Kalding ken kangaroo

by Vic A
(as published in MVP 5 years ago)


When I learned unexpectedly that there is a group of Magsingalenos here in Sydney, I felt so excited that I wanted to meet up with them straight away.  Ronnie Tolentino and myself have been planning to get together with our respective families since the time he came out of the woodwork, but it just hasn’t happened yet.  Now that we discovered this bigger group of kailians, most of whom have been living in Sydney for a few decades now, it gave us a stronger reason to make this planned meet-up happen sooner than later.

Pinapaitan nga kalding

Leading up to this get-together that happened yesterday, Manong Bart Concepcion (from Quimmalapao, Manzante and San Basilio) and myself have been constant phone mates, as well as Ronnie.  Manong Bart heightened our excitement when he said that Manong Chito Baldoria (from San Basilio) and himself will be going to his hunting ground to get some feral goats and if they get lucky, some kangaroos as well.  The thought of kilawen and papaitan is enough to get us excited like children.

True enough, the weekend before this event, Manong Bart, Manong Chito and other friends of theirs went out hunting for our pulutan.  Manong Bart has this property, 3 hours away from Sydney, where there’s an abundance of wild goats, kangaroo, and he says, even wild boar sometimes.  His property has a shed which serves as their accommodation when they’re out there.  Didiay da nga pugpugan ken partien diay maala dan.  No iyawid da ket narangrangkayen.  He has invited all of us to join them in their next hunting expedition so we can try the fresh kalabkab ken primera ti kappukan nga kalding.  I must admit, it sounds like a real fun experience and we will definitely take him up on his offer one of these days.  To William (Realon), I know you were asking earlier if there were any hunting opportunities here – well, I am sure Manong Bart will gladly bring you to his favourite spot if you visit Sydney.

The day before our get-together, I couldn’t really get myself to be excited just yet as I was so busy at work in the midst of some critical developments.  I still had a meeting to go to on the last hour of Friday and have been preparing for this the days prior.  It’s been a stressful week for me and I just couldn’t wait for Saturday to come and just enjoy the company of our kailians, and of course diay pinugpugan nga kalding.  Once my meeting was over, I just tuned out and started to really get excited for the following day.

The day itself didn’t disappoint.  It was one day to remember for me – the first time I have ever met any fellow Magsingaleno in Sydney in over 10 years that I have been here.  We agreed to be at Manong Bart’s place between 12 and 1, and planned to hang around from lunch to dinner.  Yes, ganyan kami kasabik na magkita-kita at magkakuwentuhan ng mahaba-haba, hehe.  When we arrived at their place, Manong Chito and Ronnie and their families were already there.  We were greeted by everybody with the usual warmth that is totally Filipino.  Manong Bart and his whole family were very accommodating and served up a great feast for all of us to enjoy.  Pagtugaw mi pay laeng ket adda dayta kilawen ken beer nga insigidan.  The lunch menu included sinigang na bangus, dinengdeng nga karabasa nga adda marunggi ken parya na nga nasagpawan ti baka, pinakbet nga Ilocano style, tapa nga kangaroo, ken tay kaldereta ken pinapapaitan nga kalding.  Nagadu met nga talaga ti handa ni Manong Bart ken Manong Chito.

So just imagine from 1pm all the way up to dinner time, it was non-stop eating, drinking and loads of story-telling.  Manong Demi (Demetrio) Rosario from Quinaoayanan arrived with his wife, probably an hour after us.  Nagadu ket nga napagsasaritaan min apo.  Aglalo kenni Ronnie ta idi naruggian na tay Chivas Regal ket mayat met unay ti patangan min.  Inuming pataranta, yon yata ang tawag ni Dole doon.

Tapa nga kangaroo

Idi bumaybayag ket malagip mi met amin nga sarsaritan ken dagitay kakabagyan kada gagayyem nga am-ammo ti tumunggal maysan.  It turned out, adu met gayam ti ka-batch ko diay SWI nga kabagyan ni Manong Bart (Tita Alvarez, Ipay Uganiza, etc), kasta met kenni Manong Demi (Rodney & Alejandro Rosario, Erwin Tolentino, Danny Foronda).  Idi naammuan ni Manong Demi ti pilyedok, dinamag na no am-ammok ni Benita.  It turned out my sister was his classmate in North Central.  Ket ni Manong Chito ket nagadu met gayam ti barkada na didiay San Ramon.   Adda pay tay picture nga impakita ni Manong Bart nga picture ti classmate da diay TMI idi – ni kano Manang Elda nga taga San Ramon.  Malagip ko diay balay da diay abay daydi Tang Asiong Costales ngem ubing nak pay idi babbalasang dan.

Madamdama ket di mi napupuutan, dinner time gayamen.  Manong Bart’s two older kids (and their partners) arrived too for dinner.  Manong Chito’s eldest son came by as well for dinner but I think it was more to drive his dad home, hehe.  Before we knew it, it was 9.30pm and we thought it was time to make a move and leave the family in peace.  We’ve done enough damage for the day.  It was such a great weekend though to be spending it with kailians who I have never even crossed paths with in Magsingal but met them all here in Sydney.   I will leave some of the story-telling to Ronnie and Manong Bart.

I know that this will not be the first and the last time we will be seeing these folks.  I hope di kayo nabigla Manong Bart and Manong Chito.  We’re looking forward to the invite for the hunting expedition.  Cheers to all of you especially to your respective families for being such gracious hosts!