Kabayan!

We have gained a stationary stalker. I don’t know if he’s Japanese or Chinese but this stalker has so endeared himself to us that passing by his restaurant every night has become something for us to look forward to.

We are running on our 27th day here and yet he never fails to greet us every night except on those times when we would go home ridiculously late.

It all started when Randy, one of our colleagues, asked us if we have already come across the “parrot”.

“Parrot?” we chorused.

“You’ll see.” He smiled mischievously.

Randy was the one who introduced us to the shorter, along the river, route going to our apartment.

I think it was on our 3rd day in the country when he told us about the “parrot”.

We were traversing the suggested Boat Quay route, admiring the many restaurants dotting both sides of the river, hassled by the many waiters pitching their cuisine, enticing us to try their specialty at a discount when above the din of voices came a distinct shout;

“KABAYAN!”

I almost jumped out of my skin. I feverishly searched the crowd, trying to check who shouted when I came across a smiling chinky guy who was staring back at me.

“Kumain na kayo?” He asked.

I was about to answer when he continued, “Pogi ako!”

My colleagues, who also stopped at the first greeting, were doing their best to conceal their smiles although some girls couldn’t help but giggle. I tried hard not to appear nonplussed, smiled at him in appreciation of his effort, and along with my colleagues continued on our merry way.

“Parrot?” I asked my colleagues
“Parrot!” and we all burst out laughing.

He became our nightly fixture. Our night won’t be complete without his happy greeting. Every night, on our way home he would call out to us;

“Kabayan!”

“Kumain na kayo?”

“Pogi ako!”

He gets us everytime.

We would brace ourselves whenever we’re nearing his restaurant, prepared for his nightly greeting but we couldn’t help but laugh and sometimes, answer him. He seemed to really enjoy calling out to us.

We became so fond of him that we were already planning to have dinner at his restaurant and have our photo taken with him and we were gonna call it a parrotshoot. Blech.

Anyway, a week ago, the parrot was not in his post. We were so used to seeing him there that his absence was conspicuous, at least to us. After a few more nights without the familiar greeting, we asked one of the waiters in the restaurant we imagined was his.

The waiter was silent for a while and then he told us that the the guy we were looking for had an accident almost a week ago. Apparently the parrot got drunk and fell down the river. Since there was nobody to help him at that time they only found his bloated body the following morning.

We had difficulty digesting the waiter’s story. The parrot’s greeting is still too freshly embedded in our minds that to think of him as gone was hard. We thanked the waiter and left. We continued walking home in silence. Each of us lost in our individual thoughts.

What happened was nothing short of a tragedy. Although we’ve only known the parrot for a short time, he affected us with his eager smile and his “Kabayan!”, “Kumain na kayo?”, and his “Pogi ako!”. Phrases that I’m not even sure if he understood. Phrases that never fail to make us smile. Phrases that he greet us with anyway. As if he has an inkling that his stay along the river wont be for much longer so he tries to solicit as much smile as he can, knowing that his life will be shortlived.

Rest in peace, Kabayan.