i miss st catherine school. i never was inside again after kindergarten. the well manicured garden and the lovely grotto. above all the strict discipline that the sisters taught us.

the dispensary was where i had almost all my tooth extracted ( decayed from too much chocolates and sweets). i must say, having the procedure done all at the same time gave me even set of teeth right now. no need for those braces (and unnecessary expense hehehe)and if i remember it right behind the old dispensary is a swimming pool (i never saw it filled with water though).

our old house in Dapdap, once a big structure fronting the municipal cemetery was torn down by a super typhoon in the mid 80’s. what was left is the concrete staircase. that house has made me what i am today- an animal lover. we had chicken free ranging and roosting in the chico trees surrounding the house, a carabao that my grandfather checks every now and then in the middle of the night seeing to it she is not harmed (by snakes)or worst stolen, pigs tied under the trees fattened up for the fiesta.

my fondness for reptiles started when my great grandfather gave me a turtle to take care of. he taught me how to feed it. and everyday, i had to wash the turtle and the jar to which was his home for so many years. dogs were practically everywhere.

looking at the photographs posted above and reading through the comments left by fellow caracaranons made me feel nostalgic. i miss the bocarillo, chicharon, takoy, chico, ampao. above all i miss my childhood days…

i just hope that when i will have the chance to visit Carcar again, it remain as it is as i remembered it. i am carcaron by heart and by birth (i was born on the feast of christ the king and the fiesta of carcar) but i know i am complete stranger to my relatives there.

Bocarillo: made from shaved, fresh young coconuts cooked in sugar syrup. The ones sold along the streets are horrible, too sweet and hard. At best, one can taste the soft coconut groves with each bite

Ampao is an easy concept, just puffed rice but very labor intensive. Unless specially made for you, they are sold too bland and not enough peanuts.

The fiesta is coming up, Nov. 25 and each house will once again be overflowing with food and curious strangers and passersby. Dead cooks and “cooking families” are revered and talked about. I’ve been to other towns in Cebu for fiesta and they do not match up. Carcaranon cooks were sought after in Mindanao with the Cebuano diaspora. Of course, like everything else, the current dishes do not match up with the old concoctions.