Finding myself in Legaspi

So I flew to Legaspi, Albay for the weekend. It was mostly for work but I didn’t expect what I would find from this trip. What I found was something more important and more precious than work, it was an unfound pride for my father’s side, the family that pioneered the civilization of Legaspi City. I discovered a lot about my clan – the Yap clan. And how blessed I am. And how negligent I was to find out that the heritage I came from was not any ordinary heritage. It was a heritage built on hard work, determination and pure perseverance. All I knew was that my grandfather, Santos Yap (he had his Chinese name changed to Filipino) migrated from China to find greener pastures in the Philippines and with him he brought his 4 children from his first wife who already passed away. Then he found my Lola, Lourdes Yap, a good-natured, kind and patient woman who was very religious, always prayed and went to mass at the church next door to their big wooden house. They had 12 children, my dad was the 8th child. Yeah, you could say they were pretty busy haha!

What I didn’t know was that Lolo was one of the richest and most successful businessmen in the city. Our family owned the biggest supermarket in all of Albay. It monopolized all distribution of goods from rice to sugar and that our family owned acres of land good enough to fend for five generations of Yaps or more. A family of 16 children and then, grandchildren. That would be a lot. I was surprised to not really realize this and didn’t take the time to appreciate what my family built for the past 70 years. It was definitely worth the trip.

My cousin (left side) Ansyl Cadag accompanied me. We ate at Small Talk – the supposed dating place of Bicolanos. Haha! Tried their popular “Mocha Max”. It was good 🙂

This girl drove me around. We rolled the windows down while the radio was on full-blast and basked in the breeze that only a province could give.

I had fun being the passenger for once, I hate driving now haha!

Drove to the end of the city to get here. What a spectacular place. 🙂

Met this cute kiddo too. Missed you Kiarababe. You’re such a smart kid!!

She was showing me her new dog – a gift from a neighbor named “Skipper”.

Kili-kili power hehehe.

Last but not the least, we paid a visit to our Lola, Lola Des. Not a lot of people would know that my Lola was such a compassionate and giving person. She had a scholarship program for students in Legaspi who couldn’t afford an education. And my relatives would even recount the days when my Lola would take several stops in town before reaching her final destination just to give out money to friends and relatives in need.

To Lola, I got to know you a lot more during this trip, I want to thank you for being who you are. Because now, I see a lot of myself in you. I know that we weren’t able to get to know each other that well since my family lived in Manila while other cousins stayed and lived with you in Legaspi but please know that I appreciate and love everything you’ve done for us. You were the silent and peaceful type, just like how peaceful you were when you passed. I could only wish that I could be half the woman that you were here on earth.