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About batjay

I am an overseas filipino worker. Now, I am part of that "babalik ka rin crowd" you see around christmas time, arriving at the NAIA in droves from all over, gold chain around their necks, in jeans and maong jacket, ray-ban shades, goatee, and baseball cap, pababa pa lang ang eroplano kinukuha na ang hand-carry luggage at nagpapalakpakan na't handang halikan ang lupa pagka-landing!

Daraan lamang nina Agat Morallos at Tina Balajadia

Di ko inakalang
Aabot sa dulo
Na magwawakas yaring pag-ibig mo

Parang isang awit
Minsa’y parang langit
Minsan mayron ding ligaya at pait

May lambing man ang himig
May tamis man ang titik
Balewala pa rin ang tinig

Mayro’ng hangganan
Mayro’ng katapusan
Akala’ y aabot kailanman
Pag-ibig mo pala ay daraan lamang

Dati’y laging nariyan
At inaawitan
Ang pusong akalang di ka bibitaw

Aking natutuhan
Ang ika’y hayaan
At tatanggaping di tayo kailanman

Daraan lamang nina Agat Morallos at Tina Balajadia 

what i do

This is why I love Barcelona: they use our products. But seriously, I love to be working for a company that develops smart city solutions that help large urban areas like the City of Barcelona have safe water – think Flint, Michigan and you’ll know what I mean.
 
I’ve been asked many times by friends and relatives what I do for a living and have found it hard to articulate it during small talk in a way that would be interesting and not too technical. Mom, this is what I do.
 
Enjoy the video. If you look intently, you might find me in a Hitchcock/Stan Lee kind of cameo 🙂



LBM at ubo

dear mang boy,

naisip ko lang kanina habang kumakain ng maanghang na tanghalian: ang isa sa pinakamasaklap na pwedeng mangyari sa iyo ngayong bagong taon ay magkaroon ng matinding diarrhea kasabay ng malupit na ubo.

happy new year!
unkyel batjay

#walalang

My mom’s morcon

I made morcon for the first time this Christmas. I wanted to learn how to make this since I started cooking and this time, it’s personal.

I grew up eating morcon every Christmas and I associate its smell and taste with happy family memories. The round shape, by the highway, is supposed to bring good luck to the new year so I madapaking expect next year will be kick-ass (at this point, I look up to the heavens and give the gods of fate, the evil eye).

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This version of morcon is my mom’s recipe. Her dad, who is a cook, taught it to her. I also got a few tips from my sister Emmy, who learned how to prepare morcon from her husband’s mom. Between my mom and grandfather, my sister and her mother-in-law is over a hundred years of cooking. This dish has been served in my family for many generations and people whom I love dearly sat down in tables through the years and ate this food.

I learned the very meticulous steps of making morcon via Facebook. I gave my 92 year old mom an iPad this year and she and my two sisters, Emmy and Ester, have been chatting via messenger for the past couple of weeks. In between family gossip, talking about the weather and asking about how we’re doing, they gave me the steps and technique of how to make morcon.

Thank you mom. Thank you Emmy. This Christmas is special because this is when I learned how to cook your food.

World War Two Memories

dear mang boy,
 
nakakita ako ng maraming mga bandila sa harap ng mga opisina at kabahayan ngayong umaga. di ko alam nung una kung bakit nang maalala kong bigla ang petsa – ika pito ng disyembre. pearl harbor commemoration.
 
bilang pag-gunita sa araw na ito, lumabas ako kanina sa bahay at sumigaw ng pagkalakas-lakas: “mga kababayan, magsilikas kayo – nariyan na ang mga hapon!”
 
nagmamahal,
unkyel batjay