Ta Ta

As I was reading through my brother's blog this morning, I had this memory of our maternal grandfather who passed away almost 12 years ago. My brother, Lem (aw heck, if he's going to post his full name on his blog, I may as well use his real name, right?), blogged about the great weather they were having in Vancouver, BC and I was transported back to when I was about 7 years old. My grandfather was this independent and bull-headed man who loved to do whatever he pleased. We all affectionately called him "Ta Ta", short for "TaTay", which is tagalog for father, dad, etc... Nonetheless, Ta Ta lived with our family in the city for a number of years before my parents decided to cart my brother and I off into the suburbs. While living in the city, Lem and I were educated in this fine catholic institution for the first three years of our educational careers. *Note that's just dripping with sarcasm* (I'll blog about my hellish experiences at the catholic "prison" that our parents enrolled us in another time).

This particular memory takes me back to a sunny afternoon. I was wearing my stylish hunter green, polyester, catholic school uniform and I remember feeling incredibly warm. Ta Ta picked Lem and I up after school and we proceeded to walk down towards the bus stop. The bus stop was on Main Street, right smack in the middle of "Little India". This strip of little India, is flooded with restaurants, sari shops, and indian bakeries. Walking down this strip you can smell the aroma of various spices wafting through the air, making your mouth water for chicken korma, fish pekora, tandoori chicken, and fresh samosas. Yummmmm! And right smack in the middle of this ethnic oasis?

Shirley's Bakery.

Yep, a bona-fide, North American bakery boasting chocolate chip cookies, strawberry shortcakes, birthday cakes, apple strudels, and best of all, cupcakes. On our walks towards the bus station, Lem and I would peer over Shirley's window, which featured all of her mouth-watering cakes and pastries. And boy, did my mouth ever salivate. Ta Ta used to treat us to one of Shirley's baked goods on occasion while on our way to the bus stop and when he did, I was in absolute heaven. I remember that I would always pick one of Shirley's chocolate cupcakes with it's swirly chocolate icing on top and satiate myself in its sweet, chocolatey flavor. It didn't take much to keep me happy those days. Lem and I could were relentless kids during that time and sometimes, I wonder if Ta Ta yielded to keep us from being our whiney selves.

Naaaah. We were good kids.

More to come.