How was your Halloween? Did you buy a costume or make one? I was passing candies to the trick or treaters and saw a lot of homemade costumes. I am so impressed by how creative they were. One kid colored or painted a box with blue and put the word SPAM on it in yellow colors. How simple that was! Mostly, I am so proud of my ten-year-old niece Julia who made her costume—a porcupine. There were kids who were just staring at her, amazed at how she did it. It’s made of black drinking straws with white duct tape on the end. Another simple thing yet it is very creative. Let’s try to be creative next time so we don’t have to spend $30–$70 on a costume to be used for just one day.
November is my favorite month and it is the only month that starts with “NO.” This means NO more excuses, no negativity and no more complaining. It is also the month reminding us we have so much to be grateful for. What are you grateful for this year? Please share with us what you are thankful for on our Facebook page and leave us a comment or idea at https://www.facebook.com/FilAmVoiceMaui.
Shout out to all the November babies! Happy birthday to Leticia “Letty” Domingo, Atty. Ben Acob, Efren Delos Reyes, Alfredo “Fred” Dumlao, Mary Grace Joy Andam, Dianne Butay-Guiwa, Peter “Pedring” Villanueva, Rose Anne and Rexon Rafael, Eileen Andrea Bueno Verkhov and especially to Alaea Khloe Delos Santos. And yeah, I almost forgot, me, myself and I. Pada-pada kam nga kumablaaw ti naimbag nga panagkasangay yo amin! (Happy birthday to all!)
Happy, Happy birthday to you! Maligayang bati sa inyong kaarawan! (Tagalog) Naimbag nga panagkasangay mo! (Ilokano) Makapagayaya nga aggaw na nikeyana mu! (Ibanag) Masayang kebaitan queca! (Kapampangan) Masadya gid nga adlaw sa imo pagkatawo! (Ilonggo)
Let us see what’s going on with our story this month and where Michael and Angel will be going next, shall we?
The next day, Ray woke up. He was about to get up but he felt dizzy and had a headache. So he chose to lay down. He took off the blanket covering him. His eyes widened when he noticed he was undressed, no shirt, no pants. He looked at his side to see if there was anybody with him in the bed. Nobody. He slowly looked around the room and searched for his clothes. He felt relief when he saw his clothes on the floor.
“Nanoyin (What) happened idi rabii (last night)? Who was I with?” he asked himself. He traced back his day yesterday. Kagabi (Last night) he and his sister-in-law’s cousins went bar hopping. He had so much fun he got them so drunk.
“Ohhh … I was fine with the San Miguel beer until they wanted me to try the other beer,” he said. “What is the name of that beer again?” he asked himself.
“Oh yeah, pula (Red) Horse.” He shook his head and said, “That nalabbaga (Red) Horse beer kicks, no wonder it’s called malulu (Red) Horse,” he said with a laugh.
“How did I get to my room?” he asked himself again. Like a light bulb, it flickered in his brain. He remembered Lena opened the puwerta (door).
Then he froze. Did something happen to them nabengi (last night)?
“Oh, haan (no), haan (no), haan (no), haan (no) …” he said to himself.
He rubbed his forehead and closed his mata (eyes).
“Ray … Ray … Ray! Back to earth!” Katherine says to Ray, startling him.
Ray stands up and says, “I have to go Katherine. It’s getting late.” He goes to his sasakyan (car) without looking at her.
He doesn’t know how he gets home. His mind is flying. It is somewhere. It has a lot of questions he doesn’t know where to get the answers.
He goes straight to his fridge and grabs a beer and opens it. He looks at the beer and pahiyum (smiles). He takes a gulp and starts to remove his shirt.
“It’s a good thing I live by myself. I can be lasing (drunk) and not worry about who I will end up in bed with,” he says to himself and timan (smiles) again.
He walks to his living room with a bottle of beer in each kamay (hand). “I can be lasing (drunk), lasing (drunk), lasing (drunk) and not to worry the next day … ” he sang smiling, feeling like a fool.
He puts down the bottles of beer on the table and plops himself down on the sofa.
He opens the laptop and starts to type in Angel’s name in the search button.
He types “Angel Ramos Corpuz.”
No search results found.
He tried it again and it’s still the same.
“Let me try Lena’s name,” he says to himself.
He types “Lena Ramos Corpuz.”
He holds his breath while the hourglass icon keeps spinning around.
A minute passes and the hourglass icon is still spinning.
“I guess there’s a lot of info to download,” he whispers.
His mata (eyes) are glued to the screen of the laptop as the hourglass icon disappears and information starts to download.
What information will Ray find out about Lena? Will his research tell him if Angel is really his daughter?
Anyways, that’s all I have. Keep an eye out for my column in every issue. I’m Dulce, helping you to master your Filipino Language. Like always, let’s laugh, let’s makinig (listen), and Let’s Talk Pinoy! Hanggang sa muli! (Until next time!) Ingat! (Take care!)
Dulce Karen Butay was graduated from Maui High School and received her Associate in Arts degree in Liberal Arts from Maui Community College. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, specializing in Accounting, from the University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu. She is currently the Administrative Officer at the County of Maui, Department of Finance. Butay is the owner of Maui Balsamic Vinegar and is a licensed Resident Producer of Life Insurance with World Financial Group and an Independent Consultant of Saladmaster. She is a part of Saladmaster’s Travel Club and won an all-expenses paid trip to Cancún, Mexico. Butay has traveled to Texas, the Philippines and Thailand as one of the delegates from Island Healthy Solutions, a Saladmaster dealer here on Maui.