Trick or Treat October 27, 2018

Oyen told me that the Trick or Treat in our village would be on October 27.
She wanted to give away candies that’s why Edmund and I didn’t go out of town this weekend to assist her.
E—-“Kailangan ba ako sa Trick or Treat?”
A—-‘Hindi naman”.
E—-“Kasi mag-go-golf sana ako”.

She mentioned that the prices at Pioneer Center are cheaper. I haven’t been there but it was easy to find so on Friday afternoon, I spent at least an hour there choosing goodies for the trick or treat. The place looks like it’s owned by a mainland Chinese.
I bought a combination of chips and biscuits good for 650 kids. I thought that would be enough.

Sgt. Pepper had no idea why the heck was I buying tons of goodies.
“Mam, para kang may tindahan”. Past two years kasi I was in the US so he had not seen me preparing for Halloween.

The village admin sent out circulars a few days before October 27 to tell everyone NOT to start giving out goodies BEFORE 4:30 pm. There’s a program of fun and games at the clubhouse and they want to make sure that when the party ends and the kids start going around the houses, there would still be treats for them. Kasi daw in the past, when the resident kids go around, the houses had ran out of treats. There are many kasi from neighboring villages as far as Ayala Alabang that come here for trick or treating. And dami nila, nagta-traffic nga sa tapat ng bahay namin. They get gate passes from their relativers or friends living in our village.

Our table was set up as early as 3:30 pm. When the first batch of kids came shouting Trick or Treat! syempre bigay agad ang anak ko ng goodies. After we’ve given out at least half of our “merchandise inventory”, I looked at my watch, oh no it was only 4:20 pm. I got worried we might ran out of treats.

Stella’s costume was too early for Christmas

When I was buying the goodies I only calculated the number of kids but more adults came with big supot.

There were more adults than kids.

Ice cold drinking water was a hit.

The hundreds of kids were generally mild mannered and said thank you after getting goodies like this siblings. Some wanted to drink water but were shy to ask so we made it a point to offer them “Oh you want to drink cold water?
Go get, it’s free”.

There was an exception, one boy who kept asking for more goodies,
“May I have some more?” After I’ve given him a couple more he would say “may I have some more?” and so on. His yaya stopped him. And after the third time he asked I refused to give any more. I was thinking, why was this rich kid like that? Ano kaya ang nangyari sa loob ng bahay nila or in school? 10 years old pa lang greedy na. What he would be like when he grows up as an adult, as a businessman, as a doctor, as a lawyer. My imagination ran wild.
Sana bumait paglaki nya.

Hugo got his fair share of attention.

This puppy is not only smarter than Lucy, he has a better temperament. Yes he is still a puppy, pero ang laki-laki na nya. He attends training classes in Makati every Sunday. Behave sya sa school but when he comes home, he forgets what he has learned on that day.

This boy’s super gwapo.

When I saw that the chips were down to about 50 pieces, I sent the two guys to the grocery to buy P2,000 worth of candies.

I think next time it’s better to have just one kind or brand of candy or chips or biscuits. Kasi when the trick or treaters see the variety, they ask for more. One mom said “gusto ko Oishi”. Some requested for very specific kind of chips.

They consumed 3 containers of ice cold water. Ang init kasi.

The dad said it was a last minute costume idea—- toilet paper mummy! Everytime the boy moved, pieces of toilet paper fell-off. Oyen picked up the kalat on our driveway and in the middle of the street.

Bumble bee

A motorcycle stopped in front of our house and gave me a plate of newly cooked pansit bihon. Sample daw. After an hour, the riding in tandem came back and gave us another plate.

The maids felt envious upon seeing dozens of maids and yayas going around with shopping bags and asking for goodies. Sabi ko sige, mag-ikot rin kayo ni Norma. Only two went. They came back with two basketful of candies and chips and cupful each of taho.
Norma—-“Dun sa bahay ni Lucio Tan”.
She encouraged the drivers to go to some mansion because meron daw sorbetes at taho.
Me—–“Pa’no mo naman nalaman na bahay ni Lucio Tan yun?”
Norma—“Eh mam, yun ho ang sabi nung mga driver, kay Lucio Tan daw yun”.
Driver Leo hurriedly went to that house and came back with a cup of taho. He was giving it to me— “Mam, gusto mo?”

The girl was too tired kaya si yaya na lang mag-trick or treat.

Her two other sisters were the ones who got off the van and went straight to the water station with their yayas. Uhaw.

We’ve seen some expensive cookies like P20 each inside the kids’ baskets and yaya shopping bags. Some households spent a lot more. Yung iba gave away ice cream in cups. There’s a good chance that I would be in the US in next year’s Halloween. Hugo, Stella, Jack and Antonia would be here to bring goodies to the kids. And cold water too. Happy Halloween!