Kara is my journal of 14 years, named after the heroine of Scott O' Dell's book, the Island of the Blue Dolphins. In 1998, parts of my journal were published in my first book, Kara: Letters and Stories. Four years ago, Kara, which also means face in Filipino was published online here.The journal, like my life, is undergoing change. This is only a continuum.
Text and photos by Shelley Jo Rojas Saracin, unless otherwise specified.
The reader may lift poems, essays, or quotes (in part on whole) from this journal for personal use,
provided that he or she give due credit to the author whenever and wherever said text may be used.
After that whole contoured-glass fiasco at McDonald's, Tin, Ate Alma, and I piled into Neil and Nancy's car to go traipsing around Binondo.
Tin and I (and apparently Ate Alma too) were so tired from the early morning 5k run that we slept through the whole car ride. We were in the midst of the Christmas rush, after all, and that meant HEAVY TRAFFIC in the area around Chinatown.
Neil, our oh-so-patient "school bus" dropped us all off a few paces from the entrance to Divisoria, and off we went, canvassing for some shirts for IVPM, and a few odds and ends for ourselves along the way.
By 2pm, we were all starved and ready for an authentic Ongpin lunch, so off we went again to brave a walk through the increasing traffic knots and cross over into Ongpin street, not far from where Neil dropped us off.
It was a real urban adventure for me, especially since this was the first time I was actually walking around Chinatown with two Filipino-Chinese friends, Nancy, and Tin, who could actually converse with the Binondo shopowners in some kind of Chinese dialect. (I didn't bother to ask. It was just amusing just the same.)
After some sleuthing, we found our meal target, Sincerity Restaurant, which Nanc had been raving about since that morning. thankful that the place was air-conditioned, Ate Alma and I allowed our un-official tour guides to acquaint our palates with good-old Ongpin cooking and do the ordering.
Boy were we hungry!!! Our tour pretty guides ordered the following:
Fried Chicken (not your usual run-of-the-mill chicken, mind you) It had the comfortable taste of fried chicken, but a subtle, almost undiscernable taste of a type of Chinese spice. It quickly became Nancy and Tin's favorite, as evidenced by the chicken bones on their quickly-emptying plate.
Oyster Cake with that yummy red-hot "siopao" sauce. It was the first time I had tried oyster cake, and frankly, I was willing to throw my running diet of no-meat-fish-and-whole-grain-only-foods out the window. Who cares about a "diet" when you're in Ongpin, hungry, and having such a wonderfully decadent Oyster cake with equally-hungry girlfriends?
Nancy also ordered us a sampling of Kikiam, which she said was good, but apprently, it wasn't THE kikiam she had wanted us to try. Still, with the pickled raddish and another hefty dipping of the red-hot siopao sauce, the kikiam felt like Ongpin heaven.
Of course, with all the heady meat and spices, we had our fill of Chinese-vegetables: Garlic Brocolli, which had just the right amount of garlic taste to soften the already heady flavors on the table.
Rounds of house tea were also a must. I was thankful, as I think the warmth of the tea, although it was indeed hot out on the street, helped to ease my throbbing migraine.
I must say, I fell-in-love with the oyster cake. It was just chewy-gooey enough, and it had that decadent taste of oysters, oh, I don't know, and maybe some eggs and cheese? Suffice it to say that Ate Alma and I could've finished the whole plate by ourselves. Of course, we didn't, but Nancy and Tin were nice enough to let us have more than our share.
Post lunch, it was time for some SERIOUS shopping.
While I took some pictures, Nancy served as my bodyguard. I think she was as thrilled as I was to be in Ongpin (she goes there a LOT!), or maybe she was thrilled that I was thrilled? Nevertheless, Nanc and I enjoyed taking pictures all the while trying to catch up with Ate Alma and Tin.
We took photos of the UBE firetruck, which Nanc pointed out was inspired from Ongpin's specialty Ube Hopia. How yummy! Who could resist buying UBE Hopia after seeing so much purple? Soon after that, Nanc spotted one of her foodie blog-finds: La Resurrection Tablea, the best in Ongpin, and, according to Market Man, the one of best in the Philippines. The sidewalk stall was tucked close to the wall of the building where, behind a small glass shelf, a lady sold these chocolate finds. If you looked beyond and behind her, you would see an open door which leads into a long, high staircase, steps piled with boxes and boxes of tablea. Nancy and I were gushing on and on about how we both loved the packaging, the gaudy red color, and the fact that it looks so...well, old. Rustic. Even antique-like. We bought a couple rolls each and smiled as we continued our walk.
Such adorable food finds. Had we more time, we wouldn't have stopped at that. As it was, we still had to make our way back to the Divisoria area to finish our actual shopping trip. Well, at least I had all these to take home with me. :)
Ever since Neil and Nancy (gently) dropped me off last night, I have been thinking about how to actually write about the adventures we had.
My day began at 4am, when Clifford, my new running friend, oh-so-nicely woke me up with a text to make sure I made it to our scheduled 5k run. While the event was not as adrenalin-packed as the most recent run I had just had, I actually liked the fact that I was running roughly the same route that I ran for my first race ever: MOA. The gunstart for the 5k fun run was late (a little past 7am) and that meant dealing with a lot of SUN for the next forty minutes or so, which was roughly my 5k time, give or take a few minutes, considering that I HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINING for a week now.
But lo and behold, I actually beat my PR of 36.something and, by my own calculations, did a 5k in 35 minutes! Hooray!
All that early morning sunshine must've made me make a dash for it, hahahaha!
Not long after the run, Tin and I met up with Nancy, Neil, and Ate Alma for some good old breakfast bonding before we went off in search of odds and ends in Binondo.
The thing about good old breakfast bonding after a run is that, the runners (Tin and I) are still in a state of euphoria, and hence are either giddy, or just a tad bit crazier than usual. And given that Tin and I are already bubbly on a normal day (Tin certainly being more effervescent than I), things are sure to get crazy funny on this post-run breakfast.
I order ourselves longganisa meals, and it turns out, McDonald's (I haven't been in one in ages!) actually has this coca-cola contoured glass promo: a customer gets to purchase 1 for every value meal. So I bought two. Later on, when Tin ordered for the "arriving" Neil and Nancy, I asked her to order two more. And another 1 when Ate Alma went to buy her breakfast. Then we realized that I only neede 1 (one) more glass to complete the set of six.
So, at Tin's egging and because we didn't want to buy another meal just to get the last glass, we actually persuaded the cashier (and after many tries at the walk-in customers) to allow us to buy one more glass, in conjunction with the value meal of a certain "flustered" and humored customer!
Thank you very much! *bows*
And now, a photo of the contoured glasses that I've gotten myself so excited about:
In the midst of rushing for deadlines today, I realized one thing:
"It doesn't matter how far you've run. If you haven't inspired anyone to run himself, all your mileage wouldn't matter. You can sing yourself praises, amass all the medals, run in countless marathons, but if no one is inspired to run his own race after you've crossed the finish line, all your runs wouldn't matter at all."
I thought about this today, as someone, almost out of the blue, sent me a message and told me about an upcoming race, a marathon that he was going to enter. In the succeeding messages that followed, instead of wanting to congratulate him and to bless him for the feat that lay ahead, I felt compelled, human as I am, to "label" this person as boastful.
He was telling me about "running long distance" and "running for so-and-so number of years," almost cramming his marathon finishes down my throat...letting me know of the upcoming ultramarathon. I did not feel inspired. Instead, I felt that I was being bragged to, being belittled, he himself wanting to label me as "recreational runner." Not that there was something wrong with being a recreational runner.
But I realized, the reason I truly appreciate David, who introduced me to running, and Sarah, who I now consider as a "running mate," is that neither of them log in the miles only to savor "bragging rights."
At each step of my running love-affair, each of them served as inspiration, whether they were telling me about their how to run my first 5k, or about their first 21k experiences, or letting me know that they were running another full-marathon.
At each step, in each story, for every accomplishment, for each mile and every strong finish, their runs, no matter how short or long the distance, served to inspire.
I can only hope that my runs, the mileage I log in, as well as my actual race in the Christian faith, will not be mileages logged in with futility. I wish my miles to matter, not because they shout out the strength of my body, or the discipline I bore to accomplish such trophies, but because they, all my runs, my 5ks, my 10ks, and all the other distances I may or may not run, inspire others to put on their own running shoes, and race to their own personal bests.
This is for you, yes, YOU, because every time I hear this song, it reminds me of you, and the series of never-ending goodbyes I have offered you, one of which this is.
And had you been part of my life now, which you no longer are, this would have been your song, our song...a beautiful, beautiful mess....
"He who cannot rest cannot work; he who cannot let go cannot hold on...." -Harry Emerson Fosdick
This was the quote that helped me to finally decide that I should enlist in only (1) one MA class next sem. By enrolling in only one class, that would leave enough time for me to continue my private language tutorials, keep my full-time job, juggle my editing projects, enjoy free time with friends and family, and have enough time to keep myself fit by running.
You cannot imagine how different this decision is, Kara, now that I realized just how important my physical fitness is in relation to my mental, spiritual, and emotional health. I realize that I cannot be healthy and fit in only one aspect of my life: I have to decide to want to be a well-rounded, healthy individual. My life goals used to be just about learning, acquiring head knowledge, serving a greater good, and applying my social skills. Now it includes being physically fit.
In that regard, here is my running list (pun not intended) of races, including ones that I have yet to actually finish.
I think the gaps between my races were just right; enough to give my body, mind, and spirit rest, as well as build up anticipation for the next race.
I'm still looking for a good year-end run that I can join, sort of a cap to this, my first running year.
Mar29: Pinay in Action 5k
Apr26: Chances Are 5k (39:36)
May24: AutoReview Run 10k
Jul19: Globe Run for Home 5k (36.30 mins)
Aug15: Kenny's Urbanite 10k (1h:26m:19s)
Oct18: QCIM 5k (39 mins)
Oct25: Adidas KOTR 5k (as I was late for the 10k gunshot, but thankfully, I now seem to have a new PR: 50 mins for a 6.5k! Hehehe)
Nov7: Run for a Smile 5k (35 mins) My personal best! It must be the heat as the 5k run started at 717am, heehee
It started with something as simple as a fifty-percent off sale on bread: all gourmet bread and pastries from a local bread shop.
I arrived at 8:30pm and promptly queued up with other customers who had began to wait for the 9:00 sale a few minutes ahead of me. We all waited. We all anticipated the bread and pastries. Most of us were tired, probably from a whole days' work, but the thought of bringing home tasty, gourmet treats for our loved ones, at half the price or double the amount, was enough to keep our spirits high.
A few minutes after I lined up, a familiar face, fell into place behind me: another patron, a regular at the bread shop.
At 9:00pm sharp, the line started moving and the bakeshop staff began letting the 50% off patrons in. The ones before me (I was #14 today) quickly made their choices, plucked at the bread, chose sweets over the counter, but not quickly enough, as it was evident in the stares and elongated necks of the other patrons, that were eager to go get their share of whatever was left from today's fresh bread.
I had only wanted to get walnut and choco-chip, muffins, my mom's favorite, and probably a loaf or two of wheat bread to bring home as "pasalubong" since I got some money from two of my part-time jobs today. Whatever else was left from the choices, I would be happy to bring home. I didn't expect much to choose from, since I was already #14.
Happily, when my turn came, I was able to get ALL the muffins I needed (all 8, heehee), some ciabatta, a pack of whole wheat pan-de-sal, some corned-beef bread, and two pieces of extra-large, dark chocolate chip cookies for my sweet tooth. Oh joy! My family would surely be delighted with the muffins.
Suddenly, the guy behind me noted, "Andami ah."
"Yup," I nodded. I have a big family. Oddly enough, the guy behind me who was now choosing to get two pieces of chocolate ship cookies at half the price each, was a younger, much different person. I gave no notice until, when I was waiting to pay for my purchases at the counter, the guy managing the inflow of customers said, "Sir, may number ba kayo?" Apparently, he was referring to the guy behind me, who, out of the blue, just went and cut the line.
To be fair, the bakeshop staff was in the right. The new guy had cut the line, and he was wrong. He needed to get a number. Apparently, as he tried to explain, he didn't know about this numbering thing, which meant he was new to the 50% off sale. The staff told him he must fall in line again...and only for two pieces of cookies.
The bakeshop staff, in an effort to appease this newbie customer, asked the guy behind him (the one who was originally behind me), if it would be okay to let the guy buy what he needed first. As my back was turned, I could only imagine what the response to such a small request would be.
But I was apalled. The guy who was originally behind me, the regular customer, looked dignified, even educated, and smart. He wore silver-rimmed glasses, a backpack, and he was around my dad's age, only slimmer. I had seen him once or twice in my irregular visits to the bakeshop, and I had always thought well of him.
But my impressions were shattered when I heard him speak against that one boy who had innocently or not, cut the line.
"Dapat pumila ka. Pinahihirapan mo ang trabaho nila eh." I glanced back at the man. He was mad. And serious.
What I heard next shocked me even more. "Oo, dapat kasi pumila ka dito kasi ginugulo mo kaming lahat, lahat kami nahihirapan, " said a lady who was most probably #20. The other customers nodded in agreement.
I believe they could have played nice and let the guy buy his cookie. It was just two pieces, and man, he wasn't buying for five people for five days like I was. He could've used some grace at that point, no matter his shortcomings.
At that point, I could just imagine what people would do for a piece of bread, when famine does strike this country. That, because at a time of abundance, I have just witnessed collective greed.
