IVR

Hello and thank you for calling

Three Stars and a Sun hotline

Please choose your preferred language:

Press 1 for Hiligaynon

Press 2 for English

Press 3 for Filipino

Press 4 for Mandarin

Press 5 for Hookien and

Press 6 for Bisaya

Please bear with me while I connect you

to my tongues.

Press 1.

Ang akon utok gatalang kung ano gamiton

magsabat sa imo.

Daw spaghetti, lambod lambod.

Ang akon dila ginapangita iya Nanay

Ang nag ili-ili sa iya sang indi pa sa kasampot,

Kag ka-isrot, kung sa diin una nabati-an

ang sugilanon sang mga manugbulong,

babaylan kag iban nga nagtaliwan.

Ang pinakauna nga nagpainchindi sa iya

sang kalibutan.

But I started pressing 2,

because it’s needed because it’s an edge

because it’s easier because they said so

because of survival

because…just because…

Pressing 2 became natural, normal

My tongue slowly weaving its way

into the fabric of globalization

And then again, trying to understand the world

A little bit better, or did I?

Pinindot ang ikatlo

dahil sa Cinema One

Para makasama sa pakikipagsapalaran ni

Jobal, Omar, at Sambag papunta ng

Samadi —

Dahil sa Eraserheads, sa Magasin,

sa Alapaap, sa Huling El Bimbo

Para sa Masa

Para kay Jolina Magdangal, chubachuchu

At para maintindihan ang mundong hinabi ni Pepe

Ang makilala si Sisa at Maria Clara

At para na din siguro patunayan na

hindi ako mas malansa sa isda

Unti-unti na kitang nauunawaan, Pepe.

It’s daunting pressing 4 now, rusty

我很长时间没说中文了

like visiting someone you haven’t seen

and spoken for a long time, drifted apart

for some mystical reason the connection

is still there

我跑不了

Maybe because life started there:

朋友与乐趣

the religion was learning.

Embedded in some parts of me, I press 5

press 1, press 2 simultaneously

My cousins call me “Atsi”

(Atsi is Hookien for big sister)

“Dua tsi?” “Tsi pa”

I wait for “Ang Pao” every Chinese New Year.

Lighting incense, three.

Bacoloadiat is celebrated in our city

every year, Year of the Dragon.

Realizing the oldest Chinatown

in the world is in our country.

Nagsugod ko press 6

Pareho ra man ang words

When pressing 1,

Pero ang karon kag karon, lahi.

The time for later is now.

Nadula ka sa dula?

Lost in the game but not losing.

Naningkamot man ko para

madunggan ko nimo.

Daghan pa kaayo akon dapat matun-an

Mag sagol-sagol man ko press 1

press 6 kag press 2.

I slowly realized, in my 7th year here,

Surprise!

I can press 7, a little,

With the help of other buttons.

Marhaba, mabuhay, shukran, salamat

“Salamat” you said, when I had a flu

Baffled that our salamat is your shukran.

Taal is our volcano, I wouldn’t dare

to be close to but taal is

when you call me. La, is a note

but no for you. Bayt is a home

that do not bite. I learned “mafi mushkila”

When my feet was sore, my calves were tight,

While: treading the ridges of Ras Al Khaimah,

Stepping on loose rocks in Fujairah,

Submerging in the wadis of Oman—

it was worth every blood, sweat, and bruise

Morning dews, shakshouka for breakfast

Afternoons under the shade

while eating mandi, the nights

we roasted potatoes on campfires

wondering what Ibn Battuta

would do, sharing stories on silence,

history crash course—blurring borders.

Shivering cold, our blanket were stars

too magnificent to miss

Tracing Orion’s Belt, looking for

the Seven Sisters until we fall asleep.

Back to 2,

Wherever I am,

I will keep pressing these buttons

as my tongue craves for more

as my tongue craves of home

of soul feeding gastronomy

a bowl of cansi, continuously

slurping the marrow out of life

with Henry and Robbie.

You may press 0.

I am ready for you.