Ligaya & Foods She Enjoyed
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Jayson
Mama liked to cook for everyone.
But, of course, she also liked to eat. Until early this year (2024), she would still eat with her thigh propped up onto a chair. When she was really into the food she was eating, she would raise her right leg up onto the chair and she would eat with her bare hands—she would use her right hand.
Since Mama stopped working after her heart attack in July 2023, everyday over the last year, she and I ate lunch together with Papa. We would eat together while watching Eat Bulaga and Family Feud Philippines on YouTube.
Rosie
Back in September 1988, we went to Raging Waters in the US.
I remember the ribs that Gay was eating (the one in the picture).
We were so delighted. She and I kept laughing because the ribs were huge... and that's how you're going to eat it? Then I got stung by a bumblebee because we were sitting under a tree, and I was holding the ribs that were covered in barbecue sauce!
Jovert
Mama loved Filipino food.
After she finished cooking for us, sometimes she would cook her own dish—one that was truly and exotically Filipino, and usually it would only be her who would eat it. For example: laing, pinakbet, and fish paksiw.
Whenever she cooked pork or fish sinigang, Mama liked to include radish, tomatoes, green beans, and serrano peppers. Sometimes she would also put in water spinach and okra. Mmm... it was delicious! Since she knew Jayson doesn't eat sinigang, she would always cook an alternate dish for him.
On Fridays, Papa would buy Mama daing, bangus, monggo or whatever else was on the menu at Tindahan Grocery for that day. I know it's not Filipino, but she would sometimes ask him to buy her some hot wings from KFC—she really enjoyed those.
When she was still working at McDonald's, her friends and coworkers, like "Commander" Andrea and Edith, would often cook Filipino food and bring it to work for her.
The foods that Mama did not enjoy? Food that contains herbs!
Jayson
Barbecued pork skewers.
From the Philippines to Canada, these were part of the regular summer menu at home, parties, and outings. The main ingredients of the marinade is soy sauce, 7 Up, and garlic pieces. It tastes so good—you will certainly eat several sticks of it. Mama liked it slightly burnt with a bit of fat.
In recent years, we stopped doing barbecues. It was usually me or Papa doing the barbecuing. Because it was an outdoor grill, we got lazy; plus, it was difficult to clean the grill afterwards. I think we went through 3 grills over the years and Papa decided to give it up.
Rosie
Wow, barbecued pork skewers, Filipino style! It really does taste good a little burnt with a bit of fat. It's just hard to skewer the meat. Even when everything tasted bitter to her, didn't she still ask us to buy some for her? She wanted to eat some 😭
Jayson
Last bag in the freezer.
Mama ate so many of these.
As a snack or for dinner, she really liked to eat them. She'd heat them in the microwave, but one time, as recently as this year (2024), I saw her fry them and they became fried saba. Papa fried some and brought them when she was in hospital. She tried one. "It's hard!" she said. Babu, saba banana!
Susan
Babu?
Jayson
In the Philippines, I often heard "baboo" or "babu" used, meaning "ba-bye."
Rosie
Ah! "Baboo" is indeed "bye bye" lol! I often heard Gay say that 😂
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