coffee and me

just cannot live without coffee.

 

been drinking coffee since i was a kid.

 

we used to have a coffee farm. i used to go there to help my tatay and nanay (grandpa and grandma in Tagalog) to harvest coffee beans in baskets. i used to wear long pants, bandana, long sleeves and tsinelas to protect my skin against sunlight and massive number of ants and itchyworms. lolo and lola would climb ladders because some coffee trees are high to reach. then kids like us would pick the beans that fell on the ground. it was just like a play for us. like normal kids in our community all does the same. the smell of coffee flowers are inviting too.

 

nothing is much better than morning coffee. the aroma of the boiled granules on kettle much different from the instant ones. sometimes we eat coffee with rice or bread drenched in coffee. we take coffee in any time of the day.

 

every morning we would help our folks dry the coffee beans on nets laid on the ground. just like rice, it should be dried on the sun until the shell turns brown and the beans dry. one has to shake it to test if its already dry. then we will take numerous sacks of dried coffee to the mill and sell it. the sound of the mill machinery is really irritating to the ear.

 

my cousins and i will always play 'kambalan'. a game where we need to gather most numbers of 'twin coffee beans' red ones has better points than the green and brown ones. a primitive game different from kids of today.

 

it is just sad that most of coffee plantations in Cavite are now altered by pineapple farms, subdivisions, hotels and restaurants. most of the citizens now would go abroad or in the mainland to look for work. unlike before wherein people in the neighborhood were all busy with their coffee harvest each day of their lives. our original way of living.

 

today, the mill has closed down. no more coffee dealers in town. our coffee farm was transformed into a villa. and no one else does coffee business anymore. my tatay already passed away and my nanay is already ninety five years old.

 

no more freshly brewed coffee in the morning. just a cup of 3 in 1. or when i am at the office, a tall macchiato.

 

maybe the reason why i love coffee most is because it makes me go back to my roots, to who i am, my childhood memories and how our folks worked hard for us to reach this status.

 

i was a teenage tree *_*

my college life was awesome. something i am proud i did and accomplished when i was young was the fact that i fulfilled my dreams of being in a rock band.

it all started when my then editor in chief sponsored a battle of a band for a cause in college. i was actually 'forced' to join with my then 'disbanded' garage high school band (combo on the run -- what a lame name ) to represent the college publication.

so i begged my ex-bandmates to join me and they thought it was a stupid idea. but then i still encouraged them to do so.

my cousins are gifted musicians so it was easy for us to start a playlist. we covered the song 'Promises' by The Cranberries and Alanis Morisette's 'Right Through You' song.

it took us a week to master the song and lucky our family supported us with money for music equipment and fees for studio rehearsals, transportation and gas etc.

it was the birth of our new bands name:

Instinct.

it was full family support on our first gig. unfortunately we never made it as the winner, however we became instant celebrities in campus after that night.

we earned a lot of friends mainly playing in bands and skaters in school. we also collaborated with other individuals who also joined Instinct.

we are comprised of:

lead guitars: Sosimo N./ Bless U.
bass: Reg. P.
rhythm guitars: Kenshin Barbie
drums: Yazi P.
vocals: Andy P. *_*
guest keyboardist: Eman M.

we joined rock gigs mainly in Cavite. we were always invited in school events. joined numerous  battle of the bands and always won champion and always took home the individual awards for best guitarists, best drummer, best bassist and best vocalist. we developed stage antics and drama too. we also composed original songs.

some playlist that we covered consists of:

Spiders and Inner Vision by System of a Down
Collosal Youth; Soon, Hear and Summer Time by Moonpools and Caterpillars
Not an Addict by K's Choice
Forgiven and Right Through You by Alanis Morisette
NIB by Black Sabbath
Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
How You Remind Me by Nickelback
Just a Girl by No Doubt
Animal Instinct; Promises and Dreams by The Cranberries
In Bloom by Nirvana
Shine by Collective Soul
Run Like Hell by Kittie
Blue Jeans (version) and Waiting For a Bus by Eraserheads
Awit ng Kabataan by Rivermaya
Wakasan and Minsan Lang by Razorback
Lucky by Kamikazee
Modende by Sugar Hiccup
Pagbabalik ng Kuwago by Kapatid

after almost four years of playing, we then focused on our studies and future corporate carreers. graduated college and worked and permanently stopped doing live gigs. the boys of Instinct continued their music career. and every summer we still play like a band reunion.

right now it still feels the same. like i am still that teenage girl in Chinese hairballs, tongue and nose piercings, red lips,  gig shirt, mini skirt, and green chucks.

this teenage experience is really beautiful to reminisce.  for i was a teenage tree.