Hahaha!! I kid you not, this is a letter addressed to Zubuchon and the address on the letter made me practically fall off my chair with laughter. Rewind a bit. Zubuchon’s headquarters are located in large lot beside an ancestral residential property belonging to my in-laws. The “stately” home on the hill is painted white and has been there for some 60+ years, at one point its main resident was over 100 years of age. For some reason, it is believed to be “haunted” which it absolutely is not. But many a cab or tricycle driver, local resident, etc. are certain that it is… So much so, some folks refer to it as “haunted”.
Obviously, this story has reached even our own suppliers, in this case, the nice folks who installed our fire suppression system at our latest Zubuchon branch. They sent this billing, and while the company name and address is accurate, it includes totally irrelevant landmarks or locational aides to help the postman do his job… “Green gate” is innocuous enough, but if you read carefully, you would also catch the “Beside Haunted” before the right zip code. :) At least we got the letter. Hahaha!
26 Responses
Quite a reputation that ancestral home to expedite delivery/arrival to location !
In places where there is no order, city planning, and with haphazard placement or construction of structures or buildings ( with squatters in between) and where a post office address may even be an afterthought making an intelligent addressing nearly impossible, locales have had to resort to what ever means, creative or otherwise to insure arrival at destination. How would one locate a house in the “fabellas” in Brazil for example? I also find that people sometimes locate places not necessarily by physical address but as the location nearby that refers to an incident or reputation as in your case. In Puerto Princesa for instance, tricycle drivers might refer to an alternate route as one that goes thru a field where an alleged woman of ill repute was murdered and dumped. And how is one supposed to know?
In our community we label our homes by names as Kudyapi ( a musical instrument carved in wood and attached to the gate, Pamaypay ( for the fan shaped structure of the house with corresponding fan shaped grilles of the gate), or the name of a local specie of fresh water turtle ( to describe the home of a German scientist doing research on turtles) and likewise with a turtle shaped iron grilles at the gate.
Hahaha your supplier really, really, really wanted to be sure that the bill was going to be delivered! Urban legend ba kamo?? This made my night!
Hahaha! Another business venture for you, MM: a Halloween Night Zubuchon dinner package complete with a Haunted House tour! :))
Haunted…….SPOOKY! You surely won’t miss that spot. There is always that childhood Halloween in us everyday. Maybe those paranormal characters gave you the secret ingredients for the Zubuchon!
I was trying to access this post earlier when there was still no comments and I couldn’t and I was thinking….the post must be haunted too!Ha!ha!ha!
I can confirm that Betchay. When I clicked the post earlier it was pointing to the archives section. Haunted..?? Or MM is toying with us…hahaha
Ha, ha, ha – but truly, that is sometimes how they identify places when you ask for directions sa probinsiya – ‘malapit sa balay ni Judge’ or ‘dira sa may dacu nga cahoy nga may tama-o’!!
In Zubuchon’s case ‘haunted’!!!
I know the landmark marketman. it is indeed well-known.when i was a freshman, i had a classmate who lived at the Oppra area, near the Haunted. The house is very visible from escario. One time, when we were on our way to the basillica to pray for guidance for the up and coming college algebra and trigonometry exam, he called my attention and pointed up to hills and said: “kita ka anang dako nga balay, mao na akong giingon nga _____________ mansion, haunted baya na, ingon ang mga taw, naay maghilak dinha inig ka gabii, manglamba ug sira, unya, naay hayag, musiga inig tungang gabii, unya mo ring ang bells bisan walay taw…”
are there bells in the “haunted” house marketman? :)
Brings to mind Silvia La Torre’s home address in one of her early radio sitcoms, Numero 8 tapat ng poso, Numero 7 tapat ng poste. My few nerves left use to end abruptly whenever I asked for an address and was given directions until I realized that this can be another Filipino peculiarity (in language) because in Tagalog address and directions are interchangeable.
It’s the ultimate exclusivity when you don’t need an address. Just mail to: “The Haunted”, Cebu City in the same way, I’m sure, mail reaches Raffles Hotel, Singapore or The White House USA or Santa Claus, Finland.
Ha ha! Maybe a good site for a leisure park?
A friend of mine was giving directions to his place. He wrote: “look for the house with the brown gate and two mortgages”.
whatever works for them, right? :)
Gej, hahaha, I like that, “two mortgages”. Khew, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone sent a postcard with that address, it would probably get delivered. khristianshyne, aha, a local. First of all, the home has a bell tower, and folks including grandchildren used to head up there to ring the bell when they felt like it. :) As for the lights at night, the home was fitted with some of the earliest “motion sensor” lights facing the large garden for security purposes. So when folks, including security guards walked by, then it would trigger the motion sensor lights. As for the loud crying or banging, I suspect one has to check the television sets of neighbors in the vicinity… Actually, I am amazed by how far and wide this reputation has spread, and most folks who pass it on have probably never even seen the house up close… :)
EGADS, out of curiosity, I just googled “haunted house cebu” and look what popped up at the top of the searches… this is UTTERLY RIDICULOUS. :) Honestly, how can people write these things?
People come up with the craziest things. One time, a bridge outside our farm was featured on national tv for being haunted. Something to do with floating coffins and shape shifting farm animals.
Now we know why Zubuchon is a success. (^_^) It has a supernatural connection!
I too, had a hard time getting into Market Manila..for a while, I thought I was in the dog house…
In light of this, my Lola used to tell letter or package senders, ” just tell the driver (bus or any means of conveyance before) my name and IT will be delivered.”…. Gone are those days..oh, and their house is haunted too, supposedly…now torn down, bought by SM Hypermart….
this is hilarious!
mao d i… it’s in the mountain, so people would tend to believe on those stories…its classifies by most folks as karaang balay…:)
bwahaha. i can imagine you falling off your seat when you read the address. knowing that you know who owns the so-called “haunted house” makes it more funny. :)
LOL, Just like the bahay na puti in Baguio.
at least your mail/delivery will never get lost :)
Our neighbor here in Park Slope used to own a pepto-bismol pink building. It was a great landmark for us. Every time we have delivery or visiting friends, we always tell them to look for the pepto bismol building :). Too bad they sold it and the new owner repainted it.
I am based in the Caribbean up to now we describe our residences or places as “down the road” , “top of the town” , ” the fisherman by the old tamarind tree”, it is safe to say “pick me up some good greens from the rasta garden” don’t get me wrong it is just picking up some organic grown lettuce .
I’ve slept in that house; definitely not haunted.
I live in Peace Valley near Oprra and when i give directions ingetting to my h ouse, i always start with … “you know the haunted house beside capitol? That’s **** drive and you followtgat road…..”
I have to drop some pasalubong to my flatmates’ sister, on our way to their house. I called her and asked for direction.
She says “Kaagad mo makikita ung bahay namin me puno ng sampalok sa tabi ng gate”
then i asked ” Yun po bang Sampalok merong bunga?”
She answered seriously “Ahhh sa ngayon wala pa kasi hindi pa nila panahon para mag kabunga”
I could harldy control not to laught out loud. Sobrang seryoso si ate sa pag iisip if meron bunga ung Sampalok,, she actually keeps going and goin’ talking about the Tree.. =0.. hehehe…
But of course we found their house exactly what she said.. ung Puno ng Sampalok na walang bunga” ….lol