Lolo Mario celebrated his 90th Birthday on April 13, 2011 at his daughter Nini’s house in Morgan Hill, CA
Lolo Mario and the Cajudo’s (Lita, Sam, AI and Abby) film a special birthday rap video for Ruthie Baladjay.
I remember it was Christmas 1994 at my Tita Nini’s house in Morgan Hill. All of our cousins, aunties, and uncles were at the house for the annual Christmas get-together. I remember Lolo Mario calling all of the kids and grandkids into the kitchen to the big, round table. I got to the table and saw that there was a big platter of eggs. Lolo Mario explained to us that he was going to show us how to eat ‘balut’. Lolo picked up one of the eggs and began peeling it, and showed me the baby duck. My Kuyas began to tease me and poke me, daring me to eat one. Lolo even showed us how to ‘sipsip’ it. I just remember the juice from the balut running everywhere and I was screaming “Ewwww!” while my Lolo continued to eat it. My Kuyas and I had a good time watching Lolo eat the balut and show us his best balut-eating technique. I was too scared to eat the balut, but I’ll always remember Lolo showing us how to eat it.
– Abby Cajudo, granddaughter