Dr. Quack Quack

I woke up early this morning with an aching stomach.

When I was young, my grandmother gives a magic touch whenever we feel ill. She's chanting while rubs my aching stomach with manzanilla. You remember that ointment our parents put on our stomachs when we were still babies whenever we have kabag? Until we've grown up, we still seek grandmother's magic touch to take away that stomach ache. She finishes off with the ritual by gesturing, like putting all the ache in her hands and throwing it away to the nearest open window or door.

It seems unbelievable, but it is really unexplainable how she takes away all the pain.

"Gagaling. Lalakas. Titibay." This is the chant I have acquired from my grandmother. Whenever J feels an aching stomach, I take out that manzanilla we bought from the filipino store and applies it to her stomach, motioning a cross on it. Then finally finishes off the ritual with throwing all the pain to the nearest open window.

She laughed at me the first time I did this to her. But actually amazed how magical the ritual was, and the stomach ache went away easily.

Now that I am the one who needs a magic touch, I asked her if she could do the ritual for me. She started smirking, but trying to get serious. Then she said, "Gagaling, Hihilab..." I said noooo!

Hihilab means, I explained to her is, will still hurt. She apologized. What she meant was, hihilom. But I said, still wrong usage.

She repeated the ritual and finally got it right. I am still curled up in bed, but hoping that her magic touch would soon take effect.