The Great London Walk-About: Reminders of Home

ahhh nothing ever feels like home. i was talking to my sister the other day and she said something that to me is an absolute truth. you can take the girl out of her home where she feels "safe, secure and accepted" but you can never take that kind of home out of the girl. she said that she can see this truth in my words when i write. she said she can feel this truth in between my words when we chat. that really made me feel happy and of course made me miss home more.

so, every chance i get, wherever i go, i always try to visit something that reminds me so much of where i am from. after a friend suggested i visit something Filipino in the middle of London, i ventured into the great unknown to find this store and luckily, they weren't that far from the tube station. needless to say, i bought a LOT of stuff!

not only did i shop, but it didn't take a lot for me to convince the mister that we try out this retaurant!

i tried out the buffet after i saw my beloved humba in the selection :) included were fried fish, pinakbet, the ever-present pancit, sinigang and others

the mister ordered calamares and camaron rebosado along with his egg-fried rice. he is not too keen on Filipino food but there are a few things that he likes such as Lucky Me Pancit Canton, Skyflakes crackers, turon, leche flan, my dad's beef steak, succulent mangoes, and others that are yet to be discovered and devoured!

imagine to my surprise when i saw an exhibit about the eruption of Mt Pinatubo in the Natural History Museum in London! it was a bit of a depressing memory really, but still, it was something from my past :) i was in my sophomore year in uni and was living in an all-girl dormitory and had a friend who was studying geology at that time and during the eruption she actually went there along with some experts from the US Geological Society and brought us all a piece of "lahar" as a souvenir...

i remember the roads and the "ikot" jeepneys (jeepneys that ply only inside the huge UP campus in Diliman) were all covered in white ash. the days were dim-lit and we joked that it must be a miracle and that finally it was snowing in the Philippines

i remember bringing an umbrella to my classes during the day because there was a steady drizzle of white ash (Mt Pinatubo was about 55 miles or 90 kms northwest of Manila) and everything was covered in white ash. we were advised to board up our windows because the ash was harmful if breathed in (could cause illness in our respiratory systems). sometimes classes were suspended and that was when our dormitory usually came to life...

aahhh, these little snippets of home put joy into my heart that lasts a long, long time :)