Ma, look at my kitchen

Sayang I don’t have a picture of our kitchen in Binangonan.
All I have are vivid memories.
My first recollection was that we used a cemented kalan.
We used wood for cooking.
The pots and pans were made of heavy cast iron.

There were no dishwashing liquid or Dutch cleanser yet during those days.
We used abo or ashes from the burnt wood.
We used wood shavings or soot mixed with ashes to scrub-off thick grease from the bottom of Kaldero and kawali. This was also used to clean unidoro, lababo, and pang-iskoba ng baldosa.

This is the main reason why I don’t want to be cremated. Our maids might run out of cleanser and they might use my ashes to scrub the bottom of our pans.

I knew my mother also wished for a better kitchen. A few times she complained to my father about the leaks, the drainage, etc. She also dreamed of a nice kitchen. After several years, my father had our kitchen renovated, by installing Mariwasa white tiles with blue streaks and changed the faucet.
We also had our first stainless steel kitchen sink. Instead of wood-fired kalan, my father bought a stove. Sobrang high-tech. Posporo lang ang kailangan, sumisindi na. No need to make ihip-ihip or pay-pay.

Fast-forward, When Edmund and I bought a residential lot to build our first house, we were armed with P80,000 savings and a bank loan from Citytrust. The bank didn’t require a lot of documents, They were contented with the title of the lot and the house construction drawings. It was a basic structure, the lay-out was done by yours truly, and I paid a newly graduate architect a few thousand pesos na hulugan pa to do the details of the drawings for submission to the bank and for construction permits.

Edmund was the one who took care of the actual construction, getting workers, foreman, and interpreting the drawings to the carpenters, mason, etc.

The bank proceeds were not enough to finish the whole house. Part of the proceeds even went to the operating capital of the publishing company (now closed) my brother put up for all of us.

What went to the actual construction could not afford doors, paints, floors, stairs, toilets, fence, garden, and KITCHEN!

When my parents came home from California to visit us, siguro naawa ang mama ko or natuwa rin na kahit papano na meron kami ni Edmund na magandang tirahan, wala nga lang kitchen, kulang-kulang pa.

One morning, she offered to give me, her only money, which was $500 so we could finish our kitchen. I turned her thoughtful and generous offer down because I wanted her to keep her money or use it for her own needs.

I spent my whole morning today re-arranging our plates, platters, pans, etc. I am trying to organize them and minimize the accumulated clutter.

Our dirty kitchen looks cute, kahit hindi pa tapos, and I couldn’t help but think of my mom. I really wish she were here today so she could see my kitchen. It’s a lot better than what she had seen before. I am sure she would be both excited and proud.

She would definitely like my china too.

She also had a buffet cabinet to keep her bandehado, pinggan na pag-pyesta lang ginagamit.

We always say that saints and spirits see us from above. Although I would never know if this is really so, but I would like to request if there’s any saint or angel hanging around in my kitchen, to please tell my mom that I do love her, I miss her, and please describe how my kitchen looks like.
I wish she were here to see Annie’s kitchen.