Wednesday, Feb 8, 2006

This is Wednesday's blog but I have to tell you of last night’s incident. Jack, Remy and I were quietly having dinner at Luring’s. I’m having my usual barbecue chicken and chop suey and the power goes out all of a sudden. Remy breaks out a little flash light – one of those toy looking things attached to a key ring and I click on my cell. Yes that’s how pitch black it was! A few minutes later, the restaurant crew turned on their generator and lights came back on albeit a little dull. About 10 minutes later, the power came back on. Now I’m considering the idea of investing in a generator for the new house!

Today started out pretty hectic. Woke up, got ready, got a call from Donna, went to the tailor to have a couple of slacks hemmed, went to the bank and then we headed to San Fernando.

When I told Donna of all the paperwork Armin wanted me to take care of, she suggested for me to contact Joey De Leon, a friend who was the former administrative assistant (or was it city administrator?) when Rey Aquino was mayor of San Fernando. The problem? I have no way to contact him since I don’t have any phone numbers. I was told he lives in a certain subdivision but I’m not about to go house-to-house asking where he lives! So I told her I’ll try information and see if he’s listed. Anyway…

First stop was the RD (short for Register of Deeds) by the provincial capitol. I was to see a certain Amor Tuazon, a former neighbor of Armin in Panlumacan, who works in RD and he should be able to help me out. Armin said he needed a copy of the lot title. We got to the RD and asked for Amor. I was told to try upstairs, I went up and was told he’s downstairs. I went back down, asked again and finally someone pointed him out. I told him of our situation and he told me I needed to go the Municipal Assessor’s office at the city hall and ask for Chicki and she should be able to give me the Tax Declaration copy which shows the title number and that once I get it, I can come back after lunch and get a copy of the title from him. We drove to town and parked in front of the Cathedral, which for those of you who are not familiar, is right across the City Hall. We went inside and tried to inquire where the City Assessor’s office is. We were told to go back outside and go through the door on the side of the City Hall closer to Baluyut Bridge. We did as we were told, asked where we can see Chicki and was instructed to go to window 5. By the way the City Hall has a different look from the last time I was here. I remembered there was a public health clinic where the City Assessor’s office now is. I went to window 5 and sure enough Chicki was there ready for me. A couple of strokes on her keyboard and here comes the Tax Declaration – YAY!! After a quick meeting with Ned, Pap and I went to SM for my lunch date with Myrna and Vir at Gerry’s Grill. On the way, Ed sent a text message saying to ‘text’ him if/when Loretta (Odette’s sister) has dropped off his glasses to me. We meet Myrna and Vir at the restaurant and put in our order. I had chop suey, grilled blue marlin steak, and tuna sashimi for appetizer (didn’t even realize they serve sashimi here). Everybody else ordered some form of chicken dish. My sashimi was semi frozen but it’s me talking here so to me sashimi is sashimi! During lunch Ed sends me the same text message about half an hour ago so I sent him a reply saying she hasn’t shown up yet. When everyone was done except me of course, Pap got up to stretch and to go to the rest room. When he got out, a lady approached him and said she needed to talk with me. It turned out it was Loretta and a pregnant daughter-in-law (?). I’m not sure how long they’ve been sitting out. I think she was embarrassed to interrupt our lunch. She gave me a pair of glasses each for Ed and Odette and also a purse. She was so apologetic that she has this extra item to have me take but I reassured her that I have enough room in my luggage. After refusing my invitation, saying they’ve already had some, she said a short prayer for me and left. When lunch was over and short goodbyes said, we went back to RD to see Amor again. I presented him the Tax Declaration to him and waited. To shorten the story here a little bit, initially it didn’t quite work out as planned because it had the wrong title number. I had to go back and see Chicki again. She found an incorrect digit and once corrected, Amor gave me two copies of the title.

Before going to Angeles I took a bunch of pictures of the Provincial Capitol along with the various statues in front of the building. Incidentally Allies Peanuts which is famous for its dry roasted variety (I actually like them better than Planters!) is just across the street so I went and bought some.

On our way to Angeles to see Armin, I thought about dropping by CKS (Center for Kapampangan Studies) in Holy Angel to see Robbie Tantingco. On the road, Pap and I opened a small bottle of Allies and we almost finished the danged thing! I tried to send Robby a text message to tell him I’m coming but it seemed like his number has been deleted from my cell phone. We went anyway taking the chance that he may not be there. Joel Mallari (the center’s resident archaeologist) greeted me at the door and said Robby is indeed in.

I gave Robby an update on what's going on and further told him that he'll be seeing a lot more of me once we get settled. He seems glad to hear about that. Joel showed me and Pap a short 'lecture/video' on how Pampanga has formed all through those years. They told me about Kong Paing's visit to the Center last year and showed me his painting of Pedro Abad Santos. They also gave me a copy of he magazine in which Robby wrote an article talking about Kong Paing's visit to the Center.