They say our departed loved ones visit us on special occasions or during a day that is important for them. Knowing this, I made sure to celebrate the important dates for my mama. And last Mother's Day, we only got to spend a short time at the cemetery because I needed to return home immediately for my cake orders. I then promised to make it up on her birthday and I'm glad I was able to do it!
So as usual, our first stop when my brother picks me up at home is at the gas station to refuel our car. Then we head to a flower shop to buy either a bouquet or a pot of flowers.
The weather that day was bipolar. It gets cloudy and rains then gets sunny. Repeat.
We tried entering through their main entrance and as expected the lower parts of the cemetery was already flooded. It looks shallow on the photo but this is probably about half or more of a car's wheel deep.
My brother then asked the security guard if we can through the back entrance since it was closed when we passed by it. I saw the guard taking out the two-way radio and communicating to someone. Later on, I saw him nod and brother went back to the car. He told me they opened the back entrance for us.
So we went back to the highway where the entrance for the back area of the cemetery was. The construction was still on going which makes passing by it a hassle.
The cemetery is very near a river which is why most parts of it are very prone to flood.
And finally, we made it inside the cemetery and had set up our chairs and table and foods! Did you know, the sky turned cloudy while I was at the middle of putting the foods on the paper plates? Lol. Droplets of rain even began minutes later and I begged the sky to stop.
What I made for mama's birthday were Lasagna, Tofu & Shrimp Siomai, and Graham Bar Ice Cream.
This was the cake I bought, by the way. It was the smaller version or bento size of Red Ribbon's Mochaccino. This was their special cake for Father's Day but I think my mama would love it.
This was my mama's plate. The food in aluminum foil was the graham bar ice cream which has already melted due to warm weather. I didn't bring any ice cream for us because I know it would just melt along the way.
Aside from her food, I also made a cup of her favorite instant coffee. I also chose a red candle because it's a happy day for our family.
After setting up everything, I called my sister and we had nice chat and catching up together with our brother while also recalling our good memories with our mother. We prayed for her soul and wished that she is doing well on the other side.
Like what I usually do, I showed my sister the foods I brought for our mama's birthday. She was impressed that I was able to make siomai and lasagna. Lol. My brother approves that the foods tasted delicious. Yay!
We were lucky the rain didn't continue to pour that's why we were able to spend more time at the cemetery. While we were speaking to our sister, I saw a cart being driven by a cemetery staff from afar. What caught my attention was the printed number on the cart. The number 3. It's a significant number for me and my mom which is why seeing it meant that it was a message from our mom. Perhaps she was happy seeing us there celebrating her brithday.
The sun was beginning to get painful to the skin and we decided to leave.
This was the back entrance I was talking about earlier on this post. We were lucky it was dry. On rainy days this path gets really muddy and it's more difficult to traverse it.
We went next to a mall to have the jewelries of my brother's wife cleaned. It's been a while since I passed through this bridge. I wonder if they still turn on the lights of this bridge at night.
My brother headed to the restroom as soon as we arrived at the mall while I waited for him near a bakeshop. I wonder what is Cindy's specialty and best sellers. Are you familiar with this brand too?
We finally went to the jewelry store where the accessories will be cleaned. I also wonder if these jewelries being sold are real silver? I'm not actually fond of wearing jewelries so my knowledge about these stuff is very little. When I wear one, it's usually just earrings or a bracelet. I even think I have an allergy to earrings so I try to avoid it as well.
The cleaning takes around 15 minutes so my brother decided that we buy some groceries our older brother asked him to do. While strolling around the aisles of the grocery, I saw a shampoo some people were raving about on social media. They said it makes the hair grow longer and helped with the regrowth of their fallen hairs. Long story short, I bought one..or two because it was packed by two's. The second bottle has a discount.
After the grocery, we went to a food stall selling street foods. The lady selling the foods had remembered my brother's face because he regularly buys kwek-kwek for our older brother. She would call us to buy whenever we passed by so decided to take a snack before getting the jewelries.
Of course, I bought my favorite, kwek-kwek. It already has the sweet brown sauce when the food was given. The sauce didn't look enough so I grabbed the red bottle, assuming it was the sweet brown sauce, and squeezed it into my food. Thank God for my quick reflex so only tiny amount was poured into the kwek-kwek. It was soy sauce. Lol.
And after getting the cleaned jewelries, my brother said we need to stop by another grocery store because the breads he needed to buy weren't available at the mall we went from.
It was already almost lunch time and it was hot as hell outside. While we were inside the grocery, a Jason Mraz song was playing on the speakers which I enjoyed listening to.
Then at night, I lit up three little candles and prayed once again for my mama. This time, I was able to send my prayers and wishes more solemnly.
It was a tiring yet fulfilling day because we got to celebrate our mother's birthday and was able to spend time with my brother and sister.
I wish our mother was happy seeing us celebrate her birthday and I hoped she liked the foods I made for her!
Thanks for reading! 💚