Lola's Words #1: In life, you must be a winner!

My dear grandmother is 76 years old but acts and moves like she's a lot younger. My cousins and I would describe her as a "party girl" for her numerous nights out ballroom dancing. We would also describe her as maingay, which means noisy, because her presence is always known when she's at home with her constant chatter.

At the dining table, she's always dishing out advice on health, finance, relationships, and life in general. She has a way of speaking that is as if she is addressing the country.

A little while back, Lola, Tita Dayday, Tito Rey, and I were in the car just leaving after hearing mass on Sunday when Lola randomly declared that "in life, you must be a winner". Now I must admit, I am occasionally guilty of poking fun at some of the things that my dear Lola says. But it's all said in jest; not to hurt anyone's feelings. This was one of those times. I really couldn't help it but my mouth began speaking before I could stop myself and I said, "Yeah! Because God hates losers."

The way I interpreted it was that second best is never okay. But the way I see it, sometimes second best is the best you can do and you have to accept it rather than tear yourself up over it. But Lola explained what she meant:

In life, you must be a winner considering that you were created from the best egg and the fastest sperm. You've been a winner since birth! So congratulations to all you winners for making it this far!

High five!

Wish you were here!

Naga City's Wet Market

Today, I accompanied my grandmother, Lola Nen, to the wet market in centro. I had never been there before but I had heard about it's smells and sounds so I was curious to see what it was like.

When I came downstairs all ready to go, Lola Nen took one look at me and told me that what I was wearing was inappropriate for the market. My tank top was fine, but my knee length shorts and flip flops just wouldn't do. I was instructed to put on pants and to wear closed-toe shoes. I didn't understand the reason for this but it became evident once I arrived.

We took the tricycle to centro and climbed the stairs of the market building. The first thing I noticed were all the bright lights hung by every stall and the floor was soaked in fish juices and water! There was fish everywhere! Lola wasted no time. If she saw something she was interested in, she would personally inspect the freshness of the item by poking it and by checking under the gills. It had to be pink to red in colour; if it was darkened, it was no good. Lola taught me to make sure that the scale was set to zero before having items weighed. This was to ensure that we would be getting everything we paid for. We bought maya-maya, bangus, tilapia, and squid.

Moving forward, we stopped for some vegetables and then on to the red meat! We bought a large piece of pork tenderloin which was then finely sliced. It will be later marinated and tenderized to make tapa. We were also sold two pork legs. Those will be prepared to make crispy pata. After they cut the toenails off and wrapped them up, we were on our way home!

If it wasn't for those shoes, I definitely would've been marinated in some kind of wet market soup. It was an insightful look into daily life in Naga City and I would definitely go back.

Wish you were here!