Market, Mom, and Music

Ever since dad came home, I felt dad has been bit giddy.

Giddy Dad. Giddy. Dad. These words never came together, even if there's a period between them. Dad can be silly, but not at this level. Somehow, he came home with that atmosphere. Or, I'm just excited to do the things I wanted to do - like going to my HS friend's party whom I've never met for four years, and planning for a Manila getaway this Sunday, which is now postponed.

Anyway, as always, Sunday means Market Day, besides being Church Day of course. And I've gotten into the routine to visit the market with dad. I was adamant to get meat today, because Milkfish (bangus) is not always a good lunch course. It's good to stay fit. It's unhealthy for young people who had been accustomed to meat, unless of course, the cook can whip up fish balls, which unfortunately only my mom can do. My mom is in Manila as of the moment.

Dad persisted we don't get meat today and for the rest of the week. It's part of his diet. Yep. His diet is the diet of the house. What one eats, the other eats. What one doesn't eat, the others doesn't eat. Although this rule fades more and more due to democracy. But since I am also at home - the deviant one when it comes down to food - and the substitute manager for food management, I've been buying kids' food too. Anyway, it's totally unfair for my baduds not to eat them when we had them when we were kids.

After parking his car, we wove our way into the chaotic wet market, passed by an alley of ukay-ukay and pirated DVDs, through the lot of fresh vegetables, and went straight ahead to the fish section. Well, I didn't have a choice, he was leading the way. But he really wanted to buy some sea food, I was haunting for something else. I was looking for squid.

Squid. I really liked the black-colored soup of Manang Shirley's and Mom's Adobong squid. It's just... yummy. Has rubbery texture but smoother in the mouth. Delicious.

Alas, the squid was far off, and dad, having bought the oil-in-the-butt-inducing fish (i forgot to ask its name), decided to get some tilapia. He started bargaining for them, and later, since I was still distracted, looking for some shrimps now (which I remember was just around the corner), when he started to laugh.

I tried to get the conversation he was having, but I was already lost in translation, literally. He moved on to the next. He was still laughing.

That Devil Laugh. It was a deep booming kind of laughter. Devil, but not filled with evil. Did that made some sense? It was coming from deep recesses of his diaphragm. I called it Devil laugh, because some crap dude in the media thought that the "Buhahahaha" with a big heavy tone is Devilish.

He does this when he's in a business talk with some business people, and he's pleased, or telling a business joke, which I don't usually get. Well, talk about never.

"Nako wala na tayong pera," he kept saying, with a giddy grin on his lips, teasing me as he stopped just at the poultry section. I can usually pair a frown and a stretched smile on my face. That's what I gave him. And he laughed more. It's good the market is noisy enough to hear his booming laughter. Nonetheless, I think he was successful in prevent me from looking for squid, and bought 1.5 kilo of chicken thighs. I egged him to buy 2 kilos. And he did.

We strayed to the pork section. Again, he planned to buy just 1.5 kilose. Again, I insisted for 2. That's the food manager for you.

Actually, I was just sick of eating fish for the last week lunch, while my baduds took away the goods for their own, during breakfast and lunch. Yep, yep, stingy sister. But I'm still a meat-lover, however I look at it. And I'm not mom. I still have the habit of pakikipag-agawan. It's fun until I take pity to my watermelon-sized youngest brother, who seemed unaware that he's understood my reverse psychology towards giving/taking things.

I've been trying vegetables. So far, I've gotten carrots, kangkong, some broccoli, stringed beans, malunggay, and onion stalks in to my system. But I still couldn't go for cauliflower and ampalaya, rabong, squash/pumpkin. (Honestly, I thought squash and pumpkin are one and the same, until I got into Farm Ville and Farm Town).

After taking the pork, we headed to the dried fish (fish again) section, and took more vegetables in that section. We also stopped for two dozens of eggs. All the while, dad's wrinkles were all stretched upward, as he go through the selection, muttering things like, "Nag-nginan, awan bale na madam? (Ang mahal naman, wala na tong bawas madam?)" or "Nakkkooo, wala na tayong pera."

The understanding that money was as good as slipping away anyway, and still letting it slip away.

After getting some more bananas and saba, the one which we all preferred since it can be boiled/banana-cued, we headed back.

We had a stop on the grocery too, since some bathroom/laundry supplies had ran short during his absence. I had to buy a Tang, because my brothers and I are consuming Milo too much too fast. I haven't bought any juice since Ian was eating Tang powder too. I don't know how he manage the taste though. I get disgusted whenever I see him because I can almost taste it too, just by looking at him.

It was totally stuffy in the grocery. I really hate it when this happens. Too crowded. But what can I do. Market Day goes hand in hand with Grocery Day. And CSI stood kilometers from the town proper. I suspect they're also having the same situation anyway.

After buying them, dad drove us home. I opened the radio, and Kenny Rogers was just in time to open his song with a woman. Dad mentioned this was their time (mom and dad's). Kenny Rogers (I just associate him with a food restaurant though). And he was all this giddy again, saying that time flew so fast. And he was just 20 years younger than he was too, looking at me.

"Aha! Inamin mo ring 40+ ka na!"

I loved catching my dad off-guarded. He has been denying his age (he says he's 29 forever), despite the wispy white hairs on his head, which mom takes care of with her hair-color stuffs.

What made him giddy, I'll never know I guess. Dad is bad at remembering things like this anyway. We call it selected memory. I remember we had to turn the house upside down just for his missing car keys - which was lying unperturbed in a heap of curtain, slumped on a chair by the corner of the house. And this wasn't the sole case, and will never be.

But one thing's for sure. Dad's happy when he's going to market. He likes bargaining. His Devil Laugh comes out and I'm captured with his conversation to whomever it was. But sometimes, he can become Evil Devil when it comes to beating down the price. Just sometimes. And I thought men weren't fond of shopping?

I guess too much generalization isn't helpful at all.

Dad's happy when he hears his century's music. I like some of it too, depending on the music and the mood anyway, but I'd still stick with my generation.

Fun fact: When in the mood, dad sings Elvis Presley-like, out loud, out of nowhere. He would take a pose, or pretend there's a mic. I think I might have inherited that in exaggerated measures - I don't care if I'm in the street at all. (I guess that's what you get when you watch too much Filipino movies that end up singing and dancing in the middle of the story).

Also, Dad's happiest when he talks about mom.


Dad can be unbearably grouchy, touchy, overprotective and can use that Devil tone to a frightening level. But when he's this --- GIDDY, and romantic, and energetic (after the two-hour trip to market, he played table tennis with Mark for an hour) he can be the most fun person to be with, and the easiest person to joke on.


Still. It's not good to say, "punta tayo ng Baguio," and retrieve it. *still pissed*