of income at home is dead and it will only resume when we buy a new printer. I have told my family that I can’t shoulder the cost of a new printer again since I have bought the previous one, it is going to be their turn to buy a new one this time which I think is just fair since they’re the one who collect the earnings from printing and program making.

A week ago was been a busy week for all of us, we didn’t have a proper sleep for nine days because of my aunt’s funeral wake. We stayed until early in the morning playing bingo with some relatives, we only attend the vigil service for a night or two since it started early and we are still at home preparing for dinner and feeding the pets, so we usually go at the wake after the prayer service. I didn’t view my aunt’s coffin until the last night of wake because it feels like she was still alive.

The other day was her burial before heading to the cemetery there was a short service at the church, we prepared short photo video, photos of our aunt when she was still alive and then there was a committal service in the cemetery before her coffin was put in the ground.

The Aratilis or Saresa is part of my childhood, I climbed this tree many times like how many times I climbed a guava or mango tree growing up. The aratiles or Muntingia Calabura is a flowering plant that grows in a few parts of the world including Mexico and Philippines, it was commonly called Jamaica cherry,  Panama Berry, Bajelly tree and other alternative names.

The Aratilis is the most favorite wild fruit by kids in the Philippines since they just grow anywhere without someone planting them. When I was still a kid I always go to the house across my grandmother’s house because they have an aratilis tree in their yard then I think my late grandfather observes my liking to the fruit that he replanted aratilis tree in our backyard but sad to say I wasn’t able to climb it since we went home and live to my father’s hometown where I found an aratilis tree to climb.

Today, my cousin’s kids and their playmates were also like me who loves to climb the aratilis tree that surprisingly grow along the path in the field. The other day while letting our dog wander in the field I asked my sister to pick aratilis but she left ahead of me since she has work to do, I was amazed that there was a lot of ripe aratilis in the tree which is not normal because most of the time the tree has no red fruit since the kids love to pick them as well. While jumping and trying to reach the ripe aratilis my older cousin’s toddler daughter came and extend her right arm and says “be” she was asking for the fruit I’ve picked. I was shocked the way she asked for the fruit, she didn’t even asked if she can have some she just want to took it from me like she asked me to picked them for her so I told her to climb and get her own fruit but I have changed my mind thinking she’ll going to cry so I handed the aratilis I have in my hand and by looking up in the tree I found more up top so I decided to climb the tree and while at top I have asked her to pin point the red ones for me and informed her that I will not give the fruits right away because I have to take photos of them first and she willingly agreed.

Browsing online I have found that aratilis aren’t not just merely a wild fruit that grew anywhere because it has medicinal usage, in traditional medicine, its leaves can be used as an antiseptic or antipruritic and to treat abdominal cramps while another study claimed that aratilis leaves possess antinociceptive (reducing sensitivity to pain), anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and antipruritic properties, justifying the folkloric medicinal use.

Today, the service was different, Pastor E did the Sunday school service for youth and adult since the women were the one in-charge this Sunday to celebrate World Day of Prayer.

World Day of Prayer is takes place internationally on the first Friday of March every year but it was fine to celebrate on different Sunday if it isn’t possible on first Sunday and the host country for WDP 2016 is Cuba with the theme, prepared by the women, is “Receive children, receive me” with a focus on children. The scripture readings for the service are Isaiah 11:1-10 and Mark 10:13-16. The Bible study texts are Mark 10:13-16 and Luke 19:1-10.

The program started by the leader reading about a short background about Cuba,  the leader was my older cousin and it was a heartbreaking start since she was crying and sobbing because my aunt’s eternal reposed was brought home a moment before the proper service started, the church was just in the neighborhood so they saw it when the funeral parlor came. After a short introduction about cuba,  Cuba’s national flower “butterfly jasmine” was introduced and then the service runs according to a program written by World Day of Prayer Committee of Cuba.

The church was decorated in Cuban theme, there were different colors of paper butterflies adorned the pulpit. It was said that they should be look like butterfly jasmine but they end up looking like butterflies.

World Day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement led by Christian women who welcome you to join in prayer and action for peace and justice.

Today was a sad day in our clan and neighborhood. It was early in the morning when we’ve heard our relatives, shouting and running towards our other relative’s house. Our second elder aunt who was confined in the hospital because of high sugar level a few weeks ago needs to be immediately rush in the hospital since she unexpectedly vomited blood in the comfort room. It was told that two of our cousin visited in their house since our older cousin came home from the city and while they are talking happily she went to pee and then it happened.

We didn’t run to their house since there were already a lot of people who went there, we are not going to be a big help too and will only occupy space and then seeing blood make us nervous and we might lose consciousness before the patient.

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay/pexels.com]

Within less than thirty minutes a news came that our aunt passed away in the hospital, they tried to revive her but she was already responsive. The doctors says the lump on her lungs exploded, an older cousin also says that the lump on her back neck exploded as well.  A different doctor gave a diagnosis a week ago that there’s water in her lungs and one of her lungs was already half in measure, as I look online  I found out that a condition in which the lungs fill with fluid is called Pulmonary Edema and when this occurs, the body struggles to get enough oxygen.

The rumors circulating our aunt has lung cancer but I don’t think it was really lung cancer since she  doesn’t smoke or drink liquor and she was not properly diagnosed yet, before she died they were set to go to the city to have her check-up and CT scan but it didn’t happened anymore because she had an attacked suddenly that lead to her death.

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay/pexels.com]

Anyway, according to mayoclinic.org in most cases, heart problems cause pulmonary edema. But fluid can accumulate for other reasons, including pneumonia, exposure to certain toxins and medications, trauma to the chest wall, and exercising or living at high elevations but based on my research my aunt maybe has acute pneumonia because according to American Lung Association when the germs that cause pneumonia reach your lungs, the lungs’ air sacs (alveoli) become inflamed and fill up with fluid and pus, maybe that’s the lump that they saw on her x-ray results. This causes the symptoms of pneumonia, such as a cough, fever, chills, and trouble breathing. When you have pneumonia, oxygen has trouble reaching your blood.

Odiongan celebrated town fiesta every 5th of April but the celebration opened on the evening  of April 1st through a color run in the public plaza, a night inspired by light followed by a beach party featuring a reggae singer “Kokoi Baldo” then on the 2nd of April there was Agency Night sponsored by Romblon State University and Barangay Night on the next night sponsored by barangay associations. On April 4th a fluvial parade and oar boat racing in the town shoreline and grand coronation of Ms. Odiongan on the evening at Odiongan Public Plaza.

Kanidugan Festival is the highlight of Odiongan fiesta celebration, it was been a decade ago since it was first opened. When we went to town the parade and street dancing was already starting and the intersection going to the public market was already blocked with vehicles and people so we returned and use the other route but it was also blocked so went the other way and we are able to find a good place where we can see the street dancing but on my disappointment my camera didn’t cooperate with me, it won’t focus and there was too much light in the photos.

After the parade and street dancing the Kanidugan competition follows at OSCES grounds. It was a very hot day but there was a lot of people. It was a shame but many Odionganons left their manners at home that day, people were redundantly told to sit and not to leave their grounds so other people at the back can see but many didn’t listen so as expected everybody swarmed upfront and of course I wouldn’t just remain seated in the ground seeing different shape of legs and butts so I went nearer as well so I could take better photos.

Well, I wasn’t able to find a good spot but I can’t go back since a lot of people swarmed up in our back, it was very discomforting, it feels like my ear drums will pop out and when the current performers ends I left to find my companions and since most people left out of disappointment, the ground became a bit spacious and my companions were able to find a good spot beside the stage ground, I took a bit of photos and asked them to go home, the last tribe performing was very lame anyway, their sounds wasn’t good.

I think the people in San Agustin, Romblon during their festival and ground demonstration was more disciplined except from one teacher who also left her manners at home that day.

The fluvial parade at the sea or biniray was religiously done in the capital town of Romblon celebrating the devotion of the people to their religious beliefs but in recent years biniray was also done in the island of Odiongan although it wasn’t so fabulous like how it was celebrated during every second week of January in the capital town.

A day before the town fiesta of Odiongan there is a special celebration in the town shoreline aside from the fluvial parade of boats adorned with coconut leaves there is also a boat race.  A year ago they held Paraw Regatta a popular annual festival in the province of Iloilo where the main event is a sailboat race in Iloilo Strait that features the Paraw, a Visayan double outrigger sail boat. It is dubbed as the oldest traditional craft event in Asia and the largest sailing event in the Philippines but this year in Odiongan they held oar boat racing which was joined by more than fifteen boatmen, it was made possible under the management of DepED teachers in town.

Well, the boat race this year wasn’t very colorful like a year ago since the boats were not adorned with colorful sailboats. The boat race was themed “Bugsayan” since the participants will race using “bugsay” a local dialect for oar or paddle.

Many Odionganons were too excited that they started running in the shoreline when the racers are going ashore so dunno how the management find the winner when many people blocked the shoreline already, wasn’t able to take photos of the boatmen going ashore since my view was blocked with people.