“Balut baluuuutt! Penoy baluuutt!

”
At the sound of Tatay ‘s first
holler , its time for us to go to sleep. I’II
peep into my piggy bank before I go to
bed . It’s not even half full yet . Nanay
says that’s when I’ts full, I can go to
school again.
“Balut baluuuutt!! Penoy baluuutt!”
When Tatay holler the second time, Nanay
comes to check on my brother and me.
Kuya tries to force himself to fall asleep. I
just pretend that I am . I want to listen to
Tatay calling out until I can barely hear his
voice from the farthestplace where he
goes. To me it’s just like a lullaby.
Of all the balut vendors, Tatay is the one
with the highest, sharpest voice. When
he hollers,it can almost shatter the glass
in the neighbor’s windows. He has so
many regular customers because they’re
entertaind by the unique sound of his
voice. They all wait for him to walk by at
night just to hear him calling out. Their
evenings are incomplete when they
haven’t heard his voice.
 
Even
  before the sun rises, Tatay and
 Nanay are already busy getting the
coconuts ready for sale .
I don’t know if Tatay got any sleep at
all. He’s a balut hawker by night , and
a coconut hawker by day.  
 

“Buko , buko , bukoooyy!” he hollers

practicing
His voice is still high and sharp even its
hoarse. Instead of sipping coffee in the
morning , he says it’s better to have ginger ale.
It improves the voice and he says , and make
the skin smooth as well .
He needs to take good care of his voice
because it’s the one asset that earns him a
living.
 
Sometimes
  it’s bananas
(saba,latundan,lakatan) that he sells in the
daytime. He’s a balut vendor by night, and
sometimes a banana vendor by day . His voice
always sounds uniqueb, whatever he tries to
sell .People cant help but stare when they hear
his voice . He dreamt of becoming a singer. He
says it’s up to me now to make his dream come
true.
 When there aren’t any fruits to sell in the
morning , he sells vegetables instead. He’s a
balut peddler by night, and sometimes a
vegetable peddler by day. When is there
neither any fruit or vegetable, he has native
snacks and dainties all in a row.He’s a balut
vendor by night, and sometimes a vendor of
local nibbles by day.  
 
He taught me a “Bahay – kubo” song so I could
learn the names of different vegetables by
heart. My friends get annoyed when I sing it
because they think the pitch of my voice is
high as a coconut tree. But the older people
are entertained because they think I sound just
like my father. I’m just like a little bird that
goes tiririt ! they say and that’s why they’ve
taken to calling me “Tere,” which is perfect,
since my real name is Teresa.
Tatay tells me I should study
the musical notes. He says it’s
not a simple thing to holler and
make it sound like
singing .When he gies hawking,
he doesn’t just holler, he really
does sing. When he hollers, he
uses the notes Do Re Mi Fa So
La Ti Do, from the lowest note
to the highest. No wonder he
sounded like he was hollering
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Dowhen
last he sound puto …….. and
kutsinta ……”Come – try – my –
pu – to- ku- tsin- ta!”
 His holler seems to have a magnet. People buy
from him immediately. Others just listen. He tells
me there are musical notes in every sound . There
are low notes ,and there high ones. One just
needs to find the right note for every sound.When I
went to the market with Nanay, I listened to the
shopkeepers. Tatay was right . Left and right they
sang . A man hollered as he chopped up his pork:
Naricio:
“Po-ork! Pork! Come – get – some- po-ork!
 
Sabina:
Hmmm… it does sound like singing! It sounds like a lot
of low Dos.

Fatima:
“Buy -it-now, buy-it-now- su-ki!
Joy Irish:
Yodeled a woman selling vegetables, in notes that went
higher and higher,
Just like Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do! Some even waved
their hands in the air as they sang.”
 
Sophia:
“Come right up! Sir! Madam! Come right up and see!
Nothing stale, everything as fresh as fresh can be!”
 
 
Sabina:
The fishmonger was some singer . It was like there was
an orchestra at the market. Musical notes flying everywhere!
When they yodel perfectly, their sales do equally well. But no
matter how well my father does at selling, Nanay always tells
us that we still have to be frugal. Shes been having a difficult
time making ends meet with Tatay’s earnings. That’s why it’s
only Kuya who goes to school now. I would have been in third
grade if I had filled up my piggy bank.
My brother announced he wanted to help out. He sold fish
balls, but they didn’t sell very well. I accompanied him one
time. His sales were slow because Kuya didn’t sing out. So I
listened carefully to the sounds around us.
 
“Chug-chug, Chug-Chug! Toot toot
An oncoming train sounded like drums and trumpets
“Taka-tak, taka-tak went the steady rattle of a calesa* moving
farther and and farther away.

“beep,beep,beep,! Went the shrill horns of the jeeps on the road

When the wind blew hard, I saw the notes ‘do,re,mi,fa,so,la,ti,do!
I could’nt resist this extraordinary band that was just perfect for
my singing:
“come and get it!, come and get it!, tasty fish balls!
“ buy them now!, have a taste, it will make you smile!
 
Kuya was amazed and kids around us stopped and started. I
sang my song again with my extraordinary band. The kids
approached us, one after the other. Even older customers
came to buy from us they listend to my yodelling. The
fishballs are sold out and so were all our squid balls.
Edward :
“Balut baluuuutt! Penoy baluuuutt!
I peeped into my piggy bank. It was
already half full. Come morning , I saw that
Nanay and Tatay no vegetables arranged in the
pushcart . Neither were there coconuts nor any
kind of fruit.
 
Marc:
‘Ta-ho,ta-ho,taho…tahoooieyyy!”
Kevin:
Wow! Tatay ‘s holler is different today.
What’s he’s selling is my favorite because it’s
supposed to make you smart .Delicious taho.
It’s delicious when it’s topped with lots of
 
syrup and sago. And it gets ever so much more
delicious with Tatay yodeling along . He out
 
soft and low , and then it’s grows louder and  
louder , sharper and sharper. In spite of all
that, it still sound gentle. It tickles children
when they hear it. After they buy their taho
from Tatay , they always ask to hear him holler
“ taho”again.
 
 
Marc:
“Ta-ho, ta-ho,taho…tahoooieyyy!
 
Edward:
They will all clap and laugh. Others taho
vendors tried to imitate Tatay ‘s holler but it made
the children scratch their heads because they
sounded out of tune. When Tatay’s earnings grew
brisk, he started giving me ten one – peso coins. I
wish it were possible to sell taho at night. Tatay has
trouble selling balut because it’s drunkards who buy
from him and don’t even pay. My piggy bank is
almost full. I can go back to school again. I’m going
to be a singer. I’ll have my own concerts and my
songs will be recorded on tape or CD. I’ll own a
company that manages singers.
 
   
Naricio:  
One morning , Nanay was crying . Tatay lay in
bed, wrapped in his blanket. He couldn’t get up for  
work because he was burning with fever . It gave me
a shock to find that he had lost his voice. He
gestured towards a glass of water. He couldn’t
speak so I handed it to him. My mother explained
that the sweat had dried off his back and he got
caught in the rain.
Apolonio:
Three days went by, but Tatay still didn’t have his
voice. Many people asked why he wasn’t selling his
wares anymore . The children wondered where he
was. They had no choice but to buy taho from
someone else. Tatay’s taho was sweeter, they said .
Mornings were dull for the older customers who
waited for him to come. They said their morning
seemed incompleteif they didn’t hear Tatay’s holler.
My piggy bank hasn’t been fed any coins in the past
three days.How am I going to fill it up now? How am I
ever going back to school? Maybe I’II never be a
singer . Kuya made up his mind to sell taho in Tatay’s
Place.
Marc:
“Have some taho! Buy some taho!”
 
 
 
Naricio:  
He tried every kind of holler, but it seemed like no  
one heard him at all.
 
Marc:
“Ta-ho! Ho-ta! Tahohohohoy!”
 
 
 Joy Irish:
He tried every kind of tune but it seemed as if
the children had all gone deaf. What they wanted
to hear was the tune of my father’s holler. I wish
we had recorded it so we can play it on a portable
stereo when we sell taho.
Tatay was brought to the hospital. They said
his throat had an infection, and that it was swollen
. Tatay has such a beautiful voice, why did he get
a throat infection? They said he needed to rest.
When he changed out of his clothes I saw the
bones showing in his shoulders, they weren’t there
before. The beard had also grown longer on his
skinny chin.
My mother told me we needed to break open
my piggy bank to buy Tatay’s medicine. I cried
when I heard the coin jingling out of it. Nanay said
I should just get another piggy bank to look after.  
 
Fatima:
 
   
“Kuya, I’m coming to sell taho with you . im not
going to play.”
 
 
Apolonio:
“Don’t bother , Tere. It’s a long way to walk.”
 
Sophia:
I wanted to help Kuya so his sales would
grow.
“Let me be the one to do the hollering,” I
begged.
“Don’t bother, I can do hollering myself.”
I couldn’t stand it anymore , so I hollered
really, really loud:
 
“Ta-ho,ta-ho,taho…tahooooieyyy!
 
Tatay bolted upright from bed when he heard
me holler. He hugged me tight. He tapped me
lightly on the rumps as he poited at Kuya, as
 
if to order him to take me along to sell taho.
   
Sabina:
Sabina:   It was like there was nobody around. Nobody took
Around the first corner, Kuya hollered: any notice of us. I listened to the surroundings. There
was a bird singing. There was a plane flying overhead
and making a very sharp Do sound. I also heard the
Naricio: church bell chiming a lovely Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do.
“Taho! Taho! Come and buy taho!” How good it was to hear the musical notes dancing in
  the street . It was time. I let loose a very loud cry:
 
Sabina:
“Ta-ho,ta-ho,taho…tahooooieyyy!”
 
Joy:
The children quickly look around for the source of
the holler. It was as if they had seen a movie star. At
my second holler, they started coming towards us. My
brother says there’s magic in my holler. He says my
voice sounds exactly like Tatay’s. They made me
holler again and again, and they all laughed joyfully.
 
 
Kevin:
I never knew that Tatay had so many regular
customers. I never knew that even the policemen,
security guards and neighborhood watchmen ate taho
in the mornings before going off to work. They told me
that taho gave a lively start to their workday and  
hearing Tatay’s hollers made life merry for them. Our  
favorite regular customer is Kuya’s school principal,  
who promised to help me go back to school. I thought
I heard a wonderful Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do when he
told me I would soon be studying again.
 
Sabina:
When Tatay recovered from his illness,
he didn’t have to sell taho anymore
because he was made supervisor of
all the vendors. He was to teach them the
right way to holler and make it sound like
singing . Tatay told us that we didn’t need
to help out at work anymore so we can
concentrate on school and I can fulfill my
dream of becoming a singer.
 
 
Naricio:
If you ever happen to walk by  

Tatay’s taho factory, you’ll hear them  

singing all together like a  
Choir:

LUCKY GROUP:
“Ta-ho , ta-ho, taho, tahoooieyyy!”

 
 
 LUCKY GROUP MEMBERS
NARICIO III E. BANDIGAN
SABINA BEATRIZ CANITA
APOLONIO BENEDICT REYES
KEVIN LAMBAN
EDWARD RYAN VALLES
MARC PRINCE DELOCAMPO
SOPHIA CARLA DE LAZO
FATIMA MACALOLOT
 
 

PROJECT CREATOR: NARICIO

  III E. BANDIGAN
LUCKY GROUP LEADER: NARICIO III E. BANDIGAN
LUCKY GROUP ASSISTANT LEADER: SABINA BEATRIZ CANITA
LUCKY GROUP SECRETARY: APOLONIO BENEDICT REYES
LUCKY GROUP ASSISTANT SECRETARY JOY IRISH QUIAMABAO
STORYBOOK PUBLISH BY: LAMPARA