The Circle of Life: A Celebration of Death and Birth

Hello, Hive! And to my fellow Northern Filipinos, I hope you're doing fine over there. One more typhoon to look out for after the current one leaves the territory.

So I'm back after resting my hands for a few weeks from participating on Inktober and preparing foods last All Saint's Day. I also planned to catch up with sleep, however, it seemed like my body was trying to rebel as my sleep problem has returned. I couldn't sleep at night and whenever I could get some sleep, it would only just be around 2 to 4 hours. So the past two weeks didn't really make me feel rested.

Going back to November 1st, the day the living celebrate and reminisce their departed loved ones. This day has been very important for me since my mother passed away. I always cook the foods for the occasion instead of ordering them on restaurants. It's tiring to prepare all of it alone but cooking it myself felt like it's a way of showing my love for my mother. We believe that souls visit us during this day and I've heard from a psychic that spirits can smell the foods we are offering and they can also somehow taste it through smell.

The foods I prepared were pansit bihon, pork lumpia (spring roll), maja blanca, and jelly cake. I remember my mother used to make maja blanca every All Saint's Day and so I vowed to make it too during this occasion, even though I struggle big time making the latik. I also didn't fry all the spring rolls and saved the others to fry it when we visit our mother's grave.

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We haven't visited our mother's grave on November 1st because my brother was busy on that day until the 2nd. However, I happened to wake up early on November 2nd (All Soul's Day) and saw a livestream mass on my Youtube recommendations so I watched it while I placed a candle in front of her photo.

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We were able to visit on the third day late afternoon. The flower shop where I usually order flowers from was closed, glad the other flower shop on the other side of the road was open. Aside from my brother's hectic schedule and my sleep problems, going to the cemetery in the afternoon is actually the best time because it's no longer warm and the sun isn't very painful to the skin.

I thought it would only just be us visiting the cemetery that time but I was surprised there were still crowds on some areas and most graves still have their candles burning.

I always get drawn to this statue whenever enter the cemetery. It looks like a character from Bleach. The sunset sky background gives an eerie and dramatic feeling.

The was one family near our mother's grave when we arrived but they left after around half an hour. We were not alone though because there was still an open food stall and a few people on the distant areas of the cemetery.

Almost all of the graves already have their flowers and candles. Some families also offered foods for their departed ones. Our mother's grave was clean so we have to apologize that we haven't gone on the exact date. I cooked the foods though on the 1st. :)

We called our sister as soon as we finished laying out the things on the grave. I bought a small cup of ube ice cream too. I think our mother would love an ice cream along with the other foods we brought. Of course, I also made her favorite coffee I bet she really missed it. We left after almost 2 hours of catching up, reminiscing our memories with our mother, and talking about the different ways she have visited each of us. She visited me on my dream at the wee hours of November 3. She was curious and eager to taste the food I cooked in my dream.

We dropped by a restaurant on our way home to get some take out foods for dinner.

I was confused which to order so I looked for a set menu and thank goodness they do have some combo meals. I got the Combo B (spaghetti, fries, pizza, buffalo wings) for Php 310 (5.26 USD).

The place looks nice and cold even though it was almost full. However, I didn't get the hype for this restaurant. Or maybe I just ordered the wrong foods because they tasted a bit ordinary.

Their staff also didn't notified us that our take out foods were already ready at the counter. We were waiting on our table for at least 40 minutes and there were two birthday celebrations where the music and cheers of the staffs were too loud for my ears. It would be my worst nightmare to be surrounded by staffs singing and dancing while people from other tables look at you. To each their own, anyway.

Coming from the cemetery and seeing those happy celebrations at the restaurant gave me an ambivalent feeling. But that's the reality of life, we live and we die. Both are celebrated, though they don't feel the same.

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It was already 9 P.M. when we got home. I remember we still went to a convenience store to buy a raisin bread for our father. And when we got home, our eldest brother requested for some drinks at the nearby convenience store so I accompanied my other brother and looked at the ready-to-eat foods while he picked the drinks from the chiller. I got the spam with egg and cheese onigiri out of curiosity. It costs around Php 75. My tastebuds were shocked from its saltiness on the first bite but quickly adjusted on the next bites.

And folks, that's how my All Saint's Day celebration went. I think it's also good not joining the huge crowd on November 1st. It's more peaceful when it's less crowded and it felt more solemn that way.

Remember that our departed loved ones may not be with us physically but trust that they are just there "living" in a world or dimension meant for their next journey. Let us not forget them as they have been also doing the same.

Thanks for reading! 💚