Full Saturday

saturday was completely filled with activity. trish woke me up at four in the morning so we can go to the tiangge. we usually buy clothes for gifts and for ourselves as well at the tiangge where the prices are so low. and what's more, they're all made by filipino garment-makers. as part of my resolution this year to patronize filipino entrepreneurs, i've been buying only philippine-made items for giveaways and for personal use; be it clothes, paper-made gift items, food, bags, clothes, etc. i think that it helps to lift the economy somehow when we are patronizing our very own business enterprises and not the korean and chinese items proliferating anywhere nowadays.

then, we had to rush to bring langga to school as they will be preparing for their school play competition in the afternoon. and off we went to salcedo village in makati to see what's there to buy. again, our own small entrepreneurs are there selling their products and produce. one can see all good food everywhere; e.g., pancakes, milk, gourmet tuyo, tinapa (we bought jaq's sumptuous vodka tinapa and tinapa with malunggay), breads, pizza, pasta, meat cuts, filipino ulam, ice cream, taho, etc..   and the organic produce were a sight to see. trish made sure to buy some stuff and greens for salad at home. after having our fill of what's to see and taste and smell there, we were on our way home.

pics i took were only of the flowers near the entrance/exit when we were already leaving.

hardly have we sat down, when the phone rang and we were fetched by trish's mom, tita chelle, as they still have to check out several places and confirm the venue for their christmas party. we just freshened up a bit and again were on our way out the door. trish hurriedly took a picture of me at Serendra while tita chelle was busy on the phone.

at one o'clock in the afternoon, we had to go back to rockwell to watch the musical competition. it was a competition between the year levels. Grade 7 played The Sound of Music, 2nd Year played Miss Saigon (good acting for their actors!), 3rd Year played Cats and 4th Year played The Phantom of the Opera. well, i was only able to take a pic of the first one to perform and after that, my phone went dead.

here's a peek at the fab costumes of the cast of Cats:

each year level took almost an hour each for their chosen musical so it was already past six when we decided to go home. sure was glad to be back home. took a bath and soon headed off to dreamland.

Simbang Gabi 2012

Simbang Gabi has started, not only here in the Philippines but anywhere else where there's a Filipino community. this is a tradition of filipinos to attend novena masses in preparation for Christmas. originally conducted as misa de gallo or dawn mass, presently it is also celebrated as anticipated mass the night before.

i hope i will be able to complete all nine days this year. i also pray for everyone to be able to complete their novena masses this year.

What Date is Today?

the date for today when written in the shortcut form is quite memorable. just like the 10-11-12 date that i've blogged about before, this date is easy to remember. why? just because... duh!    ",)

it'll take another century to have this date again. i reckon i won't be around anymore when that happens. at the 22nd century, again, it'll start with 01-01-01, then 02-02-02, and so forth... ahh, but that's too far away from now.

looking at things this way, a lifetime is just too short.

need to do all the things that i want to do in this lifetime. need to fill my life with meaning.

Biz Planning

it's quite exciting having something worthwhile to do again... after  along time.

plans are a-hatching. but still need to continue with the 'market research', so to speak. this may take a while but i do believe that all good things come to those who wait.. and hope.. and pray.. and pour in enough effort to bring our plans to fruition.

Lazy Sunday

today was a lazy day for us here at the house. no laundry was done (clothes piling up high now), no food was cooked (we bought food from outside), yep, no heavy cleaning at all (just the light surface cleaning trish did early in the morning to clear up the table from its mess). we were all busy in front of our computer / notebook typing away and/or just surfing the net.

am happy i finally finished AV's order for Christmas giveaways in her canteen. will have to start making the eau de cologne now so they can age in time for delivery.

My Project

posting here some pics of what i have been busy with these past few weeks. enrolled in some livelihood training seminars (am not employed, you see). need to earn this christmas season. hopefully this will eventually be a business with trish (thanks for the support - moral, physical and financial) and some friends.

Celebrations

i just recently realized that there are several things to observe or celebrate during the month of october. allow me to enumerate:

a) for one, it's the month of the Holy Rosary. i have been praying the rosary since i was a kid. we pray at school during october since i went to a catholic school. then i learned to pray the rosary whenever i have some important personal prayer intentions, and i still do until now. i have been steadfastly observing the rosary for life crusade since tita chelle gave me the prayer book that was being disseminated by the Rosary for Life crusade.. (and especially since that was the time when my young niece recited a brief prayer intention during that year's celebration). i guess, i started because it was a catholic practice, and back then, as a child, one doesn't have any other recourse but to follow. i am happy to say, though, that it gives me a great sense of peace whenever i finish praying the rosary so i still continue to pray the rosary and ask the intercession of the blessed Mother Mary in my personal intentions.

b) it is also coffee month here in the philippines. i just got to learn of this. and since i am currently interested in   coffee, i attended this year's coffee summit and met some (if not, got to know) of the bigshots of the trade. i made my own networking and hopefully am all set on executing my plans of being a farmer. (fingers crossed here) :-)

c) october is also breast cancer awareness month. for me, i'm observing it as (well, generally) cancer month, regardless of the type of cancer. it's got a bit of a stigma to it, since we have the big C gene on both sides of the family.

d) then, there's the fiesta here in the block where we live. i have already posted some pics of that one in a previous post.

e) then there's halloween. okay, i know that there are some who find the activity overrated. one just can't understand what all the fuss is with costumes and treats and pranks on this day (for kids trick-or-treating) and night (for adults partying the night away). the trick or treat for the kids here at our place was last saturday morning til afternoon. the hall was decorated very eeriely, it seemed like a horror booth with a really spooky music playing aloud. residents were enjoined to give some treats for the kids who'll be visiting our halls so i asked trish to buy some when she goes to the store. we gave this:

and then yesterday afternoon, i heard someone knocking at our door. i was surprised to see two young kids trick-or-treating when i opened the door. i hurriedly went back in and gave them some chocolates and those marshmallows left from our stock (those that actually escaped my happy munching). and just tonight when i went out to buy Coke, i saw this at our door.

the tenants at 2K have so generously given us a treat and hung one on each door (well, on our floor at least, as far as i know as i didn't check on the other floors). well, looki, lookie here at our treat:

this is it for now. whether you celebrate the same things i do (or not!), i hope that you do have something to celebrate. be it a birthday of a loved one (or yours), a graduation, or just a simple milestone in your life. take time to celebrate. celebrate life!

Wear that Pink Ribbon Proud

october is breast cancer awareness month. so while already onto the third week, hope this blog is not late on the scene.

just wanna express my solidarity with the aim of raising awareness about breast cancer. this disease afflicts not only women but also men. let us all be mindful of the risk to this disease. i'm even worried 'coz i have all the risks to such high predisposition to cancer, u know: old age, cancer genes from both sides of the family, old age, not married / have not given birth, old age, uncontrolled weight, old age... get the picture?  ;-(

i participated in a pink ribbon walk in dubai four years back when i just arrived there. it was such an eye-opener for me. i only learned just then of this campaign. and i bear witness to the human struggle against cancer since then. see related posts: Pink Ribbon Walk , Aunty Gingging and Life's Miracles.

i pray that the number of people with breast cancer will be reduced. i pray that those afflicted will have strength of mind and body and emotions to fight this disease in their life right now. i pray that they will have family, friends and loved ones holding their hands right now and supporting them through this ordeal.

let us continue to pray for one another, to bring hope to people who are emotionally, physically and spiritually in need of healing. be a prayer warrior. keep the hope alive.

Sweet Fatality

i'm naturally sweet.(wink-wink).. probably why i've got sweet tooth. all of us in the family are. our craving for something sweet runs in the family. imagine us during family reunions - all huddled up at the tables and in front of us would be our favorites: cakes, fruit salad, leche flan, brownies, biko, or whatever kakanin is there available... much to our gustatory delight! oh, i almost forgot to add, diabetes is in our genes. awww.. but how can sweets be so fatal?

when i was young, i first realized how dreadful diabetes was during this one time when our family went swimming. i didn't know how to swim (i still don't until now, by the way) and what i usually do is to accompany any of the older members of the family so there'd be somebody looking out for me. i'm not a precocious child. i just stay still and would just wade through the sandy beachline, of course. and should my older companion decide to swim out to sea, i'd be tagging along with my ever-dependable 'salbabida' (life-saving device / life buoy).

that time, my lola susing (mom's mom) was the one who accompanied me. she normally makes several laps around me as she loves gliding through the water. on this occasion, however, i noticed that she was not her normal self. she was treading water stuck opposite me in my salbabida, with her eyes closed. we stayed that way for about half an hour when i couldn't contain my curiosity any longer, i just had to ask. so i rocked my salbabida a little to catch her attention then proceeded to ask, "La, ngano wala man ka mulangoy didto sa lawod? (Granny, why are you not swimming in the depths?)"

she opened her eyes a bit, looked at me and answered, "Dili na man ko kaayo kakita. Halap na akong mata. Uban na lang ko nimo dinhi. (I can no longer see clearly. My eyes aren't that sharp anymore. We'll just stay here together.)"

and the naturally curious child in me just had to ask again. "Ngano man nahalap imong mata? (Why did your eyes grow dim?)"

"Kay tigulang na ko. Ug sige pud ko makatulog nga basa ang buhok. (Because i'm old. And on top of that, i sleep with my hair still wet.)", was her reply.

"Ha? Makahalap diay na ug mata? (What, that can ruin the eyesight?)"

"Oo. Busa, ayaw katulog nga basa ug buhok, ha. (Yes, so you better not go to sleep with your hair wet.)"

"Hala, lola, ayaw katulog dinha. (Hey, granny, don't sleep yet.)"

Little did i know that i was witnessing the first signs of the complications wrought about by diabetes on my grandma's body. Her vision was slowly waning, and this effect was downplayed by the perpetration of old folks' belief regarding sleeping with wet hair as a cause of loss of vision. the conversation that transpired between us seemed innocently true to my young mind. and for a time, i would refuse to go to bed if my hair is wet. i insist on playing till late night just to ensure that i have already dried my hair.

most of my relatives on my mom's side suffered from diabetes and died due to complications arising from this disease. and now, i learned that i also have relatives on my dad's side who have diabetes. it's official. i have double the risk. my predisposition comes from both sides of the family. and i have seen how it has wreaked havoc on the lives of some relatives - vision loss, amputated legs, kidney failure, lung disease, liver disease, heart disease, and more.

today, my mom has it, too. and she continually monitors her blood sugar level so as to be able to better manage her diabetes. her older sister is also diabetic. but if there's good that's come out of it, it's that they are able to share experiences and reach out to each other well because of their similar situation. when aunty madeilyn brought us her insulin plant which she sells to doctors and diabetic patients, my mom and aunty tata (living just beside us) immediately planted it so that we'll have plenty of plants at home. this insulin plant (scientific name: Costus igneus) seemed to be a miracle plant as it has been proven to keep sugar levels at bay. one should not eat too much of it though as one might experience sudden weakness (especially if you're not diabetic, like me). there was this one time, after sweating it out cleaning our garage, i happen to be resting a while and in front of me was the insulin plant. out of curiosity, i picked out one leaf, cleaned it by the faucet and began chewing on it. about 15 minutes from then, i suddenly experienced mild weakness at the knees, that i just had to sit down and my head was feeling buoyant. so after about 10 minutes of rest sitting down, i went into the house and looked for anything to eat inside our ref. i realized i should not be eating this plant which seems to drain sugars from circulation so fast, i really got dizzy. but still i have been taking care of my own plants here in manila. i brought stems from back home and planted it here. who knows? somebody just might be needing it. just have to carefully inform her/him of its use though. and there's also some caution to be made when taking medicinal herbs for curing illnesses.

mom's insulin plant initially intended for selling was not sold at all. a lot of the people who my mom had talked to about the benefits of the plant would come by our house and ask for it. and my mom would happily give it away. when she sees that there's only a few left, she would start re-planting again and these get to be given away again. the good thing about it is that my mom has helped a lot of fellow diabetics like her and encouraged them to learn how to properly take care of their health. once you know of someone with diabetes, you start sharing your experiences and your knowledge about it and so in some way be able to make a difference in another. not necessarily that one might depend on the plant. she shares with them the need to take regular meals, learn what kind of food to eat and how much to eat, learn to include physical activity within the day, make sure to monitor sugar levels, etc.

the plant may not be a cure-all. nothing ever is. the important thing is that people get to learn how to properly take care of their health, make correct lifestyle changes and thus better manage their disease.

This August Life

After some time I was finally able to re-connect with some friends and re-logged myself to the web. Was just too happy reading about what's been going on in my friends lives, happy to make a video greeting for my ex-boss's 50th bday bash, chatted and texted with Monde friends again, excited to hear that glo is slowly settling in singapura but tearful to hear of the passing of two batchmates from Pisay just these recent weeks. Jessie and RosyJen, you'd be sorely missed!

Am back in Manila and staying with kuya's family. Am all geared up for some training-seminars.

Even with august measures and strife, well, life goes on. And am grateful that I am still standing strong (even if just mentally and emotionally) amidst all difficulties. Thanks to family and friends.

The Kulets

We have two makukulit na doggies here at home. The big one is Ziva (so girlalu, grabeh!) and the younger one (by two months) is Leroy. Both are named from characters of Esmond's favorite TV series - NCIS.

Here, Esmuky placed a kerchief in Ziva's neck and she strutted around showing it off to everyone in the house. She wouldn't even let me touch it, I almost had my hand bitten by her when I tried to playfully take it off. Such a girl.

The Good Seed

Today's Gospel is about the parable of the weeds in the field. The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to Him will live forever.

Here's another fave song of mine that i love singing in church:

Gift of Neighbors

Today's Gospel Acclamation:
"I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me will never die."

Saw my aunt this morning as she was hurrying home from visiting our neighbor at the other side of the block. She was holding a couple of stalks of flowers, to which I exclaimed, "Wow, aunty, gwapaha anang bulak, oi!" She immediately gave me one of the beautiful red flowers and said it'd look nice next to the image of the Blessed Mother. I thanked her and spent several minutes trying to do the arrangement. It's a red Torch and its from one of our neighbors backyard.

  

And here it is placed next to our image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.




Have been receiving lots of grace from our neighbors this summer (flowers, fruits, prayers and lots of love and care). We are blessed to live in a neighborhood where the residents are united and are tightly-knit. Everyone knows everybody else and birthdays and even thanksgiving celebration are celebrated together as one. Wakes are also attended to by the concerned residents. Prayer meetings are held every Sunday on rotation of each one's homes.

At summertime like now, when fruits are in season, we get to share the "harvest" of fruits from our very own backyards. Received mangoes, tambis, coconut, etc. My cousin recently climbed our avocado tree out back. And here's our avocadoes:

Mothers

Today commemorates the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, who believed that what was spoken to you would be fulfilled. Though no one will ever bear the Son of God in their womb again, yet, we are called to bear the Son of God to the world through the lives we live - wherever we are, whatever we do and however we do it." - Companion, Q2 2012


The second Sunday of this month marked the celebration of a very important and valuable person in our lives- our mother. Mommy has been instrumental in almost every important milestone in my life. Daddy always sees to it that we do not forget to appreciate her. And rightly so, as this is but the least that we could do for her. I realized last Holy Week when we spent several days in our farm that my parents are getting old as we children are, too. And they are getting more sensitive and are really deserving of our attention now. I am sad that I have not been very showy in my affection towards my parents. Now that they're older, they really do deserve to be shown love and appreciation. My mom talks a lot about so many things, perhaps trying to fill me in on all that I've missed all those years that we children have lived so far away from them. Or maybe, because she knows we do not have that much time as we would have liked. The chance may never come again. But what I am willing to give them now is time- my time for my parents.

Here's my mom happily delving into the cake I bought for her, though I told her that even if the cake is hers, it is ours for the eating, not hers. She's diabetic, you see. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Langga's Graduation

Today is my niece’s graduation from grade school. Oh but she’s slowly turning into a young lady. I must admit, I still call her ‘litol gerl’ with a slip of the tongue every now and then. Her mom would immediately ask “litl gerl pa ba ‘yan?”. She’s grown taller and trying to act all grown-up already but mind you she still takes some time to play with toys and re-read her old children’s books.

Their theme song for their graduation was You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban. Ah, i realized that's why i keep hearing her singing the tune for a couple of weeks now. I appreciated the homily that the mass celebrant gave during this morning’s Eucharistic celebration. He mentioned about the story of Derek Redmond, the runner who was out to get the medal for the 400-m race in Barcelona back in 1992. He was determined to bring home a medal, whichever color medal it may be. Once the race started he was actually doing well, when suddenly, about 175m from the finish line, he heard a pop and felt pain. He had pulled a hamstring. He tried limping but fell on the track agonizing over the pain, thinking “There goes my medal.” He knew he was out of the race. This dashed every last hope of him winning an Olympic medal.

Medical aides were rushing to his side to help him but he sent them away. He decided to finish the race. Hobbling on one leg, bearing the pain, his tears running down his cheeks, he inched his way slowly through the race track. His dad Jim, who has been his coach all his life, pushed through the crowds and came running towards him. He told his son he will stay with him and they will finish the race together. Derek sobbed and slowly father and son made their way towards the finish line. All the spectators stood up to applaud and cheer them on. Nobody paid heed on who finished first. All eyes were riveted on the couple slowly making their way forward. A few steps from the finish line, Jim let go of his son so that Derek would step through the finish line on his own. I'm posting this video that i saw on youtube on this story. All credits due to the one who posted and to ESPN.

I admire the close son-father relationship displayed in the story. They exemplified what a good parent should be to his child, always walking along with him/ helping him, but ready to allow him to finish a task and take credit on his own.

That is what God the Father is to all of us. If we just call on Him, He will not leave us to go through life alone, beating the odds alone, taking all the pain alone. Each time we fall, He is there ready to pick us up and hold us up if we but remember that He is a Father watching over all of His children.

I remembered the poster that hang on my housemate’s room way back in our university days. It said: “The race is not always to the swift and strong but to the one who keeps on running.” I do solemnly agree. For me, life is not a race but a journey, an adventure that we need to enjoy and hence savour every little experience that life has to offer. It does not matter if we are a late bloomer or slow learner. The memories we make, the values and meaning we pack into every moment of our life is more important than all the money or wealth that most people are trying to accumulate nowadays. Quality time with loved ones is very important. We cannot chase after materialistic dreams and successful life status symbol if it is at the expense of human relationship with family and friends. What empty success and hollow victory that will be.

Such story is one of triumph of the human spirit. We all go through difficulties in our life. There are times we fail. But this is not always because we are not good enough or that we did not try or give our best. There could be several reasons why this happen. It may just simply be not meant to be. But if we continue striving and keep pushing forward, overcoming weaknesses and turning them into strengths, then we are on the way to a very meaningful victory in life.

March Update

Talked to daddy yesterday. He asked about langga’s graduation. Our little lady will be graduating from elementary this friday. Finally, she can really say, "Yey, i'm free from school." (well, grade school that is). Mom called this afternoon. Today is my lola susing’s birthday. They went to visit lola at the cemetery and afterwards shared a simple lunch at home. Lolo vino, lola susing’s remaining brother alive, led the prayers. They had just come from pagadian this weekend to attend the wake of a relative. Truly, mom continues to forge strong family ties within the sapong clan.

Have just finished watching (for the nth time) a fave knovela, the legend, starred by no other than love of my life bae yong joon. J

(* photos courtesy of Google search)

Sorry folks, please bear with my quirkiness. Just can’t resist watching that beautiful smile. I really am enjoying life’s simple pleasures these days.

And faithfully waiting for life’s little miracles.

Life's Miracles

i am so blessed to have a lot of me-time these days. have been trying out recipes, downloading my fave songs, watching my fave dramas over and over again, reflecting on God's words regularly, and writing again.

i must admit that at the back of my mind i have that fear about my future nagging at me. but still, i am grateful for a lot of different reasons. and i have learned to appreciate so many facets of life this way.

just this evening, when i opened my facebook page, i read the sharing of a high school batchmate about her struggle to beat breast cancer. she learned about it last year when she was 34 weeks pregnant with her second child. and it has been such a struggle (emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually). it is such a blessing that she has a very supportive and loving husband and there was an outpouring of support from family and friends. she underwent mastectomy 2 days after her scheduled induced delivery. she cried a lot when she realized that she could only breastfeed her second daughter for 2 weeks from her right breast while she breastfed her first for about a year. given the fact that she was 38 years old (considered young), her doctors advised aggresive treatment against the big C.

when her hair started falling off 2 weeks after she started chemotherapy, that night her husband shaved her hair. she cried when she looked at herself in the mirror, thinking: "how can anybody say bald is beautiful?" asking her husband if she looked okay, her husband said she's beautiful and hugged her. she wore a wig since and a beanie which was perfect during the winter season. she joined a support group of cancer patients and survivors and that has been a big help.

after 8 rounds of chemotherapy she is now on remission. thanks be to God! it is truly amazing how miracles happen in our lives. i can just imagine how happy she and her family must be. to be able to stay with your family and loved ones longer is such a blessing. what's more important is that she became even closer to God during this journey. naoms, stay strong and firmly rooted in the Lord.

in this journey, "forward, always forward", we go! tomorrow will certainly bring more miracles.

Coming Home After the Goodbyes

sweetest goodbye

two sodium atoms are walking along the street when one stops and says...
*OMG, Ive lost an electron!*
*Are you sure?* asks his companion.
*Yes, Im positive!* replies the first sodium atom.


guess you have to be a science student to understand, eh?

my section in third year was sodium. so i kinda picked up this joke i found on the net. it has a certain kind of ring to it (to my ears, of course).

my batch in high school is gearing up for the big homecoming this 2015. it'll be our 25th year since graduating from pisay. and apparently everyone's concerned with the considerable sum that's expected of us. this year's grand sponsor has already raised more than 4M. well, i looked up our school's group page and saw that said batch has been having fund-raising projects like golf tournament, etc. so that's how they were able to raise that much. there must be lots of them still active in batch projects and activities. i wonder what our batch gimmick's gonna be.

i hope we will not be forced to bleed for whatever fund-raising will be decided on. i am more anxious as to how i'm gonna be by that time. saan naman kaya ako ipapadpad ng aking mga paa sa mga panahong iyon? again, i wonder.

November's Here

kuya had his bday at home last week. he just turned 40. and that's when life begins....

and mommy will be celebrating her birthday in a couple of days. may God bless you both and may He continue to love you and hold you in His warm loving embrace. love you both!

Ang Babae

Ito ay hango sa isang sulatin sa Storyteller's Minute. Nakuha nito ang aking atensyon habang ako'y naghahanap ng mababasa kanina. Hindi ko tiyak kung kelan ito isinulat kung kaya't ako'y nag-iisip kung 'Totoo pa rin kaya ito magpasahanggang ngayon?'