Call of Nature

One thing that I was fortunate enough to do during my Holy Week in Manila was to heed the call on nature again. (No, i'm not talking about the type that sends you to those shocking pink stalls along EDSA.) Mona was generous enough to host Easter Monday lunch at their garden in Marikina, and it was such a relaxing experience to eat amidst old trees, clean air (compared to the air here in HK, the air there was pristine), and fresh, home-cooked meals. We feasted on the pinaupong manok, grilled tilapia, and sotanghon that Mona's mom prepared for us, and of course, there was Mangoes and Bagoong.

During the course of our mango eating, Lezyl noticed the Indian Mango tree nearby and how it was teeming with fruits. All Mona needed to do was point out where the pang-sungkit was, and the quest for mangoes began.


Being the designated "sungkit person" reminded me of my childhood back in our house in Tomas Morato. Our neighbour's santol tree had branches extending to our roof, and they'd let us pick santol - as long as it was just the fruits on our side. Our boy - Badong (Badong... that name is so boy. Hahaha.) would make the pang-sungkit and i'd be the one who'd do the actual picking. It looks like I haven't lost the touch because Grace was telling me that I'm an expert at it.


How many mangoes did I get? I'm not exactly sure, but it was enough for Lezyl and Grace to bring home, and there were still some left over for us to eat back at the gazebo. Here's Grace collecting her fresh, crunchy Indian Mangoes:

True to our "nature trip" theme that day, Mona and I decided to peel some of the produce and serve it on the spot. After my futile attempts at peeling, Mona decided to finish off the job. And she did it much, much faster than I did. (Well, I'm more of a sungkit person than a peel person.)

But one thing I can do easily is to slice and dice, so that job went to me. The mangoes were a joy to slice because they're very crunchy and the knife just glides through them. The mangoes tasted just right - not too sour, and not sweet either. It was perfect for the bagoong.

The quest for mangoes was followed by the hunt for Easter Eggs. What's Easter Monday without an egg hunt, right? For the next 15 to 20 minutes, the gang became little tykes searching every bush and every tree for one. It took them a while to find each of the 36 or so eggs that Grace and I hid, but their efforts were rewarded.

Lezyl took home the Lion's share - or maybe I should say "rabbit's share" of the eggs and got the prize she wanted. It was a toy cat that said "I love you" each time you pressed its tummy. She's been eyeing that prize since the 1st minute because she wanted to bring it home to Ming Tsai - her adorable cattater!

Vince has two eggs! (We can all see that now.)

We also found out that this was Bonique's first time to go Easter Egg hunting which added to the thrill. Her initial salvo was rewarded as she walked away with the "grand prize" - an Indian-inspired Esprit sling bag.

The other gang members went home with sweets that could compete with a trick or treat bag. Wena went home with a couple of boxes of chocolates and a few mallow pops. (And a pair of hooks that Grace brought, too.)

This garden party (which Lezyl called an excursion because it was in Marikina) definitely made my Holy Week homecoming a memorable one. And because of all the fun we had at Mona's, I'm going to suggest that we make Mona's Garden the D' official Garden Party Place* of D' Frendz.

*Grace's place remains D' Official Party Place of D' Frendz.