6. MEKENI TO THE MOUNTAINS

MEKENI TO THE MOUNTAINS! BAGUIO, WE'RE HERE! Craning my neck in wonder at my 1st Pine City visit in 1957, with my yaya, Atching Daling. Peering through the back window of our trusty Oldsmobile, big sis Celine, age 7.

 My love affair with Baguio started early, at about 10 months old, as these pictures show. Taken in 1957, they show me and my family enjoying Burnham Park with my relocated host-relatives.

UNCLE MATT, THE PROFESSOR. My dad's youngest brother, Mateo, moved to Baguio with wife Auntie Auring, after he accepted a teaching job at St. Louis.He is shown here with the school behind him, on his way home.

 My Auntie Auring, together with Uncle Matt, moved from Pampanga to Baguio in the 1950s, after my uncle got a teaching job at Saint Louis. Smitten by the clime and the scenery, they decided to make Baguio their permanent home.

V--VRRROOOM WITH A VIEW. My Dad, taking the kids for a ride at Burnham Park.

BURNHAM BOYS. Me, on my mother's arms. Elder brother Gregg (3 yrs. old) on a trike.

In the years that followed, their pretty little house along Bokawkan Road, behind Benitez Court, became our headquarters whenever we trooped to Baguio for our annual vacation.

B-R-RRRR! MY FINGERS ARE FROZEN! Me on my Mother's lap, with Auntie Auring looking on. Ingkung Dando, in his trademark white pants and polo, stands near by.

When my sister Celine graduated from high school, she was prevailed upon by my father to go to Baguio for her college education. As always, my Uncle Matt and Auntie Auring opened their home to my sister who became their special ward and a companion to their kids, Marlene and Marlon.

SOUVENIR PICTURE TIME! Ma, me, siblings Gregg and Celine. Behind is camera-shy Ingkung Dando.

After college, Ate Celine tried to start a career in Manila, but went back to Baguio instead, renting a house in Palma Street, and transforming it into a dormitory for Kapampangan students. My brother Gregg lived there amongst kabalens, having also been accepted at St. Louis University.

AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE. Taken possibly in 1966 at Burnham Park. We were visiting my sis Celine, who was already a student at St. Louis U, at this time. That's Ma, sis Celine, Gregg, me, Romil, Susan and Mike.

 My sister’s career as a dorm mother was short-lived, however, as she got hitched with her college sweetheart, Manong Nanding Hamada, thus further cementing our ties to Baguio.

HERDING KIDS ALONG KISAD. Taken in 1972, during the wedding of my sis Celine and Manong Nanding Hamada. Mike, Anna Lisa Hamada, and my other brothers, Froilan and Eric. Behind with me is sister Susan. A year later, I would become a Baguio student and stay on for 5 years,

It was but logical that I too would go to Baguio for college. And so in 1973, I was accepted at SLU and thus became an official Baguio resident. From the Kisad compound, my sister’s family set up house along Session Rd., in a small 3-storey building. Upstairs were the Dimacalis, the middle floor was where my Manong’s family lived, and downstairs was where I and my brother Gregg stayed, together with the family pet, Dog. It was here that my life in the mountains began.
(26 May 2008)