Visiting Mama and Getting Stuck at The Cemetery

Hello! I got busy with some cake orders these past days and lost my streak of writing. Anyway, I'll share about that too here in the coming days. :)

Every holiday season, we always try to visit our mama at the cemetery as well. We either go on the exact date of Christmas or New Year, or on a later date. For this year, we got to visit her on the third day of January.

Also, tis year is a bit different and very memorable.

Why is that so?

Our recent visits at the cemetery changed to early morning instead of late afternoon. Aside from it's the most convenient time for my brother, we're taking advantage of the Amihan Season or the Northeast Monsoon. The weather is still cool until around eight in the morning. The sun also rises later than usual. The photo above was taken at 6:35 A.M. and you can see from the store's window that it's still quite dark and the sun still hadn't show up.

My brother already had bought flowers a day before our visit. Actually, I was supposed to make Hamon (Christmas Ham) Pasta to bring to the cemetery but then I slept like a baby and didn't hear my alarm. We bought foods at McDonald's instead.

I was also supposed to have the hazelnut mcflurry. The crew said it was available but then few minutes after ordering, she came back to let us know that it wasn't. She offered to convert it to an oreo mcflurry and refund the excess amount because it was cheaper than the hazelnut. What a bummer. Lol. I was already excited and looking forward to finally try the hazelnut mcflurry.

We arrived at exactly 7 at the cemetery. The guards were all gathered at the entrance, probably for their morning ceremony.

Then we passed by this interesting statue. It really looks like a character from Bleach, right?

When we reached the corner of the Manaoag area, we saw that it was flooded but I told my brother that it looks shallow because you can still see the road. We went on and after turning, I noticed the flood was getting deeper. Holy moly! It was a trap! Turning back was already not an option so my brother tried his best to keep the car going as we drive through the flood. Our car was a bit low so it's really not good for driving it on flooded roads. The flooded part of the cemetery was actually just at that corner though it does get deep and becomes unpassable for sedan and lowered vehicles.

We still reached the area where our mother was and even had eaten our breakfast while we talked to our sister through a video call. The flowers and candle we brought last Christmas was still there when we arrived, by the way.

Since it's new year, it has also been our tradition to light some sparklers on mama's grave.

Video calling with our sister and her dog.

Of course, I also brought the lithophane picture. I wish we arrived when it was still really dark so we have seen the image better.

My brother tried to crank the engine several times but our car won't start, even when the parts of the engine which got splashed from the flood had dried out. We're doomed...

My sister's husband tried to intervene and suggested my brother some parts to check and troubleshoot through the video call but to no avail. I even participated on the troubleshooting process by cranking the engine while my brother observes the engine.

It was already past 9 A.M. and already getting warm. We have no choice but to go for our last resort. Call a mechanic.

My brother took a couple of minutes before successfully contacting a nearby mechanic. While waiting, we took shade at this gazebo looking structure in the middle of the cemetery.

This structure is actually a columbarium. The ambiance was peaceful and quiet with occasional strong winds flowing in. You can also hear birds chirping and fluttering their wings on the roof.

At this time, my phone's battery was already at 16% which means I will lose communication with my sister soon when my phone rans out of battery. Thankfully, I brought my powerbank which I used for the lithophane, but it also has little power left and only gave about 2% because I was on video call.

The mechanic arrived at 10:40 and began troubleshooting. Apparently, the problem was somewhere on the filter. I'm not sure what that part is exactly called but the mechanic removed the dirt in it and our car miraculously started. He also mentioned another part that needs to get replaced asap because the sound it's causing doesn't sound right anymore.

We then exited the cemetery at the back area. The back area don't get flooded but still not cemented.

We went to our next agenda, to buy groceries for our older brother. My brother went to the restroom first so I took some photos of the mall's atrium while waiting.

My phone holding on to its dear life at 3%.

After grocery shopping, I remembered that Avocadoria just opened their branch at this mall. I asked my brother that we look for it. After searching, we found it at the food court.

I treated my brother with a cup of Avocado Lover because I know he was exhausted from all the trouble that happened in the morning. However, the ice cream we had ordered didn't have real avocados because it was unavailable that time. The staff offered to just add more almonds instead. Glad I was still able to take a few photos too.

I've also been hearing nice reviews of Avocadoria's Avocado Dream ice cream. It's avocado ice cream poured into a real avocado's skin. The seed on the middle is like caramel and balances the taste of ice cream. It tastes okay but my only problem was the ice cream was frozen too hard that it's difficult to scoop, especially the caramel. Lol. Also, I thought it was a pair based on their menu but got a bit surprised when I was given only half.

And that's how our stressful morning visit at the cemetery went. We're never passing that corner ever again no matter how shallow-looking the flood is. On the last update of my brother, he told me that our car won't start and needed to get repaired. Yikes!

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Thanks for reading! 💚