Another Reflection

Well, not exactly although I won't contest that it has seemed that way for the last week or so concerning my blogging frequency.

Went to the MNL Int'l Book Fair yesterday. As usual, so many books, so little cash. Not crowded at all and I love it that way. Afterwards, I thought about going in for a movie at nearby Mall of Asia but seeing how they practiced single screening only, I decided against it. Plus, who're they kidding with those ticket prices?

So I went home just as the mob began pouring in from all entrances. I noticed this Arab family (Pinay yaya in tow) posing in front of the mall as the dad snapped a photo. It somehow gave me a glimpse of what a trip to a mall in Jeddah would be like for our OFWs.

My siblings and I were also under the care of a yaya when we were little. This was back in the early 80s when I only saw my mother in the evenings and my father after every few months or so. Her name was Ping and she was strict but we loved her a lot. She was our playmate, our commander, our nurse.

When I started school, she was the one who dragged me out of bed to get ready. And when the school service came to pick me up, I cried violently and demanded that Ping come with me. I was scared of the other kids.

Countless other nannies have looked after us but, somehow, none of them made a bigger dent in our memory than Ping. We don't remember her reason for leaving because it wasn't dramatic, or even sampal-sabunot-induced, but we certainly have fond memories of how she put up a fight. Watching over three pesky kids was not a job for the frail.