02.22.10
A Short Trek to Marikina
To continue on with my travelogue, after we left Hidden Valley in Laguna and arrived in Manila we decided to go to Marikina and visit Auntie Nora, Ophi, Cynthia, and the Cainta property. We really wanted to visit to check out Cynthia’s roof as it was damaged from the recent flooding there in Marikina. Since we were heading there, we decided to pop into the Cainta property so that I could see it. Mom and Dad called up Auntie Lits and Uncle Al and we stopped off to eat first before heading the the lot. Turned out that the place we went to eat was Kapitan Moy, Daddy’s old school. This is the school my dad went to when he was about 12 years old and just before WWII broke out in the Philippines. He was actually in this building when the first air strike flew over Marikina, Philippines.
Today this building is a restaurant with rooms available for rent for various functions. We really couldn’t see much downstairs as the rooms were closed off, but I could tell some of the rooms were banquet rooms. We did eat at the little restaurant towards the back of the lower level, which looked like this from the inside.
Inside the small restaurant there was an old piano, which Mommy started to play. There were no other patrons in the restaurant at the time so we asked if it was okay for Aaron to try the piano, too. They were all very nice and didn’t mind at all. Here’s Aaron playing on their piano.
I sat there eating and listening to Aaron play when I told my dad, “Bet you didn’t think years ago when you were here at school at 12 years old that one day your ‘grandson’ would be playing the piano downstairs, huh?” Ha! Yeah, we all had a little chuckle at that, then I asked where dad’s classes were held. Apparently, they were upstairs.
We asked one of the restaurant workers if it was possible for us to look at the second level of this building because my dad said it was upstairs where his classes were held. The restaurant worker was nice enough to ask the guard to unlock the door and let us see the second floor. First you walk up through this door from the first level.
Then make a sharp left and walk up these steps.
Through those doors at the top of the steps was where my dad’s classes were held. My dad said that they have taken all the room partitions down and now it’s just one big room. This is what the second floor looks like today with Mom, Dad, and my youngest son, Aaron standing in the middle.
Although the building is no longer a school, at least is has a plaque that explains that this building was once a school for making shoes. Marikina was known for their shoes and my grandfather was a shoemaker. He taught all his sons how to make shoes and apparently, he also sent them to a school that made shoes! Or at least the founder of the school made shoes. Here’s the sign in Tagalog.
After we visited Auntie Nora and the rest of the clan, we all decided to visit the Cainta property. Here’s a pic of all of us there.
And then we took a pic along side their church van. Apparently, one of my cousins is married to a pastor, and since there were so many of us going and couldn’t all fit in one vehicle, they took their church van.
I’ve never been to their church, but if they’re anything like my other cousins on that side of the family, then I’m guessing they’re pentecostal. The rest of my family are basically Catholics. I think I only know of “one” aunt who is born again Christian in the sense that she is no longer Catholic and she doesn’t believe in praying to the saints. Her kids (my cousins) don’t get her, heheh.
Anyway, after that we went shopping. . . oh, and one other pic I wanted to share is this lot right next to ours that had these interesting chicken coups. Very simple, but pretty effective. I liked how each chicken had it’s own place and enough grass around it. Check it out.
Okay, that’s the end of that day. The next couple days we spent shopping, getting ready for Bangkok, and visiting with relatives.
Marlakins
