Mga Pinalanggang Kasimanwa nako,

Gusto nakong ipabasa sa inro ka usang suyat nak ako nabaton halin sa ako amigo ag kumpadre, kaibhanan nako sida rile sa trabaho sa Riyadh. Ingnunot nako sida kag bakasyon sa Simara it katong Abril 2002, pero waya sida nakaabot it pista. Miskan kali ay personal nak suyat sa ako pamilya, pay buko ra guihapon dahil ka ida mensahe ay para sa atong tanan nak Simaranhon.

Please take some time to read Jun Sarmiento's unedited letter to Yap and Buncalan family, narrating his unforgettable memories of Simara. You can find our photos in "Sojourn" of this site.

Mabuhay ka tanang Simaranhon!

Randy Jose Yap

5th May 2002

Dear Daddy Ed, Mommy Luds, Jun, Ivan, Erick & Jayvee, Kuya Pope, Randy & Lani, Yoi & Ole,

I hope you all had an easy ride home.

Now that I’m back here in Riyadh, I can only indulge myself in recalling my very enjoyable and unforgettable stay in Simara. Short as it was, you’ve made my vacation distinctly fulfilling. I can still smell the fresh sea breeze, recall the warmth welcoming smiles of the many folks whom I had the honor of being introduced to, and taste the sumptuous food and delicacies of the island. I’m sure these happy memories will linger for a longer while as I really had a great time. For this, I’m most grateful to all of you – please accept my humble thanks, hoping that I’ll be able to reciprocate all your kindness in some ways.

MEMORIES OF SIMARA
by Minnie Festin Navato
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It's been 50 years since I last visited Simara. It had no running water or electricity back then. I wonder how it is now.

I remember we used to get our water with 10-gallon balde (large empty kerosene containers) from the town artesian well. The pails were hung at the end of a bamboo stick and laid over the shoulder. Chattering women would do laundry around the artesian well. Sometimes, we collected water from the rain. When it rained, we would put the clay jars outside the house. The water we drank came from these clay jars. I thought the water from the large jar that we showered in had wriggling mosquito larvae. We scooped the water with “tabo,” a hallowed, half coconut shell with its meat removed and poured it on our body. We took baths in a separate nipa hut in the garden. The elevated floor was made of bamboo slats. Underneath the floor was the ground with large pebbles. The hut only had 3 complete walls. The 4th wall had a large opening which was covered with a curtain. Some of us would answer the call of nature in the garden during the day and in the orinola (chamber pot) at night. Sometimes, we ran across the town plaza to the isolated beach outhouse of the elementary school near our house. Even as a kid, I wondered where the grown-ups went for their necessities.