Tag: Kalinga Apayao

Me & My Doppelgänger

Blogs Marag Philippines

My Doppleganger

Me & My Doppelgänger

 

Having seen this spooky effect photo of myself, taken by Peter while taking a walk in the park, it reminded me of a ghostly story when I was a young girl. As it is Halloween, I thought I would recount it here.  When I was twelve years old and living in the province of Marag, Luna, Kalinga-Apayao, Philippines I was told that I had a doppelgänger (spooky double).

It happened when we, my girl classmates, went to the town of Luna to attend a Girl Scouting jamboree.

We stayed at our teacher’s house in the town and as she was my cousin I was sort of given a relative preferential treatment.

All the other girls stayed downstairs and I slept in the bed upstairs.

It was a hot and humid night and it was hard to sleep because the restaurant nearby had a very noisy clientele.  Filipinos seem to sing even with the slightest provocation. LOL

Despite the uncomfortable temperature, I fell asleep all the same.  I was young then!!!

The next morning my schoolmates asked me who I was talking to outside last night? They said they saw me go out and was heard talking to someone.

This was so spooky! I told them that I did not go down after I went to bed. I would have been too scared to walk around in darkness. I never had a history of sleep walking and would have been noisy.

We were all rather spooked because they all saw me and yet I was sure I stayed in bed all night and my cousin/teacher Manang Tessie,  who was sleeping in the other bed near mine ( I was nearest the window), said she would have heard, woken up & seen  if I’d left my bed as I needed to climb over her bed to leave the room!

But my schoolmates maintained that they saw me.  Strange that!!!

Bunot, Polishing Wooden Floors – Filipino Way

Blogs Marag Philippines

Bunot, Polishing Wooden Floors – The Filipino Way

When we were in the Philippines in Dec & Jan, as a funny (and nostalgic) Christmas gift, Jean’s sister Malou gave her a packet of floor wax and a half coconut husk. They shared the family memory of them both when younger, cleaning the wooden living room floor in their farm house in Marag, Luna Kalinga-Apayao, Mt Province, Philippines.  Jean recounts that when cleaning and waxing the floor, Malou and her sometimes got into fights over who best cleaned & polished the floors. They used Johnson floor wax and laterly Star Wax. Once the wax was applied to the floor, they placed one foot on the husk and polished away!

Jean admitted being more of a ‘tom boy’ and not interested in cleaning that much, Malou was more meticulous. When they sometimes clashed over the respective quality of each of their floor cleaning, some rolling about on the floor with hair-pulling would result ;).

Malou and Jean laughed about this. Jean brought the husk and floor wax home to the UK. We have wooden floor boards in some rooms. The boards in our living room are quite old, at least 50+ years. Some years ago we removed the fitted carpet in the room and had the exposed floorboards, cleaned, stained and polished.
The half coconut husk is useful as a ‘green’ floor clean.
Polishing this way is good exercise too, doing  ‘The Husk’ 🙂

Hmmm, maybe a dance could evolve out of this a la Gangnam  Style 😉

 

 

 

Wandering Spirit – Ilocano Superstition

Blogs Customs and Traditions Marag Philippines Superstitions

My beautiful sister who now lives in LA has a treasury of superstitions.  She got these weird and wonderful superstitious beliefs back from when we were children  in the furthermost part of the Ilocos region in Kalinga Apayao in the Philippines.

Wandering Spirit – Ilocano Superstition

Clear Blue Sky, Photo by PH Morton

Anyway when  we were just about to  leave the  scenic seaside of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte, Philippines, my sister started intoning these series of reminder that our spirits should join us back home.

It came to me the familiarity of it all back from when we were young.

Marilou asked for all the spirits of us in the van driving off from Pagudpud to come home with us.

She said “Maykan Jean, maykan Peter, maykan Mommy, maykan Ellah, maykan Bert, maykan Marilou.”

Meaning, let’s go Jean, let’s go Peter, let’s go Mommy, let’s go Ellah, let’s go Bert, let’s go Marilou.

We do not want to be leaving anybody’s spirit at the beautiful Pagudpud. 🙂

 

How to Eat Betel Nut the ILOCANO Way in the Philippines!

Blogs FLORA HABITAT Philippines

Whilst walking through Quiapo we came upon an Igorot (native of Kalinga-Apayao) looking woman selling Betel nuts, tobacco leaves etc.

Amongst her wares, she also had tobacco leaves, green leaves called Gawid, Apog (lime ash) and chewing tobacco.(Photo by Peter)

Gawid Leaves and Betel Nuts (Photo by Peter)

These catapulted us immediately to our far-away childhood when my Daddy would let us have a tiny piece of betel nut to chew whilst listening to a horror radio program by Ben David called Gabi Ng Lagim (Night of Horror) just before bed time.

Thinking about it now, My father probably believed in betel nut’s mild tranquillising property that would send four active children well into the land of nod.

Anyway the “proper” way to eat betel nut as told us by the elders of our barrio was to wrap a piece of the nut in a green leaf called gawid, also enclosed with the tiny parcel was a small piece of tobacco. The whole ensemble was shaken liberally with apog (lime/carbon/ash).  Never tasted this offering but seen people chewing it this way and their mouth would turn red.  Whilst chewing, they would spit often making their vicinity stomach churning blood-red and eventually their teeth would turn more black than red.  The apog is what makes the red colouring.

Inside of the betel nut

Inside of the betel nut

Peter bravely chewing on a betel nut

Peter bravely chewing on a betel nut..not a mouse! (Photo by Jean)

Peter the virgin betel nut chewer

Peter the virgin betel nut chewer! (Photo by Jean)