Our Wedding Chronicles: Pamanhikan

NOTE: I’m making a series of blogs narrating the events last year that led to our wedding on December 22, 2007. I’m making this to share to others and for me  and my wife to always remember how we became hitched to each other. This is the first blog in the series. 

It was exactly one year today when together with my father and siblings, we went to Wendy’s place to meet her family and for me to officially ask permission from her parents that I am going to marry their daughter. In Filipino lingo, we were there for the “pamanhikan”.

I went home at Kabacan on October 6, 2007 (the day before the event) to prepare what we need to bring. It is the tradition that the groom’s family should provide and bring the food. Even my sister Bona and his BF Jo who were working at San Francisco, Agusan del Sur went home and they brought with them around 5 kilos of crabs that I ordered. The STUPID thing is that for fear that the crabs might die due to dehydration since they were transported all the way from San Francisco to Kabacan for 5 hours; I immersed them in a basin of water overnight. The next morning, I found out that almost all of them were DEAD because of drowning! Haha, katanga ko talaga! Now I know better.

Anyway, they can still be eaten so my sister Dianne cooked her “crab casserole”. Tinikman namin pero iba talaga ang lasa sa yung talagang buhay pa ng niluto. The meat was not as white and as juicy as that of one cooked “live”. It also has a coarse and grainy taste. Oh well, so much for the “house specialty”.

Papang also cooked beef steak; Bona made a fruit salad and me a tuna kinilaw. We then packed and commuted to Cotabato City. Egi was left as “taong-bahay”. We arrived at around 2:00 PM and proceeded to the Rodriguez residence where I am renting one room. We left Papang and went to South Seas Mall to buy Novellino white wine, Fundador brandy and other needed items.

We set off to Wendy’s place at 6:00 PM and I got to introduce my father and siblings to her family. There was a feeling of awkwardness at first between Papang and Wendy’s since it was the first time that they met face-to-face. Pero ilang shots lang ng Fundador at okay na sila.

While they were busy with their “getting-to-know-each-other” session, we prepared the food. Wendy and her mom prepared sugpo, pancit bihon and mango float.

We then devoured the sumptuous feast before us!

We had a videoke session right after eating… 

… and we drew out plans for the bridal entourage. Seryosohan talaga ito, hehe…

After a hectic brainstorming session, we had a dessert of mango float and it was time to go home.

Two months and two weeks after the “pamanhikan”, I and Wendy were eventually united in Holy Matrimony on December 22, 2007. That date marked the third anniversary of us being lovers.

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