Guess What? (lol :))

“Guess What?”

(The Legend of the Boiled Egg and Peanut)

by glenmore bacarro

Part I / 041610 / loc: R.Papa

I was on my class when a friend sent me a text message asking for my presence on an unplanned after work session (again!). Of course who am I to say no?:) I said I’ll be there as soon as my classes are through. It took me two trains and a tricycle to get there. The one who sent me the text message direction to the exact location of the house played a prank to me that nearly pissed me off. Nevertheless a “new friend” (ehem!) fetched me from the place where I waited.

The session had been halfway when I arrived. “Few attendance.” I thought. There were only four of them and the host (new friend). The ambience already heated up, maybe in relation to the very hot day. Their session actually started two hours after noon!

One thing I was sure of, when the vodka consumed us, we are hard to manage!:) I pity those houses and hosts who extent their hospitality way far beyond one’s limit. I hope all our sorry and laughter somehow eases the disturbance we caused.

After those throat scourging shots we requested for hot soup. One of us went to the kitchen and went back with something in his hands. He is obviously hiding something in his hands. After a moment of curiosity he took a bite from it and gave a guess-what-I’m-holding smile to us. He smiled exaggeratedly that we saw a yellowish stains in his teeth from the “food” he bit. The craving for the hot soup was lost from our curious minds. All of us wanted to get a bite from that mysterious food he’s holding. He let us peek somehow and I accidentally saw the white smooth color of the “food”. I wonder then, how come the yellow stains? Out of the blue he offers a bite to the one on his left. She actually gave a snorting laugh when she saw what was it, and gladly took a bite. My curiosity peaked, I beg for a bite but he didn’t let me, instead he gave the bite to our other friend. She too can’t help laughing when she saw what it is. I was frustrated and somehow annoyed I really can’t help but to asked and this time begging. They all laughed and randomly took a bite to the “food” he’s holding. After seconds of sneaking I figured it out. “Itlog!” It was an Egg!!! Ridiculous! I don’t know what am I supposed to be feeling by that time. I just smiled and again accepting the fact that drunk person usually do unusual things. Boiled duck eggs as pulutan? He offers me a bite but I refused, not that because I don’t want to, it’s just that because I don’t like eggs very much.

After a while the egg thing was lost again on the course of our session. We end up eating instant noodles with boiled egg (this time I ate eggs) and “pumangas ng mangga” after. The host cooked and prepared “lumpiang sariwa” for us. He is a very good cook indeed. After then we decided to have some beers for “banlaw”. We even planned for the next day nature tripping.

We part ways just early for us to get back home not late and safe. Again I took the trains and this time an “fx” going home. While on the cab and having a hard time controlling my stomach not to vomit (nilunok ko pa ata ng palabas na:)) the egg thing suddenly crosses my mind. A smile lined my lips I can’t help but remembering the once one topic we had had. The “Shoelace” thing. Again, to divert my attention from my rumbling stomach, I’d tried to make sense from what had happened.

Let’s talk about the Egg. At first I’m curious on the thing he was holding. When I have had a peak on it my curiosity rises. I really wanted to know what it was. And I even beg for a bite. Frustrations consumed me when he refused giving me a bite. I asked, I begged, I expected something, I hoped for a bite. But when he finally reveals it I was disappointed, I didn’t take the bite.

Let’s talk about Love. At first we’re curious about it. What and how it feels like. When we have had a taste of it our curiosity rises, we wanted more; we even sometimes deny all reasons. We really wanted to know its every essence and how great it was. We beg for it to taste even the slightest sweetness of its promises. Sometimes we’re frustrated when at the long ran of waiting and finding one true love chances deny it to us. We asked, we begged, we prayed for it. We expect and we hope that the love destined for us is ideal. We set our own wants and limits believing that love should be magical. We let reasons aside and set standards for the love we believe is for us. But when love finally reveals itself, when it came knocking on our doors and when we found out that it wasn’t the love we are looking for we were disappointed. We tend to don’t accept it and deny a bite or a taste from it because it wasn’t the love we wanted to have. When it doesn’t reach even half of our standard the ideal we created we tend to close our doors and again wait for the love, the love we had created from our dreams. Have we ever asked ourselves that there is no perfect love?

I was then infront of our house when I’m back to reality. I forgot about my stomach but when I opened the cab door and got off after a while, the urge of nausea overpowered my control. It took me more than a minute to relax myself and stomach while helping myself bending on the sink. When I opened my eyes the mess of my vomit on the sink made me smile…guess what I saw?

Itlog (it-lOg)– n eng.egg, the oval or round body produced by hens/ducks and used as food; also similar body produced by the females of many anumals.

Part II / 041310 / loc: Langaray, Dagat-dagatan

It’s one of my mates birthday. I was on the Hospital for my scheduled completion of IVT cases (I was absent in the school where I am teaching and 2wks “absent without leave” from the institution where I do volunteer works). Before noon, text messages kept on pestering my phone asking where I am and asking what time should I be on the meeting place. About 3pm I was on my way.

I arrived just early enough for the party but some of my mates are already tipsy. Some actually left after a moment, they had appointments and some are simply drunk already. But some visitors are still on their way - visitors of the birthday boy – ‘male’ visitors. ehem!

Laughter and undying pointless talks ruled the moment, well not to mention the river of beers and vodkas plus the choices of pulutans completed the day. Then after a while a peanut vendor pushed his cart towards us. The hot steamed peanuts on his cart called our pulutan-hungry mouth. Then the topic about the ‘peanut’ began.

I ask for forgiveness for the sexual connotation of this topic especialy for the girls, more to the obscenity of some words.

Out of the blue, when the birthday boy asked us who likes peanut, one of my mate answered in a question saying “Dry or wet peanut?” and he smiled naughtily. The question cracked laughters around the table. “It’s a dry peanut, it’s hard to find some wet peanuts here.” One answered. “No!” I exclaimed riding on to the joke. “There are actually too many wet peanuts here.” I continued and ran my glance towards my female mates. It created much more laughter. Then I asked. “Wait, what is the tagalog term for peanut?” this I’m really into this obscene joke. Suddenly nobody answered, then after a moment pause one of us clearly and crisply shouted. “Tinggil.” Some of us burst with laughter. The word really creates uncomfortable yet laughable tone. Because no matter how soft or hard, slow or rapid pace, high or low pitch or tone way of saying the word, still the sense of humor is in there (well for us Filipinos only I think). The humor actually is for close friends only when malice and “bastusan” is not an issue more when all are drank! We were all busy contributing some things about the topic when one of us suddenly fell something… “Ay! Puke!” she exclaimed out of surprised. (expression usually exclaimed by Filipinos when surprised). Another one exclaimed almost in unison with her “Ay! Tinggil!” A stomach aching laughter proceeded.

The expression became the words of the day. No matter how indecent, how obscene and how naughty one thing may get the laughter and the moment created with it will be as beautiful as any cherished memory may be. Talks about these things will soon be forgotten but the friendship created will never last. Laughters may become mute and pictures may fade, when all things change, when distance and chances separates us, when one forget about the other, when old age blurred one’s familiarity with one’s face, when memory denied us the things we’ve been through, when life exhaust there will be this one special moment when we remember things. Even for just a second or a minute maybe, behind every laughters all things will clear, and for this particular moment I am sure of, with this single word, this moment will flash back. Guess what word this should be?

mane/mani (muh-ne’/muh-nee’) – n eng.peanut, highland legumes(?);nutlike edible seed of a plant of the 
                                                   pea family.

                                                -- n inf.clitoris(fil.trans.) a very sensitive part of the female sex organ.